The Book of Deuteronomy

Hebrew Study

Explanation

Moses raises a hard case: "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass," and then he says, "Let us go after other gods." Even if the sign proves true, "Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet." Why would God allow such a thing? "For the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart." The test was not whether a sign could impress them but whether they would stay true. Their duty was clear: "Ye 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." The false prophet was to be put away, "because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God."

Gospel Focus

Here is a vital principle: a miracle is not proof that a message is from God. The test of any teaching is not whether it comes with signs but whether it leads us to the true God or away from Him. A prophet could give a sign that came to pass and still be a deceiver, "for the LORD your God proveth you." Jesus warned that "there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24). And Paul set the message above even a heavenly messenger: "though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). No sign, no wonder, no claimed revelation may move us from the truth of the one God and His gospel. The answer to every lure is the same: cleave to the LORD, cling to Him so closely that nothing can pull you away. Test every spirit and every message by the truth, and hold fast to the God you know.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

Now the test presses closer than a stranger's voice. "If 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," the pull would be almost unbearable, for these are the people we love most. Yet God's word is firm: "Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him." In Israel's theocracy such an enticer to idolatry, seeking to destroy the nation's very soul, faced the severest judgment, that "all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness." Loyalty to God was to stand even above the dearest earthly bond.

Gospel Focus

This is one of the hardest tests of all: what if the voice calling us away from God is the voice of someone we love with all our heart, a spouse, a child, a closest friend? God's claim on us is higher even than these. We do not live under Israel's civil law and are not called to execute anyone; but the principle of supreme loyalty to God abides, and Jesus stated it just as sharply: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37). No love, however precious, may be allowed to draw us from the Lord. This does not mean we love our families less; it means we love God most, and in truth the one who loves God supremely will love his family best. But if it ever comes to a choice, if the dearest person on earth would lead us from Christ, we must not consent. Cleave to the Lord even when it costs the deepest relationships, for He is worthy of a loyalty that outranks every other.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

The final case is a whole city led astray by "children of Belial" to serve other gods. Israel was to inquire diligently, and if the report proved true, the city under God's law was to be judged and its spoil not taken for personal gain but wholly given up. The reason was that idolatry was like a plague; if any of "the cursed thing" clung to their hands, the corruption would spread. "There shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee." The very same word for cleaving to the LORD in verse 4 appears here: they were to cleave to God, and let nothing of the accursed cleave to them.

Gospel Focus

These civil laws belonged to Israel's national covenant and are not ours to carry out; we wage no war with sword or fire, for "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal." But the abiding truth is the sacredness of keeping God's people pure from the corruption of idolatry. Notice the beautiful play on words: God's people are to cleave to Him (verse 4), and to let nothing of the cursed thing cleave to them (verse 17). What we cling to shapes us. Paul warns the church in the same spirit: "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" (1 Corinthians 5:6). Sin tolerated does not stay contained; it spreads. So we are to keep ourselves and our fellowship pure, not clinging to the accursed thing, whatever compromises with sin and idolatry would defile us. And see God's heart even in the severity: the aim is "that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee." Holiness and mercy are not opposites; God calls His people to purity so that His compassion may rest upon them. Cleave to the Lord, let nothing accursed cling to you, and dwell under His mercy.