Editor's Note
We had a technical glitch that resulted in Deuteronomy 12 posting a couple of hours late yesterday. If you missed yesterday’s reading, click here to catch up before you read Deuteronomy 13!
Read Deuteronomy 13
Worshiping Other Gods
13 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lordyour God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. 9 You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 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.11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.
12 If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in 13 that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock. 16 You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. That town is to remain a ruinforever, never to be rebuilt, 17 and none of the condemned things are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. He will increase your numbers,as he promised on oath to your ancestors— 18 because you obey the Lordyour God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.
Go Deeper
As Moses continues to instruct God’s people to listen and love the Lord their God, he presents specific challenges they may encounter. This chapter describes the danger from false prophets and family members, friends, and peers in your community who influence you to follow pagan gods. Each of these may present the temptation to turn away from their worship and devotion to the one and only God. Moses states that these are tests to know whether they love the Lord their God with all their heart and soul. Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, the people of God are reminded of God’s desire for wholehearted devotion and worship.
Honestly, God prescribes drastic means to address these dangerous tempters, from stoning the offender to eliminating a wicked city as a burnt sacrifice to God. As Moses delivers this message, it is key to remember he is addressing God’s chosen people who are living under the Mosaic covenant. God’s purpose is to protect them and underscore His desire for their complete devotion and worship. Also, keep in mind that these people were to represent the Lord to the rest of the world so that through them God would send His Son to offer salvation to any who would call on His name. The stakes are high in preserving their undivided commitment to God.
Jesus expressed His concern for those who would turn away from wholehearted devotion to God. Through use of a vivid hyperbole in Matthew 18, He says, “Woe to the world for temptations to sin…but woe to the one by whom temptation comes… and if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away…” The lesson from Jesus in the New Testament is consistent with the lesson of Deuteronomy. Preserving wholehearted devotion to God is imperative to Him. The principle of “purging the evil from you” protects the fully devoted heart from being distracted and turning away.
If the radical way Moses, God, and Jesus addressed idolatry shocks you and makes you question God’s great love for all humanity, do not forget that He offered his own son Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. In perfect love and humility, Jesus offered His own body to be poured out to cover the countless times His people turned to other lesser gods.
God’s desire to protect, preserve, and love His followers stirs our hearts to fully surrender and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He knows His children well, warning them and revealing steps to guard their devotion to Him. When false teaching comes to turn us away from God, whether it be through others or the culture, the truth of the reality of God is powerfully revealed in Jesus Christ. Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, resisting evil influences and trusting that He holds us fast in His mercy and grace. May we love the Lord our God wholeheartedly, fully surrendered to Him.
Questions
- What tempts you to shift from wholehearted devotion to turning away from God?
- How might you remove that temptation from your life?
- How will you encourage others in their wholehearted devotion to God?
Watch This
If you haven’t already, watch The Bible Project’s Old Testament overview of Deuteronomy. Here is one of the helpful tips from The Bible Project offered to understand the law given in Deuteronomy: “Look for the core principle underlying the law.” Each time you come across a law or instruction that doesn’t make sense at first, dig deeper to find the principle at the heart of the law.
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5 thoughts on “Deuteronomy 13”
Weekly we are to ask ourselves 3 questions (thanks JP):
1. How did I feed my faith?
2. How did I feed my flesh?
3. How did I feed others?
Honest reflection can indicate our spiritual health. V3 reveals God tested the hearts of his people to see if they loved him with all their heart and soul. Cultural Christianity gives the message that you can acknowledge Christ and still live as you please. V4 reveals the stance of the committed believer as one who reveres, follows, obeys, serves, and holds fast to God’s commands. (Notice the word “command” indicates it’s not optional.) We’ve been duped by a culture that screams follow your heart with no thought to the commands of scripture. Why is it that we are afraid to offend everyone but God?
Chapters 12 & 13 are very specific on God wants, desires, requires, expects, and requests our worship. We are to worship Him in spirit and in truth https://www.gotquestions.org/worship-spirit-truth.html BUT GOD wants you, me in a relationship with Him. To love Him with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength and to Love our neighbors as ourselves. We make it difficult. Read His word, walk and talk with Him minute by minute about EVERY situation. If I do those things it will be hard to put or place an idol, or less likely for that stumbling block to trip me.
Thank You God that I do have a direct line of communication with You. Thank You for hearing me, and giving me that wisdom minute by minute. Thank You for helping me to see Your people through Your love goggles. Thank You for Your words to come out of my mouth as I engage with them. I praise You and give You honor, glory and all the love my being knows how to give. I depend on You, I desire to abide in You in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!
Insert recent distractions/idols:
“God’s desire to protect, preserve, and love His followers stirs our hearts to fully surrender and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He knows His children well, warning them and revealing steps to guard their devotion to Him. When _________ comes to turn us away from God, whether it be through others or the culture, the truth of the reality of God is powerfully revealed in Jesus Christ. Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, resisting __________ and trusting that He holds us fast in His mercy and grace. May we love the Lord our God wholeheartedly, fully surrendered to Him.”
Profound commentary.
I must admit, I found this chapter disturbing. This certainly explains why the ”Old Testament God” gets such a bad rep. I am reminded of the Puritans, the Salem witch trials and other periods in history marked by oppressive religious legalism. I’m thankful I live at a time when heresy and idolatry are no longer considered capital crimes….
What still holds true today, though, is this: when we take God’s commands this seriously, there are SERIOUS consequences.
The warning against “false prophets” reminds me again just how serious *I* need to be if I am to love God alone. Otherwise, I am sure to be tempted away from full devotion to him by worldly, idolatrous thinking. Mine is a war of ideas, and each day I must battle to “take my thoughts captive.”
“We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.”
-2 Corinthians 10:5 TPT
This chapter challenges me to take God’s tactics SERIOUSLY in order to stand firm in that fight. My enemy would love to take me out…and take me away from God.
Do the stakes get any higher than that?
“Let’s follow other gods” (these are gods you know nothing about), “let’s worship them,” don’t pay any attention to what that prophet or visionary says. God, your God, is testing you to find out if you totally love him with everything you have in you.
You are to follow ONLY God, your God, hold him in deep reverence, keep his commandments, listen obediently to what he says, serve him—hold on to him for dear life!
And that prophet or visionary must be put to death. He has urged mutiny against God, your God, who rescued you from Egypt, who redeemed you from a world of slavery and put you on the road on which God, your God, has commanded you to walk. Purge the evil from your company.”
-Deuteronomy 13:1-5 MSG, emphasis added mine
Meanwhile, thanks for this word in due season:
“Cling to God!”
“You are to follow only God, your God, hold him in deep reverence, keep his commandments, listen obediently to what he says, serve him—hold on to him for dear life!”
-Deuteronomy 13:4 MSG