Put them to Death? Part 2
Deuteronomy 13:12-17 (NLT)
12 “When you begin living in the towns the LORD your God is giving you, you may hear 13 that scoundrels among you are leading their fellow citizens astray by saying, ‘Let us go worship other gods'—gods you have not known before. 14 In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find that the report is true and such a detestable act has been committed among you, 15 you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. 16 Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the open square and burn it. Burn the entire town as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. 17 Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a large nation, just as he swore to your ancestors." Deuteronomy 13:12-17(NLT)
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Worshiping other Gods and leading others to do so was punishable by death in Israel. Actually The United States has an equivilent law and enforces it.
Ancient Israel was held together by a covenant between God and the people. God would bless the people if the people held up their side of the bargain. For the people to accomplish the latter, meant loyalty to God and faithfulness to the covenant, which effectively functioned as their constitution. God was the Sovereign and the constitution spelled that out. The existence of the nation depended on what held them together, God and the Covenant. To proclaim loyalty to another sovereign or to undermine the constitution meant that Israel’s Sovereignty, constitution and very existence would therefore be compromised. Can you now image what the comparable American law would be, which is not antiquated and which is still enforced?
Americans have laws against treason and espionage, because to declare to loyalty to another sovereign, to lead others to do the same and to undermine our constitution is to put the existence of our nation at risk. Of course Israel was a theocracy and we are not. But the principle is the same. Everyone cannot simply do as he or she pleases. There has to be something that holds us together. Loyalty and subordination of the self to a greater common good is part and parcel of the survival of a nation.
July 4 is right around the corner. It seems to me that there is something in chapter 13 that has implications for 21st century America. What might that be? (No, it is not re-instituting the death penalty for idolaters! - We’d all be in trouble!)
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
God preferred an Israelite be dead that worship a false idol. He is a jealous God.
ReplyDeleteWe modern Christians must be aware of following false idols too.The following is from Ken Sande.
"An idol, is any desire that has grown into a consuming demand that rules our heart; it is something we think we must have to be happy, fulfilled, or secure. To put it another way, it is something we love, fear, or trust.
Love, fear, trust—these are words of worship! Jesus commands us to love God, fear God, and trust God and God alone (Matthew 22:37; Luke 12:4-5; John 14:1). Any time we long for something apart from God, fear something more than God, or trust in something other than God to make us happy, fulfilled, or secure, we are engaging in the worship of false gods. As a result, we deserve the judgment and wrath of the true God."
Jeff says there must be something that holds us (America) together . . . in the 40s & 50s, we were a united and loyal Christian nation . . . seems like starting with hippies "doing their own thing" and feminists challenging God-ordained authority that we are now "slip slidding away". For certain, we are no longer unified and the nation's loyalty to God is slowly being chipped away . . . just exactly how far away might be the wrath of God?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #2, I think the word that describes what started with the hippies & radical feminists is rebellion, accompanied by envy and strife "...Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?...if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work....." Our Revolutionary War began in the pulpits, the '60s revolution stated "God is dead." The rebellion mentioned in today's text is against God. The natural outgrowth of that rebellion is death. Cleansing the pollution as mentioned in Deut 13:15,16 was to protect God's people from the poisonous fruit, the systemic gangrene, that would infect and destroy everything it touched. With you, I wonder how far away is God's wrath. I tremble as I witness His name being mocked in the halls of government, the entertainment and news media. We have sown to the wind and are reaping the whirlwind.Maranatha.
ReplyDeleteSeems like what God had given as a warning so many years ago, we are experiencing in the decline of our nation, families, schools, etc., today. After all these years, seems we haven't gotten it right, yet. Yet, God still loves us.
ReplyDeleteI know what I am about to write would seem racist, bigoted or even just plain hateful. Please know it is not my intent to appear that way. As one can see in our nation, we have permitted many cultures to bring to our nation many things that have taken us down that path. 1 King 11:1-2 (NKJ)(read 1 King Chapter 11 this is right on our current reading!)
1But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabimtes, Amonimtes, Edoimtes, Sidonians, and Hittimtes 2from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.
Solomon was warmed not to intermarry "foreign women". It was his downfall because they led him to worship other gods. It says he even chased after them! Here in America we have allowed many "foreign" things lead us down the same wrong path. We have a "tolerance" level which seems to cause many to compromise Christian beliefs. It makes us neither "hot" nor "cold" but that "warm" water that will be spewed out of the mouth.
I don't think we need to go through the U.S. killing everyone who doesn't think, look, or act like us. However, I do believe we need to be careful about what doors we open for the sake of foreign relations, business relations, education, success, the American Dream and the American way. There are doors we've opened which need to be nailed closed and doors we have nailed closed that need to be opened.
We could kill the agendas that lead us astray, kill the thoughts before we act upon them, kill the footholds (i.e. "adult" entertainment opportunities)that have caused many to fall away.
But how?
Prayer is a good start. It says in Eph 6:12 (KJ) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We need to get our prayer on!