Stoning Heretics

Reading in Deuteronomy this morning I came to the hard sayings of chapter 13.   Like a sharp jab to the face, these stern words get your attention!  In this age of tolerance, when about the only sentiment that merits condemnation is the audacity to claim to have found the truth, Deuteronomy stands out for its stark contrast.

God, through Moses, instructed the Israelites to be on the highest alert for even the hint of heretical idolatry.  After ordering the execution of confirmed false prophets, the Lord gets more personal.  Should the apostate be a member of your very own household, even your brother, your son, your daughter or “the wife of your bosom,” action must be taken.  Thus, if even one of the closest people to you on earth should secretly try to entice you to compromise your allegiance to Yahweh, the one true God, you were to respond with resolute action.  Such a person is to be put to death, and you are to cast the first stone!

These statements are so far removed from the sentiment of 21st century society, including the American evangelical church, that it is difficult to even contemplate such reaction to the secret enticements of an apostate.  But these are God’s inspired words.  Like the rest of biblical revelation, God expected absolute obedience by His people to whom the statutes were given.

The United States of America cannot be equated with the ancient Israeli theocracy.  We do not simply transfer the Old Testament penal sanctions and codify them as modern law.  Nevertheless, such texts are vitally important as they reveal the mind of God on the seriousness of heresy.  It does matter what you believe.  The exclusivity of the Christian gospel must be preserved at all costs.  We have no biblical grounds for ignoring professing Christians, whether family members or not, who espouse a view of God that departs from the historic, orthodox teachings of the church.

At the very least, Deuteronomy 13 should instruct us that it is critical that in our homes and churches we treat the study and confession of sound doctrine with the importance that God does.  The Old Covenant demand that those who compromise the truth be executed should cause all who truly know the Lord to sit up and take notice.  What you believe is infinitely more important than any other dimension of life.

Despite the efforts of some to suggest that God has moderated from the perceived harshness of the Old Testament, Scripture repeatedly affirms that God never changes.  Because of the eternal consequences of apostasy, because of the potential for damning your soul through unbelief, the cancer of heresy must be destroyed.  We must treat these matters which the seriousness that a capital crime demands.