If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again. (Deuteronomy 13:1-11 NIV)
Starting today, our sermons this summer are going to come from one book of the Bible: Deuteronomy. Heard of it? Deuteronomy is not a part of the Bible that we spend a lot of time in. But this summer we will, for two reasons. First, this summer I’m taking a class on the book of Deuteronomy in Hebrew. I want to share with you what I learn! Second, how much of the Bible is God’s Word? All of it! It’s good for us to study all of God’s Word. Deuteronomy is in the Old Testament. It’s the final book written by Moses. Deuteronomy is a powerful call to God’s people to be faithful to the one true God. That applies to us too. We’re called to faithfulness to God.
That fits perfectly with what we’re talking about today. What are we talking about today? The Trinity! There is only one true God. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three-in-one. The Trinity. The Athanasian Creed emphasized how important this is. We confessed, “Whoever wishes to be saved must have this conviction of the Trinity.” Those are strong words! They sound out of place in our society today. We’re told that it doesn’t matter what you believe. It’s all the same, right? No! “Whoever wishes to be saved must have this conviction of the Trinity.”
Moses said it just as strongly in Deuteronomy. Our lesson starts, “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place…” Already in Moses’ day there were other prophets and dreamers. Do you know when Moses lived? About 1500 B.C. That’s 3500 years ago. There were already YouTubers and bloggers. Here’s what’s surprising: Sometimes they got it right! The word of those prophets would sometimes come true. Anybody can be right occasionally. So God said, “Watch out! Watch out for people whose messages come true!” Huh? How can we know?
By what the message says: “… and the prophet says, ‘Let us follow other gods’ (gods you have not known) ‘and let us worship them,’ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer.” Don’t just test whether someone’s words come true. Test whether their words point you to God. See the difference? A false prophet’s message always come down to, “‘Let us follow other gods’ (gods you have not known).” “The God of the Bible? No! Let’s follow something new and cool and progressive.” It’s sneaky, isn’t it? It’s tempting, isn’t it? We like new things!
This reminds me of a verse in the New Testament. The old apostle John, kind of like old Moses, wrote, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). Those early Christians need to test everything they heard. Paul added, “If we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:8). God wants each Christian to be in his Word and to be able to test the messages you hear. Even my messages! Always ask: Is this pointing me to Jesus?
We need to hear this. What voices are you listening to that say something true, but also say, “Let’s follow other gods”? Our family is hearing a voice. It’s the voice of youth sports. It’s saying, “Sports are fun and healthy.” That’s true! It’s also saying, “You don’t need church on Sundays—or during the week. Sports are funner!” Do you hear that voice? Or now it’s summer. There’s another voice, saying, “Vacation!” Time away. Time to relax. That’s true! That’s good. It’s also saying, “Take a break from reading your Bible. Take a break from church. It’s summer!” Do you hear that voice? What voice is calling out to you, “Let’s follow other gods”?
Listen to this: “The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.” That cuts at my heart. I don’t think about this enough in my life. Every decision. Every choice about where to spend money or what to do with my time or what to read or whom to listen to… Every decision is God testing me. To see what? Do I love him with all my heart? Do I love him with all my soul? Do I? Do you? The LORD your God is testing you. Today. Every day. Who is really in your heart? Who is really at the center of your life?
The answer should be clear. It should be obvious to anyone: “It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.” Whom should we love with all our heart and all our soul? The LORD! The one true God. Moses packs six verbs into this one little verse. “It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.”
Do you realize how important this is? How important faithfulness to the one true God is? I don’t think we do. Did you hear what was to happen to this false prophet? “That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the LORD your God.” What was to happen? Death. That’s how important faithfulness to God is! Now, we have to say something here. Deuteronomy is God’s laws for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Unlike any other country before or since, it was a unique country ruled directly by God. Our country isn’t. God is not telling Christians to put people to death today. Our sword isn’t steel. It’s the Word of God!
But God is teaching us something. What does idolatry deserve? Death. What does sin deserve? Death. People today can’t stand this. They say, “That’s barbaric! That’s absurd! This is why we shouldn’t pay any attention to the Old Testament. Let’s just focus on love. That’s what Jesus was all about. Jesus never talked like this.” Did he? Of course he did! Actually, Jesus spoke more harshly. He said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). According to Jesus, if we turn away from God, we don’t just deserve to be stoned to death. That’s nothing. What do we deserve? Hell! The Bible calls us to be faithful to the one true God. Are you?
This is so important that Moses gives us another example, and I don’t like it. I have to admit that I wish the next verses weren’t in the Bible: “If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known)…” What if the person enticing you away from God isn’t a false pastor. What if it’s your brother? Or your mom? Or your wife? Or your best friend? I don’t want to think about this. Do you? It hurts, right?
Did you hear what God told the people? “Do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death.” Even if that person is your own son or spouse or friend, what do they deserve for turning away from God? Death. Now, remember what we said above? God’s rule for Old Testament Israel isn’t his rule for the United States. No Christian can use this verse to hurt or kill anyone else. But the message is clear: Faithfulness to God even trumps family.
That can’t be right, can it? Well, do you know what Jesus said? “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Hate in the Bible can mean to “love less.” If you’re going to follow Jesus, whom will you love less than Jesus? Everybody. Father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yourself… This challenges us. Who is first in your heart? God knows. Do you know? What do you love with all your heart and all your soul? God knows.
And he still loves you. He loves you so much. As Moses called the Israelites to faithfulness to the one true God, he emphasized the reason why. “The LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery.” The Israelites had been helpless. Hopeless. Where? In Egypt. What did God do? He saved them. You know at least part of the story. The Israelites were slaves. God sent Moses. God sent the Ten Plagues. God parted the Red Sea. God sent manna and quail to eat. The LORD their God saved them. Everything in their lives was a result of the grace of the LORD. Had Baal done that? No! Had Molech done that? No! There is no one like the LORD. How could they love anyone else? Look at what the LORD had done!
God has done the same for you and me. He’s rescued us from slavery. Maybe you say: “Hold on. I was never a slave in Egypt.” That’s true. But you’ve been a slave. A slave to sin. A slave to lust or bitterness or idolatry or greed or pride or selfishness. Do you know what the LORD has done for you? Jesus has redeemed you from the land of slavery. Sinners deserve death. That’s what our lesson says! What did Jesus do? Jesus died for us. To forgive us. To free us. Our faithfulness to God isn’t motivated by fear. It is motivated by God’s grace. By God’s amazing grace!
In fact, God has made crystal clear whom he loves with all his heart and all his soul: You! He tells us to love him even more than a brother or child or spouse, because that’s what he has done for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God gave his Son for you. You must be pretty special! God loves you with all of his heart. How can you be sure? The cross.
There is no one like our God! A couple years ago, I heard a pastor talk about the Trinity like how a doctor, a pharmacist, and a parent work together to get life-saving medicine to a sick child. No analogy is perfect, but this was helpful for me. Like a doctor, God the Father prescribed a perfect plan of salvation, but he didn’t carry out that plan on his own. Like a pharmacist, God the Son—Jesus—filled that prescription when he came to earth and died and rose to win salvation for us, but that medicine can’t just stay at the pharmacy. Like a loving mother or father, the Holy Spirit takes that salvation that the Father planned and that Jesus won and he places it into our hearts through God’s Word and Sacraments. Through the work of the Holy Trinity, we are saved!
So if any voice says, “Let’s follow other gods,” don’t listen! In fact, be willing to make changes, to cut away whatever is pulling you away from God. It’s not worth it! You can love sports, but do sports love you back? No. You can love money, but does money love you back? No. You can love people, but will people ever love you perfectly? No. But God does! Martin Luther said: “It is better to lose friends, brothers, saints, mighty ones, and everything than to lose God.” Isn’t that true? “It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.” We’re called to faithfulness to the one true God.
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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