This week, we shall continue with
the study of the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament.
Words of Moses (the exhortation)—Their history of rebellion:
As the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land, Moses reminds them that all is of grace and it has nothing to do with their righteousness; in fact they have been a rebellious and stiff-necked people since they left Egypt until their arrival at the plains of Moab (9:7). In particular, Moses reminds them of their sin at Horeb, at the giving of the Ten Commandments (9:1-21), and now he also cites other proofs of their rebellion:
(1) Which four incidents does Moses cite as proofs of their rebellion? (vv. 22-23)
(2) What happened at Taberah (Taberah means burning.)? (Num. 11:1-3)
(3) What does this incident highlight about their wickedness?
(4) What happened at Massah (Massah means testing.)? (Exod. 17:1-7)
(5) What does this incident highlight about their wickedness?
(6) What happened at Kibroth Hattaavah (The name means graves of craving.)? (Num. 11:31-35)
(7) What does this incident highlight?
(8) Of the many incidents of rebellion, why does Moses highlight these three incidents?
(9) We have already considered earlier their rebellion at Kadesh Barnea which caused them their forty years of wandering in the desert (Deut. 1:19-40).
a. What conclusion does Moses draw from all these incidents? (v. 24)
b. Should there be any hope for the people of God? Should Moses not be discouraged?
(10) In summarizing all these incidents of rebellion, Moses goes back to the incident at Horeb and reminds the people of his intercession on their behalf. (vv. 25-29)
a. At their rebellion, how discouraged was the Lord? (v. 25)
b. Moses now shares how he interceded for the people: How did he address the Lord? Why? (v. 26)
c. What is the importance of pointing out twice that these people, as stubborn and wicked as they were, were God’s people and God’s inheritance, and that He had redeemed them by His great power and mighty hand? (vv. 26, 29)
d. Why did he ask the Lord to remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? (v. 27)
e. What would happen to the reputation of the Lord should He destroy His people at this time? (v. 28)
f. What should the Israelites learn from this intercession?
g. How may we learn from Moses’ intercession?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.” (Deut. 9:22)
Moses knew his people well. Just as they were ready to possess the Promised Land, he reminded them of their wicked nature in order to show them that all is grace. In so doing, he reminds them of, perhaps, the most wicked sin of their rebellion — the making of a golden calf to replace the Lord just as He was delivering the Ten Commandments to Moses at Horeb.
In addition to quoting that particular incident, Moses also cites the incidents at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah (9:22) as further proofs that they were a stiff-necked and rebellious people ever since he had known them (9:24). These three incidents aptly paint a picture of carnality that even today’s Christians should be warned against. It involves the following characteristics:
- Prone to complaint: At Taberah, only after a three day march, in spite of the clear guidance and presence of the Lord through the lifting and resting of the cloud for the first time (Num. 10:13), they immediately complained about hardship as they journeyed in the wilderness (Num. 11:1). This is typical of carnal believers who do not have a mind of mission, but are prone to complain at the slightest sign of hardship in their lives. This, as we know, invited the literal burning anger of the Lord.
- Quick to test the Lord: At Massah, the complaint of the people appeared (on the surface) to be due to a lack of water to drink, but the Bible points out that they in fact, “tested the Lord saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ ” (Exod. 17:7). Having witnessed the tremendous delivery of the Lord through the ten plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea not long ago, how could they even question if the Lord was with them?! Perhaps, they were so used to seeing instant miracles and interventions by the Lord that they could not accept any apparent delay by God. They wanted their prayers answered right away; they wanted their problems to be solved instantly; if they were not, they would question not only if God was among them, but if God really cared! That is a typical mark of carnal Christians as well.
- Craving of the flesh: At Kibroth Hattaavah, the carnality of the people reached its climax (Num. 11:31-35). It was not a matter of a lack of food, but a lack of food that they craved. And as God sent quails to satisfy their demand, their unrestrained devouring of the quails caused the Lord to strike them with a severe plague “while the meat was still between their teeth” (Num. 11:33). This is a clear picture of carnal believers whose so-called “belief” in God is purely for material well-being. For that matter, they would turn to any gods who would satisfy their cravings, and would turn against the Lord if their cravings are not met. That is exactly what happened throughout the history of the Israelites.
Words of Moses (the exhortation)—Remembering Horeb (continued)
In his continued sermon to urge the people to serve and love God whole-heartedly, Moses, in this chapter, concludes his reminder of their wickedness at Horeb and God’s forgiveness:
(1) Forgiveness and continuation of the covenant (vv. 1-5)
a. What does the rewriting of the Ten Commandments on the new stone tablets represent?
b. What does the command of making the ark of covenant represent? (Exod. 25:22; Num. 17:4)
c. What is the importance of putting the stone tablets in the ark? (2 Chr. 6:11)
(2) An Insertion (vv. 6-9): The example of Horeb is interrupted by the mentioning of the following:
a. Aaron: When was his name last mentioned? (9:20)
b. Did the Lord destroy him right away?
c. Was his death the end of the (high) priesthood? (v. 6)
d. Aid to the priesthood is now provided through the choosing of the tribe of Levites: What are their duties? (v. 8)
e. Now they are able to enter into the Promised Land: The Levites, in fact, are not to share in the land — Is it a blessing or a curse? (v. 9) Why?
f. What is the point Moses wants to make through this insertion?
(3) The moral of the example of Horeb (vv. 10-13)
a. After the rebellion of the people, was Moses’ experience (of another 40 days and nights) before the Lord any different from the previous time? (v. 10)
b. What does this signify? (vv. 10-11)
c. What should Israel do in view of God’s grace of forgiveness? (vv. 12-13)
(4) The mighty and awesome God (vv. 14-22) — In addition to an affirmation of God’s grace, Moses also reminds them of the awesomeness of their God:
a. How does Moses contrast the two apparent contradicting sides of God? (vv. 14-15)
b. Are they indeed contradicting? Why or why not?
c. What then should they do? (v. 16)
d. What is meant by the circumcision of the heart? (see Rom. 2:25-29)
e. The character of the great, mighty and awesome God (vv. 17-19):
- How is He compared to other gods and lords? (v. 17)
- In what ways is He upright? (v. 17b)? What is the implication to His people?
- How does He show His compassion toward the fatherless, widow and foreigners? (v. 18)
- What do the fatherless, widows and foreigners have in common?
- How may we emulate God’s character today, especially to the foreigners (i.e. the immigrants)?
f. The proper response, therefore, is to worship Him as their only God (vv. 20-22). This is expressed in the following ways:
- Fearing Him: How may vv. 14 and 17 cause them (or us) to fear Him?
- Serving Him: With what might the people of Moses’ time associate the serving of the Lord? What about you? What is the true meaning of serving the Lord?
- Holding fast to Him: To what or whom might we hold instead?
- Taking oaths in His name: While Jesus teaches us not to swear at all (Matt. 5:34), what then is the implication of this command by Moses?
- Praising Him (i.e. not anyone else):
1. What is the reason given here? (v. 21)
2. What is the proof right before their eyes? (Compare Exod. 1:1-5; with Exod. 12:37)
(5) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, above all the nations — as it is today.” (Deut. 10:15)
As the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land, Moses seeks to impress upon them both the awesomeness and lovingkindness of the Lord and thus he concludes the retelling of the experience at Horeb with these words, “To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, above all the nations — as it is today” (10:14-15).
It is interesting to note that the NIV uses the word, “yet” to illustrate the apparent contradiction of His awesome and loving character. Of course, Moses is only expressing the apparent contradiction in the minds of the people who do not know the Lord. In the mind of the world, such an awesome and mighty God is not approachable. The truth of the matter is our God is both awesome and approachable.
This
actually helps us understand the true meaning of the “fear of the Lord” asked
of us by the Lord (10:12). Consider the following:
- In view of the great and mighty power of God, being “the Lord of lords, the God of gods” (10:17) to whom “belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it” (10:14), we should develop a sense of awe and fear that ushers us before Him to prostrate ourselves in worship (as Joshua and the Apostle John did—see Jos. 5:14; Rev. 1:17).
- On the other hand, His great affection and love shown to Israel (10:15) and to us (through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross — see Galatians 2:20) should cause us to approach Him without fear (Heb. 4:16) and respond to His love with ours (10:12).
However, Moses reminds us that this “loving fear” of the Lord is always expressed in the obeying and observing of “the Lord’s commands and decrees” (10:13) which is affirmed by our Lord Jesus ( Jn. 14:21-24).
The Words of Moses (the exhortation)—continued exhortation to obedience:
(1) Importance of personal experience (vv. 1-7)
a. Why does Moses emphasize that they, and not their children, are the ones who saw and experienced both God’s discipline and mighty work? (vv. 2, 7)
b. In so doing, what in particular does Moses cite as examples of “the great things the Lord has done”? (vv. 3-4)
c. What does Moses cite as examples of God’s discipline? (vv. 5-6)
d. What then should they do given that these were what they saw with their own eyes? (v. 7)
e. How important then is our personal experience in faith to our obedience to the Lord?
f. Do personal experiences guarantee our obedience to the Lord? Why or why not?
(2) Conditions of blessings (vv. 8-15)
a. How different is the land of Canaan from that of Egypt in terms of landscape and methods of cultivation? (vv. 10-11)
b. From a human perspective, would one rather depend on irrigation done by one's labor or on the weather?
c. Why then does God make such a dependency on nature a blessing? (v. 12)
d. How is such a blessing tied to obedience? (vv. 8, 13-15)
e. Which then is the kind of condition you would want to live in? Why?
f. What important lesson(s) can we learn from this exhortation by Moses?
(3) The flip side of blessings (vv. 16-17)
a. What will happen if they will not obey the Lord and turn to other gods? (vv. 8, 16-17)
b. Given the tremendous blessings promised and the curses threatened, should it not be a given that the people would obey the Lord and not turn away from Him? Why or why not?
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the LORD your God: His majesty, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm…But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done.” (Deut. 11:2, 7)
In the sharing of the good news in Jesus Christ, we like to say that our message is a powerful one because it is based on the objective truth in the Bible, backed up by our personal experience of conversion and transformation. In particular, we recognize that personal testimony is really powerful in that the hearers cannot dispute our first-hand experience of grace and transformation, and it also provides a very concrete (rather than abstract) way to show the hearers how to put their faith in Jesus Christ.
In addition to being a very powerful tool for evangelism, Moses points out here that our personal experience is important to maintain our relationship with God in that it is a powerful reminder to us of “His majesty, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm, the signs He performed and the things He did” (in our case) in turning us from our sinful former ways of life to our new life in Christ: The powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit of our sins, the deep moving by the love of Christ on the cross, and the overwhelming feeling of peace at the time of conversion. In times of crisis, we can always look back to our personal experience to know that God is still there for us!
The same applies for our experience of discipline by the Lord in times of failure. Not only will the horrible consequences of our sins be a warning to us but the grace and second chances given by God will serve to “give us strength” (11:8) to retake the spiritual inheritance which is ours which are the forgiveness and embrace by Father God of His prodigal sons and daughters.
Therefore, it will serve us well to always set aside time to “remember” our past personal experience of God’s faithfulness (11:2), whether it is the demonstration of His mighty power or His discipline of love.
The Words of Moses—This concludes the section on exhortation, before launching into specific laws and decrees (from chapter 12 onward).
(1) Vv. 18-21 acts like an “inclusio” of the message of exhortation by repeating the words of 6:6-8 and 6:2.
a. What do the two almost identical passages emphasize?
b. Why does Moses choose to repeat it as a conclusion to his exhortation to obey the commands of the Lord?
c. What is the promise given for the obeying of this message in chapter 6? (6:2)
d. How does this promise (reiterated in 11:21) reflect God’s desire for them?
(2) Further encouragement to obey God and His commands (vv. 22-25)
a. What is the first promise given? (v. 23)
b. How does it address their original greatest concern? (Num. 13:31-33)
c. What is the second promise? (v. 24)
d. What is the added emphasis in this reiteration of territory compared to 1:7-8?
e. What is the third promise? (v. 25)
f. What is the added emphasis in this reiteration compared to 2:25 and 7:23-24?
(3) Blessings and curses to be proclaimed at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in the future (vv. 26-32): The details of the blessings and curses are fully pronounced by Moses in chapters 27-28 and proclaimed by Joshua at the two stipulated mountains (Jos. 8:30-35).
a. Why does Moses end this section of exhortation by mentioning the presence of blessings and curses?
b. What are the respective bases of blessings and curses? (vv. 27-28)
c. What is the importance of having them proclaimed once again at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in the future?
d. Should the promise of blessings and the threat of curses be the basis of their obedience to “all the decrees and laws” (v. 32)
e. Why then would God through Moses pronounce these blessings and curses?
f. What then should be the basis of our obedience to the words of God? (Jn. 14:21-24; 2 Cor. 5:14a)
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse —” (Deut. 11:26)
In chapters 27-28, Moses will announce in detail the blessings that God will bestow upon the people if they obey His commands, and the curses that will befall them if they choose to disobey instead. These blessings and curses will be repeated in presumably a formal ceremony upon their entrance into the Promised Land, and engraved upon the rocks at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal respectively (commands which Joshua complied with) (Jos. 8:30-35).
However, we know that God has never intended to use blessings to entice the people to obey Him and His commands, nor to deter them from turning away from Him through the threat of curses. The ultimate desire of the Lord is for them to love Him with all their hearts and with all their souls and with all their strength (6:5). No amount of blessings or curses could generate genuine love. God knows it very well. Why then would He still proclaim blessings and curses before their taking possession of the Promised Land and have them reiterate the same upon their entrance into Promised Land? The unfortunate reason is that God has foreknown their disobedience, and has meant these blessings and curses not only to be proclaimed verbally but to be engraved into the rocks so that Israel is left with no excuse for their future demise!
Fortunately, the earthly Promised Land is only a shadow of the greater city (which is a heavenly one, Heb. 11:16) promised to Abraham and his people; and the curses (which are not just a shadow of the ultimate curses for all humankind for their unbelief) point to the coming of a Redeemer, the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29), turning all curses into blessings. These are far beyond those proclaimed through Moses, but the blessings of the eternal dwelling of God among His people — those who would believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ (Rev. 21:1-5).
Specific Legislations—Worship only in designated place (I):
(1) Before the Israelites entered into the Promised Land, where did they worship the Lord? (Exod. 33:7-11; Lev. 1:3; 8:4; 17:4-5)
(2) As Moses begins reiterating some of the specific laws, what is the first command he gives? (vv. 1-3)
(3) What is the intention? (v. 3b)
(4) Apart from the complete elimination of the names of other gods in the land, what is the next command? (v. 4)
(5) Based on the
command that the people not worship the Lord “in their way” (v. 4), consider these questions:
a. What is the specific instruction given in vv. 5-7?
b. What might be the significance of ensuring that all the people would only worship the Lord through the bringing of sacrifices to one only place, even (or rather, especially) when they are spread across the land? (Note the first command just given.)
c. How will this prevent the people in worshipping in the “way” of the pagans?
d. What might be the application of this teaching to us today?
(6) What is implied by the words of Moses in v. 8, against the background of fixing a location for worship upon their entrance into the Promised Land?
(7) What then is the significance of having “reached the resting place and the inheritance of the Lord” with regard to not “doing as they see fit”? (v. 9) Why should it make a difference?
(8) In reiterating this command to go only to the designated place to present offerings and sacrifices (vv. 10-12), one more element is added and that concerns the Levites:
a. Who are the Levites?
b. What do they depend on for their livelihood as they devote their lives to serve at the Tabernacle exclusively?
c. If the people choose to present their offerings wherever they please, what impact will it have on the Levites?
d. What might be the message for today’s believers if they choose to hop from church to church?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
Upon the conquest of the Promised Land, the Tabernacle was set up at Shiloh (Jos. 18:1; Jer. 7:12) until David set up a tent for the Ark of the Covenant upon Zion in the city of Jerusalem, and erected an altar for sacrifice there (2 Sam. 6:17; 1 Chr. 16:1). Eventually the Tabernacle was replaced by the temple on the threshing floor of Araunah in Jerusalem as directed by the prophet Gad (2 Sam. 24:18; 1 Chr. 21:18, 29-31).
“You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling.” (Deut. 12:4-5)
The instruction by the Lord to require all sacrifices and offerings be made only at the designated place appears not only to be rather restrictive but rather impractical given how spread out the Promised Land is. However, the history of Israel has proven the foresight of the Lord.
The strict requirement about the location of sacrifice (and thus worship of the Lord) is aimed not only to safeguard from the possibility that the Israelites would turn to worship the gods of the Canaanites (12:1-3), but it also aimed to prevent them from doing whatever they pleased with the prescribed rituals of worship which distinguished Yahweh worship from all pagan worship.
As it happened, upon the
division of the kingdom of Israel into north and south, Jeroboam
blatantly violated this instruction for fear that his people would go
back to the southern kingdom to offer sacrifices at the temple of the
Lord in Jerusalem and would again change their allegiance. The result
was the setting up of two golden calves, one at Bethel and the other at
Dan and this plunged the people into sin (1 Ki. 12).
Such a violation of worshipping the Lord at the designated place of worship also became prevalent in both the southern and northern kingdoms in that they would worship the Lord in “high places” just like the Canaanites did with their worship of their gods. Time and again, even when some of the more godly kings in Judah, like Joash, returned to the Lord, “The high places, however, were not removed, the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there” (2 Ki. 12:3).
The Samaritans, too, in their attempt to maintain the worship of Yahweh, edited their own Pentateuch (i.e. the Five Books of Moses) "In their version, Mount Gerizim is described as the chosen place for the sanctuary" (Archaeological Study Bible, 1727) which is a blatant violation of the latter command of the Lord to build an altar in Mount Ebal in Deuteronomy 27:4-8. This was in fact only part of their attempt to make some 6,000 changes to their Pentateuch (called the Samaritan Pentateuch).
In our New Testament era, all believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we live under grace and not under law. However, the importance of worshipping together as one faith community is still important in order to maintain the orthodoxy of our biblical faith. As one leaves his or her faith community, the danger of a lack of accountability cannot be overlooked, because often this opens to the possibility of the formation of cults and the breeding of heresies. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, is a case in point.
Specific Legislations—Worship only in designated place (II)
After laying down strict prohibitions of worshipping at any place other than the designated place (i.e. the Tabernacle), Moses seeks to clarify with the following commands when they are in the Promised Land:
(1) Eating of meat not offered to the Lord (vv. 15-16)
a. In the eating of meat of animals not meant for offering, is the ceremonial cleanness of the eater immaterial (i.e. does it matter)? (v. 15)
b. What is one rule that still applies in the eating of any animals? (v. 16)
(2) Why is it imperative that they do not eat anything (whether meat or grain), which is meant to be offered to the Lord, in their own towns? (vv. 17-19)
(3) Why does Moses feel the need to make such a reiteration, especially in summarizing it again in vv. 20-21?
a. What is the reason that under no circumstances can blood be eaten? (v. 23)
b. How does this prohibition show God’s attitude toward all lives, human or otherwise?
(4) The treatment of the blood of sacrificed animals is reiterated in vv. 26-28:
a. Why must all consecrated things for sacrifice to the Lord be clean animals and birds? (Genesis 8:20)
b. How should their blood be treated? Why?
c. Why is such treatment so important for them to observe strictly?
(5) Be different from the pagan nations (vv. 29-31)
a. How wicked are the nations they are going to drive out? (v. 31)
b. Why does Moses use the word “hate” to describe God’s attitude toward their detestable practices?
c. Which of their detestable practices is cited here? (v. 31b)
d. Why are the people prohibited to even enquire of the ways of how these nations served their gods? (v. 30)
e. What might be the reason for the repeated emphasis on the prohibition of eating blood of animals in this section?
(6) Why does Moses end this section of the law with the command of not adding to or subtracting from this stipulation? (v. 32)
(7) What might be the reason or motive for the people to add or subtract from the law?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
It is important to bear in mind that “in ancient religion the two acts (to slaughter and to sacrifice) were inseparable. But now that sacrifice at local shrines has been abolished, some mechanism must be established to enable the Israelites to eat meat even then they cannot come to the central place of worship. What follows are innovative regulations for the practice that the rabbis called shehitat hulin, ‘secular slaughter’” (The Five Books of Moses, 943).
“But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.” (Deut. 12:23)
“What precedes I have introduced in its proper place, viz., that they should not kill the sacrifices anywhere but in the sanctuary, of which there was only one in Judea. Here the permission to eat meat is given, provided that they do not offer the animals to God, but eat of them as of wild beasts. By way of example, two kinds are mentioned, the roe-buck and the hart, of which no offering was made. They are, therefore, freely allowed to eat meat wheresoever they pleased, with this exception, that they should not taste the blood; for, although this was observed by their forefathers before the giving of the Law, God ratifies it anew when He would gather a peculiar people to Himself. We know that immediately after the deluge, Noah and his posterity were commanded to abstain from blood; but, inasmuch as the greater part of mankind soon degenerated, it is probable that all nations neglected God’s command, and permitted to themselves a universal license on this point; and it is even questionable whether this observance, which was everywhere fallen into desuetude, prevailed among the family of Shem. Certainly it may be conjectured from the renewed promulgation of the law, that it was altogether obsolete; at any rate, God would have His chosen people distinguished by this mark of separation from heathen nations.
"The reason of the prohibition which is now mentioned had already been declared, viz., because the blood is the seat of life. But although it was allowable to kill an animal for food, yet, was it a useful restraint to prevent inhumanity, that they should not touch the blood; for if they abstained from the blood of beasts, much more necessary was it to spare human blood. After God, therefore, has forbidden blood to be eaten, He immediately proceeds to speak of men themselves: ‘Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.’ (Gen. ix. 4-6.) Hence I have deemed it appropriate to annex all the passages in which God commands the people to abstain from blood, to the Sixth Commandment. In itself, indeed, the eating of blood was a thing of no great importance: since, therefore, God so often inculcates a point of so little weight, it may be inferred that the law has some further object. To this may be added the severity of the punishment, for surely it was not a crime worthy of death to taste the blood of some little bird; and hence, also, it is manifested that the prohibition had another meaning, viz., that cruelty might be abhorred. And the words of Moses shew that the eating of blood is not forbidden because it infected man with its uncleanness, but that they might account the life of man to be precious; for it is said, ‘the blood is the life,’ which, in the opinion of Augustine, is equivalent to its being ‘the sign of life;’ but Moses rather means that animal life is contained in the blood. Wherefore, blood, which represents the life, was not interdicted without reason, nor was it only sinful to eat the blood by itself, but also together with the flesh, as is expressly declared both in Deuteronomy and in the last passage from Leviticus (i.e. chapter 19)”. (Calvin’s Commentaries III, 29-30)
Specific Legislations—Dealing with people who lead them to worship other gods:
(1) Dealing with prophets who lead them to worship other gods(vv. 1-5):
a. Should the ability to perform signs and wonders be the basis of testing if a prophet is from God? Why or why not? (v. 1; Exod. 7:11-12; Matt. 24:24)
b. Should the fulfillment of prophecies be enough proof? Why or why not? (v. 2)
c. What then is the ultimate basis of proof to discern if a prophet is from God or not? (v. 4)
d. How may we apply these principles today?
e. What should they do with false prophets? Why? (v. 5)
(2) Dealing with loved ones who entice them to worship other gods (vv. 6-11):
a. What might be the reason one follows their loved ones to worship gods other than the Lord?
b. What does the law require them to do even if the enticer is one of their loved ones? (v. 9)
c. What impact would it have when they are “the first in putting them to death”? (v. 9)
d. Do you think you could follow this command if you were one of the Israelites? Why or why not?
(3) Dealing with a town of apostasy in Israel (vv. 12-18)
a. What should they do upon hearing a report of apostasy in one of Israel’s towns? (v. 14)
b. What should they do to the town if the report is true? (v. 15)
c. What are they to do with the plunder of that town? (vv. 16-17) What does it signify?
(4) Why does the Lord impose such a harsh and severe punishment on all who entice His people to serve other gods?
(5) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Deut. 13:10)
When the people are about to enter the Promised Land, and are, therefore, in danger of following the gods of the nations that they are going to drive out, Moses imposes very strict and stringent laws that deal severely with those who entice God’s people to follow the gods of these nations, and they include prophets (13:1-5), their loved ones (13: 6-11) and the entire town (13:12-18).
We certainly understand the reason behind these strict and stringent laws because if they do not eradicate every possible enticement to worship other gods, not only just those who entice them but all of the people would fall under the judgment of the Lord. However, we cannot help but think of the extreme Muslims of our days who are exacting the same punishment on all those whom they consider “infidels”. Are they not following the same instructions laid down by Moses here? Did the church in past centuries not burn heretics at the stake?
Of course, the Muslims cannot and should not follow the same instructions laid down by Moses because they do not worship the One True God of the Israelites. It is absolutely wrong to say that the Muslims worship the same God as ours. Just as the people made Aaron make them a golden calf to replace the Lord as the god who led them out of Egypt (Exodus 32:4), Mohammed has created the Koran to make another god for the Muslims to follow.
However, although the stake-burners thought they were following the instructions of Moses, they failed to understand that upon the redemption accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, we no longer live under the law, but under grace. Those who crucified our Lord to the cross had committed a far more heinous sin than those who might have enticed God’s people to worship other gods, because they killed the Son of God. Yet, as we know, our Lord prayed for their forgiveness, saying, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk. 23:34).
Therefore, we should pray for the Muslims, because they too, “do not know what they are doing”. And as far as the heretics within Christendom are concerned, we should follow the example of the Apostle Paul, in admonishing them unto repentance; and should they not, we can only hand them over to Satan (1 Tim. 1:20) — i.e. leaving them in the hands of God because judgment will certainly begin with the household of God. (1 Pet. 4:17)