Bible Reading for March 8 – Deuteronomy 12:32-13:5
What is the true source of pastoral authority? Some congregations insist on distinguished academic degrees, while others prefer spontaneity or sincerity in preaching. Some seek good singing voices while others require the ability to perform elegant liturgies. Some put a high priority on the ability to give wise counsel, while others are primarily interested in efforts to help the poor. And some congregations rely on family ties, calling the son or daughter of a well-beloved pastor to lead them.
But in today’s passage, God makes clear that there is only one true measure of truth in preaching: the Word of God. For even if preachers demonstrate seemingly miraculous power, for example by correctly predicting something that eventually comes to pass, Moses says we should not listen to them – that is, if they also tell us to worship another god (13:2). For such teaching would directly contradict what God has made clear in His Word – that we are to love the Lord with all our heart and soul (13:3; see also 6:5).
Moreover, we are to make no room in our congregations for those who preach another gospel – not even if they happen to be related to us (13:6-8). And while the only way to be removed from the Old Testament people of God was to be executed (13:5), so Paul tells us to “purge the evil from among you” (13:5) by making it clear that such false teachers are no longer part of the community of faith (see I Corinthians 5:11-13).
Yes, that sounds harsh. But we have to remember what such false preachers are really doing – they are either counseling outright rebellion against the Lord Jesus, or they are trying to seduce us from the way that God wants us to live (13:5). So, why would we want to listen to such lies, much less believe them? And why should we allow false teachers to convince others to reject faith in Christ?
No, if we put a pastor’s credentials or abilities or personal piety or family connections or even miraculous works ahead of his or her allegiance to God’s Word, we’ve made it clear where our own loyalties lie. So, while we respect our pastors, let’s measure the truth of what they teach us by the Word of God, the only infallible rule of our faith and practice.
Deuteronomy 12:32-13:5
32 “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom 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 find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
