DEUTERONOMY LESSON 15
We will begin this lesson in Deuteronomy 13:1 "If there arise
among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or
a wonder,"
A true prophet brings messages from God to God's people. He,
also, explains the meaning for them. There are false prophets who
proclaim to the world that they are prophets. Sometimes, signs follow
them. It is interesting, to me, that Pharaoh's magicians could turn
their staffs into serpents, the same as Moses' staff turned to a
serpent. The difference was that Moses' serpent swallowed their
serpents. We must beware. Just signs are not enough to let us know for
sure they are not false prophets.
Deuteronomy 13:2 "And 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;"
This sign the false prophets gave that came true, was to prove
their message was true. We must remember that the Antichrist will show
the sign of calling down fire from heaven. We must check everything
out by the Word of God. If the Word does not bear witness, we must not
believe it. Anyone who tries to cause you to worship anything, or
anyone other than the LORD God, is a false prophet.
Deuteronomy 13:3 "Thou 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."
Do not sit under the teaching of anyone who teaches any other
doctrine. Matthew 24:24 "For 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." There is
only One Truth. Matthew 22:37 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind."
Deuteronomy 13:4 "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."
Micah 6:8 "He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what
doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God?" I Thessalonians 4:1 "Furthermore
then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort [you] by the Lord Jesus,
that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God,
[so] ye would abound more and more." I Thessalonians 4:2 "For ye know
what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus." The Christians, as
well as these Israelites, must continue to walk in the salvation they
have received from God.
Deuteronomy 13:5 "And 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."
The evil among them must be stopped. The way to do that was to
kill the one who is leading the evil. They were commanded to kill the
false prophets, so the people would continue to follow God.
Deuteronomy 13:6 "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, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;"
These are relatives and friends that you love in the flesh.
Sometimes, they lead us into temptation. We must treat them as if they
were strangers. They should no longer be thought of as your brother,
mother, or friend, if they do not the will of God. Even a wife who
leads you astray, should be thought of as a stranger.
Deuteronomy 13:7 "[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;"
The people mentioned in verse 6, sometimes, have more influence
over us, and can lead us to the wrong teaching. This, again, is
warning not to let anyone influence you to worship a false God. The
Word of God is truth. Every other teaching is false.
Deuteronomy 13:8 "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:"
Even family, or friends that we love so much, should not be
spared, if they are leading people to worship of false gods. We would
have a tendency to be more lenient on the immediate members of our
family and friends. We must treat them as false prophets.
Deuteronomy 13:9 "But 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."
To show there is no partiality with you, you must throw the first
stone. They shall be killed for bringing false messages.
Deuteronomy 13:10 "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."
There should be nothing more important than your relationship
with God. The truly important reason for the killing of such a person,
is to keep him from bringing someone else away from God to his false
gods.
Deuteronomy 13:11 "And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall
do no more any such wickedness as this is among you."
When they stone a relative, or friend, to death for leading them
to worship a false god, this should cause all of Israel to hear about
it, and fear the same thing happening to them. The consequences for
this sin is so great, they would not be tempted to do this.
Deuteronomy 13:12 "If thou shalt hear [say] in one of thy
cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there,
saying,"
The cities that were taken by them had, also, been places of idol
worship. They were told to clean all of that influence out, before
they took over the city.
Deuteronomy 13:13 "[Certain] 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;"
In a city, sometimes, it is easy for a large group of people to
be influenced wrongly at one time. This is what has happened here. One
evil leader can take many people with him, if the people listen to the
false doctrine. We saw this happen just a few years ago in South
America. Literally hundreds committed suicide, because they were
following a false teaching. This movement started in California, and
then, they all followed the false prophet to South America.
Deuteronomy 13:14 "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;" Deuteronomy
13:15 "Thou 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."
This city must be destroyed, as was Sodom and Gomorrah. This type
of sin cannot go unchecked. It will spread to everyone. The only way
to stop it, is to destroy the people involved.
Deuteronomy 13:16 "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."
Even all the valuable things they had, must be gathered up and
burned with fire, beyond use. The reason for destroying this city was
not to get their wealth, but to stamp out the abomination. Anything
connected with that, would be evil.
Deuteronomy 13:17 "And 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, and
multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;"
Even though it is silver or gold, they must not keep anything
back from the burning. The burning of all of it will show their desire
for following God in His will. It will show total disassociation for
the evil thing.
Deuteronomy 13:18 "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."
God will bless you, if you keep His commandments, and do
everything of His will, and not your own. We must be willing for the
will of God to totally rule our lives. To hearken to the will of God
is saying, "I will conform to your will in my life, LORD". Total
obedience to God, brings blessings.
Deuteronomy 15 Questions
1. What does a true prophet do?
2. What does a false prophet do?
3. What was interesting to the author about Pharaoh's magicians?
4. What was the difference in their miracle, and Moses' miracle?
5. What must we remember about the antichrist?
6. How can we tell, if a message is true, or false?
7. Why do these trials arise?
8. Quote Matthew chapter 24 verse 24.
9. There is only One ___________.
10. Quote Matthew chapter 22 verse 37.
11. List some of the things you should do in verse 4.
12. In Micah chapter 6 verse 8, what does the LORD require?
13. Quote 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 1 and 2.
14. Verse 5 says, what should happen to the false prophet?
15. Why should this happen?
16. How was the only way to stop the evil among them?
17. Should we make a difference in the punishment, if it is a near
relative?
18. Who shall throw the first stone?
19. What will happen to all of Israel, when they see and hear this?
20. One person can lead a whole ________ astray.
21. What should they do to that city?
22. What was a good example of whole cities being destroyed for their
sins?
23. He wants them to gather all the spoil, and do what with it?
24. What will this show?
25. God will bless you, if you do what?
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