Moses
is still upon that necessary subject concerning the peril of idolatry. In
the close of the foregoing chapter he had cautioned them against the peril
that might arise from their predecessors the Canaanites. In this chapter he
cautions them against the rise of idolatry from among themselves; they must
take heed lest any should draw them to idolatry, 1. By the pretence of
prophecy, ver. 1-5. II. By the pretence of friendship and relation, ver.
6-11. III. By the pretence of numbers, ver. 12-18. But in all these cases
the temptation must be resolutely resisted and the tempters punished and cut
off.
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Cautions
Against Idolatry.
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B.
C. 1451.
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1 If there arise among
you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a
wonder, 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; 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. 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. 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.
Here is, I. A very strange supposition, v. 1, 2. 1. It is strange
that there should arise any among themselves, especially any pretending to
vision and prophecy, who should instigate them to go and serve other
gods. Was it possible that any who had so much knowledge of the methods
of divine revelation as to be able to personate a prophet should yet have so
little knowledge of the divine nature and will as to go himself and entice
his neighbours after other gods? Could an Israelite ever be guilty of
such impiety? Could a man of sense ever be guilty of such absurdity? We see
it in our own day, and therefore may think it the less strange; multitudes
that profess both learning and religion yet exciting both themselves and
others, not only to worship God by images, but to give divine honour to
saints and angels, which is no better than going after other gods to
serve them; such is the power of strong delusions. 2. It is yet more
strange that the sign or wonder given for the confirmation of this false
doctrine should come to pass. Can it be thought that God himself should give
any countenance to such a vile proceeding? Did ever a false prophet work a
true miracle? It is only supposed here for two reasons:-- (1.) To strengthen
the caution here given against hearkening to such a one. "Though it
were possible that he should work a true miracle, yet you must not believe
him if he tell you that you must serve other gods, for the divine law
against that is certainly perpetual and unalterable." The supposition
is like that in Gal. i. 8, If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel to you--which does not prove it possible that an angel
should preach another gospel, but strongly expresses the certainty and
perpetuity of that which we have received. So here, (2.) It is to fortify
them against the danger of impostures and lying wonders (2 Thess. ii. 9):
"Suppose the credentials he produces be so artfully counterfeited that
you cannot discern the cheat, nor disprove them, yet, if they are intended
to draw you to the service of other gods, that alone is sufficient to
disprove them; no evidence can be admitted against so clear a truth as that
of the unity of the Godhead, and so plain a law as that of worshipping the one
only living and true God." We cannot suppose that the God of truth
should set his seal of miracles to a lie, to so gross a lie as is supposed
in that temptation, Let us go after other gods. But if it be asked,
Why is this false prophet permitted to counterfeit this broad seal? It is
answered here (v. 3): "The Lord you God proveth you. He
suffers you to be set upon by such a temptation to try your constancy, that
both those that are perfect and those that are false and corrupt may be made
manifest. It is to prove you; therefore see that you acquit yourselves well
in the trial, and stand your ground."
II. Here is a very necessary charge given in this case,
1. Not to yield to the temptation: "Thou shalt not hearken to the
worlds of that prophet, v. 3. Not only thou shalt not do the
thing he tempts thee to, but thou shalt not so much as patiently hear the
temptation, but reject it with the utmost disdain and detestation. Such a
suggestion as this is not to be so much as parleyed with, but the ear must
be stopped against it. Get thee behind me, Satan." Some
temptations are so grossly vile that they will not bear a debate, nor may we
so much as give them the hearing. What follows (v. 4), You shall
walk after the Lord, may be looked upon, (1.) As prescribing a
preservative from the temptation: "Keep close to your duty, and you
keep out of harm's way. God never leaves us till we leave him." Or,
(2.) As furnishing us with an answer to the temptation; say, "It is
written, Thou shalt walk after the Lord, and cleave unto him;
and therefore what have I to do with idols?"
2. Not to spare the tempter, v. 5. That prophet shall be put to
death, both to punish him for the attempt he has made (the seducer must
die, though none were seduced by him--a design upon the crown is treason)
and to prevent his doing further mischief. This is called putting away
the evil. There is no way of removing the guilt but by removing the
guilty; if such a criminal be not punished, those that should punish him
make themselves responsible. And thus the mischief must be put away;
the infection must be kept from spreading by cutting off the gangrened limb,
and putting away the mischief-makers. such Dangerous diseases as these must
be taken in time.
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; 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; 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: 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. 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. 11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no
more any such wickedness as this is among you.
Further provision is made by this branch of the statute against receiving
the infection of idolatry from those that are near and dear to us.
I. It is the policy of the tempter to send his solicitations by the hand of
those whom 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. The
enticement here is supposed to come from a brother or child that are near by
nature, from a wife or friend that are near by choice, and are to us as
our own souls, v. 6. Satan tempted Adam by Eve and Christ by
Peter. We are therefore concerned to stand upon our guard against a bad
proposal when the person that makes it can pretend to an interest in us,
that we many never sin against God in compliment to the best friend we have
in the world. 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 in which the sinner
promises himself, and the tempter promises him, secrecy and security.
Concerning the false gods proposed to be served, 1. The tempter suggests
that the worshipping of these gods was the common practice of the world;
and, if they limited their adorations to an invisible Deity, they were
singular, and like nobody, for these gods were the gods of the people
round about them, and indeed of all the nations of the earth, v.
7. This suggestion draws many away from religion and godliness, that it is
an unfashionable thing; and they make their court to the world and the flesh
because these are the gods of the people that are round about them.
2. Moses suggests, in opposition to this, that it had not been the practice
of their ancestors; they are gods which thou hast not known, thou nor thy
fathers. Those that are born of godly parents, and have been educated in
pious exercises, when they are enticed to a vain, loose, careless way of
living should remember that those are ways which they have not known,
they nor their fathers. And will they thus degenerate?
II. It is our duty to prefer God and religion before the best friends we
have in the world. 1. We must not, in complaisance to our friends, break
God's law (v. 8): "Thou shalt not consent to him. nor go
with him to his idolatrous worship, no, not for company, or curiosity, or to
gain a better interest in is affections." It is a general rule, If
sinners entice thee, consent thou not, Prov. i. 10. 2. We must not, in
compassion to our friends, obstruct the course of God's justice. He that
attempts such a thing must not only be looked upon as an enemy, or dangerous
person, whom one should be afraid of, and swear the peace against, but as a
criminal or traitor, whom, in zeal for our sovereign Lord, his crown and
dignity, we are bound to inform against, and cannot conceal without
incurring the guilt of a great misprision (v. 9): Thou shalt
surely kill him. By this law the persons enticed were bound to the
seducer, and to give evidence against him before the proper judges, that he
might suffer the penalty of the law, and that without delay, which the Jews
say is here intended in that phrase, as it is in the Hebrew, killing thou
shalt kill him. Neither the prosecution nor the execution must be
deferred; and he that was first in the former must be first in the latter,
to show that he stood to his testimony: "Thy hand shall be first
upon him, to mark him out as an anathema, and then the hands of all the
people, to put him away as an accursed thing." The death he must die
was that which was looked upon among the Jews as the severest of all deaths.
He must be stoned: and his accusation written is that he has sought to
thrust thee away, by a kind of violence, from the Lord they God, v.
10. 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,
is a design upon our life, and to be resented accordingly, And, lastly, here
is the good effect of this necessary execution (v. 11): All Israel
shall hear and fear. They ought to hear and fear; for the
punishment of crimes committed is designed in terrorem--to terrify,
and so to prevent their repetition. And it is to be hoped they will hear and
fear, and by the severity of the punishment, especially when it is at the
prosecution of a father, a brother, or a friend, will be made to conceive a
horror of the sin, as exceedingly sinful, and to be afraid of incurring the
like punishment themselves. Smite the scorner that sins
presumptuously, and the simple, that is in danger of sinning
carelessly, will beware.
12 If thou shalt hear say
in one of thy cities, which the LORD
thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, 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; 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; 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. 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 a heap for ever; it shall not be built again.
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 show thee mercy, and have
compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy
fathers; 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.
Here the case is put of a city revolting from its allegiance to the God of
Israel, and serving other gods.
I. The crime is supposed to be committed, 1. By one of the cities of Israel,
that lay within the jurisdiction of their courts. The church then judged
those only that were within, 1 Cor. v. 12, 13. And, even when they were
ordered to preserve their religion in the first principles of it by fire and
sword to propagate it. Those that are born within the allegiance of a
prince, if they take up arms against him, are dealt with as traitors, but
foreign invaders are not so. The city that is here supposed to have become
idolatrous is one that formerly worshipped the true God, but had now
withdrawn to other gods, which intimates how great the crime is, and how
sore the punishment will be, of those that, after they have known the way
of righteousness, turn aside from it, 2 Pet. ii. 21. 2. It is supposed
to be committed by the generality of the inhabitants of the city, for we may
conclude that, if a considerable number did retain their integrity, those
only that were guilty were to be destroyed, and the city was to be spared
for the sake of the righteous in it; for will not the Judge of all the
earth do right? No doubt he will. 3. They are supposed to be drawn to
idolatry by certain men, the children of Belial, men that would
endure no yoke (so it signifies), that neither fear God nor regard man, but
shake off all restraints of law and conscience, and are perfectly lost to
all manner of virtue; these are those that say, "Let us serve other
gods," that will not only allow, but will countenance and encourage,
our immoralities. Belial is put for the devil (2 Cor. vi. 15), and
the children of Belial are his children. These withdraw the inhabitants of
the city; for a little of this old leaven, when it is entertained, soon
leavens the whole lump.
II. The cause is ordered to be tried with a great deal of care (v.
14): Thou shalt enquire and make search. They must not proceed upon
common fame, or take the information by hearsay, but must examine the
proofs, and not give judgment against them unless the evidence was clear and
the charge fully made out. God himself, before he destroyed Sodom, is said
to have come down to see whether its crimes were according to the clamour,
Gen. xviii. 21. In judicial processes it is requisite that time, and care,
and pains, be taken to find out the truth, and that search be made without
any passion, prejudice, or partiality. The Jewish writers say that, though
particular persons who were idolaters might be judged by the inferior
courts, the defection of a city was to be tried by the great Sanhedrim; and,
if it appeared that they were thrust away to idolatry, two learned men were
sent to them to admonish and reclaim them. If they repented, all would be
well; if not, then all Israel must go up to war against them, to testify
their indignation against idolatry and to stop the spreading of the
contagion.
III. If the crime were proved, and the criminals were incorrigible, the city
was to be wholly destroyed. If there were a few righteous men in it, no
doubt they would remove themselves and their families out of such a
dangerous place, and then all the inhabitants, men, women, and children,
must be put to the sword (v. 15), all the spoil of the city, both
shop-goods and the furniture of houses, must be brought into the marketplace
and burned, and the city itself must be laid in ashes and never built again,
v. 16. The soldiers are forbidden, upon pain of death, to convert any
of the plunder to their own use, v. 17. It was a devoted thing, and
dangerous to meddle with, as we find in the case of Achan. Now, 1. God
enjoins this severity of show what a jealous God he is in the matters of his
worship, and how great a crime it is to serve other gods. Let men know that
God will not give his glory to another, nor his praise to graven images. 2.
He expects that magistrates, having their honour and power from him, should
be concerned for his honour, and use their power for terror to evil
doers, else they bear the sword in vain. 3. The faithful worshippers of
the true God must take all occasions to show their just indignation against
idolatry, much more against atheism, infidelity, and irreligion. 4. It is
here intimated that the best expedient for the turning away of God's anger
from a land is to execute justice upon the wicked of the land (v.
17), that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, which
was ready to break out against the whole nation, for the wickedness of that
one apostate city. It is promised that, if they would thus root wickedness
out of their land, God would multiply them. They might think it impolitic,
and against the interest of their nation, to ruin a whole city for a crime
relating purely to religion, and that they should be more sparing of the
blood of Israelites: "Fear not the" (says Moses), "God will
multiply you the more; the body of your nation will lose nothing by the
letting out of this corrupt blood." Lastly, Though we do not
find this law put in execution in all the history of the Jewish church (Gibeah
was destroyed, not for idolatry, but immorality), yet for the neglect of the
execution of it upon the inferior cities that served idols God himself, by
the army of the Chaldeans, put it in execution upon Jerusalem, the head
city, which, for is apostasy from God, was utterly destroyed and laid waste,
and lay in ruins seventy years. Though idolaters may escape punishment from
men (nor is this law in the letter of it binding now, under the gospel), yet
the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgements.
The New Testament speaks of communion with idolaters as a sin which, above
any other, provokes the Lord to jealousy, and dares him as if we were
stronger than he, 1 Cor. x. 21, 22.
