Anyone Found Worshipping Other Gods Was To Be Stoned To Death, But Only After Careful Enquiry (Deuteronomy 17:2-7).
The reference to the abominations of Asherah, Pillar and blemished offerings leads on the thought of all idolatry. The worshipping of other gods was a capital offence, but it was necessary that the charge was proved to be genuinely true. Charging people with blasphemy on false grounds has been the curse of religion throughout history and is sadly often the result of a deeply religious bent. The Pharisees and Sadducees did it to Jesus. It is equally to be condemned between denominations, although it is right that genuine blasphemy be so condemned. The point here is that it must first be genuinely proved. Then it would result in the death penalty.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
a If there be found in the midst of you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, man or woman who does that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, in transgressing his covenant and has gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded (Deuteronomy 17:2-3).
b And it be told you, and you have heard of it, then shall you enquire diligently, and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel (Deuteronomy 17:4).
b Then shall you bring forth that man or that woman, who has done this evil thing, to your gates, even the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death with stones (Deuteronomy 17:5).
a At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. So you will put away the evil from the midst of you (Deuteronomy 17:6-7).
Note that in ‘a' the person is found within their gates transgressing the covenant and doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh their God by worshipping other gods, (thus what they have done has been witnessed), then at the mouths of at least two witnesses they must be put to death, the witnesses throwing the first stones, followed by the people. This common action will remove the evil from among them. In ‘b' the enquiry must be detailed and fair, but if the thing is certain, then in the parallel they must be brought to their gates and stoned to death.
‘ If there be found in the midst of you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, man or woman who does that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, in transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,'
What had been previously mentioned brought home the dangers of idolatry, and in the context of words about establishing justice he now illustrated the approach that must be taken in all legal decisions by using idolatry as an example, while at the same time again condemning it absolutely.
Suppose there was found among them, within the cities that ‘Yahweh had given them', (cities therefore holy to Him as the camp had been), a man or woman who did evil in the sight of Yahweh and who was transgressing His covenant by ‘going and serving other gods, and worshipping them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded'.
The thought is of someone engaged in false worship, but this time they had gone the whole way. They had deserted Yahweh and were serving other gods and worshipping them. This included the worship of images and idols, and the worship of sun or moon or stars.
The worship of the sun was unquestionably practised in Canaan, for at least one city was named ‘the house of Shemesh' (Bethshemesh), while in Egypt Ra or Aten were sun gods who were seen as profoundly affecting things day by day (and in unseen battles at night). It is probable that Abraham's father was a moon-worshipper, for Haran was a centre of moon-worship, and in Egypt Thoth was at one time a moon god. In Canaan Yerah was the moon god, possibly worshipped at ‘Yeri-cho' (Jericho). The term ‘host of heaven' was well known in Israel (see 1 Kings 22:19; compare Deuteronomy 33:2) and the concept as old as, and older than, Genesis 32:2. It originally referred to heavenly beings. But every night men around the world would look up and see the stars, and various aspects of them would be worshipped, which was why in some places learned men tracked their movements. So recognition of them as Yahweh's hosts, an easy step to make, could easily turn to worship of them as the host of heaven. Genesis 1:16 with its ‘and made the stars also' would appear to have been a deliberate attempt to play the stars down. Worship of sun, moon and stars goes back into the mists of time. They had a fascination for men and were mysteries that drew men's veneration.
By so worshipping they would have broken the covenant and done what Yahweh had not commanded. Indeed He had commanded that they should not do it. They must therefore face the judgment of His justices and officials.
‘ And it be told you, and you have heard of it, then shall you enquire diligently, and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel, then shall you bring forth that man or that woman, who has done this evil thing, to your gates, even the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death with stones.'
But when they heard of such a thing happening they must make diligent enquiry. We can compare this with Deuteronomy 13:14. We need hardly doubt that Moses intended them to see this as a pattern which should be followed in all cases to be brought before the justices. And it was only if the matter was true and the thing certain that they were to proceed.
“Such abomination was wrought in Israel.” Although it was only given as an example, that did not lessen the crime. He had chosen the worst possible case to use as his illustration of justice. False worship struck at the very root of the covenant. It replaced Yahweh as Supreme. It was totally unacceptable. It was something that Yahweh was against with all His being. It was ‘abominable'. And yet even that must be subject to fair trial.
On the case being proved, the man or woman who had done this evil was to be brought forth to the gates, to the place of justice, and once the case was satisfactorily proved, the man or woman was to be stoned to death with stones, the first stones being thrown by the witnesses. Stoning was always the penalty for this crime in Israel, for it prevented anyone having to touch those who had been defiled.
In the wilderness the stoning had to take place ‘outside the camp', but this would not now be possible. The equivalent of the camp was the whole of the land of Israel, and to take them to the borders of the land would have been impractical. But the gate of the city was the equivalent. The person had been brought out from where the people dwelt and was executed at the place of sentence, away from the sphere of their living accommodation.
‘ At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. So you will put away the evil from the midst of you.'
But this must not be done at the hand of only one witness (compare Numbers 35:30). There must be at least two or three witnesses. Then the hand of the witnesses were to throw the first stones, something which if they had spoken truly they would not hesitate to do, after which all the people were to take part. As all would have been affected by it so must all be involved in the punishment. So care was taken against false accusations, and against mob rule. But the finally important thing was that the evil would be put away from among them.