Old Testament Commentary - Deuteronomy 13

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 13 The Lord tests his people to see if they will worship false gods—Prophets, dreamers, relatives, or friends who advocate worship of false gods shall be put to death—Idolatrous cities shall be destroyed.
1 IF there arise among you a ^aprophet, or a dreamer of ^bdreams, and giveth thee a ^csign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other ^agods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that ^aprophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God ^bproveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall ^awalk 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. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to ^adeath; because he hath spoken to ^bturn 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 ^cthrust 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.
6 ¶ If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy ^ason, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, ^bentice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7 Namely, 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; 8 Thou shalt not ^aconsent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be ^afirst upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 And 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. 11 And all Israel shall hear, and ^afear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.
12 ¶ If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, 13 Certain men, the children of ^aBelial, are gone out from among you, and have ^bwithdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; 14 Then 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; 15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly^a, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.	15^a destroying it utterly It may have seemed harsh for Israel to have destroyed all the people who had inhabited the land before them, but the Lord here gives the same commandment regarding any of the cities of Israel who may have gone after other gods as well. It is a necessary policy in order to preserve a people and their separate identity. Today, since the gospel is being taken to the world to bless them, no longer is that commandment in place currently until all nations of the earth have had an opportunity to hear that Gospel of Jesus Christ. And then in the Second Coming of the Lord will such an act against the people who have failed to have come unto Christ, and have chosen to still be corrupted from him and his gospel, then they, the wicked will again come under the edict of the Lord and they will be destoyred that only the righteous or more righteous of the people remain during the Millennial Reign of the Lord and do abide his presence in acceptance of him as our Lord and King.
16 And 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. 17 And ^athere shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his ^banger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; 18 When 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.