Moses Warns About Being Lured into Idolatry and How to Deal with Apostasy in our Faith

Deuteronomy Chapter 13: More on the Law of Idolatry

Deuteronomy 13:1-18 – Gems and Thoughts from the Passage

In verses 1-5 the children of Israel were cautioned most strongly against false prophets or dreamers or seers who would lead them against what they know God has already said. It is a warning to us about modern-day prophets. I am not saying there are none that are from God, but I am saying it is our responsibility to do our due diligence with respect to what they are saying. If it in any way contradicts what God has said in His Word, then we are to stay away from them in every respect. In fact, the Israelites were told to put such people who would lead them astray to death. We can’t do that today, but I certainly don’t believe in going easy on them in every other way and to use the full extent of the civil law against them. [I am thinking about false prophets who dabble with people’s finances or health in particular.]

Church Smith says the following on this passage:

“Because someone is able to bring to pass some kind of a phenomenon for which there is no scientific explanation, does not necessarily follow that that phenomena come from God. Satan is a deceiver and he is able also to create all kinds of spectacular phenomena. Thus, we are not to be drawn to phenomena and use phenomena as a criterion for truth.

The person who is seeking after miracles is on a dangerous territory for when the anti-Christ comes he is going to come with lying signs and miracles that he's able to work before the people. There is an unhealthy absorption in miracles in many people's lives.”

So, even if they are able to do what appear like miracles, if their words do not match God’s, they are false.

I note that in the margin of my Bible besides these verses, I had once written, “This explains why the Jews arrested Peter and John” when they first heard them. They were saying things that were so beyond what the Old Testament scrolls were saying. Thankfully, today, we have the entire sixty-six books of the Bible from which to glean what God is saying to us.

In verse 6 and following, Moses warns the sons of Israel what to do if a close family member (or close friend) entices them to worship other gods. They were not to yield to them or follow them. But more than that, they weren’t to protect them, but rather to expose them -- lest they cause others to fall away. This was and is a serious business. In fact, the one being enticed was to play a key role in stoning the person doing the enticing. Okay, we can’t do that today.  Fair enough but we can have nothing to do with this person and we can expose the dangers of listening to them to save others. Unfortunately, the Enemy works in the hearts of many to stay close to such a person telling us the lie, “how else will you be able to set that person back on the straight and narrow?”  Sorry, friends, in this case, the Bible is clear – have nothing to do with them.

Now verse 12 takes a further turn and one that is a little more difficult to understand. As I understand it, Moses is warning the Israelites that if some of them (in their cities that God had given them) go to another city and start worshipping their gods, the sons of Israel were to investigate and if true, they were to destroy all the inhabitants of that other city, and burn every aspect of it to the ground so that it will never be rebuilt. God has no tolerance for idolatry from His own people. And in verse 17, they were to “take no souvenirs”. Not so sure that we can do that today – we just have to leave these people who go from among us to God to take care of.

This last scenario also speaks to the idea that the Church has a responsibility to protect the community, the city, and in fact, the nation, from such false prophets and idolatry. I must admit that’s one responsibility we have not taken up very well lately.

I like what Matthew Henry says on this passage:

“Though idolaters may escape punishment from men (nor is this law in the letter of it binding now, under the gospel), yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgments. The New Testament speaks of communion with idolaters as a sin which, above any other, provokes the Lord to jealousy, and dares him as if we were stronger than he, 1 Co. 10:21, 22.” Some good advice we must not ignore.

Wrap-up

So, what are the lessons from Deuteronomy chapter 13?

First, do your due diligence with modern-day prophets. Check their words out against God’s Word in Scripture.

Second, stay away from and expose false prophets.

Third, that includes loved ones and friends who encourage you to follow other gods.

Finally, let go of, and stop associating with, those who were among the Church Body but have become an apostate to the faith.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God Gives Moses His Own “Handwritten” Instructions

Exodus 31:18: And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.

I wanted to deal with this last verse of Exodus chapter 31 all by itself as it contains significant information.

First we all need to realize there comes a time when God is finished speaking. While His love for us continues, there is no more He can say to us at that point. The ball then shifts to our court and we have to play it or drop it. If we haven’t got His message by that time, on the particular subject He is communicating with us on, there is nothing more He can say or do, short of hitting us with the consequences. He often chooses to just stop talking for our own sake. Those of you who are parents of older, perhaps even married children, may feel that way sometimes.

A relationship with one’s adult children, especially if they are married, is much different than a relationship with one’s minor-aged children who must obey, or even with one’s employee who ultimately must carry out the wishes of management. Adult children have freewill and need to make decisions for themselves. A parent can tell them what he/she believes is right, but ultimately, the decision to follow the advice is theirs. So, it is with God. But in both cases, there is the risk of consequences. There is somewhat of a risk in disregarding the advice of an older, more experienced, individual such as a parent, although we need to keep in mind that parents too are human and prone to error, even when trying to give wise advice to one’s children.  However, the consequences of disregarding advice given by God are most definite, as after all, He is God.

The second thing we remind ourselves of here is that Moses had gone to Mount Sinai to hear the words of the Lord. You can’t hear God easily amidst the din and clamor of the valley.  It’s not that God can’t get your attention in the busy circumstances of your life if he wanted to; believe me, He can – and it’s not always pleasant. But you need to go to the mountain (your own solitary space) where it’s quiet and you seek out God’s message to you personally. He wants to have your undivided attention to what He is about to tell you. When was the last time you had a totally private and planned date with God and not a double, or a triple, or a congregational one? If we want to hear a personal message from God, we need to be in a private space with God.

Thirdly in this verse we note that God gave Moses two tablets of the ‘testimony’ or law. They had been promised to him back in Exodus 24:12. God now delivers them to him as He sends him down from Mount Sinai to the people. They were to be properly put into the Ark. Not only were the ten commandments spoken by God, but they were now written down. There is something added to the binding power of words when they are written down. That’s why we often ask someone who feels another person is reneging on a promise, “Do you have that in writing?” That’s why we advise people to get things in writing.

[An aside: Interestingly, as I was writing this section, the daily paper carried an article about an indigenous university professor who lost her job because she refused to submit any articles or research whatsoever for peer review – something all professors are required to do.  She claimed “that peer-reviewed research is contrary to indigenous oral traditions and that (the university’s) research standard effectively discriminated against her ‘race, color, ancestry, place of origin . . . and sex.’” Strange how even God Himself wanted to write things down rather than rely totally on His ‘oral tradition’ to get His message out.]

Not only were the laws written down, but they were written in tables of stone. It is clear here (and from Exodus 24:12) that he found them all ready prepared by God. Matthew Henry suggests that the law was written in tables of stone to denote its perpetual duration. The idea being nothing lasts as long as something written in stone.

The text says they were written with the finger of God. Henry suggests that this means by God’s will and power directly, without the use of any tangible writing instrument. He indicates that some consider this to have been carried out through the ministry of angels.  He believes the implication of this ‘handiwork’ of God symbolizes that only He can write His law in our heart, utilizing 2 Corinthians 3:3 as his source. God gives us a heart of flesh, and then, by his Spirit, which is the finger of God, he writes his will in the fleshly tables of the heart.

There is no definitive explanation as to why there were two tablets and what exactly was on each one. There are basically two options that would fit with Jewish interpretation represented in the Midrash (which according to Wikipedia is a method of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal, or moral teachings. It fills in gaps left in the biblical narrative regarding events and personalities that are only hinted at). Either the two tablets had five commandments on them each, or they both contained all ten commandments and were a copy of each other. The idea here being that as in all covenants, each party got a copy. If this were the case, God’s copy would be stored in the Ark of the Covenant that He had ordered built. But what about the Israelites’ copy? The Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange website gives us this possible answer:

Since the Israelites had the status of vassal vis-à-vis G-d and were the lesser partners to the Covenant, it was reasonable for them to file their copy of the Pact in the Holy Ark of the Lord their G-d. Thus we conclude that both Tablets were placed together in the Ark in the Tabernacle, and later in Solomon's Temple: "There was nothing inside the Ark but the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, when the Lord made [a covenant] with the Israelites after their departure from the land of Egypt" (I Kings 8:9).

So, again, Scripture helps to answer Scripture. We know for sure there were both tablets in the Ark, even if we cannot say with absolute certainty as to what was written on each. Henry suggests that what was on them was indeed called tables of testimony, because this written law testified both the will of God concerning them and his good-will towards them, and would be a testimony against them if they were disobedient.

We can also assume Moses was required to show these to the people before laying them in the Ark. This way they were seen while being read, and thus, hopefully, better remembered. But did the Israelites remember and have we remembered?

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God’s Blueprints For Worship -- Exodus 20:24-26

--> “‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. And if you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it.  And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’” 
 

They are building new houses all around ours.  At various times, I see the foreperson pouring over a set of blueprints that need to be followed.  The construction team takes its directions via the person in charge from the blueprints drawn up by the architect.  Any variation requires architect agreement and then city council approval or the whole project could be shut down.

From this passage, we clearly see that God wants to be worshipped.  But that worship is to be undertaken in a prescribed way.  He gives us the parameters under which we are to worship.  To the Children of Israel in the Old Testament, God gave specific instructions of how to build an altar and what to do with it.

Most of us would agree that today we no longer have to make sacrifices on altars to worship God because His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, was the ultimate sacrifice, and it was made on our behalf.  Fair enough.  However, sometimes in our rush to throw out sacrifices, altars, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, we discard some of the principles God attached to Old Testament worship – principles that were, I believe, intended to transcend the ages.  Let’s look at some of those.

First, there is the principle of parameters themselves.  All behavior may be called worship by the worshipper, but God does not view all behavior as worship.  We need look no further than Genesis 4 where God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but not Cain’s, to support this thinking.  Here in Exodus 20, God tells the Israelites what kind of an altar He prefers and what they are to offer on it.  Today, under the guise of what we call ‘freedom in Christ’ we tend to worship Him in whatever way we feel like.  I am not speaking of modern music as compared to century old hymns.  That is not the point.  The point is that we need to consider how we worship God for while God is a God for all of time, He does not change.  There are things that He will not accept as He did not accept Cain’s worship.  And the Holy Spirit can and does speak to us as to what those things are, if we care to listen and obey.  Having said that, it is then also possible to accept the fact that what we all may not have arrived at the same point of hearing God on this matter, or some of us may well have misunderstood what He has told us when we hear Him with the filters of our own experiences and upbringings.  All that is possible and thus we should be careful not to criticize what others call ‘worship’ for them.  And I think that’s the secret – worship has to be ‘for us’ and it has to be truly perceived as, and believed to be acceptable to God, by the worshipper – no one else.

Second, we need to realize that God causes His “name to be remembered” in some very physical spots.  It may be a chapel pew for you.  It may be a gravesite of a loved one for me.  It may be someone else’s closet for them.  We would do well to keep an eye out for such places.  We would do well to listen to the rhythm of our heartbeats when we approach these special places in our lives.  Try visiting Israel and walk where Jesus walked or suffered, or performed miracles, and take your pulse.  I guarantee you it will be higher than normal.  We need to remember that one of God’s principles in our act of worship is that He causes His name to be remembered.  We may often call on the name of God and remember it, but we need to understand that it is He who brings it to our mind.  Even that we do not do ourselves.

Third, whenever we come across a place where God (not man) causes His name to be remembered, God says about that place, that He will come to us there and bless us.  That’s our God; we can count on that.  Want God to meet with you and bless you?  Make sure you are aware of where He causes you to remember His name; and visit there often.  When I think of what God is saying, promising, and doing here, I am reminded of the classic fast-food commercial that came out in 1978 that goes something like this – “at _________, we do it all for you!”  I’m sure you know the fast-food chain I’m talking about.  You may know them as the ones that build these large golden arches near their stores.  And if you’re still wondering who I’m talking about, check the commercial out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOMJ5nAaS08 .   Yes, God does it all for us – He reminds us of His name at various junctions in our lives; He visits us there; and He blesses us from there.  What more can we really ask for in response to our worship?

Fourth, while God has the right to be a “my way or the highway” God, there are aspects of our relationship with Him in which we are given choices.  Before I personally studied this passage, I would have been the first one to say, “Oh yeah, show me!”.  Well, Exodus 20:24-26 is one such example.  Here God clearly states His preference for an altar made of earth.  But then He goes on to say, “but if you make an altar of stone for Me, here are the specific directions for that.”  Our God is not the no-choice autocrat many of us have made Him out to be.  And of course, the fact that we do have acceptable choices in our positive relationship with Him (and not just with the negative choice to reject Him altogether) is complementary to the notion that we have been created with free will.

But no matter what our choice may be in some things, we still have to implement that choice within God’s parameters for that aspect of the relationship.  In the case of the Children of Israel, God did not want the Israelites to use cut stones that their implements had been applied to, if they were to build altars out of stone.  He wanted them, in that case, to use uncut natural stones.

Bible commentator Chuck Smith has much to say on this verse.  For starters he believes God did not want carved stones because He wanted nothing to distract the worshippers from worshipping Him.  He did not want anyone including those that built the altar to say or think, “my, isn’t that a great masonry job!”   Think for a moment of all the famous cathedrals or synagogues or temples you have visited.  What comes to mind first?  How awesomely you can worship God there or what a marvelous job the architect did?  Be honest.

Smith goes on to say we can glorify man’s handiwork any time we want, since he is using the abilities God Himself gave him, but we are never to regard it at all when we are in the process of worshipping God.  Many unbelievers hear a great preacher and marvel at his or her ability as an orator but they totally miss the point of what God has sent that individual to say to the world and to them.  Eloquent oratory can sometimes be a hindrance to the spreading of the Gospel.  Smith says “God help that man who seeks to bring glory and attention to himself while doing the service of God.”

Robert Jamieson suggests that they were not to carve the stones because that may lead to carving images on them and those images may in turn lead to superstitious thinking and behavior.  Perhaps.

But what we do know for sure is that God said if they do use carved stone, they would “profane” the altar.  That is, the altar would become irreverent, disrespectful, wicked, and even sacrilegious.   Our failure to worship God in His way ruins the entire exercise of worship for us.

Finally principle number five from this passage is this: God is concerned about our own showiness or flashiness.  One could argue that He is concerned about that at the best of times, but He certainly does not want any of it during our worship of Him.  Matthew Henry suggests that the Israelites were to make their altars low to the ground so that they would not think that the higher up the altar was built and the closer to the heavens they were, the more acceptable any sacrifice made on it would be to God.  Chuck Smith, however, I believe has a much more relevant explanation for this verse.  He writes:

In other words, don't go up steps and high where people can look up and see your bare legs or something. God just doesn't want attention drawn to anything but Him when we are worshiping God. He wants your heart and your mind to be centered upon Him, not to be distracted.

Then Smith goes on to explain why at his church they try to keep distractions to a minimum and even when dealing with musicians, they discourage “little antics that draw attention to themselves, even a special movement as you're playing the bass, you know. It draws attention to you, and takes the attention of the people off of what you're saying, what you're singing.”  Need we say more about how we dress or how we stand or how we move?  Smith goes on, “But the minute I draw attention to me, then the person's attention is taken off of God, and I am robbing God of that which is His. God will hold me accountable for it.”

So there we have it.  Keep the five simple principles for worship in mind, especially when you are leading it.  If you and I do that, then God readily accepts our worship.  And if He does, He will also bless it.  That’s all the success we need. 

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It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.