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Deuteronomy 13:6-11
6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
Enticers to idolatry to be put to death.
Moses had cautioned against the peril that might arise from the Canaanites. Here he cautions against the rise of idolatry among themselves. It is needful for us to be well acquainted with the truths and precepts of the Bible; for we may expect to be proved by temptations of evil under the appearance of good, of error in the guise of truth; nor can any thing rightly oppose such temptations, but the plain, express testimony of God's word to the contrary. And it would be a proof of sincere affection for God, that, notwithstanding specious pretences, they should not be wrought upon the forsake God, and follow other gods to serve them. (De 13:6-11)
Scripture Explained
When God gave the commandments to Israel, He first told them to not to worship other gods. He explained that He was a jealous God who would surely punished all those who gave homage to idols. (Ex. 20:1-6) When the nation of Israel was given over to idolatry God gave them the national death penalty. He disavowed, dispossessed and destroyed them.
To keep this ultimate penalty from coming on the whole people, God provided that anyone who introduced such evil, even secretly and privately, should be condemned. Thus the nation would not be corrupted and could maintain its purity. God knew that everyone who perverted the people by leading them into false ways had a mother, a father, a brother and a friend. But those relationships were not to give cover to evil. You had to love God and right even more than you loved your closest friends and relatives.
Yet God said in Deut. 13 to not only to "not listen" to the one closest to your heart if they do evil, but He also further said not to "pity," "spare" or "conceal" them. Then when capital punishment was executed upon them, the dear one was to be the first to stone them. Of course now we don't have to literally do that (thus our excuses are even flimsier and have less merit than Israel's might have), but we still must rebuke and exposes the error. But many refuse even to acknowledge the clear error.
Some just cannot bring themselves to live up to the standard that God set forth. Their love of men who are dear to them (friends, family, brethren) who are caught in evil overwhelms their faithfulness to God. "But what about unconditional love?" they whine. "Don't we love these dear ones too much to do this?" Shouldn't we rather be concerned with unconditional faithfulness to God? "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." (Mark 10:37,38)
The problem with defending evil is that it encourages further evil. Why did God say to punish even the dear one who did evil? "Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you." (Deut. 13:11) Correspondingly, what was the preacher in the N.T. told to do? "Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning." (1 Tim. 5:20) Evil is only checked by exposure and condemnation by the proclamation of truth. The closer to the source of evil, and the sooner it is done, the more effective the rebuke is.
Let us all then live up to the admonition that Paul gave Timothy. "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality." (1 Tim. 5:21) Let us have the integrity and fortitude to apply to gospel standard to all -- friends, relatives, children and ourselves included.
By Jay Horsley
From Expository Files 9-4; April 2002
6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
Enticers to idolatry to be put to death.
Moses had cautioned against the peril that might arise from the Canaanites. Here he cautions against the rise of idolatry among themselves. It is needful for us to be well acquainted with the truths and precepts of the Bible; for we may expect to be proved by temptations of evil under the appearance of good, of error in the guise of truth; nor can any thing rightly oppose such temptations, but the plain, express testimony of God's word to the contrary. And it would be a proof of sincere affection for God, that, notwithstanding specious pretences, they should not be wrought upon the forsake God, and follow other gods to serve them. (De 13:6-11)
Scripture Explained
When God gave the commandments to Israel, He first told them to not to worship other gods. He explained that He was a jealous God who would surely punished all those who gave homage to idols. (Ex. 20:1-6) When the nation of Israel was given over to idolatry God gave them the national death penalty. He disavowed, dispossessed and destroyed them.
To keep this ultimate penalty from coming on the whole people, God provided that anyone who introduced such evil, even secretly and privately, should be condemned. Thus the nation would not be corrupted and could maintain its purity. God knew that everyone who perverted the people by leading them into false ways had a mother, a father, a brother and a friend. But those relationships were not to give cover to evil. You had to love God and right even more than you loved your closest friends and relatives.
Yet God said in Deut. 13 to not only to "not listen" to the one closest to your heart if they do evil, but He also further said not to "pity," "spare" or "conceal" them. Then when capital punishment was executed upon them, the dear one was to be the first to stone them. Of course now we don't have to literally do that (thus our excuses are even flimsier and have less merit than Israel's might have), but we still must rebuke and exposes the error. But many refuse even to acknowledge the clear error.
Some just cannot bring themselves to live up to the standard that God set forth. Their love of men who are dear to them (friends, family, brethren) who are caught in evil overwhelms their faithfulness to God. "But what about unconditional love?" they whine. "Don't we love these dear ones too much to do this?" Shouldn't we rather be concerned with unconditional faithfulness to God? "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." (Mark 10:37,38)
The problem with defending evil is that it encourages further evil. Why did God say to punish even the dear one who did evil? "Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you." (Deut. 13:11) Correspondingly, what was the preacher in the N.T. told to do? "Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning." (1 Tim. 5:20) Evil is only checked by exposure and condemnation by the proclamation of truth. The closer to the source of evil, and the sooner it is done, the more effective the rebuke is.
Let us all then live up to the admonition that Paul gave Timothy. "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality." (1 Tim. 5:21) Let us have the integrity and fortitude to apply to gospel standard to all -- friends, relatives, children and ourselves included.
By Jay Horsley
From Expository Files 9-4; April 2002
