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Alright, you can turn to Deuteronomy chapter 13 as we continue in our studies in the exhortations on the plains of Moab to the second generation of Israelites as they're poised to enter into the promised land, the land that God had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and now realized in history by this particular generation. Deuteronomy chapter 13, I'll read beginning in verse 1.

"'If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, "'and he gives you a sign or a wonder, "'and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, "'of which he spoke to you saying, "'Let us go after other gods which you have not known, "'and let us serve them.'" You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.

For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice. You shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk.

So you shall put away the evil from your midst. If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you saying, let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him. Nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him. But you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.

And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you. If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying, Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their cities, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known. Then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently.

And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock with the edge of the sword. And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder for the Lord your God.

It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as he swore to your fathers, because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all his commandments, which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God. Amen.

Well, the recurring theme in this particular chapter is the solicitation to commit apostasy. And, of course, apostasy is to defect wholly away from God Almighty. Remember, the first commandment is, you shall have no other gods before me or beside me, in addition to me. So what we have in this particular chapter is very pointed very hardcore in a lot of ways. I've always thought this would be a great sermon or a great text to give to a new preacher as they're learning homiletics. Let's see how you wrap your mind around Deuteronomy chapter 13.

But the three emphases specifically are the solicitations that arise from false prophets in verses 1 to 5, Secondly, the solicitation from family and friends in 6 to 11. And then finally, the solicitation from corrupt men in society. So whole cities being affected by this kind of a mindset and this kind of an enticement to turn away from the living and true God. So we'll take up the first section and then move through the passage. Notice first the solicitation from false prophets or false religious teachers. The solicitation is found in verses 1 to 4, and then the specifics in terms of penalty is in verse 5. But notice with reference to the tempter, it is a religious person. It is a religious being.

Man, notice in verse 1, if there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you. So Numbers 12, 6 says, hear now my words, if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make myself known to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream. So this idea of prophet or a dreamer of dreams simply means one who tells what God has said or gives signs and wonders to direct people into a particular course of action. And that is precisely what's happening here. The thing that we ought to notice, though, is the success of this prophet, the success of this dreamer of dreams. In other words, what he prophesies or what he testifies unto actually comes to pass. Notice in verse 2, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass.

I think that we typically associate false prophecy with somebody announcing the future. That particular event doesn't happen, and so we deem that that particular individual is a false prophet. It's a good way to determine that. Harold Camping predicted the end of the world in 1999, and then he modified that to say that it would then occur in 2012. Well, it's safe to say by 2013 the man's a false prophet. He's announced something in the name of the living God that was going to come to pass and it didn't come to pass, so therefore he's a false prophet. But a false prophet is also one who can't accomplish certain things, but he does so with wicked intentions.

If you turn to Deuteronomy chapter 18, that particular chapter as a whole is given to priesthood and prophet, and here in chapter 18 specifically at verse 20, but the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.

So the success of the tempter does not mean that he is right. The success of the tempter, as we'll see in just a moment, it's not because he's right and it's not because his God delivered, but it's because the living and the true God delivered so that he could test the people to see where their allegiances lie. And that's precisely the emphasis in the passage. So the nature of the temptation, the signs and the wonders accompany the particular temptation to go and serve other gods. Let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them. The sign or the wonder comes to pass.

As Christopher Wright says, no sign that appears to authenticate is to be given precedence over the content of the words spoken by a prophet. He may come with the signs of a true prophet, but if his words contradict the normative covenantal demand, then he is false and must be purged from the body of Israel like a lethal poison. Again, I think this is a pretty dangerous thing. I think we tend to think that if somebody's able to predict the future, able to do something in terms of a sign or a wonder, we might give them our ear. We might give them attention.

But we're never to let the accomplishment of signs or wonders trump the commandments of God. And as we've seen over and over and over again, up to this point in the book of Deuteronomy and previously from Genesis to Numbers, the emphasis on that first word, have no other gods before me, have no other gods in addition to me, have no other gods besides me. The sign or the wonder cannot contradict God's word and command. Again, Wright says, his words cancel out all his amazing deeds. No display of miraculous powers, no amount of signs and wonders can lend a moment's credibility to anybody with a message so clearly at odds with covenant truth and demand. In other words, we need to know the Bible, we need to walk by the truth as it's been revealed to us by God, even in the light of somebody doing a sign or wonder. If the end of that sign or the wonder is to take us away from the living and true God, then this is in fact a false prophet.

Remember that the magicians in Egypt were able to duplicate certain of the signs and wonders. I like what Davis comments with reference to 1 Samuel chapter 28. Remember that Saul seeks out the witch at Endor and the witch brings something up. Again, men are divided on whether or not that was genuinely Samuel or not, but the text is very clear and specific. She brought somebody up. The identification of that individual, again, is up for debate, but the fact that she brought somebody up, you cannot deny. And Davis says that Scripture describes such practices not as futile. In other words, they may work. In Deuteronomy 18, the prohibition against necromancy and soothsaying and witchcraft and those sorts of things, again, listen to what he says. It describes such practices not as futile, but as pagan.

Yahweh forbids Israel to use these means, not because they do not work, but because they are wicked. And then with reference to this false prophet, with reference to this man who attempts to detract people or take people away from the service of the living and true God, the rejection is very clearly stated and very obvious in verse 3.

You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. Don't give him any truck. Don't give him the opportunity to teach in a Bible study. If he is preaching Moloch, or if he is preaching Baal, if he is preaching Asherah, if he is preaching Dagon, you don't listen to him, even if he's able to so-called authenticate his words with signs and wonders.

And then in terms of the particular purpose, that's specified in verses 3b and 4. Notice again, verse 3. It says, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams Four, here's the purpose, the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The false God of the false prophet did not deliver. There's no other gods. Now the Bible speaks that way because men worship and they ascribe or they predicate their worship of particular gods. But there's no other gods. They are, you know, it's not a pantheon of great God that we serve, and then, you know, a series of lesser gods.

It was the true God who caused the sign and the wonder to come to pass to test the allegiance of the people. And this is something that God does. Genesis chapter 22, God tells Abraham to take Isaac up to Mount Moriah and to sacrifice him. 22. One starts off by telling us that the Lord was testing Abraham. As well, Deuteronomy chapter 8, you can look back there, specifically at verse 2. It says, and you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

And then there's an interesting passage in 1 Corinthians 11 about the existence of heresy or faction within the context of the local church. Paul writes, for there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. And I think the ultimate test here is a test of allegiance. Are you going to trust in the living and true God in spite of deprivation, in spite of trial, in spite of affliction, or are you going to abandon the living God for some false God that gives you what you want?

Perhaps you've been praying for rain to Yahweh, and Yahweh hasn't sent rain. And then you went to your neighbor's Baal meeting, and you joined them in their chorus of praise and prayer to Baal, asking for rain. Well, the rain comes. What do you do? Do you still maintain fidelity to Yahweh or do you cut bail in now? Do you add another God besides Yahweh? I think this is the issue. It's an issue of allegiance. Do you love and obey and fear the only living and true God or do you serve that which is There to give you what you want as you ask.

And then in terms of the command, notice in verse four, repetition that we've seen many times up to this point. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey His voice. You shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. The necessary connection, obedience to the true God in spite of the answers of the false gods, but as well, preventative maintenance. If you do verse 4, you're going to be on guard against the guy in verses 1 and 2. If you're holding fast to the living and true God, you're not going to be taken astray by someone preaching Baal who's able to perform some signs and wonders. The longer or the stronger that we hold fast to the living and true God, the more preventative maintenance we find in terms of resisting that temptation or solicitation to commit apostasy.

Again, Wright says, a people consciously living with this orientation, this verse 4 orientation and commitment would have the spiritual health and vitality to recognize and reject idolatrous enticement as decisively as a healthy body deals with invading germs. If you're a verse 4 kind of man or woman, the verse 1-2 temptation, it's going to be like water off a duck's back. There's no way you're going to follow after this. Even if he does perform signs and wonders, his signs and wonders ultimately lead to Baal's altar. And you're not going to have that because you're holding fast to the living and true God.

And then note the punishment of the evildoer in verse 5a and the preservation of the community in verse 5b. Verse 5 tells us very clearly, but that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken. in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk." So the penalty is capital in terms of its application. You are to kill the false prophet. not send him away so that he can host Bible studies and teach contrary to the living and true God.

No, he's to be executed. The false prophet was to die. That's the specific emphasis. The reason for that is he tried to solicit you. He tried to entice you. He tried to take you from that place of fidelity before the living and true God, from holding fast to that God and direct it to another God, or perhaps add that other God to the side of the living and true God.

And then the gravity, the redeeming and preserving power of the true God in Israel's covenantal life. Notice the argument, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So the idea is, very simply, that because of what God has done, you're to maintain fidelity to Him. And because what the Lord our God has done, you're supposed to execute the false prophet who denigrates that and who attacks that and goes for the throat of our religion.

You're not supposed to allow that particular person to continue on. Craigie says the false prophet was calling for faithlessness from a people redeemed by a God of faithfulness. He was calling for ingratitude from a people who should know only gratitude to God who brought them from the house of slavery.

I think Paul picks up this kind of logic in a New Covenant setting, based with gospel motivation to be sure, in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 6, among other places. But in Romans 12 verses 1 and 2, In other words, everything that Paul has written in chapters 1 to 11, in terms of explaining the glorious gospel of our salvation, Based on those realities, present your bodies as living sacrifices. He says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 18 to 20, in an argument against sexual immorality.

He says, flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body. But he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. You see, that logic, based on what God has done, based on the fact that you've been purchased by our Lord Jesus Christ, based on the fact that the Holy Spirit resides in you, and that you are, as it were, a temple of the very Spirit of God Himself, don't engage in sexual immorality. Resist it, shun it, avoid it. Why?

Because you have found grace and favor and mercy and blessing and love from the Most High. So the same thing is operative back in Deuteronomy chapter 13. Don't follow the false prophet to his false god, not in light of what God has done in terms of redemption from Egypt and from the house of bondage.

And then in terms of the preservation of the community, the end of verse 5. Notice, so you shall put away the evil from your midst. You execute the false prophet so that you can preserve the community. You execute the false prophet who tries to take you to a bail service because you want to preserve the covenant community.

God knows the propensity and the tendencies of his people. They're prone to wander and prone to leave the God that they love. You let one prophet of Baal in the midst of Israel, he's going to do his best to infect the entirety of it. So God says, no, purge the evil from your midst. The contamination of wickedness. This is a reality.

We are to keep ourselves unstained from the world, James tells us. It's not that our holiness is going to change the world. It's typically the case that the unholiness of the world changes us. That's why Romans 12 says, do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. It isn't the case that our holiness is communicable, but it is often the case that the unholiness of the godless is communicable in our direction.

And so get those false prophets out of the camp. So the contamination of wickedness and then the application of the death penalty. God commands it. It's just that simple. God commands the execution of the false prophet. The people respond to it. Notice in verse 11, so all Israel shall hear and fear and not again do such wickedness as this among you. It has a great remedial effect when it's known that a false prophet has been executed.

Why? Let's just say you had an inkling to be a false prophet. Let's just say you were on the way to a bail service to get your prophetic credentials so you could go back and infiltrate the covenant community of Israel. You'd probably think twice. If I'm found out, I'm going to be executed.

Ecclesiastes 8.11. because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily. Therefore, the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. The community degenerates without the execution of justice within a rank and file. If the false prophet is allowed to live, the false prophet is going to continue his ministry and the false prophet is going to continue to turn people from the living God to these dunghill deities.

And sort of involved in the entirety of the chapter, I think Greg Bonson makes a great observation here. He says, seduction to idolatry challenges the final and ultimate authority of the civil order in the nation, thus undermining the law of God and dismissing the lawful exercise of the government. It creates ethical chaos by asserting competing ethical authority and guidance in the nation. As such, seduction to idolatry could be treated as a form of treason and revolution.

That's what's behind the scene here. Remember, this is a theocratic state. This is a God-ruled state through his word, through the medium of prophets and priests, but it's God-directed, it's God-governed, it's God-ruled. And so when you start to entertain the thoughts of false gods, that's treason. That is absolute degradation. That is revolutionary in its concept. In fact, that third incident basically describes urban revolutionaries. I mean, a whole city can be given over to this as we'll see in just a few moments.

But notice the second and probably in some ways more difficult one. It's probably easier to deal with a prophet out there than a wife in here. A prophet out there than a son or daughter in your own home. A prophet out there than a friend who is bosom to you, who is very close to you.

The second one is pretty hardcore as I mentioned. Notice the solicitation again in verses six to eight. We've got the identification of the tempter. If your brother, the son of your mother, Your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom or your friend, who is as your own soul, secretly entices you saying, let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers. So the challenge here is one of intimacy. The challenge is one of intimacy. This is somebody, it's not an impersonal prophet preaching Baal. It's not an impersonal prophet preaching Molech. It's not an impersonal prophet preaching Dagon. This is your wife. This is your son. This is your daughter. This is your buddy. This is your workmate. And notice, it's a secret enticement.

What seems to be the emphasis in this second one is watch yourself and don't cover for them. Do not, because of that intimacy, overlook it and somehow excuse it and somehow argue, well, you know, it's not that big of a deal. They're not a false prophet. They're not, you know, prophets of Baal.

The challenge of intimacy and the challenge of reporting it, the temptation to keep silent since it is a close family relation or a friend. But again, brethren, the power of this unchecked, the power of this unrestrained could affect the entirety of the family and then move from family to family and then corrupt the society as a whole. So it must be dealt with. So the nature of the temptation, he secretly entices you again, not the false prophet out there, but somebody, you know, in love and they're secretly enticing. Let's go. Let's go, sir. Bail. Let's go to the Moloch service tonight. They're throwing babies into the arms of Moloch, and typically when they do that, they get good things afterwards. Let's go to Dagon.

That's a secret enticement, and the Word of God says you're not supposed to entertain that. Not only are you not supposed to entertain that, you're supposed to deal with that. So notice the same sort of an emphasis in terms of the actual temptation, let us go and serve other gods, long description of any potential gods that might be set before you in terms of an enticement, and then the rejection.

Notice in verse 8, You shall not consent to him or listen to him. Now notice, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him. Things that weren't addressed with reference to the false prophet. Things that wouldn't probably be an issue with the false prophet, but would certainly be an issue with your mom, would certainly be an issue with your son, would certainly be an issue with your daughter or your best friend. You shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him.

Oh mom, I'm sad that you've gone after Baal. No, you're not supposed to do that. Notice, nor shall you spare him or conceal him. Wouldn't that be the tendency? Wouldn't that be the potential? I'm not going to report this. We'll just keep this between ourselves. Don't ever say that again. But the emphasis is, don't do that.

Now, notice in terms of the penalty in verses 9 to 11. The punishment of the evildoer, verses 9 and 10, and the preservation of the covenant community in verse 11. Notice the emphasis on capital punishment again in verse 9, but you shall surely kill him.

Now brethren, the next clause specifies that this doesn't mean in your bedroom. This doesn't mean that your wife entices you to go worship Baal. You run downstairs, I guess they probably didn't have a downstairs, but you run over to wherever you cooked food and grabbed a kitchen knife and you went and you dispatched her right there in the bedroom. No, that's not the demand of the text.

The next clause defines or describes for us what we call due process or the application of judicial process. Notice in verse 9, but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people. What does that mean? That means that if you're upset with your wife, you don't just kill her. If you're upset with your wife, you don't just take her next door and say, hey, she wanted to take me to a bail meeting tonight, let's kill her. No, the emphasis is on due process.

It would definitely work to hinder a false accusation, as we learn later in Deuteronomy 17 and Deuteronomy 19 especially. Deuteronomy 17, 7 seems to lay down the principle that we find built in here. If you look at Deuteronomy 17, 7. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death. So in the scenario in Deuteronomy 13, it's me hearing this from, I don't want to use my wife, my son, or my daughter.

Let's use a friend, a guy I met. We happened to pal up. you know, overlifting weights or whatever. So the hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you. And then notice in, uh, Deuteronomy chapter 19, Deuteronomy chapter 19.

Verse 15, one witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established. If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry.

And indeed, if the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother. So you shall put away the evil from among you." So when you look at Deuteronomy 13, this demand to have executed your closest intimate relations, know that it's due process. know that there's witnesses, know that there's, if not witnesses to the specifics, witnesses then to the process, and then they must be heard, it must be confirmed, they must be sentenced, and then this particular activity is carried out.

Craigie says, the person who reported the crime would cast the first stone against the accused person. Then the rest of the community would join him in stoning the offender to death. The procedure of execution is significant. By casting the first stone, the person reporting the crime took responsibility for the execution. By symbolizing in this manner that his evidence, which brought about the execution, was true evidence. However, he did not have to carry out the responsibility alone, for after he cast the first stone, the rest of the community shared in the act of execution.

And so notice, that's what you have built into this legislation with reference to this intimate situation involving a solicitation to commit apostasy from God. And then what we have here again, you dispatch the criminal, you execute that particular person. Verse 10, you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. And then in terms of the preservation of the community, so all Israel shall hear and fear and not again do such wickedness as this among you.

Obviously here in fear God, But there ought to be a healthy fear within a civil polity that if you engage in criminal activity, you're going to be punished for it. That's that Ecclesiastes 8 sort of an emphasis. Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. It is frustrating and exasperating to see men get away with literally murder. It is frustrating and exasperating in a body politic to see genuine criminals not being punished. That does bring about a great degree of demoralization amongst the body politic.

And so when this was done, all Israel shall hear and fear and not again do such wickedness as this among you. The fear of God, yes, but there ought to be the fear of punishment inflicted by God's servant, the civil government whom he's given the sword to, according to Romans 13, one to four, to execute his wrath in history upon criminal offenders. This is something absent today and something that there ought to be so that all Israel could hear and fear and not again do such wickedness as this among you.

And then the third particular solicitation is from corrupt men in society. Again, urban revolutionaries. Klein says if the stipulations of the preceding verses were not vigorously carried out, the rebellion would increase from individual to community proportions, a situation requiring the yet more difficult decision and action prescribed here. You see, if you allow the false prophet to live, you allow your little heretics to live, you allow apostates to continue to entice or solicit others to apostasy, it starts to spread. And in the last scenario envisioned, what we have is the spreading of it to whole cities.

And again, built into the legislation are checks and balances so that one city can't say, well, you know what? We don't like that city. We're going to accuse them of apostasy and go decimate them and then take their stuff. No, that's not what this authorizes. That's not what's legislated here.

Again, note the gravity in verse 12, if you hear someone in one of your cities which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in saying, corrupt men or sons of Belial, corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their cities saying, let us go and serve other gods which you have not known.

So the gravity of the situation is underscored by the fact that God gave them those cities. God gave them those tribal allotments. God gave them the land. It was by God's grace and His promise in terms of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They now have that. They possess that. The God who redeemed them and brought them out of Egypt and the house of bondage has given them these blessings. So it's underscored in terms of the gravity of the offense. But then the specific offense again, verse 13, corrupt men, they've gone out. They said, let us go and serve other gods.

Notice the legal procedure. Verse 14, then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. You're not supposed to proceed based on hearsay. Oh, did you know this guy in Abbotsford is soliciting the entirety of the city to commit apostasy? All right, Chilliwackians, let's mount the attack and go destroy him. No, you inquire, you search out, you exercise due diligence, you investigate. And you ascertain whether or not this report is true.

And if in fact it is true, notice again back in the text, verse 14. And if it is indeed true and certain that an abomination was committed among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. utterly destroying it, all that is in it, and its livestock with the edge of the sword. And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder for the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever, shall not be built again.

So you've inquired, you've sought it out, you've confirmed it. And then you engage in what's called the harem principle. And harem simply means that which is devoted to destruction. It's the Old Testament word that is the Hebrew word that we have in the Greek New Testament, which is anathema, something that is devoted to destruction.

The Apostle Paul uses this in a few places. 1 Corinthians 16, 22, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Galatians 1, 6-9, if we or an angel out of heaven preaches another gospel, let him be anathema. Romans 9, the apostle Paul says, I wish that I could be anathema for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 1 Corinthians 12, nobody who has the spirit says that Jesus is a curse or anathema. And so the root meaning is to devote something to destruction. Probably the most sort of famous one is in Joshua chapter 6 with reference to Jericho. But notice how this functions.

There's no economic advantage. This would severely limit and would negate the idea that Chilliwackians could, you know, allege that Abbotsfordians had engaged in solicitation of apostasy, so let's go destroy them and take their stuff. Now, the economic motive is completely taken out by the harem principle, and that's what's underscored here. This isn't city going against city within the Commonwealth of Israel to get one another's stuff.

It's to crush this solicitation to apostasy, which again is treason. It is a form of revolution. If a city is given over to Baal worship, it won't be long before other cities follow suit. And so you've got to crush this rebellion. You've got to stop this rebellion.

And that is the prescription here given in terms of God to Moses. Klein says, by embracing the abomination of Canaan, the Israelite city would become an abomination. It would become like Canaanite Jericho and must share Jericho's curse, cursed, doomed by fire and sword. So built into the legislation is specific safeguards so that we can't just throw someone under the bus because we don't like that.

Oh, honey, you burned my roast tonight. I'm going to go tell everybody you committed. You solicited me to commit apostasy. No, no. There's built-in checks and balances with reference to these cities and the possibility of urban revolutionaries. You've got to check it out. You've got to confirm it. You've got to examine the evidence. If it is decided that such has been committed, then, and only then, you go in and you decimate, you destroy, rather, and engage in the destruction of that city and all its property. There's no benefit there. There's no economic, you know, sort of advancement there. There's no getting their livestock. No, no, everything is destroyed before the Lord God Most High.

So it really does speak to a particular process, a process that we're probably a bit uncomfortable with. I'm not going to argue about that, but a process that is in place. See, this is one of the problems that people have, or that I've perceived, when they criticize biblical law. Well, you know, if biblical law was assumed and judicial law practices were engaged in, the streets would flow with blood. No, they wouldn't. Two or three witnesses for capital crimes. judicious investigation there were higher courts in old covenant israel there was a process due process and we need to imbibe that with reference to the execution of criminal offenders so the execution of criminal offenders is demanded but it must be carried out responsibly it must be carried out judiciously it must be carried out in accordance with the rules established by god almighty that for the punishment of the evildoer and the preservation of the civil polity.

And then the chapter ends on a blessed note. Notice in verse 17, rather. So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you, and multiply you, just as he swore to your fathers. What's the point? If you do what God says and you purge the evil from your midst, good things come your way.

Look back in chapter 11. We've already seen blessing and curse. 11, 26, Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse, the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and the curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today to go after other gods which you have not known. Better to dispatch the false prophet, better to dispatch the heretical sign, better to dispatch the revolutionary city than for the entire nation to reap the covenant curses.

This is the principle, get rid of the evil, purge it from your midst such that God is not angry with you. And then notice the outpouring of his mercy. He turns from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you just as he swore to your fathers. Because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God to keep all his commandments, which I command you today to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

So again, some difficult things in here, but in the context of the book of Deuteronomy on the plains of Moab, poised to enter into the promised land, a land saturated with paganism, a land saturated with false gods, a land saturated with idolatry, a land that was going to be entered by people that have idolatry in their hearts and a proneness to wander and a proneness to leave the God that we love, it would be imperative for them to know that this is what God says concerning any solicitation or design to lead you from the true and living God into the arms of Baal or Molech or Asherah.

So what may appear to be severity with reference to the penalties, the execution of the false prophet necessarily follows. He's a false prophet. He's lying, he's a deceiver, and his end game is to take you from the living and true God. The execution of family and friends.

Wright says, neither Jesus nor Deuteronomy were, by any stretch of imagination, anti-family. Remember, brethren, when we read the severity of the penalties in the Old Testament, people didn't have to commit those crimes. Oh, that's outlandish. No, it's outlandish that somebody would actually do that. I think at times our rush to judgment on how severe God is. You didn't have to solicit your husband to commit apostasy.

And especially if the laws are published, they're read in contexts like the Plains of Moab, and you know what the lines are and what you're supposed to color, right? It's not anti-family that would drive us, would drive the conclusion in the second bit. He says neither Jesus, he's referring to Jesus when Jesus says, if you don't hate your father or mother, than me, or if you don't hate your father and mother, you're not worthy of me." He says, "...neither Jesus nor Deuteronomy were by any stretch of imagination anti-family. They were both passionately anti-idolatry, and recognized in the family one of the toughest and subtlest sources of hidden idolatry, on which many a profession of loyalty to the kingdom of God has foundered."

In many ways, it's that second one that's most dangerous. I mean, I'm sure we'd all ready to go, you know, Chilliwackians, sorry, against the Abbotsfordians. Let's get armed up and let's roll. That false prophet, he, you know, serves bail. But man, if it's your son or daughter. They've secretly enticed you away from the living and true God. Again, it's not anti-family, it's anti-idolatry. And when it comes to what appear to be severe punishments in the Old Testament, remember that criminals weren't forced to do these things.

Right? I remember that situation. I referred to it before. The kid got caned. I think it was Singapore back in the Clinton era. And Clinton got involved because how dare you people cane an American who wrote graffiti on a wall. Hey, coming into the country, you know you're not supposed to write graffiti on the wall. And if you do, you'll get caned. Okay, moron, don't do that and you won't get caned or be in the position of being caned.

We look at severe punishments and we say, well, that's just wrong. No, what's wrong is doing the crime that merits that severe punishment. That's what's wrong, brethren. It's not God trying to deal with purity in a culture. What's wrong is impurity thriving in a culture that goes unpunished and undealt with. That's what's really wrong. And then the destruction of urban revolutionaries.

Craigie makes a similar observation of Bonson in terms of treason. He says, the legal penalties noted in this chapter may seem at first sight to be excessively harsh. But the reason for the severity lies in the nature of the crime. The continued existence of the covenant community depended literally upon allegiance to the Lord of the covenant. Thus the crime is considered, not simply in light of the actions of the perpetrator, but in light of the effect of the crime on the welfare of the whole people of Israel. of all potential crimes in ancient Israel, the one described in this chapter, was the most dangerous in terms of its broader ramifications. To attempt deliberately to undermine allegiance to God was the worst form of subversive activity, in that it eroded the constitutional basis of the potential nation, Israel. In its implications, the crime would be equivalent to treason or espionage in time of war.

You notice how we're all okay, typically, with body politics in our own day, to have laws forbidding treason and espionage. And, you know, some body politics still maintain the death penalty for those engaged in treason or espionage. Why is it okay for the civil state to execute those who compete with it, but with reference to God, it's somehow too severe when the apostates are challenging him? And I'm not arguing against capital punishment for treason or espionage in a body politic. I'm all for it. If people know and people are told how to color in the lines and then they go and engage in traitorous activity or treason or espionage in a time of war and betray their country, by all means, they're an enemy.

They're a threat to the civil state. But don't argue that God is somehow too severe when you allow the US government to do that and not ever question it. So beware, as we move through the book of Deuteronomy, of running to these conclusions. Well, that just seems over the top, or that just seems overboard. Built in is process. Built in is particular emphasis on investigation. And built in is the protection ultimately of the covenant community from absolute destruction and desecration through the spread of false religion and a challenge to the ultimate authority of Israel, which was the living and true God.

Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for Deuteronomy 13 and for the entirety of our Bibles. We pray that you would give us wisdom as we navigate through such passages and cause us to glorify and honor you, cause us to remember that first word always. And Lord, we love the fact that you have saved us, that you have called us out of darkness into marvelous light, that you have redeemed us by your grace. We want to worship and we want to serve and we want to glorify and hold fast to you. So keep us, protect us by your spirit, give us grace to be in the word and to be prayerful as men and women. And as John says, my little children, keep yourselves from idols. Help us in this, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Any questions or comments?

Yeah, well, we're not in the theocratic state that Old Covenant Israel found herself in. Yeah, the church itself, the church as church, the cult did not execute criminal offenders. There was a clear demarcation between church and state, even in the Old Testament. Priests didn't carry out execution.

They were brought in in terms of witnesses and things of that nature. But there is a, what I perceive to be a pretty clear line, even within the theocracy itself, where there was that division. So in the modern situation, the church, yeah, excommunicates for sin and crime. If somebody goes out and commits a robbery or something of that nature, then the church needs to involve herself in that.

But it would have never been the case that the church would execute a criminal offender. The civil state does function. In fact, Romans 13, God does not give the sword to the church. Jesus gives the keys of the kingdom to the church. But the two differences, church is gospel, sacrament. The church is healing in terms of its agency. The state is the coercive power behind execution, punishment, and those sorts of things. So yeah, church can't excommunicate, civil state should carry out its function in terms of punishing criminals.

In terms of? Yeah, you know, there are those incidents in redemptive history that seem to be one-offs. Yeah, exceptions. You know, why didn't David get executed for his criminal activity? Because that's how God ordered it. You know what I mean? Yeah, why was Elijah involved in the execution of those prophets? Because that's what God determined at that particular point. but we are to go based on what is revealed in terms of legislation, normative practice. Because there are one-offs or there are exceptions, we don't regulate our conduct based on those.