seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 17:1 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.
2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant, 3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant, 3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
This is from the easy English site.
The Israelites punished severely anyone who worshipped false gods. The people would take the guilty person to the gate of the city. That was the place where judges had their court. Two or three witnesses had to see that the person had given honour to false gods. The witnesses would throw stones at the guilty person first. If the witnesses had not told the truth, then other people would kill the witnesses.
I went back to Bibletrack.org to find this.
Israel WAS NOT a freedom-of-religion nation. As a matter of fact, the daily life of the Hebrews revolved around their worship of Jehovah, the one true God. In these instructions, we see mandates to that effect.
First of all, verse 1 makes it very clear that any animal sacrifice must include an animal that is without blemish. What about something as blatant as worshipping OTHER gods? Here it is - get caught worshipping other gods, and you die. There's a caveat though; if you report someone in Israel for serving other God's, you'd better have other witnesses; it takes two or more witnesses to convict. Oh, one more thing - if you are a witness to this heathen worship, you gotta cast the first stone when he/she is put to death.
First of all, verse 1 makes it very clear that any animal sacrifice must include an animal that is without blemish. What about something as blatant as worshipping OTHER gods? Here it is - get caught worshipping other gods, and you die. There's a caveat though; if you report someone in Israel for serving other God's, you'd better have other witnesses; it takes two or more witnesses to convict. Oh, one more thing - if you are a witness to this heathen worship, you gotta cast the first stone when he/she is put to death.
I guess I'll have to continue reading because Israel is not like that today. Today, in Israel, there is case law protecting religious freedom. This is from the jewishvirtuallibrary.org site.
To support the fundamental existence of the right of freedom of conscience and religion, the courts have also relied on the fact that Israel is a democratic and enlightened state. In one significant court decision, Justice Moshe Landau stated:
"The freedom of conscience and worship is one of the individual's liberties assured in every enlightened democratic regime." In dealing with questions of religious freedom, as well as other human rights, the courts have also resorted to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights that reflect "the basic principles of equality, freedom and justice which are the heritage of all modern enlightened states."
"The freedom of conscience and worship is one of the individual's liberties assured in every enlightened democratic regime." In dealing with questions of religious freedom, as well as other human rights, the courts have also resorted to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights that reflect "the basic principles of equality, freedom and justice which are the heritage of all modern enlightened states."
Somewhere along the line, the Israelites became an "enlightened democratic regime" but back when Moses was giving this speech.... not so much. Israel was the Theocratic Nation.... God ran the show.
