Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

 “Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, ² and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’—gods you have not known before— ³ do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul. ⁴ Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. ⁵ The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the Lord your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the Lord your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.

⁶ “Suppose someone secretly entices you—even your brother, your son or daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend—and says, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known. ⁷ They might suggest that you worship the gods of peoples who live nearby or who come from the ends of the earth. ⁸ But do not give in or listen. Have no pity, and do not spare or protect them. ⁹ You must put them to death! Strike the first blow yourself, and then all the people must join in. ¹⁰ Stone the guilty ones to death because they have tried to draw you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery. ¹¹ Then all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and no one will act so wickedly again.

¹² “When you begin living in the towns the Lord your God is giving you, you may hear ¹³ that scoundrels among you are leading their fellow citizens astray by saying, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods you have not known before. ¹⁴ In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find that the report is true and such a detestable act has been committed among you, ¹⁵ you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. ¹⁶ Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the open square and burn it. Burn the entire town as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. ¹⁷ Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a large nation, just as he swore to your ancestors.

¹⁸ “The Lord your God will be merciful only if you listen to his voice and keep all his commands that I am giving you today, doing what pleases him.

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Deuteronomy 13: 

1. What does this chapter tell me about God?

2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?

Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.  

1. God instructs His people in how to deal with those within the community of faith who would try to turn them away from worshiping Him.

2. People can be drawn away from following the one true God by noted individuals, family members and close friends, or whole communities.

The author of this blog is indebted to Dennis Prager for insight into this chapter, particularly from pages 225-235 in The Rational Bible: Deuteronomy.

Prayer:

3. How might I pray regarding Deuteronomy 13?  

Dear LORD God, creator of the universe and everything in it, thank You for showing how serious it is someone to try to pull believers away from following You. Holy Spirit, I need Your help to faithfully serve the LORD my God and fear Him alone. Please help me to obey the commands You directed to be written in the Bible. Help me to listen to Your voice and cling to You. I don’t want to be swayed away by charismatic leaders, family members, close friends, or the culture around me. I desire to love, obey, and cling to the LORD the triune God of the Bible and Him alone. I determine to bring honor, not disgrace, to Your name. AMEN 

Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Deuteronomy 13?

• I will take time each day to interact with God in prayer and reading the Bible so that I will be able to recognize when a person, activity, or idea is trying to turn me away from God. 
• I will begin my days by asking God how He wants me to serve Him that day.
• I will break connections from anyone, anything, or any idea that would try to pull me away from God.
• I will try to warn someone I know and care about to avoid people, activities, or ideologies that would pull them away from wholehearted devotion to the LORD God.

Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.