Bible Talks

Deuteronomy 12:29-13:1829When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. 1If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. 6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 9But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you. 12If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, 13Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; 14Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; 15Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. 16And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again. 17And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; 18When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God. (Deuteronomy 12:29‑13:18)
THEN ISRAEL came into the land they were to be very careful not to have anything to do with the false gods of the nations that God would destroy before them. They must not even ask about them for their ways and practices were most hateful to God.
If any one came and asked them to go after another god, they were not to listen to him, but all the people were to put him to death. Even if it was their nearest relation, or their dearest friend, they were not to pity him, or try to hide him. In fact they were to be the very first to cast a stone at him, because he had tried to draw them away from the one true God, who had brought them out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
In this they would show they loved God more than their dearest friend. It was a sin to even listen to the temptation. We know that it was by listening to the serpent that Adam and Eve got away from God in the beginning. And any one who tempts God's people to dishonor Him is doing Satan's work. Even if it is our nearest relation, or our dearest friend, we must take God's part against him.
This might be a great sorrow, but if we loved God with all our heart and with all our soul, it would be a greater sorrow to hear Him dishonored.
There are many false prophets and deceivers within the church today, just as there were in Israel. We are not to follow them, but rather to reject them and their
teachings. In dealing with them we are to use "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:1717And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:17)). Even if the one who holds false doctrine, or seeks to lead others away from the Lord, be a close friend or relative, perhaps a member of the family, we are called to be faithful with him. Alas, how often family ties hinder loyalty to Christ! Oftentimes the Lord has been dishonored and a testimony has been weakened by lack of faithfulness in these things.
Israel were not to copy the nations around them. Even Christian boys and girls, and we who are older as well, are in danger of wanting to do things or to go places just like people of the world; but like Israel we are to be a people separated unto the Lord. We are not to be "conformed to this world" for the Lord Jesus "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." Gal. 1:44Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4). May we seek grace to be "imitators of God as dear children" (Eph. 5:11Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; (Ephesians 5:1)) instead of being imitators of a world which rejected Christ.
A stranger to Jesus? what! do you not know
He is washing poor sinners much whiter than snow?
Have you lived in a land where the Bible's unknown
That you don't know the Man who is now on the throne?
Ah, did you but know of His beauty and power,
You would not be a stranger another half hour.
Memory Verse
"FOR WHEN WE WERE YET WITHOUT STRENGTH, IN DUE TIME CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY." Romans 5:6
Messages of the Love of God 4/6/1975