Judgment On The City That Rebels (Deuteronomy 13:12-17).
The same was to be true for any city in Israel that turned after idolatry. It must not be tolerated. But note the extensiveness of the enquiry that should be made first. This was no place for hasty judgments. ‘Enquire -- search -- ask diligently.' It must not be done on the basis of a rumour, but only after intensive investigation. The same principle no doubt applied to the previous examples. And no gain was to be made by anyone from it. All that was in that city must be devoted to Yahweh, and destroyed, and the city itself made a ruin never to be rebuilt because it was tainted with blasphemy. The offence was so great that all that was connected with it must be destroyed.
The general principle behind these words should be noted, that no judgment must be passed without a fair hearing. To judge someone summarily and without fair consideration is to follow the Evil One, and sadly too many Christians, and even ministers, do it.
Analysis using Moses' words:
a If you shall hear tell concerning one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, saying, “Certain base fellows (‘worthless people') are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known” (Deuteronomy 13:13).
b Then shall you enquire, and make search, and ask diligently, and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst of you (Deuteronomy 13:14).
c You shall surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword (Deuteronomy 13:15).
c And you shall gather all the spoil of it into the midst of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, and all its spoil every whit, to Yahweh your God, and it shall be a heap for ever. It shall not be built again (Deuteronomy 13:16).
b And there shall cleave nothing of the devoted thing to your hand, that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you (Deuteronomy 13:17).
a And multiply you, as He has sworn to your fathers, when you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God (Deuteronomy 13:18).
In ‘a' reference is made to certain unworthy people who live in a city which Yahweh their God has given His people to dwell in, a great boon for which they owe Him their allegiance and yet they have turned away from Him (and will thus be under His anger), and in the parallel is the blessing that will come to those are not base and Who cleave to Yahweh their God doing what is right in His eyes. In ‘b' diligent enquiry is to be made into the situation in order to eradicate any evil or abomination, and in the parallel nothing that is abominable and fitted to devotion to destruction is to cleave to His righteous people so that the anger of Yahweh may be turned away and they at least be spared through His compassion. In ‘c' the sentence on the wayward city is described and in the parallel this is expanded on.
‘ If you shall hear tell concerning one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, saying, “Certain base fellows (‘worthless people') are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, then shall you enquire, and make search, and ask diligently, and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst of you,'
If news came of the defection of a city, given to them by Yahweh, to other gods, (it is Yahweh's city and they are handing it over to the enemy), brought about by ‘worthless people', (an expression of extreme contempt), then a full official investigation of the matter must be made. All Israel must be involved (accusing or taking a city was no simple matter). But they must only carry out the sentence when they know that the thing is certain. That this was taken seriously comes out in Judges 19-21, although the sin was of a different kind.
Note the word ‘abomination' which is regularly used of idolatry. It is that which cannot be excused under any circumstances. It is totally displeasing to God and to be avoided at all costs. It is despicable.
But what an important general principle is established here for us. If you ‘hear tell' you must not do anything without a thorough investigation. That is one difference between gossip and truth. Gossip is mischievously passing on rumours. Truth is something not spoken about until full enquiry has been made. The amount of harm which would have been prevented if only Christians and Christian leaders and others had taken this to heart is inestimable.
‘ You shall surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. And you shall gather all the spoil of it into the midst of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, and all its spoil every whit, to Yahweh your God, and it shall be a heap for ever. It shall not be built again.'
But once the thing was proved the sentence must be carried out. The contamination was so great that the guilty were to be slain, their cattle destroyed, their goods burned with fire. All had been defiled. It was as though they had the plague. It was to be given back to Yahweh in the most devastating way. It was to be handed over to Him. It was to be ‘devoted'. Nothing must be saved from it. It was for ever to be a heap of testimony to what had been done.
‘ And there shall cleave nothing of the devoted thing to your hand, that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers, when you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.'
Not a single thing must be saved from the destruction, and above all no one must be tempted to take anything for themselves (compare Joshua 7). They must not let anything cleave to them. All was tainted. It must be devoted to Yahweh in order to cleanse the land. Then Yahweh would not need to come and exact justice on a rebellious and tainted land. The picture is very much that of an Overlord against whom a city has rebelled, but with others taking His side against His enemies (otherwise they would be seen as sharing their guilt). Compare what happened to Gibeah for their abomination (Judges 20:42-48).
“That Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger.” This was no minor misdemeanour, and Yahweh's anger was directed towards the whole land for allowing this in their midst. We are to recognise that we are as much guilty for sin that we allow, as for sin that we commit. Unless we have done what we could to be rid of it we are equally guilty.
And by their obedience the people will obtain mercy. Note the threefold ‘show you mercy, have compassion on you, multiply you', indicating complete vindication. They will not share in the guilt of the city. And they will find that their Overlord is as gracious to them as He was before. He will neither punish the innocent nor clear the guilty. He will continue to fulfil His covenant, having compassion on them and multiplying them as He swore to their fathers.
“When you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.” And this would be because they had listened to the voice of Yahweh their God, and were keeping His commandments, and doing what was right in His eyes (another triad). The lesson is clear. Response and obedience will bring blessing, disobedience will bring judgment.
The whole chapter emphasises the words of the second commandment, that Yahweh is jealous over the purity of His people, and will visit iniquity on the guilty and have compassion on the thousands Who love Him and keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 5:9-10; Exodus 20:5-6).