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There are different reasons why people turn from truth to error. One such reason is found in Deuteronomy 13. In the context of that chapter, Moses is warning the Israelites about the kinds of people who will seek to steer them away from true worship and into error and idolatry.
Deuteronomy 13:1–5 is about a false “prophet” or “dreamer” who leads people astray. Deuteronomy 13:12–18 is about a whole town plunging into idolatry. The middle section of the chapter, and the one I’m interested in for our purposes, is Deuteronomy 13:6–11. Take a look at that text.
6 “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, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9 But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.”
Strong words, I know. Though we’re not under the Sinai Covenant, and though the civil penalties (in this case, stoning) don’t overlap with the New Covenant community, there is a lesson about faithfulness that we need to discern.
In Deuteronomy 13:6–11, the danger of turning to error is due to a snare that feels close to home—and may even be in the home. Moses mentions a “brother” or “son” or “daughter” or “wife” or close friend (“who is as your own soul”) who tries to exert influence on your convictions.
Because we love our families, and because we may naturally feel compassion toward those closest to us, we are vulnerable to the temptation of setting aside what is right in order to appease those who want to take a disobedient path. Our compassion might blind us to what is wise and good. Our sense of closeness to people might obstruct any recognition that they are deceiving and manipulating us.
Imagine the scenario of a family member saying, “In order to live out who I truly am, the Bible’s sexual ethics aren’t for me.” Imagine the scenario of a close friend saying, “The Bible’s teaching about heterosexual marriage is irrelevant, and I’m going to do my own thing.” Imagine the scenario of someone saying, “I don’t care if you think what I’m doing is sinful. You should support me. You should affirm me.”
In a culture like ours in the United States, these scenarios don’t seem hypothetical at all. They’re all too real and common.
When people want to do what is right in their own eyes, we will feel the pressure to support them and affirm them. That instinct is understandable, too, when those people are our family and friends. “Don’t be so judgmental,” they may say. “Don’t be so old-fashioned,” they may say.
But what does Moses tell the Israelites when a loved one proposes an ungodly direction or course of action? Moses says, “You shall not yield to him or listen to him” (Deut. 13:8).
Where the Bible has spoken clearly about moral matters, be unyielding. Where God has made known his law in his Word, do not follow wicked counsel that contradicts it.
Wicked counsel sometimes comes from people close to us. And that’s hard. Job’s wife told him, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). What we may come to realize is that not everyone close to us (whether family or friends) has our soul’s best interest at heart. Turning from truth to error will not help us or others. Affirming error instead of truth will not bless your neighbor or honor the Lord.
If we compromise the truth of God’s Word because we want to appease our spouse, our child, our sibling, our parents, or our friends, we are dishonoring the Lord.
The cost of discipleship can be great, but Jesus told us that ahead of time. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
Jesus’s words are about allegiance. He doesn’t actually want you to hate your family. Those words in Luke 14:26 are hyperbolic to make a larger point about allegiance. True disciples of Jesus are devoted, above all, to Jesus.
Are there people in your family or in your friend circles who are trying to turn your convictions away from God’s Word and to error? Are you being pressured to compromise what is Right in order to support someone pursuing what is Wrong?
Ancient Israelites understood that pressure. There’s nothing new under the sun. So we must be armed with truth and ready to love others, but never with a kind of love that comes at the expense of what God has said.