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DEUTERONOMY
CHAPTER 13

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.

A "prophet" is, by the import of these verses, a false prophet if he calls people to worship anything other than God.
Even if he gives a sign which actually happens, he's still a false prophet because he's trying to get people to worship something other than God.
His punishment was to be instantaneous death by stoning (verse 10). Keep in mind, God was known by the name YHWH (or Jehovah). Therefore, if someone called people to worship a god by any other name, he was a false prophet. There is only ONE God.
By the death penalty, one can see that this was a serious matter.

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.

Even if the false prophet were their next of kin, he was still to be stoned - and not to be spared.
YEP!! This was a serious matter!

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 inquire, 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 an 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 shew 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.

And if they heard about this happening in another city, they were to go and destroy that city and all its inhabitants (verse 15).
YEP!! This is a VERY SERIOUS matter!!

How does this apply to us today? We are to worship Jesus Christ only. What if a Buddhist, Hindu, or Muslim tries to convince us to follow his god? Are we supposed to STONE him? Certainly not!! But this IS a serious matter.
Three things the Christian should do when approached by someone of another religion (not denomination):
1. Offer to tell them about Jesus.
2. Refuse to listen to their arguments for a false god.
3. Pray for them.

CHAPTER 14

1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. 2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

God calls them HIS children. Sanctification begins with heirship. This has always been the way people were accepted by the Lord - His own personal election (see Galatians 1:1-7, Ephesians 1:3-6, and 1Peter 2:9).
Now God's special, chosen people are holy (sanctified) to Him. And He doesnt' want them marking themselves up; not even in mourning.
The Canaanites marked themselves for the dead to acknowledge the DIETY of their dead. God surely doesn't want His people to acknowledge another diety.

3 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. 4 These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, 5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. 6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.

Another thing that distinquishes God's holy, chosen people is their cleanliness; Cleanliness in their person and in their eating habits.

7 Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. 8 And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. 9 These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat: 10 And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. 11 Of all clean birds ye shall eat. 12 But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, 13 And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, 14 And every raven after his kind, 15 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, 16 The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, 17 And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, 18 And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. 19 And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. 20 But of all clean fowls ye may eat.

None of these are actually forbidden today because Jesus' sacrifice at Calvary did away with the need of these dietary restrictions (See Acts 10:10-16).
However, there are certain things listed here that I have NO DESIRE to eat. How about buzzards, and owls? YUK!

21 Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

A few years ago, my wife and I visited Silverton, Colorado while riding our motorbike on vacation. There was a specialty shop there which had an interesting item in the window display. The box looked like hambruger helper, but said, "ROADKILL HELPER!" NOPE!! NOT ME!! Just doesn't seem right.
Though all things are lawful to me under Christ, some things certainly are not expedient (or appetizing). See 1Corinthians 6:12.
Also mentioned here is a Canaanite ritual which they used in worshipping fertility gods -- "seethe a kid in his mother's milk." Again, this would be worshipping another god.

22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. 23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. 24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: 25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: 26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, 27 And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. 28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: 29 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

As in Chapter 12, this is a discussion about tithes and offerings. The tithe is to be taken to God's house (verse 23).
If it requires a long journey, then they could SELL the first-fruits and tithe of the harvest. Then they could bring the money to God's house.
This makes sure the Levites are cared for properly (verse 27).
A second tithe was to be kept at home to feed Levites and the poor (verse 28). Each third year, a tithe of all the "increase" was to be put aside. This was used to give aid to the "fatherless" and the "widow."
This money was GOD'S money to be used for the specified purpose ONLY!
Christians never think much today about keeping money on hand to feed the poor. Part of our bank account oughta be considered GOD'S money for the specific purpose of helping the poor.
"Give to him that asketh of thee, and of him that would borrow from thee turn not thou away." (Matthew 5:42)

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