Deuteronomy 13 - False Prophets and Teachers Judged Harshly
A common thread throughout the entire Bible is warnings against people who will lead people away from God and his statutes. Just because someone claims to be following the same God does not mean it is the same God. Look at religions like Judaism and Islam. They both claim to be worshiping the same monotheistic God of Israel, but they give many false attributes to Him that do not line up with what scripture says.
- Both reject Jesus as God. Judaism utterly hates Christ.
- Islam claims that God is in favor of poly-amorous marriages.
- Judaism claims that God only loves the Jews and gentiles are equivalent to animals.
- Judaism claims that God condones deep moral sins like pornography, abortion, and materialism while saying God cares more deeply about staying Kosher in diet.
These differences are far beyond what is compatible with an honest and intentional reading of biblical scripture. They are worshiping a false god under the name of the one true God and need to convert. This kind of false worship is taken more seriously than general idolatry when it comes to the Law of God.
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.
17 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Doing what is right in the sight of the Lord our God is the utmost highest priority in loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. God reiterates over and over again throughout both the old and new testament that we are to keep His moral law close to our hearts and anyone who claims to love Him, will also love His moral law. Contradicting the deepest moral laws He has laid down and trying to wiggle our way out of them is nothing more than pride. How arrogant it was of me to try and justify my previous pornography usage by using the same prideful remarks of the modern pharisees like Dennis Prager making self-oriented statements about God like "My god would never condemn someone to hell simply for watching harmless porn in this way." You bet God would, and He did in the past as well. It was nothing more than boxing God into my own desires rather than relinquishing my own desires to God. Claiming that "he created me with these desires, so why should I resist them"? What an evil way to view the Lord our God. Pitting the blame for our degeneracy, sin, attractions, and lust on God as if it is His problem. This attitude towards God is nothing more than a prideful atheistic view of being angry against Him simply for having standards at all. A childish rebellion against a loving God that wants what is best for us by thinking we know the reasons for His statutes better than He does.
It is no wonder that people who claim to love God yet lead people astray from His commands in this way are judged with a much harsher standard. As leaders who know the truth about God, we need to be leading people in the truth that God is a jealous and wrathful God despite being all loving. Following Him involves surrendering all of our sinful desires, not just what we want to surrender by trying to skirt the law on technicalities. I pray that I am forgiven for the times I falsely led people this way using the individualist logic several years ago. I should not have been making excuses for God to appear more loving and avoid rejection from those who consider their sin to be essential parts of their lives. I was no different than they were and just trying to deceive both myself and them into believing there was nothing wrong. Thank God for freeing me from those chains.