Deuteronomy 13

False prophets, however spiritual they may seem, are not safe for us to follow. Even if they perform miracles, if they lead us away from the Messiah toward the worship of other gods, they are not helping the Lord's cause. We must not listen to these deceptive spiritualists, no matter how much they amaze us with their marvels.

The Lord does test His people. He trains us up in discernment. He expects us to turn away from evil by His grace. Our prayer is still the one that Jesus taught His disciples: “Lead us not into temptation.” When we have already tarried too long as hearers of what God hates, and find ourselves stuck in some mess, we ask the Lord to deliver us from evil.

False prophets in Israel were to receive the death penalty. Those who led others away from the worship of God and away from his commandments were not safe neighbors. The people of conquest needed to purge them from their midst.

Even if a close relative urged an Israelite to worship other gods, it would not be charitable or loving to overlook the danger of his suggestions. The law of God for Israel was clear: that person was to be killed. The hands of the witnesses who brought forth the evidence were to be first in stoning this family member or friend.

If idolatry ever took hold in one of the cities in Israel, the rest of the nation was to take decisive action against that place. After due examination, the city was to be devoted to destruction. All the people, all the cattle, all the spoil, everything in that city, was to be a whole burnt offering to the Lord God, and it was never to be built again.

What nation of the world could survive under this law? Yet this teaches us what idolatry truly deserves. It tells us of the holiness of the God who will one day come in judgment.

What city, what family, what individual could stand before the Lord in His anger against sin? Our God is a consuming fire.

What then becomes of the promises of the Lord to Israel? What becomes of His covenant faithfulness and His mercy that endures forever?

But now one Man has been found who kept the Law of God. He did perform great signs and wonders, but He never enticed Israel in the direction of any sin. Even the weightiest matters of the Law were kept by Him with a full obedience of heart and life.

This same obedient Messiah then faced the wrath of His Father that Israel (and we) deserved. Without His death as our substitute, no one could survive the justice of God. In the glory of His resurrection, we now have an abundant hope, and power for living.

False teachers are still dangerous, and we cannot allow them to have a place of authority within the Lord's congregation. But the new era of the gospel has come. When Jesus came to die for us, He spoke woes against false teachers, but He did not organize His disciples to stone them.

Something new is moving forward with the coming of our King. He has given us a different kind of kingdom. We do not burn cities where false religion has had an undue influence. We take every thought captive in our own hearts, and we suffer for the Word of the King. This is the way of the cross and the resurrection.

Our God is surely able to change even a persecutor of the church into an ambassador of grace and truth. This is His glory and our hope. Jesus died for us. He is the true teacher. He is not a false prophet. It is safe to follow Him. He is the way to life.