#337 Not Going To Bow

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;

15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord 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;

18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God. Deuteronomy 13 KJV

The first part of this deals with those who would lead us astray through signs and wonders, preceding another gospel, idolatry and a turning away from the One true God.
So this prophet, medium, diviner, seer, is able to say things that come to pass. You have witnessed something that he says, come true. He has demonstrated to you beyond your doubt and satisfied your skepticism that he has some sort of power, communes with the dead etc.., but what does God say? This is where it falls apart, that it is again the Word of God that remains and if any man should direct you away from this, and come with another gospel or Christ or gods, then it does not matter their explanation, for God has already spoken. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. 

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matthew 24:24

The second part deals with family and friends, the enticement of those who hold the most influence over us by blood or by heart. In Deuteronomy this was a Theocracy in the Dispensation of the Law. It was the Law of God delivered to a people who were set apart to keep it. There was no room for relations here, punishment was swift, ideals of mafia, family honor, good ole boy systems, did not hold weight. An enabler carried the guilt with the one he protected. Obstructing justice was not a good idea. God sits above family, family does not exist without God. What does it look like in our current dispensation of grace?

25Large crowds were now traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be My disciple. 27And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.… Luke 14:25-27

Many find that too hard, but let nothing separate us from the love of God. If you really loved them, you would love God more than them.

The third part describes a city that is corporately corrupt, like Sodom and Gomorrah, and what will later be seen of one of their own tribes, in Benjamin. Here one would say, but it's specifically the sin of idolatry, following of other gods, and yes, but what does that look like? What of the worship of saints? What about money? This is the temptation of culture and society as well, and what has not been an idol, worshipped and adored above the Creator Himself? God's throne is so far above the halls of human effort, social justice, which often leads to systems of great injustice, and our arguments over systems. Under the law the evildoer was punished, but in this dispensation, it may often be that those who would hold God above men, family, prophets and culture will inspire the justice from those who are inherently unjust.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up Daniel 3:16-18 KJV