The Truth, And Nothing But The Truth
Initially, your hand shall be against him to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people Deuteronomy 13:9
Your Hand – The penalty for attempting to lead others into apostasy is severe: death by stoning. Today we may think such punishment barbaric, but, of course, we have tolerated so much apostasy that we no longer understand the need for spiritual purity in society. If we really wanted to enjoy the unbroken fellowship of God and the blessings He would bestow on such faithfulness, we have to begin here, with a cleansing inside the camp.
Since apostasy is a crime against God that affects everyone in the community, it cannot be tolerated in any form. To be accused of instigating defection from obedience to the living God was a terrifying thing, so God required a specific method of execution that taught two critical lessons.
First, the accuser was to cast the first stone. This meant that the accuser identified himself as responsible for the execution. He had to take the instrument of death in his own hand (yadh). This symbolic act proclaimed the complete validity of the accusation. It was the truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God – for if it were not the truth, then I would be guilty of murder and fall under the same punishment.
Secondly, the rest of the community entered into the execution immediately after the first stone. This means that the community shares in the responsibility and endorses the judgment. It also graphically displayed the results of spiritual sedition. In front of God and the host of witnesses, evil was exterminated from the camp.
Our world is filled with perpetrators of spiritual sedition. Because we no longer punish apostasy, we no longer experience God’s unbroken blessings. We live in a sewer of false gods, worshipping wealth, power, sex, prowess and a host of other idols. We send our children into the lion’s den to be educated by those who have no godliness even if they pretend to provide a superior education. We attend churches that have abandoned God’s word on one point after another. We involve ourselves, our time and our treasure in a culture that cares nothing for the glory of the Lord. And we still expect God to bless us. Perhaps we are the ones who should be accused. We have sacrificed purity in pursuit of profit and prestige. In ancient Israel, that would have been a capital offense. The only problem today is that there is no innocent party to cast the first stone. Every hand is guilty!
What a long way we have fallen! A society of spiritual criminals, singing hymns to themselves instead of weeping over their crimes.
Who will deliver us from this corporate body of evil?
