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Deuteronomy Chapter
Thirteen
Deuteronomy 13
Chapter Contents
Enticers to idolatry to be put to death. (1-5) Relations
who entice to idolatry not to be spared. (6-11) Idolatrous cities not to be
spared. (12-18)
Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1-5
(Read Deuteronomy 13:1-5)
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.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6-11
(Read Deuteronomy 13:6-11)
It is the policy of Satan to try to lead us to evil by
those whom we love
whom we least suspect of any ill design
and whom we are
desirous to please
and apt to conform to. The enticement here is supposed to
come from a brother or child
who are near by nature; from a wife or friend
who are near by choice
and are to us as our souls. But it is our duty to
prefer God and religion
before the nearest and dearest friends we have in the
world. We must not
to please our friends
break God's law. Thou shalt not
consent to him
nor go with him
not for company
or curiosity
not to gain his
affections. It is a general rule
If sinners entice thee
consent thou not
Proverbs 1:10. And we must not hinder the course
of God's justice.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:12-18
(Read Deuteronomy 13:12-18)
Here is the case of a city revolting from the God of
Israel
and serving other gods. The crime is supposed to be committed by one of
the cities of Israel. Even when they were ordered to preserve their religion by
force
yet they were not allowed to bring others to it by fire and sword.
Spiritual judgments under the Christian dispensation are more terrible than the
execution of criminals; we have not less cause than the Israelites had
to fear
the Divine wrath. Let us then fear the spiritual idolatry of covetousness
and
the love of worldly pleasure; and be careful not to countenance them in our
families
by our example or by the education of our children. May the Lord
write his law and truth in our hearts
there set up his throne
and shed abroad
his love!
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy》
Deuteronomy 13
Verse 1
[1] If
there arise among you a prophet
or a dreamer of dreams
and giveth thee a sign
or a wonder
A dreamer of dreams —
One that pretends God hath revealed himself to him by visions or dreams.
Giveth a sign or wonder — That is
shall foretell some strange and wonderful thing.
Verse 3
[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.
Thou shalt not hearken to that prophet — Not receive his doctrine
though the sign come to pass. For although
when such a sign or wonder foretold did not follow or come to pass
it was a
sign of a false prophet
yet when it did come to pass
it was no sufficient
sign of a true one
especially
in such a case. There are many things
which
may be wrought by evil spirits
God so permitting it for wise and just reasons
not only for the trial of the good
but also for the punishment of ungodly men.
Proveth you —
That is
trieth your faith and love and obedience.
To know —
Namely
judicially
or in a publick manner
so as both you and others may know
and see it
that so the justice of his judgments upon you may be more evident
and glorious.
Verse 5
[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.
To thrust —
This phrase notes the great force and power of seducers to corrupt men's minds.
So shalt thou put the evil away — Thou shalt remove the guilt
by removing the guilty.
Verse 6
[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;
The son of thy mother — This is added
to restrain the signification of the word brother
which
is often used generally for one near a-kin
and to express the nearness of the
relation
the mother's
side being usually the ground of the most fervent
affection.
Thy daughter —
Thy piety must overcome both thy affection
and thy compassion to the weaker
sex. The father and mother are here omitted
because they are sufficiently
contained in the former examples.
Verse 8
[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:
Conceal him —
That is
smother his fault
hide or protect his person
but shalt accuse him to
the magistrate
and demand justice upon him.
Verse 9
[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.
Thou shalt kill him —
Not privately
which pretence would have opened the door to innumerable
murders
but by procuring his death by the sentence of the magistrate. Thou
shalt cast the first stone at him
as the witness was to do.
Verse 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;
Children of Belial — It
signifies properly persons without yoke
vile and wretched miscreants
lawless
and rebellious
that will suffer no restraint
that neither fear God
nor
reverence man.
From among you —
That is
from your church and religion. It notes a separation from them
not in
place (as appears by their partnership with their fellow citizens both in the
sin and punishment) but in heart
doctrine and worship.
Verse 14
[14] Then
shalt thou enquire
and make search
and ask diligently; and
behold
if it be
truth
and the thing certain
that such abomination is wrought among you;
Enquire —
This is
meant of the magistrate
to whose office this properly belongs
and of
whom he continues to speak in the same manner
thou
Deuteronomy 13:15
16. The Jewish writers say
the defection of a city is to be tried by the great sanhedrim. If it appear
that they are thrust away to idolatry
they send two learned men
to admonish
them. If they repent
all is well: is not
all Israel must go up and execute
this sentence. Tho' we do not find this law put in execution
in all the
history of the Jewish church
yet for neglecting the execution of it on
inferior cities
God himself by the army of the Chaldeans
executed it on
Jerusalem
the head city
which was utterly destroyed
and lay in ruins for
seventy years.
Verse 15
[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.
The inhabitants —
Namely
all that are guilty
not the innocent part
such as disowned this
apostacy
who doubtless by choice
at least upon warning
would come out of so
wicked a place.
Utterly —
The very same punishment which was
inflicted upon the cities of the cursed
Canaanites
to whom having made themselves equal in sin
it is but just God
should equal them in punishment.
Verse 16
[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.
For the Lord —
For the satisfaction of God's justice
the maintainance of his honour and
authority
and the pacification of his offended majesty.
It shall not be built — It shall be an eternal monument of God's justice
and terror to after
ages.
Verse 17
[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;
Multiply thee — So
thou shalt have no loss of thy numbers by cutting off so many people.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Deuteronomy》
13 Chapter 13
Verses 1-3
Ye are the children of the Lord your God.
Israel’s relationship to God
Moses here tells Israel--
I. How God had
dignified them
as a peculiar people
with three distinguishable privileges
which were their honour
and figures of those spiritual blessings in heavenly
things with which God has in Christ blessed us.
1. Here is election. “The Lord hath chosen thee” (Deuteronomy 14:2); not for their own
merits
or for any good works foreseen
but because He would magnify the riches
of His power and grace among them. And thus were believers chosen (Ephesians 1:4).
2. Here is adoption. “Ye are the children of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1); formed by Him into a
people
owned by Him as His people
nay
His family
a people near unto Him
nearer than any other. Every “Israelite indeed” is a child of God; partaker of
His nature and favour
His love and blessing.
3. Here is sanctification. “Thou art an holy people” (Deuteronomy 14:2); separated and set
apart for God
devoted to His service
designed for His praise
governed by a
holy law
graced by a holy tabernacle and the holy ordinances relating to it.
II. How they ought
to distinguish themselves by a sober singularity from all the nations that were
about them.
1. In their mourning. “Ye shall not cut yourselves” (Deuteronomy 14:1).
2. In their meat. Their observance of this law would make them to be
taken notice of in all mixed companies as a separate people
and preserve them
from mingling themselves with their idolatrous neighbours.
Verse 4
Ye shall walk after the Lord your God.
With
before
after
(with Genesis 5:22; Genesis 17:1):--You see that these three
fragments
in their resemblances and in their differences
are equally
significant. They concur in regarding life as a walk--a metaphor which
expresses continuity
so that every man’s life is a whole
which expresses
progress
and which implies a goal. They agree in saying that God must be
brought into a life somehow
and in some aspect
if that life is to be anything
else but an aimless wandering
if it is to tend to the point to which every
human life should attain. But then they diverge
and
if we put them together
they say to us that there are three different ways in which we ought to bring
God into our life. We should “walk with” Him
like Enoch; we should “walk
before” Him
as Abraham was bade to do; and we should “walk after” Him
as the
command to do was given to all Israel.
I. “Enoch walked
with God.” Two men travelling along a road keep each other company. “How can
two walk together except they be agreed?” The Companion is at our side all the
same
though the mists may have come down and we cannot see Him. Enoch and God
walked together
by the simple exercise of the faith that fills the Invisible
with one great
loving face. The one thing that parts a man from God
and makes
it impossible for a heart to expatiate in the thought of His presence
is the
contrariety to His will in our conduct.
II. And now take
the other aspect suggested by the other little word God spoke to Abraham: “I am
the Almighty God
walk before Me and be thou perfect.” That suggests
as I
suppose I do not need to point out
the idea not only of communion
which the
former phrase brought to our minds
but that of the inspection of our conduct.
As ever in the great Taskmaster’s eye
says the stern Puritan poet
and
although one may object to that word “Taskmaster
” yet the idea conveyed is the
correct expansion of the commandment given to Abraham. Observe how “walk with
me” is dovetailed
as it were
between the revelation “I am the Almighty God”
and the injunction “be thou perfect.” This thought that we are in that Divine
Presence
and that there is silently
but most really
a Divine opinion being
formed of us
consolidated
as it were
moment by moment through our lives
is
only tolerable if we have been walking with God. We must first walk “with God”
before the consciousness that we are walking “before” Him becomes one that we
can entertain and not go mad. When we are sure of the “with” we can bear the
“before.” A master’s eye maketh diligent servants. “Walk before Me” and you
will be perfect. “If you will walk before Me you will be perfect.”
III. Lastly
take
the other relation
which is suggested by the third of my texts
where Israel
as a whole is commanded to “walk after the Lord” their God. In harmony with the
very frequent expression of the Old Testament about “going after idols
” so
Israel here is to “go after God.” What does that mean? Communion
the
consciousness of being judged by God will lead on to aspiration and loving
longing
effort to get nearer and nearer to Him. “My soul followeth hard after Thee
”
said the Psalmist
“Thy right hand upholdeth me.” That element of yearning
aspiration
of eager desire to be closer and closer
and liker and liker
to
God must be in all true religion. And I need not do more than remind you of
another meaning involved in this same expression. If I walk after God
then I
let Him go before me and show me my road. Do you remember how
when the ark was
to cross Jordan
the commandment was given to the Israelites to let it go well
on in front
so that there could be no mistake about the course
“for ye have
not passed this way heretofore.” Do not be in too great a hurry to press upon
the heels of God
if I may so say. Do not let your decisions outrun His
providence. Keep back the impatience that would hurry on
and wait for His
ripening purposes to ripen and His counsels to develop themselves. Walk after
God
and be sure you do not go in front of your Guide
or you will lose both
your way and your Guide. I need not say more than a word about the highest
aspect which this third of our commandments takes: “His sheep follow Him
“leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps.” (A. Maclaren
D.
D.)
The ladder of attainment
From these words we gather that many expressions were needed to
describe the true disposition and attitude of the mind of Israel toward God.
Each expression denotes something different
and each seems to make a
progressive advance.
I. Ye shall walk
after the Lord your God. This means follow Him
i.e. go whither He would
have you go. We must follow as the sheep follows the shepherd. But
again
we
are not simply like sheep. When Israel came out of Egypt the trumpets were
blown
and all followed in order behind them. This is of the first importance
that men should joyfully obey the cry. Follow Him--follow after Jesus!
II. Fear him. Those
who resolve to follow Him must so do it that they shall honour Him and remember
that He has power to withstand those who oppose Him. God’s people must be
filled with a sense of His greatness
majesty
and righteousness as revealed in
the Redeemer. Without the sense of this
we lose the attitude of mind in which
we can best honour Him. Those who seek to follow Him without this fear are
likely in time to become rebels in His kingdom.
III. Ye shall keep
His commandments. God has given commands “Thou shalt”; “Thou shalt not.” The
fear of God impels to the keeping of these. Not a cringing dread is this fear.
This would make the keeping of the commandments merely a secondary matter. God
must be so feared that what He has commanded shall be our delight to perform.
IV. Ye shall obey
his voice. Even when His way seems enigmatic
and also when He gives special
intimations of His will besides the commands laid down
just as He led Israel
by ways they knew not
etc. On the way of life we must ever be on our guard so
that we may find the right way
so much the more as snares are laid in our way
by the adversary--from which we cannot deliver ourselves
but which we shall be
able to avoid if we listen to the voice of the Spirit
who teaches us to be
circumspect
and points out the way to us.
V. Ye shall serve
Him
i.e. we must not be autocrats
but servants of God only. Thus we
learn to please Him in self-denial and in a jealous care for His glory. Then
too
we shall gladly be found where the honour due to Him is offered with
prayer and adoration.
VI. Ye shall cleave
unto him
i.e. ye shall seek His presence with burning desires
and with
deepest love and warmth of heart and spirit. When we have reached thus far
that we cleave to Him and Then grow up in Him
as the branch in the vine stem
great shall be our gain I may it be said of us
“Where I am
there shall also
My servant be!” (J. C. Blumhardt.)
Verses 6-11
If thy brother . . . entice thee.
Temptation to idolatry from kindred
I. It is the
policy of the tempter to send his solicitations by the hand of those we love
whom
we least suspect of any ill design upon us
and whom we are desirous to please
and apt to conform ourselves to. Satan tempted Adam by Eve and Christ by Peter.
We are therefore concerned to stand upon our guard against an ill proposal
when the person that proposeth it can pretend to an interest in us
that we may
never sin against God in compliment to the best friend we have in the world.
2. The temptation is supposed to be private: he will “entice thee
secretly”; implying that idolatry is a work of darkness
which dreads the light
and covets to be concealed; and which the sinner promiseth himself
and the
tempter promiseth him
secrecy and security in.
II. It is our duty
to prefer god and religion before the best friends we have in the world.
1. We must not in compliance to our friends break God’s law (Deuteronomy 13:8).
2. We must not in compassion to our friends obstruct the course of
God’s justice (Deuteronomy 13:9). Those are certainly
our worst enemies that would thrust us from God
our best friend; and whatever
draws us to sin separates between us and God; it is a design upon our life
and
to be resented accordingly. (Matthew Henry
D. D.)
Verse 17
There shall cleave nought of the cursed thing.
Destroy the cursed thing
Israel must conquer idolatrous cities
and destroy all the spoil
regarding all that had been polluted by idolatry as an accursed thing to be
burned with fire. Now
sin of all sorts must be treated by Christians in the
same manner. We must not allow a single evil habit to remain. It is now war to
the knife with sins of all sorts and sizes
whether of the body
the mind
or
the spirit. We do not look upon this giving up of evil as deserving mercy
but
we regard it as a fruit of the grace of God
which we would on no account miss.
When God causes us to have no mercy on our sins
then He has great mercy on us.
When we are angry with evil
God is no more angry with us. When we multiply our
efforts against iniquity
the Lord multiplies our blessings. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》