IDOLATRY AND FALSE PROPHETS FALSE PROPHETS IN THE FAMILY ...biblestudyworkshop.com/download/old/deuteronomy... · FALSE PROPHETS IN THE FAMILY ... Suppose a prophet or one who foretells

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Commentary and Questions by Wayne Harlan

Landmark Publications, Inc., 1045 Maynor Street, Nashville, TN 37216, U.S.A., John C. Sewell, Ph.D., Editor.

IDOLATRY AND FALSE PROPHETS

FALSE PROPHETS IN THE FAMILY

PUNISHMENT OF COMMUNITY IDOLATRY

DEUTERONOMY 13:1-18




IDOLATRY AND FALSE PROPHETS

FALSE PROPHETS IN THE FAMILY

PUNISHMENT OF COMMUNITY IDOLATRY

Text: Deuteronomy 13:1-18, 1. Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, 2. and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods”—gods whom you have not previously known—“and let us serve them.” 3. You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being. 4. You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him. 5. As for that prophet or dreamer, he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. 6. Suppose your own full brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should




seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have previously known, 7. the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other). 8. You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 9. Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to strike him, and then the hands of the whole community. 10. You must stone him to death because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. 11. Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. 12. Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that 13. some evil people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). 14. You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, 15. you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. 16. You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin forever—it must never be rebuilt again.




17. You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. 18. Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you today and doing what is right before him. (NET) I. Main points: . . .

A. Idolatry and false prophets. (verses 1-5)

1. A warning against idolatry.

B. False prophets in the family. (verses 6-11)

1. Temptation may be close by.

C. Punishment of community idolatry. (verses 12-18) II. Key quote: Deuteronomy 13:4, You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him. (NET) Commentary:

IDOLATRY AND FALSE PROPHETS Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder should




come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods”—gods whom you have not previously known—“and let us serve them.” You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being. You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him. As for that prophet or dreamer, he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. (NET) I. Idolatry and false prophets. (verses 1-5)

A. The Lord warned the Israelites to beware of the rise of idolatry in their midst.

B. You must carefully judge all prophets that advocate turning away from God to worship false gods and idols.

C. A true prophet is one sent by God.

1. Numbers 12:6, The Lord said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. (NET)




2. Jeremiah 14:14, Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! I did not send them. I did not commission them. I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own mind. (NET)

3. Jeremiah 23:32, I, the Lord, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. I, the Lord, affirm it!” (NET)

D. In verse three God told the Israelites He may test their loyalty by sending false prophets among them.

1. He had been testing their loyalty for forty (40) years as they journeyed through the wilderness.

2. During this time they had to trust and believe that He would protect them and provide for them.

a. Exodus 15:24-25, So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord made for them a binding ordinance, and there he tested them. (NET)




b. Exodus 16:4, 27-28, Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. Will they walk in my law or not? On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they found nothing. So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to obey my commandments and my instructions? (NET)

c. Exodus 17:4-6, Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with this people?—a little more and they will stone me!” The Lord said to Moses, “Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in plain view of the elders of Israel. (NET)

E. Man’s loyalty to God was first tested through Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

1. Genesis 2:16-17, Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and




evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.” (NET)

F. Temptations will come that may appear to be true or good, but, in fact, may be evil.

1. Genesis 3:4-6, The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. (NET)

2. 1 Kings 22:21-22a, Then a spirit stepped forward and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked him, ‘How?’ He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ (NET)

3. 1 Peter 5:8, Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. (NET)

FALSE PROPHETS IN THE FAMILY Deuteronomy 13:6-11, Suppose your own full brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage




you to go and serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have previously known, the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other). You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to strike him, and then the hands of the whole community. You must stone him to death because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. (NET) I. False prophets in the family. (verses 6-11)

A. The temptation of a false prophet may come from far, or near, from foreigners or family.

B. The temptations that come from friends or family are hard to resist.

1. It is easier to refuse a stranger than someone you trust and have a close relationship with.

C. In verse eight (8) God made it clear that the Israelites must resist the temptation to worship other gods.

1. Be careful, and do not sin just to appease a family member or friends.

2. Related references: . . .




a. Deuteronomy 6:14-15, You must not go after other gods, those of the surrounding peoples, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a jealous God and his anger will erupt against you and remove you from the land. (NET)

b. Deuteronomy 7:3-4, You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. (NET)

c. Joshua 23:11-13, Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God! But if you ever turn away and make alliances with these nations that remain near you, and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; they will be a whip that tears your sides and thorns that blind your eyes until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God gave you. (NET)

d. 1 Thessalonians 5:22, Stay away from every form of evil. (NET)




D. The person who is tempted by another to worship a false god must be the first to cast a stone, then the rest of the village must stone the idolater to death.

1. Leviticus 24:14, “Bring the one who cursed outside the camp, and all who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole congregation is to stone him to death. (NET)

2. Numbers 15:35, Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone him with stones outside the camp.” (NET)

3. Deuteronomy 21:21, Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out wickedness from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid. (NET)

E. Jesus proclaimed that the person who tempts the followers of god away from worshiping Him will face eternal damnation.

1. Matthew 18:6-7, “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! It is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come. (NET)




F. The severity of the punishment is to be equal to the severity of the sin.

1. Apostasy is a sin against God the Father and violates the first two (2) commandments as well as the spirit of the law.

2. Related references: . . .

a. Deuteronomy 5:7-9, You must not have any other gods besides me. You must not make for yourself an image of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject me, (NET)

b. Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. (NET)

PUNISHMENT OF COMMUNITY IDOLATRY Deuteronomy 13:12-18, Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that some evil people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities,




saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin forever—it must never be rebuilt again. You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you today and doing what is right before him. (NET) I. Punishment of community idolatry. (verses 12-18)

A. If it is suspected that an entire city has turned to idolatry it must be thoroughly investigated.

B. If the charge was found to be true, the inhabitants were to be killed and the city destroyed and burned.

C. A Google search reveals that the Targum (the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible) explains more fully the investigation of an allegation and the punishment.

1. “The Sanhedrin was to investigate a city that was accused of idol worship.




2. Two (2) men were sent to verify the claim, and if it was true, they admonished the city leaders to repent and denounce the practice.

3. If they did not repent, the city was to be attacked and destroyed.

4. The destroyed city was never to be rebuilt but remained in ruins as a reminder of the divine judgement of God and the end result of breaking His commandments.

a. Genesis 19:24-25, 28, Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. So he overthrew those cities and all that region, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground. He looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. (NET)

C. Chapter 13 ends with the promise that God will be merciful to those who continue to believe in Him and remain faithful to His word.

1. Psalm 25:10, The Lord always proves faithful and reliable to those who follow the demands of his covenant. (NET)




2. Psalm 31:23, Love the Lord, all you faithful followers of his! The Lord protects those who have integrity, but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly. (NET)

3. Psalm 33:12, How blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession. (NET)

4. Psalm 89:28, I will always extend my loyal love to him, and my covenant with him is secure. (NET)

5. Deuteronomy 7:9, So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, (NET)

Conclusion: I. God is teaching the Israelites to reject all idols made by the hands of men and to only worship Him, the unseen spirit.

A. Exodus 20:4-5, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of




fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me, (NET)

B. Exodus 34:12-14, Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you. Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (NET)

C. Deuteronomy 7:3-4, You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. (NET)

D. Joshua 23:7-8, or associate with these nations that remain near you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods! You must not worship or bow down to them! But you must be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this very day. (NET)

E. Psalm 115:4-8, Their idols are made of silver and gold—they are man-made. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell, hands, but cannot touch, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot even clear their throats. Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them. (NET)




II. This chapter explains the method of dealing with the threat of apostasy from false prophets, both foreign and from family and friends. III. God understood the pressure the Israelites would be under to renounce their God and accept the pagan practices of their neighboring nations.

A. He knew that the Israelites were weak, and the temptation had to be eliminated as soon as possible.

B. The threat of apostasy from a false prophet could rapidly spread and it had to be contained.

1. An example of how quickly this can happen is the story of the sin of the gold calf in Exodus.

a. Exodus 32:1-2, When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, make us gods that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!” So Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” (NET)




IV. The severity of the punishment had to fit the severity of the crime. A public stoning was used to achieve those two (2) objectives.

A. It eliminated the sinner from the midst of the people and it sent a strong message to all who took part in the stoning: if you stray from the way of God and worship false gods, this will be your fate.

1. Leviticus 24:16, and one who misuses the name of the Lord must surely be put to death. The whole congregation must surely stone him, whether he is a foreigner or a native citizen; when he misuses the Name he must be put to death. (NET)

2. Deuteronomy 13:11, Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. (NET)

V. The Hebrews did succumb to the temptation of idol worship and the words of false prophets with the result that God would warn them of their sin and its consequences if they would not repent.

A. Often they did not repent and as a result they suffered the consequences.

1. Exodus 32:7-8, The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside




from the way that I commanded them—they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” (NET)

2. Jeremiah 8:2, They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. These are things they adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. (NET)

3. Jeremiah 16:10-11, 17-18, “When you tell these people about all this, they will undoubtedly ask you, ‘Why has the Lord threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the Lord our God?’ Then tell them that the Lord says, ‘It is because your ancestors rejected me and paid allegiance to other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law. For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it. Before I restore them I will punish them in full for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have




claimed as my own with their detestable idols.” (NET)

VI. The dangers from false prophets did not end in the Old Testament era, but continued to be a source of concern.

A. Jesus cautioned believers to beware of false prophets and told us how to recognize them.

1. Matthew 7:15-16, “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? (NET)

B. He also said that false prophets will arise during times of tribulation and in the end times.

1. Matthew 24:11, 24, And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (NET)

C. The book of Revelation tells us that false prophets will be among us until the end of time.

1. Revelation 19:20, Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf—signs by which he deceived those who had received the




mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. (NET) 2. Revelation 20:10, And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever. (NET)




Questions

on

Deuteronomy 13:1-18

1. God warned the Israelites to beware of ___________________ and _____________________. 2. False prophets could come from _______________ _______________ or _______________. 3. If a false prophet asked an Israelites to worship a strange god, they were to __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. How were the Israelites to deal with a family member or friend that wanted them to worship another god? __________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What was the prescribed method of administering the death sentence to a false prophet? ______________________________




_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Who was to take part in stoning a false prophet? ___________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Describe two objectives that a public stoning was to achieve.__ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What was the penalty for a city that had turned to idolatry and refused to repent? ______________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. In later history who was sent to investigate the charge of a city accused of apostasy? ___________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________




_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. Regarding question 9 above, describe the second step of the investigation. __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. In future years did the Hebrews have a history of apostasy? Yes_________; No __________ 12. The book of _______________ tell us that false prophets will be among us until ____________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13. Did God test the loyalty of the Israelites by sending them false prophets? Yes_________; No __________

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IDOLATRY AND FALSE PROPHETS FALSE PROPHETS IN THE FAMILY ...biblestudyworkshop.com/download/old/deuteronomy... · FALSE PROPHETS IN THE FAMILY ... Suppose a prophet or one who foretells