BIBLE BITS: Deuteronomy 13

There are many people who preach, claiming to have the truth.  Most are very passionate about what they say.  Some are very persuasive and popular.  How can we know who is a faithful prophet of God and who is not?  Since eternal well-being hangs in the balance, this is a crucial question, and we need to be sure of the answer.  While false prophets will suffer a harsh judgment for preaching falsely in the name of Jesus, those who are deceived by them will not be excused.  They will also perish.

The Lord knew that the people of Israel would experience false prophets, too.  The world has always had them.  How can you tell?  And why would God allow such things?

First of all, God never sponsors lies or deception.  But just as God does not turn you mute when you are about to gossip or bend the truth, so also God does not stop the false prophets from preaching deception.  He lets sinners do what sinners do.  The judgment comes later.

But God uses evil for his own purposes, too.  He warned the people of Israel (and we can apply this to ourselves as well): "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" (Deuteronomy 13:3).  Will we be eager to believe the lie because it is so attractive, or will we cling to the truth out of love for God?  It not only puts our faith to the test, it also forces us to consult God's word to be sure we are being faithful to it.  Neither our desires nor our feelings are to be our guide.  God's word alone is truth.

By his warning, God makes it clear that the deceptions will have a strong appeal to them.  "“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass..." (Deuteronomy 13:1-2).  "If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly...." (Deuteronomy 13:6).  "If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city..." (Deuteronomy 13:12-13).  Dazzling signs!  Siding with loved ones!  An entire city embracing the lie; it is so popular!  All these are ways we can be deceived.  Be aware that the devil plays dirty.  He will employ things that will pull us to the lie because of our affection for loved ones, popularity, and "proof."

Among the people of Israel, God's judgment was harsh and definitive: Put the false prophet to death.  God's people possessed the Promise.  God was jealous to preserve the nation through whom the Savior would come.  We do not have the same instructions.  We don't kill false prophets.  We are called on to expose them.  St. Paul wrote: "I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them" (Romans 16:17).  The false prophets may still invoke the name of Jesus, but if they are falsifying his words, they are proclaiming a different Jesus than the one in the Bible.

God's word speaks for itself.  We hear it, study it, and learn it so that we will not be pulled away from it--even if we love the ones who are pulling us away.  Our eternal well-being depends on it.

BIBLE BITS: Deuteronomy 11

The old covenant, in its briefest form, is spelled out in Deuteronomy 11.  The Lord promises to bless the people with safety, prosperity, and other blessings if they remain faithful to him.

The Lord, then, tells the people what it will take to remain faithful to him: “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth" (Deuteronomy 11:18-21).

We notice that the Lord is not speaking about just going to church, although they would have been expected to be faithful regarding the tabernacle and its sacrifices.  The word of God was not limited to the "professionals," the priests.  It was to be observed by each family, with the head of the house taking on the role as leader and pastor of his own family.  Notice how pervasive the word of the Lord was to be in their lives--at home and on the road, in their eyes, minds, and at their hands, in the morning and in the evening, with attention given to it whenever they enter or leave their homes or their towns.  The children were to know and learn these things from the earliest age.  In other words, the lessons would be taught and repeated until they were committed to memory.  After all, books were not available to them, so they had to memorize the lessons.

The Lord desires us to be just as faithful to him.  The word of God directs every moment of our lives.  The word of Christ guides our eyes and ears, minds and hands so that we avoid evil and do good, even if we are not aware of it.  It does so when the word of Christ is planted in you.  And if faith has been planted in you, it will need to be nurtured to grow and remain strong.

God may not grant us the same peace, prosperity, and blessings he did for Israel.  They lived under the old covenant.  But he does promise grace and every blessing to those who are devoted to his word.  The blessing which we all finally seek is life everlasting in the heavenly kingdom.  Therefore, we listen to our Savior, knowing and believing his promise which stands in peace and strife, in prosperity and poverty, in blessing and hardship: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28).