October 2, 2013
Central Truth
We must be able to discern the truth and act on it in order to be obedient to God's will.
"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him." (Deuteronomy 13:4)
1 If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil 1 13:5 Or evil person from your midst.
6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace 2 13:6 Hebrew the wife of your bosom or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9 But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.
12 If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, 3 13:15 That is, setting apart (devoting) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.
I'm not big on watching television. I'm especially not big on watching commercials. Luckily, with the invention of DVR, I don't have to. I usually prefer to get my news and dose of culture from the Internet. What does that "news" or "culture" normally look like? Well, if I pull up my homepage, I can choose from a variety of 45 different news articles. These articles range from "Cool Optical Illusion Gowns" to "Best Ways to Become a Millionaire."
Moses warns the Israelites in this passage about their current false prophets who claim to dream dreams about the future and promise signs and miracles. Today, we are bombarded with our own false prophets. Turn on your phone, open your e-mail, pull up your web browser, or drive down the street, and they are there! These false prophets come to sell you their political agenda, their product, their look, their lifestyle, etc. This is not to say that there aren't a multitude of good and helpful resources out there, but they do not have near the amount of face time as the aforementioned outlets. Although it is not really physically possible to strike down these forces as Moses had commanded the Israelites, we should be armed with the Word of God so that we will be able to stay strong in the faith, rooted in the gospel, and living in truth (Ephesians 6:10-20).
If I feel influenced by one of these prophets, I look to the three ways God speaks to me: through His Word, through the community of believers around me, and through prayer. It is actually very easy to tear down all of these prophets just by looking at their agenda. Are they trying to persuade me to value something of the world over my relationship with the Lord or with my family? If the answer is yes, run! That is not our Messiah.
1. What turns your attention or focus away from God?
2. What are some tools that can help you discern truth?
3. How can you overcome the temptation of pursuing these idols?