Deuteronomy 13
Last week, the Bible study from
Deuteronomy 12 taught how the Israelites were to worship the LORD God. God
commanded they destroy every altar, pillar, Asherah pole, and engraved/graven
image in Canaan. He told them to destroy the places where the Canaanites
worshiped. God told them not to worship Him in the places where the Canaanites
worshipped their gods. He told them not to worship Him with the same rites and
rituals with which the Canaanites worshipped their gods. Yehovah (“the existing
one”) God is the LORD of lords and the God of gods. Remember Baal’s name meant lord.
This means then that the LORD God is greater than Baal is. In chapter twelve,
Moses taught the Israelites what God required them to take to the temple as
offering and sacrifice to God. He told them they are to take them to the temple
for several reasons – to atone for sin, to worship God, to praise God for His
blessings, to exult in what God has done, and to give food for the temple
priests. God told the Israelites in this chapter He is the great and mighty God
and that the place of His temple is where they must worship Him because His
glory and name rest there.
In chapter 13, God taught the Israelites about false prophets.
Before we get to the actual study of the passage, we must first define what a
prophet is. A prophet is a spokesman for a god or for God. During Bible times,
God’s priests and prophets encountered false prophets, such as when Elijah
confronted the 450 prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. Individual followers of God encountered
false prophets, too, such as Balaam in Numbers 22. Deuteronomy 13 tells us what
God commanded the Israelites do when they encountered a false prophet. This
chapter reveals a very severe judgment of God, which He required His people,
the Israelites, administer. We must remember that God’s intention was to
protect His people from the influence of false gods because false gods have no
power, but draw people away from God and the promises of living in covenant with
Him. They seek to trick and lure the people away from the worship of the one
true God, Yahweh. The LORD God is the one God and is more powerful than any
other power on, under, and over the earth. He proved Himself to the Israelites
from the moment Moses and Aaron entered Egypt to insist the Pharaoh release
them. God joined in covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai. His side of
the covenant was that He would be their God, give them their inheritance,
protect and provide for them, and promised they could always find Him. The
Israelites side of the covenant was to fear/reverence and love the LORD by
obeying His commands, laws, and statutes. The covenant carried a blessing and
curse, which God gave depending on whether the people remained faithful to the
covenant. God’s giving the command about false prophets in chapter thirteen,
when seen in this light, is understandable. He was protecting them from the
tricks and snares of false gods so they would stay faithful to their covenant
with Him and receive His blessing, per the covenant. God loved the Israelites
so much that He chose them and made a covenant with them. He wanted the best
for them. Because of that, He gave His commands, statutes, laws, and judgments,
just as a parent gives rules to their children.
False
Prophets - General
Let us now look at Deuteronomy 13. This chapter is broken
into three sections. The first deals with what God commands about false prophets
in general. The second concerns what God commands about false prophets among
their relatives. The third relates to false prophets in their nation. After the
first section, God became specific in the second and third sections.
Specificity is necessary because it is easy to say, “Well, God did not tell us
to do that specifically, so we don’t have to do it.” People find this important
when they deal with matters more personal to them, like family. In verses one
through five, God gave His general command about false prophets. He said
several things – 1. False prophets show miraculous signs and wonders; 2. They
lead people away from the LORD God to serve other gods; 3. If any person leads
you to consider gods against what the LORD God said in the Bible, they are
false prophets, even if they can do amazing or miraculous signs; and 4. Satan,
the one who uses false prophets to trick God’s people into not following Him
with their whole heart, gives his power to his workers for his benefit. God
reminded the Israelites that they know Him. The word “known” in verse two
reminds them of their history with God. Moses introduced them to Yahweh, showed
them where God worked on their behalf in their lives, and then taught them about
His love, purposes, and faithfulness to His word. The gods the false prophets
espoused were unknown to the Israelites. They had no history with those false
gods. Moses said, “Do not trust them, but trust the One whom you know from
teaching and from your history with Him. Do not be mislead and serve them.” Moses
spoke further and said, “You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or
that dreamer of dreams for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love
the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul.”
The
false prophets did not come from God, but God allowed them to test the
Israelites so they would grow, understand for certain who God is to them, and
so He would know their strength and resolve. When Moses said God was growing
them with this test, He meant He allowed it for their growth. He reiterated for
them the first commandment, “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him,
and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling
to Him.” Moses spoke this commandment many times since Deuteronomy 5. He said
these exact words in Deuteronomy 10:20. The Israelites would realize the false prophets
touted false gods by listening to what they spoke about them and determining their
difference from what the LORD God taught them. They had a relationship with the
LORD and knew Him; therefore, they could compare Him and His commands,
statutes, laws, and teachings to the false gods. The Israelites would understand
the god whom the false prophet touted was not God. God told them to continue to
love and fear Him as Moses taught them. He told them to act against the false
prophet. They were not just to recognize the person as a false prophet, but
were to act against him or her. Verse 5 says, “That prophet or that dreamer of
dreams shall be put to death because he counseled rebellion against the LORD
your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house
of slavery to seduce you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So
you shall purge the evil from among you.” God is serious about protecting His
people. He is serious regarding the faithfulness of His people, too. Because false
prophets bring the enticement to draw people to false gods, they entice them to
rebel and sin against Him, the LORD God, Yehovah. God’s righteousness means He
is fair and just. He gives what a person earns and deserves. God’s
righteousness means He cannot be in the presence of sin. The other side of
righteousness is judgment. When a person sins, God righteousness requires
justice and judgment. The judgment for sin is death. That can mean immediate physical
death, but it always means spiritual and eternal death – complete separation
from God forever. Knowing this, God’s command to put to death false prophets
does not appear so extreme. What appears extreme is that He requires the
Israelites to kill false prophets. From this, people who are not followers of
God say God is not a God of love, but of wrath. Let us come back to this
discussion after we study the rest of this chapter.
What
we need to learn from these verses is that false prophets will arise among
God’s people. Luke, Paul, and Peter recorded this, too, in Acts 20:28-30, 2
Corinthians 11:1-5, and 2 Peter 2:1. These false prophets confront God’s people
with a choice to hear and obey either God or their false gods. If the
Israelites chose to follow God, then they could not tolerate the false prophets
and must kill them. God created a new nation and set up laws and rules for the community.
God created the nation based on one God, Himself, with no equality or
toleration of other religions. The Ten Commandments were the foundations of
this new nation. They were the laws of community for a new people.
False
Prophets – Relatives
God commanded the Israelites not give more weight to
words of a false prophet even if they are from within their own family. The
threat is more insidious because a person would consider and give more weight
to what a family member says. God ruled this out in verses six through eleven.
God said that even a friend who is as close as family must not be given more
consideration when espousing another god. He reminded the Israelites that they know
Him and they have a covenant with Him to be their God and to take care of them.
The promise of the covenant said they would have abundant life, would be prosperous,
and would multiply. God told them not to listen to the family member in secret
as he or she entices them. He said not to “yield to him” (vs. 8). That means do
not be willing, consent to, or wish to accept what they say as truth. Added to
this, God said not to listen to, pity, spare, or hide him. By doing these
things, they would rebel against God and fall to the temptation of the false
gods. God protects His people by having the false prophet removed so His people
are not tempted or tricked into listening to and believing what they say about his
or her false god. God wants His people to stay loyal and protected by His hand.
God’s law protects them from the trickery of false gods, which would take them
out of His covenant blessing. God said they are rebellers and sinners whose judgment is separation from Him. Death now or death
later is the same judgment. They both lead to eternal separation from God.
Why
did God say the relative’s hand would be the one to throw the first stones? The
relative is the first witness of the trickery and apostasy. He or she makes the
first attestation of the false prophet’s rebellion against God. If another
person threw the first stone, he or she would be the one condemning the person
based on a rumor. The one who knows the facts attests to the validity of the
case by throwing the first stones. By doing this, the relatives stay faithful
and obedient to the God they know who brought them from Egypt and paid their
ransom price for freedom. Being obedient to this law rids Israel of this evil. In
addition, when the rest of Israel heard about this incident, they would
remember God’s commands, recognize His seriousness, revere, fear, and obey Him,
and never tout or ask about a false god again.
False
Prophets – In Another City
Lest the Israelites become
complacent because of long distance, the LORD told them specifics of what He
required if they learned of a rumor regarding a false prophet and city that was
not following him. Long distance from a crime or hardship makes a person less
likely to get involved. God spoke specifically about rumors of false prophets
so the Israelites understand that distance must not make them complacent, but
vigilant. If they discovered a city or town that listened to a false prophet
(here called worthless, scoundrels, and ungodly) and were following and serving
false gods, God told them to do several things. The Israelites were to investigate
the matter, find where it comes from, and enquire thoroughly to decide if the
rumors were true. God takes false prophets seriously because He wants to
safeguard His people from evil. Next, He commanded the people to “utterly
destroy” the city or town, including its people, livestock, buildings, idols,
temples. Remember from the law of the ban from chapter seven, God commanded
they destroy everything in idol-loving Canaan. The same ban continued through chapter
thirteen and continues today. God wants us to have nothing to do with false
gods. He wants to protect us from the temptation to ask about them and follow
them. God safeguards our future by demanding we completely remove these things
from our presence today, as He did the Israelites. God even commanded they not keep
the booty from the false-god-following city or town. They were to burn all
booty in the middle of the city as a whole burnt offering to Him. Remember from
chapter twelve, God commanded the Israelites give the complete “whole burnt offering”
to Him. He commanded His worshippers consume none of it. By giving this
offering, the Israelites were obedient and recognizing God’s concern for their earthly
and eternal well-being. In verses 17-18, God reminded the Israelites, “Nothing
from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that
the LORD may turn His burning anger and show mercy to you and make you
increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers if/for you will listen to the
voice of the LORD your God.” In reminding them of the law of the ban, God reminded
them, too, of the alternative of which He spoke in Deuteronomy 10:12-11:32. Moses
commanded them as the people of God to keep His commandments, statutes, and
laws. He then explained this meant they hear, listen, obey, fear, revere, and
cling to God so they are joined closely with Him and pursue Him closely (Deut.
10:20, 11:22, 13:4). By removing the potential for worship of false gods and
rebellion against the LORD God, the Israelites would be able to become so close
to God that they would cling to Him. To encourage their following of the law of
the ban, God said four things would occur when they destroyed everything in the
rebellious city/town. He said His burning anger will “be turned away from them;”
He will show mercy (compassion) to them; He will have compassion (deep love) on
them; and He would make them increase (become many and great). With so much
blessing available for following God and such a dire end for rebelling and
turning away from Him, Moses commanded the Israelites to listen to the voice of
the LORD God, to keep His commandments and do what is right in His sight (vs. 18).
Obedience
to God is not always easy, especially when it hits close to home with our relatives
and close friends, but we must stand firm on God’s commands because they are
there to protect us from evil. When the evil is far away from us, laxity in
removing a potential problem is easy, too. Yet God requires we investigate the
matter so the evil there does not spread and become a problem closer to home or
in other parts of the nation. Long distance should not be a consideration in handling
evil. God required the Israelites to take seriously any false teachings and
evil, to investigate and not ignore it, and then to remove it.
False
Prophets
False prophets did not end with the Old
Testament. Jesus, His disciples, and Paul each encountered them. Thirty-three
times in the Bible God dealt with false prophets and teachers – five in the Old
Testament and twenty-eight in the New Testament. If the father of false prophets
(Satan) was active in biblical times, he very much is active now when Jesus is
not walking on earth. Read and consider each of the passages in the Bible that
teach about false prophets and false gods. What can you learn from them?
Passage:
|
What
the false prophet did:
|
Deuteronomy
13
|
Deceived.
Urged to follow other gods. Came from within God’s people.
|
Deuteronomy
18:20-22
|
Prediction
in the LORD’s name did not occur.
|
Jeremiah
5:30:31
|
Prophesied
falsely.
|
Jeremiah
14:13-15
|
Deceived.
Lied in God’s name.
|
Jeremiah
23:1-40
|
Deceived.
Tried to get God’s people to forget Him.
|
Matthew
7:15-20
|
Produced
bad/evil fruit.
|
Matthew
7:21-23
|
Did
not do the will of God
|
Matthew
15:14
|
Guided
people wrongly.
|
Matthew
16:1-4
|
Demanded
a sign from Jesus.
|
Matthew
24:11
|
Deceived
people.
|
Matthew
24:23-26
|
Mislead
and taught contrary to what God and Jesus taught.
|
Mark
13 21-23
|
Mislead
and taught something different from what Jesus taught.
|
Acts
20:29-32
|
Taught
contrary to what Jesus taught. Came from within God’s people.
|
Romans
16:16-18
|
Deceived
and taught contrary to what Jesus and disciples taught.
|
2
Corinthians 11:13-15
|
Deceived
|
Galatians
1:6-13
|
Taught
contrary to what is taught in the Gospel.
|
Philippians
3:18-19
|
Put
on a show to be well known. Known by their fruits.
|
Colossians
2:8
|
Deceived.
|
Colossians
2:18
|
Deceived.
Taught and preached things other than Christ. Taught the worship of angels.
|
1
Timothy 4:1
|
Deceived
|
2
Timothy 4:1-5
|
Taught
contrary to what Jesus and disciples taught in the Bible.
|
Titus
1:10-16
|
Rebelled
against God. Vain. Deceived. Detestable. See they are deceivers by their
fruit.
|
2
Peter 2:1-3
|
Deceived.
Taught contrary to what Jesus and disciples taught. Denied Christ. Came from
within God’s people.
|
2
Peter 2:18
|
Deceived.
Bragged. Had twisted sexual desires.
|
2
Peter 3:15-18
|
Taught
contrary to what Jesus taught and what is in the Bible.
|
1
John 4:1-6
|
Deceived.
Taught that Jesus did not come in the flesh and that He did not come from
God. Denied Christ.
|
2
John 1:10-11
|
Taught
contrary to the truth about Jesus.
|
Jude
1:1-4
|
Deceived.
Changed the truth of the Gospel. Lewd. Denied Christ.
|
Revelation
2:2
|
Deceived.
|
Revelation
13:11-14
|
Deceived.
Did great wonders. Cause people to worship the first beast.
|
Revelation
16:14
|
Did
miracles to trick people.
|
Revelation
19:20
|
Deceived
and led people astray. Performed miracles and wonders.
|
Revelation
20:10
|
Deceived
and seduced.
|
How can we tell who are false prophets? What
are their distinctive ways of working? Twenty-eight times in the Bible, biblical
writers told the people false prophets deceived or mislead them. Three times, they
told the people they could see who the false prophets were by their bad fruits.
Three times, because of their denying Christ walked on earth and is the Son of
God, they could know the person was a false prophet. Nine times, because of
their “signs and wonders,” the people could realize the person was a false prophet.
As people who want to know the truth, we must first learn God’s Word. When we
study God’s Word, grow near Him, and cling to Him, we will be able to recognize
when a false prophet tells lies and denies Christ. Added to this, we must
realize that false prophets can produce miracles – signs and wonders – because Satan
gives them some of his power to them to ensnare more people and draw them away
from the LORD. Jesus told us in Matthew 7:15-20 that we will recognize false prophets
based on their fruit. If prophets do not produce actions that glorify God and
that come as fruit of the Spirit as Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 5:9,
Colossians 3:12-15, and Romans 5:1-5 say (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, righteousness, truth,
perseverance, hope, compassion, and humility), then they are not prophets of
God. God’s Word says if the prophet prophesies in the name of the LORD God and
it does not happen, he or she is a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).
What does God’s Word say must be done or will
be done about the false prophets? In Deuteronomy 13 and 18, God told the
Israelites to kill the false prophets. Jeremiah 5:30-31, 14:13-15 and 23:1-40 tell
us “God will punish the lying prophet” and “the Lord’s anger will burst on
them.” In the twenty-eight references in the New Testament, God’s strict judgment
comes upon false prophets. The Bible repeats in many verses God will judge the
false prophets and the penalty of their sin will be death. The Bible states it
in these ways: 1. “They will be cut down and thrown in the fire;” 2. “The blind
will lead the blind and they will both falls into a pit;” 3. “Their end is
based on their works;” 4. They are accursed; 5. God will judge them according
to their works; 6. God will throw them in a lake of fire; 7. God will punish
lying prophets with sword/war and famine; 8. The Lord’s anger will burst on
them like a storm. God will expel false prophets from His presence and their city.
Each of these judgments render the false prophet separate for eternity from the
LORD God.
Does God still expect His people to kill false
prophets? Nowhere in the New Testament do we learn that false prophets are to be
killed by human hands, but that God will judge and condemn them. This does not mean
God changed. The Mosaic covenant was fulfilled when Jesus Christ was born, lived
on earth, was crucified a sinless man for the penalty of the sins of humankind,
and was resurrected to sit in power as the mediator for sinful humankind. From that
point, the world lives under the Messianic covenant. The Mosaic covenant was a covenant
on how to relate to God and to other humans within community. It pointed humankind
to their sinfulness for which there was no permanent resolution since people sin
every day. The Messianic covenant is a covenant of salvation. It provides righteousness
to humankind upon confession that Jesus is God’s Son and came to earth to die for
their sins. The Messianic covenant provides permanent resolution of the sin of believers.
How does this concern the judgment of destruction God taught the Israelites to inflict
on false prophets? Because Jesus brings salvation, He does not want any person to
remain lost, but seeks them to save them (Luke 19:10). Jesus extends mercy instead
of imposing immediate death to false prophets. Additionally, When Jesus encountered
the Pharisees who caught a woman in adultery and wanted to stone her, Jesus told
them the one without sin can stone her. From the Mosaic covenant, people set up
ways to judge other people and did not consider their own lack of righteousness.
Jesus made the Pharisees and His followers realize they had no right to stone a
woman caught in sin because they too were sinners. It would be like the pot calling
the kettle black. That does not mean to say that when God told the Israelites to
kill false prophets, they had no right. With the LORD as the righteous judge and
one true God, He can condemn and we must obey. Yet, in the New Testament, He did
not tell people to kill other people. When He brought into being the new covenant
of salvation, the laws of the Mosaic covenant were fulfilled and no longer valid.
The law of killing false prophets was no longer valid. We should do as Jesus, Peter,
John , and Paul taught. They said to hold onto what you are taught (2 Peter 2:1-3),
which means do not fall to the trickery of the false prophet. The writer of Romans
also said this in Romans 16:16-18, as did Peter in 2 Peter 3:15-18, Paul in 2 Timothy
4:1-5, and Jesus in Mark 13:21-23. In all the verses in the New Testament that speak
of false prophets, they each say to turn away from them and God will judge and condemn
them to hell, the pit, or death.
Death
and hell are harsh judgments you say. Consider this then. From Genesis, we read
God created humankind because He wanted a relationship with each of us (Genesis
1-2). Moses reiterated this in Deuteronomy 10:15 when he said, “The LORD set
His affection to love them.” Paul repeated it in Ephesians 1:4-5 when he said, “He
chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and
blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons/children
through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” John
reported the depth of God’s love to us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall
not perish, but have eternal life.” God did not create humankind to judge and
condemn them, but to love them and spend eternity with them. Because of His
fierce love for us, He fiercely protects His people. Because of His holiness,
He cannot be in the presence of sin. Because of His righteousness, when sin
occurs, judgment must be given. Therefore, God protects His people by judging
and condemning those who trick and lead His people to walk away from and rebel
against Him. Whether God enacts His judgment on earth or after death in the
eschaton (after Christ’s return and at the time when God judges every person),
His judgment of false prophets will be permanent separation from Him. God does
not want anyone to be lost and perish from Him forever, but wants everyone to
be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth of His love and salvation made
possible through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ (2
Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4). Whether His judgment came through the hands of
obedient Israelites following His commands in Deuteronomy 13 or through His own
hands, as stated in the other thirty-one Scripture passages, judgment for sin
is death – eternal separation from God – not just physical death.
What
Does This Mean For Today?
How does this relate to us? God judged the Canaanites’
rebellion against Him and demanded their punishment and destruction. Are false prophets
touting false gods still today? In the world of today, we learn of many faith
systems – animism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hari Krishna,
Buddhism, et al. When a person touts a god other than the LORD God, they are
false prophet spreading evil. God still protects His people from evil. From
this Bible study, we learn how to identify false prophets from true prophets of
God. In our study today, we learned to act quickly and decisively to false prophets
or rumors of false prophets. We must see the danger they pose and be ready to
remove them from influencing God’s people. God said that false prophets will
come from inside and outside the church (2 John 1:4-11, Acts 20:28-31, and 2
Peter 2:12-22). These false prophets will try to trick people by adding to or
removing from God’s Word. Both Moses and John spoke against these practices in
Deuteronomy 12:32 and Revelation 22:18-19. False prophets will try to twist the
Scriptures to confuse people (2 Peter 3:14-18). They will tell people what they
wish for to appeal to their sinful nature (2 Peter 2:17-18). This means then,
that we must be diligent in studying the Word of God so we grow stronger in Him
and in Christlikeness.
Deuteronomy 13 says that God will sometimes
allow false gods to come so we will be tested and grow from the experience.
With trials come perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3-5). James said
in James 1:2-4 that testing that produces endurance has the result of perfection
and completeness. Completeness comes when we enter heaven because of our faithful
acceptance and following of Jesus Christ. This is the promise and divine benefit
of times of testing and trials. Added to this, by growing in Christlikeness, we
comprehend God’s Word and the Holy Spirit reminds us of it. In this way, we can
discern when a false prophet arises, confront him or her, show the truth from
the Word of God so he or she can understand the truth, and then, if they do not
repent and return to God, remove them from the church as Jesus taught in
Matthew 18:15-17. By removing the person from the church, his or her influence
does not seduce people away from God.
Maybe you have never heard of the
love God has for humankind. Perhaps you did not realize that a person deceived
you when they taught you what they did. Now that you understand God loves you
and desires to have a relationship with you for eternity, you have the
opportunity to think on it and choose whether you will return to your Father
and Creator, the LORD God who created and sustains everything that exists. Possibly
you have given your heart to Christ and once followed Him, but have fallen away.
There is still forgiveness for sin. Jesus’ sacrifice provides salvation from all
our sins once we accept Him. None of us is perfect or will be perfect until we are
in heaven with Christ. We all must daily go before Him confessing our sins and receiving
forgiveness from Him. Whichever place you find yourself in, will you turn to
the LORD? If you have never accepted Jesus love and salvation, admit you are a sinner,
believe in His Son Jesus Christ, and accept His forgiveness and grace? Will you
chose to become a child of God and inherit God’s promise of eternal life with
Him? If you once gave your heart to Jesus, will you turn to Him now confessing
your sin and asking Him for forgiveness? Now is the time for you to decide.
