The worship of any god other than Yahweh was utterly forbidden for the people of ancient Israel. In our modern world this is a hard thing for us to accept. The text is clear that it was not enough for the people of Israel that they as individuals had to be faithful to the Lord: they must make sure that their neighbors were equally loyal. Thus, if you hear that someone has served or worshiped other gods, and if “you make a thorough inquiry, and the charge is proved true that such an abhorrent thing has occurred in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or that woman who has committed this crime and you shall stone the man or woman to death” (Deuteronomy 17:4-5).

Yet we live today within a pluralistic world culture: we don’t live within the theocratic nation of ancient Israel. That makes it hard for us to accept idolatry as a capital crime. Can’t we just let people worship whatever god they choose, in whatever way they think best? Maybe not. The worship of Molech, for example, required child sacrifice, as did some of the other gods of the Canaanites: children from the community would be burned alive, “passing through fire” as they went from this life to become a servant of that god (18:10). Making all due allowance for pluralism, should we consider it a matter of individual religious preference when someone decides to burn a child alive?

We should note as well several other factors concerning such cases. First, thorough inquiry would be necessary (17:4); mere rumor or accusation would not be sufficient. Second, the death sentence could not be imposed based on the testimony of just one witness; two or three would be required (17:6). Third, the accusers would need to cast the first stone: they could not stand back and let others execute the sentence (17:7). These three requirements impose a seriousness on the process, helping to prevent false or frivolous accusations.

But even granting these mitigating factors, it remains true that worshiping other gods was utterly forbidden. Such a crime would be punished by public community execution, because idolatry violated the covenant that Yahweh had established (17:2-3). As Americans living under a constitutional insistence that there be no established national religion, we cannot expect governmental preference for our religion over any other. Yet we must not simply sweep this story aside. Instead, as believers we must at least let this story urge ourselves toward the biblical conviction that we ourselves must insist on offering our hearts’ deep devotion to the Lord our God alone.

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Ah Lord God! Our world is so laissez-faire about religion, and so indifferent to the variety of religious perspectives, as though they are equally valid – or equally invalid. Yet you call us to give our worship exclusively to you. Exclusively. To. You. We are so terribly far from that. Help us, O God: convict us of the truth of your word, and change our hearts!