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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 If there arise among you a prophet, or one that dreameth dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, |
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| 2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass that he told unto thee, when he said, Let us go after other gods, whom thou hast not known, and let us serve them, |
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| 3 --thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for Jehovah your God proveth you, to know whether ye love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul. |
God proveth you – The word prove has the sense of test. The words were addressed to Israel, who had entered into a covenant to obey all God's requirements, so it was proper that the Lord should prove them. This proving would be accomplished by permitting false prophets to be amongst them. God did not prove the heathen nations, for they had no covenant with him. R5799:3, R5527:3
Satan's opposition to the Church is permitted as a trial of faith and of patient endurance. It tests their loyalty to God, to the truth and to the brethren and becomes a test of brotherly love, thus doing a sifting or separating work. R5147:6, R5320:6, R4445:5, R4462:2, R4479:3, R4910:3
"Blessed is the man that endureth (faithfully under) temptation; for after his trials he will receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." (Jas. 1:12) R2258:3
Class troubles amongst the brethren are means which the Lord permits to test and to demonstrate the character of his people. R5948:1
To see how we learn the lessons of binding up the broken hearts. SM267, SM268
When trying experiences came to him the Lord considered them as being under the supervision of the Father. So it is with us: if the Father permits trying experiences for our testing, it is for us to rejoice. R4802:3, R2258:3
The Lord is surely judging the nations, especially those that have been greatly blessed with his favor. OV432:1; CR494:1
The Lord gives opportunities of choice, for there is no virtue in choosing that which alone is possible. R3631:
Whether ye love the LORD – Those who will endure most patiently will give evidence of the best character. R5395:6, R4910:2
Only by permitting false teachers could God demonstrate to what extent his professed people are loyal to him. R5800:2
The Lord will not accept us merely because we are consecrated. He requires that the consecration be proved. R4910:4
Our obedience to the principles of righteousness is in proportion to our love for the Lord. These principles, obediently followed, develop character to be crystallized. R3631:3
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| 4 Ye shall walk after Jehovah your God, and ye shall fear him, and his commandments shall ye keep, and his voice shall ye hear; and ye shall serve him, and unto him shall ye cleave. |
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| 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; for he hath spoken revolt against Jehovah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, --to draw thee out of the way that Jehovah thy God commanded thee to walk in; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst. |
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| 6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, who is to thee as thy soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods (whom thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; |
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| 7 of the gods of the peoples which are round about you, near unto thee, or far from thee, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth), |
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| 8 thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye spare him, neither shalt thou pity him, neither shalt thou screen him, |
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| 9 but thou shalt in any case kill him: thy hand shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people; |
Put him to death – Extending good will towards God's enemies is obnoxious to God. The stoning of a condemned criminal showed acquiescence and approval of God's judgment. R764:5
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| 10 and thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; for he hath sought to draw thee away from Jehovah thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; |
That he die – Thus the Lord proved Israel's determination to obey him at the sacrifice of any earthly friendship if need be. In this Israel was a type of both the world in the age to come and the Church in the present time. R768:1
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| 11 and all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wicked thing as this in thy midst. |
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| 12 If in one of thy cities, which Jehovah thy God hath given thee to dwell there, thou hearest, saying, |
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| 13 There are men, children of Belial, gone out from among you, and they have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, whom ye have not known; |
Serve other gods – Those who fellowship with such have not the spirit of the Lord. R1588:3
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| 14 then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and if it be truth, and the thing be certain, that this abomination hath happened in the midst of thee, |
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| 15 thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, devoting it to destruction, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. |
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| 16 And all the spoil of it shalt thou gather into the midst of the open place thereof, and shalt burn the city with fire, and all the spoil thereof, wholly to Jehovah thy God; and it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be built again. |
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| 17 And thou shalt not let anything cleave to thy hand of the devoted thing; that Jehovah 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; |
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| 18 when thou hearkenest to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, that thou mayest do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God. |
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