FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 12-13; 18:9-22

5. Avoiding Contamination – Continued

Please read Deuteronomy 12:29-13:18; 18:9-22 for the background to this section.

Temptation from friends and relatives (verses 6–11). It would not be difficult to expose and execute a false prophet, but what about a relative or close friend who tempts you to worship a false god? And what if the temptation is secret and the worship of the idol is also secret? As long as you maintained your public image as a worshiper of Jehovah, you might get away with being a secret Baal worshiper. But to this suggestion, Moses gave a resounding, “No!” Even if man’s own wife enticed him to worship idols—King Solomon comes to mind (1 Kings 11:1–13)—the husband was not to shield her but was to take her to the authorities and even participate in her execution. The Jews were to love the Lord their God even more than they loved their own mates or family. Jesus laid down a similar condition for discipleship (Luke 14:25–27). Moses taught that this kind of capital sentence would put the fear of the Lord into the rest of the nation and they would think twice before turning to idols (Deuteronomy 13:11; see 17:13; and 21:21). The lesson for the church is, “Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear” (1 Timothy 5:20).

During my years of ministry, I was often aware of other ministers who were unable to deal with flagrant sinners in the church because the offenders had relatives on the board or in the congregation. We attended a church very briefly where the pastor’s son was leading in the praise and worship portion of the service, while all the while, the son was openly living in adultery. When we talked to the pastor about this grievous situation, we were told we were judging and unloving. Because of their refusal to take action against blatant sin in the congregation, the Holy Spirit moved us on, but oh how sad that common situation is today.

How sad it is when the testimony of a church is totally destroyed because of people who put their family ahead of God and His Word. “Peace at any price” isn’t the biblical way to deal with problems, for “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable” (James 3:17). Unity that is based on hypocrisy will never last. On the other hand, I have seen godly people stand with the congregation in disciplining their own relatives who had brought disgrace to the name of Christ and the church.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 12-13; 18:9-22

5. Avoiding Contamination – Continued

Please read Deuteronomy 12:29-13:18; 18:9-22 for the background to this section.

Temptation from the prophets (13:1–5). God raised up prophets in Israel during those times when the people needed to be called back to the faithful worship of the Lord. It has often been said that prophets weren’t just “foretellers”; they were primarily forth-tellers who declared the Word of the Lord in the name of the Lord. The faithful prophet spoke in God’s name and gave only God’s message for God’s glory and for the good of God’s people.

The key phrase in Deuteronomy 13 is, “Let us go after other gods” (verses 2, 6, 13). In this paragraph, Moses describes a prophet who predicted an event and it occurred, which was the test of a true prophet (Deuteronomy 18:21–22). But then the prophet invited the people to join him in worshiping other gods. Why would a prophet deliver a true message followed by an invitation to worship false gods? For the same reasons formerly orthodox religious leaders in the church will abandon their calling and get involved in cults or even organize their own cults: pride, the desire to have a following and exercise authority, and the desire to make money. The Israelites knew that God’s law prohibited the worship of idols, but there are always unstable people who will blindly follow a “successful religious leader” without testing their decision by God’s truth.

Bible students don’t agree on whether this man referenced and given as an example in 13:1-5 was/is a true prophet who turned false or a false prophet from the beginning. If he were known to be a false prophet, the Law states he would have been killed, but the Jews didn’t always obey the laws involving capital punishment. I take it from 13:1 that the man in the example was/is a true prophet, which would make the temptation even more insidious.

Moses made it clear that the Word of God was true no matter how many miracles or signs a prophet might perform. We don’t test the message by supernatural events; we test the message by God’s Word. Satan can perform signs and what appear to be miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 12:9) and not everybody who addresses Jesus as “Lord” and performs miracles is a genuine child of God or servant of God (Matthew 7:21–23). God sometimes allows these things to happen in order to test His people to see if they will obey His Word. Even if this man had been originally called of God, when he asked the people to disobey the God’s law, he ceased to be a true servant of the Lord. Because he enticed the people to rebel against the Lord, he was to be put to death.

“So you shall put away [purge] the evil from your midst” (Deuteronomy 13:5). This statement is found at least eight more times in the Book of Deuteronomy (17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21–22, 24; 24:7), and Paul quoted it in 1 Corinthians 5:13 with reference to discipline in the local church. We don’t stone guilty people in our churches, but we should expel from the fellowship any that openly live in sin and refuse to repent and obey the Word of God. Why? For the same reason the idolater was removed (by death) from the nation of Israel: sin is like yeast and when it’s not purged, it will spread and infect others (1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Galatians 5:9). Just as a surgeon removes cancerous tissue from a patient’s body to keep it from spreading, so the local body of believers must experience surgery, no matter how painful, to maintain the spiritual health of the church.

So many today want to justify not doing this by using Scriptures such as found in Matthew 7. Yet in context, Matthew 7 actually agrees with the rest of Scripture concerning recognizing and rebuking falsehood in those amongst us. Christians today cannot justify ongoing blatant sin within their midst. Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians, “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits’ ” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The fact that the accuser was to throw the first stone would encourage him to give serious consideration to the facts and not impetuously accuse an innocent person. The method of execution was stoning so that all the people could participate and cast their vote against the worship of idols. Either one person’s sin affects the whole nation (Joshua 7), or the whole nation must deal with that one person’s sin.

It’s remarkable how many otherwise intelligent people study their horoscopes and consult professional “psychics” who claim to have the power to see into the future. If people really had that ability, they could make a great deal of money on the stock market or at the racetrack and wouldn’t have to earn a living reading palms, gazing at the stars, or consulting crystal balls. Later in his address, Moses will name specific occult practices that are forbidden to God’s people, and one of them is consulting Satan in order to know the future (Deuteronomy 18:9–13). Jesus warned about false prophets and the apostles warned about false teachers (Matthew 7:15–20; 2 Corinthians 11:3–4, 11–13; 1 Timothy 1:6–7; 2 Peter 2).

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 12-13; 18:9-22

5. Avoiding Contamination

Please read Deuteronomy 12:29-13:18; 18:9-22 for the background to this section.

Moses pointed out four approaches the enemy could use to trap the Israelites into practicing idolatry, and he warned his people to avoid following them.

Human curiosity (verses 29–32). The inhabitants of Canaan had grossly defiled their land by their personal conduct and their abominable religious practices, which included sacrificing their children to the false gods, usually Molech “the abomination of the Ammonites” (Deuteronomy 12:31; 1 Kings 11:5, 33). This despicable practice was forbidden to the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 18:10; Leviticus 18:20; 20:2–5), but in later years, both kings and commoners in Israel abandoned God’s law and sacrificed their children (2 Kings 17:16–17). Godly King Josiah defiled the place in the Valley of Hinnom where this detestable ceremony had been practiced in Judah (2 Kings 23:10), but King Manasseh brought it back (2 Chronicles 33:6).

The British essayist Samuel Johnson called curiosity “one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect,” and certainly our children and grandchildren learn because they’re curious about life and the world they live in. Someone defined a child as “an island of curiosity surrounded by a sea of question marks.” However, there are some areas of human knowledge that are dangerous to investigate, for God wants His people to be “wise in what is good, and simple [“innocent” NIV] concerning evil” (Romans 16:19). We don’t have to experience sin to learn how deadly it is. Inquisitive Israelites who investigated the despicable religious practices of the Canaanites were in danger of tempting themselves and giving Satan opportunity to move in.

As we mature in the faith and become grounded in the Word, we can carefully study the philosophies and ideas that are held by various religious groups, but only so that we might better share the Gospel with them. Missionaries must know the religious mind-set of the peoples to whom God sends them so they can communicate effectively with them. This is also true when we study the so-called “classics” that are often filled with moral filth and attacks against the Christian faith. “Beware of the atmosphere of the classics,” wrote Robert Murray M’Cheyne to a friend. “True, we ought to know them; but only as chemists handle poisons—to discover their qualities, not to infect their blood with them.” With God’s help, it’s possible for Christian students to practice contact without contamination, but they had better “watch and pray” lest they are tempted and fall into sin.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.