Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 13:12 - 13:18

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 13:12 - 13:18


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Seducers Among Fellow-Citizens. —

v. 12. If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities which the Lord, thy God, hath given thee to dwell there, saying,


v. 13. Certain men, the children of Belial,
literally, "sons of worthlessness," vain, profitless people, are gone out from among you, denying their allegiance to the people of God and their obligations to the Lord, and have withdrawn (seduced) the inhabitants of their city, saying, let us go and serve other gods which ye have not known, if this rumor or report should reach the ears of any member of Israel,

v. 14. then shalt thou enquire,
make an investigation through the proper officers, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth and the thing certain, that such an abomination is wrought among you, if the guilt of the people is established beyond a doubt,

v. 15. thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly,
as having fallen under the ban of Jehovah, Deuteronomy 7, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. The ban should be carried out upon such a city with a severity which would cause the complete extermination of all living things.

v. 16. And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it,
in the form of dresses, furniture, jewelry, and the like, in the midst of the street thereof, the broad, open place just inside the gate, and shalt burn with fire the city and all the spoil thereof, every whit, for the Lord, thy God, namely, as being devoted to Him through this destruction; and it shall be an heap forever; it shall not be built again.

v. 17. And there shall cleave naught of the cursed thing to thine hand,
no individual should presume to keep any of the material found among the spoil, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, not visit the sin of that one city upon the entire nation, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, Gen_22:17;

v. 18. when thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord, thy God, to keep all His commandments which I command thee this day,
including these, which enjoined the utmost severity upon the false prophets and seducers of every kind, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord, thy God. The command of God. as it concerns Christian congregations in our days, plainly states that they must have no fellowship with unbelievers and with false believers. Only in this way is it possible to hinder the corruption and the defection of the people of God. Cf 2Co_6:14-18.