The practice of bringing 10 percent of the produce to the Lord antedates the law, for Abraham tithed (Gen. 14:17–20; Heb. 7:4) and so did Jacob (Gen. 28:22). In most places in the world today, God’s people bring money rather than produce. The New Testament plan for giving is found in 2 Corinthians 8—9, and though tithing isn’t mentioned, generous giving from the heart is encouraged. If believers under law could give the Lord 10 percent of their income, that’s certainly a good place for believers who live under the new covenant to start their giving. However, we shouldn’t stop with 10 percent but should give systematically as the Lord has prospered us (1 Cor. 16:1–2).
The priests and Levites had no inheritance in the land of Israel, for the Lord was their inheritance (Num. 18:20; Deut. 10:8–9; Josh. 13:14, 33; 14:13; 18:7), so they trusted God for His provision through the people. God assigned to the priests portions from various sacrifices (Lev. 6:14—7:38) as well as the firstfruits of the harvests and the firstborn animals (Num. 18:8–20). The Levites received the people’s tithes and in turn gave a tithe of that to the priests (vv. 20–32). The people also brought an extra tithe every three years, which was shared with the poor (Lev. 27:28–29). People who lived too far from the sanctuary were permitted to sell the produce and with the money buy a substitute sacrifice when they arrived (Deut. 14:24–26), and if they didn’t do so, they were fined (Lev. 27:31).
It’s a basic principle in Scripture that those who serve the Lord and His people should have the support of God’s people. “The laborer is worthy of his hire” (Luke 10:7) and “those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9: ). Believers who receive spiritual blessings from teachers and preachers should share material blessings with them (Gal. 6:6–10; 1 Tim. 5:17–18). Paul saw the supporting gifts of God’s people as spiritual sacrifices dedicated to the Lord (Phil. 4:10–19). If all of God’s people practiced the kind of giving described in 2 Corinthians 8—9, there would be no church debts, God’s servants would be provided for, and the work of the Lord would prosper around the world.
Avoiding contamination (12:29—13:18; 18:9–22) Moses pointed out four approaches the enemy could use to trap the Israelites into practicing idolatry, and he warned his people to avoid following them.
Human curiosity (vv. 29–32). The inhabitants of Canaan had grossly defiled their land by their personal conduct and their abominable religious practices, which included sacrificing their children to the false gods, usually Molech “the abomination of the Ammonites” (v. 31; 1 Kings 11:5, 33). This despicable practice was forbidden to the people of Israel (Deut. 18:10; Lev. 18:20; 20:2–5), but in later years, both kings and commoners in Israel abandoned God’s law and sacrificed their children (2 Kings 17:16–17). Godly King Josiah defiled the place in the Valley of Hinnom where this detestable ceremony had been practiced in Judah (23:10), but King Manasseh brought it back (2 Chron. 33:6).
The British essayist Samuel Johnson called curiosity “one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect,” and certainly our children and grandchildren learn because they’re curious about life and the world they live in. Someone defined a child as “an island of curiosity surrounded by a sea of question marks.” However, there are some areas of human knowledge that are dangerous to investigate, for God wants His people to be “wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil” (Rom. 16: nasb). We don’t have to experience sin to learn how deadly it is. Inquisitive Israelites who investigated the despicable religious practices of the Canaanites were in danger of tempting themselves and giving Satan opportunity to move in.
As we mature in the faith and become grounded in the Word, we can carefully study the philosophies and ideas that are held by various religious groups, but only so that we might better share the gospel with them. Missionaries must know the religious mind-set of the peoples to whom God sends them so they can communicate effectively with them. This is also true when we study the so-called “classics” that are often filled with moral filth and attacks against the Christian faith. “Beware of the atmosphere of the classics,” wrote Robert Murray M’Cheyne to a friend. “True, we ought to know them; but only as chemists handle poisons—to discover their qualities, not to infect their blood with them.” With God’s help, it’s possible for Christian students to practice contact without contamination, but they had better “watch and pray” lest they are tempted and fall into sin.
Temptation from the prophets (13:1–5). God raised up prophets in Israel during those times when the people needed to be called back to the faithful worship of the Lord. It has often been said that prophets weren’t just “foretellers”; they were primarily forthtellers who declared the Word of the Lord in the name of the Lord. The faithful prophet spoke in God’s name and gave only God’s message for God’s glory and for the good of God’s people.
The key phrase in Deuteronomy 13 is, “Let us go after other gods” (vv. 2, 6, 13). In this paragraph, Moses describes a prophet who predicted an event and it occurred, which was the test of a true prophet (18:21–22). But then the prophet invited the people to join him in worshipping other gods. Why would a prophet deliver a true message followed by an invitation to worship false gods? For the same reasons formerly orthodox religious leaders in the church will abandon their calling and get involved in cults or even organize their own cults: pride, the desire to have a following and exercise authority, and the desire to make money. The Israelites knew that God’s law prohibited the worship of idols, but there are always unstable people who will blindly follow a “successful religious leader” without testing their decision by God’s truth.
Moses made it clear that the Word of God was true no matter how many miracles or signs a prophet might perform. We don’t test the message by supernatural events; we test the message by God’s Word. Satan can perform miracles (2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 12:9) and not everybody who addresses Jesus as “Lord” and performs miracles is a genuine child of God or servant of God (Matt. 7:21–23). God sometimes allows these things to happen in order to test His people to see if they will obey His Word. Even if this man had been originally called of God, when he asked the people to disobey the God’s law, he ceased to be a true servant of the Lord. Because he enticed the people to rebel against the Lord, he was to be put to death.
“So you shall put away [purge] the evil from your midst” (Deut. 13: nkjv). This statement is found at least eight more times in the book of Deuteronomy (17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21–22, 24; 24:7), and Paul quoted it in 1 Corinthians 5: with reference to discipline in the local church. We don’t stone guilty people in our churches, but we should expel from the fellowship any that openly live in sin and refuse to repent and obey the Word of God. Why? For the same reason the idolater was removed (by death) from the nation of Israel: sin is like yeast and when it’s not purged, it will spread and infect others (1 Cor. 5:6–8; Gal. 5:9). Just as a surgeon removes cancerous tissue from a patient’s body to keep it from spreading, so the local body of believers must experience surgery, no matter how painful, to maintain the spiritual health of the church.
The fact that the accuser was to throw the first stone would encourage him to give serious consideration to the facts and not impetuously accuse an innocent person. (See 1 Kings 21.) The method of execution was stoning so that all the people could participate and cast their vote against the worship of idols. Either one person’s sin affects the whole nation (Josh. 7), or the whole nation must deal with that one person’s sin.
It’s remarkable how many otherwise intelligent people study their horoscopes and consult professional “psychics” who claim to have the power to see into the future. If people really had that ability, they could make a great deal of money on the stock market or at the racetrack and wouldn’t have to earn a living reading palms, gazing at the stars, or consulting crystal balls. Later in his address, Moses will name specific occult practices that are forbidden to God’s people, and one of them is consulting Satan in order to know the future (Deut. 18:9–13). Jesus warned about false prophets and the apostles warned about false teachers (Matt. 7:15–20; 2 Cor. 11:3–4, 11–13; 1 Tim. 1:6–7; 2 Peter 2).
Temptation from friends and relatives (vv. 6–11). It would not be difficult to expose and execute a false prophet, but what about a relative or close friend who tempts you to worship a false god? And what if the temptation is secret and the worship of the idol is also secret? As long as you maintained your public image as a worshipper of Jehovah, you might get away with being a secret Baal worshipper. But to this suggestion, Moses gave a resounding, “No!” Even if man’s own wife enticed him to worship idols—King Solomon comes to mind (1 Kings 11:1–13)—the husband was not to shield her but was to take her to the authorities and even participate in her execution. The Jews were to love the Lord their God even more than they loved their own mates or family. Jesus laid down a similar condition for discipleship (Luke 14:25–27). Moses taught that this kind of capital sentence would put the fear of the Lord into the rest of the nation and they would think twice before turning to idols (Deut. 13:11; see 17:13; 21:21). The lesson for the church is, “Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear” (1 Tim. 5: nkjv).
During my years of pastoral ministry, I was occasionally contacted by heartbroken ministers who were unable to deal with flagrant sinners in the church because the offenders had relatives on the board or in the congregation. How sad it is when the testimony of a church is totally destroyed because of people who put their family ahead of God and His Word. “Peace at any price” isn’t the biblical way to deal with problems, for “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable” (James 3:17). Unity that is based on hypocrisy will never last. On the other hand, I have seen godly people stand with the congregation in disciplining their own relatives who had brought disgrace to the name of Christ and the church.
Temptation from a multitude (vv. 12–18). “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” (Ex. 23: nkjv). If a person has committed wickedness, the fact that hundreds of people approve of it doesn’t change its character. It is God who defines what sin is and how we should deal with it. God governs His people by decree, not by consensus. How could an entire town in Israel turn away from the Lord and start worshipping false gods? By failing to deal with the first persons in the town who turned to false gods. The leaders didn’t obey God’s law and purge the evil from the town, so the sin easily spread from person to person and eventually infected everybody. When you remember that the land belonged to the Lord (Lev. 25:23), that He graciously allowed the Jews to live there, and that He alone had the right to lay down the rules, you can see that the idolatrous town was guilty of very serious sin.
It was important that the matter be investigated thoroughly and accurately. “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Prov. 18: nkjv). If the accusation was found to be true, the wealth and possessions of the people were to be burned in the town square as a burnt offering to the Lord. The people were to be slain and the city itself was to be destroyed and nothing was to be salvaged from it. It was to be left a “heap,” which is the translation of the Hebrew word tel, which is a mound composed of layers of ruins. The heap of ruins would be a constant witness to warn the Jews not to worship idols.
But could the nation of Israel afford to lose a town and all its inhabitants? Yes, because God would multiply His people and bless them for obeying His Word and honoring His name. Why not rebuild the town and start all over? Because God said it was to remain a heap of ruins forever and never be rebuilt. Human calculation would say that this was a great loss, but divine wisdom says it is a great gain, for a festering sore had been removed from the nation.
Unfortunately, Israel didn’t obey these laws, and idolatry multiplied in the nation during the reign of Solomon and after the kingdom divided. When Jeroboam became ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel, he made idolatry official by setting up two golden calves for the people to worship, one at Dan and the other at Bethel. In this way, he encouraged the people not to go to Jerusalem to worship (1 Kings 12:25ff.). Because of their idolatry, Israel fell to Assyria in 722 BC and Judah fell to Babylon in 606–586 BC God would rather that the nation be scattered and the holy sanctuary be destroyed than that His people worship false gods. The people forgot that it was the Lord Jehovah who delivered them from Egypt and gave them their land (Deut. 13:5, 10).