| Deut. 13:1-5 |
The law commands a prophet, or dreamer of dreams who
speaks to turn Israel away from the Lord their God to other gods is false, "you shall not listen...for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul." (vs.3) The person
is put to death to put away the evil from their midst. |
| Deut. 17:1-7 |
When a person who serves other gods (the sun or moon
or any of the host of heaven) is discovered, the people are instructed to
"...inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an
abomination has been committed in Israel..." (vs.4) The person is stoned to death on the
testimony of two or three witnesses. |
| Deut. 17:12 |
"Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not
heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the
judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil person from Israel."
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| Deut. 19:16-19 |
A false witness against any man goes with that man
before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. Diligent inquiry is
made, and if the witness is a false witness then they do to him as he thought
to have done to his brother to put away the evil person. |
| Example: |
Est. 7:9-10
"Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, 'Look! The *gallows, (Lit. tree or wood) fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king's behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.' Then the king said, 'Hang him on it!' So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided." |
| Deut. 21:18-21 |
"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will
not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they
have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall
take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of
his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is
stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a
drunkard.' Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones;
so you shall put away the evil person from among you, and all Israel shall hear
and fear." |
| Deut. 22:20-27 |
A woman found guilty of not being a virgin when
married is stoned "...to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful
thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house; so you shall put
away the evil person from among you." (vs.21) If a man lies with a married woman both
of them are stoned. A man who lies with a betrothed virgin in the country shall
die, but if she is found in the city, and he lies with her, then both of them
shall be stoned because she did not cry out in the city, and he humbled his
neighbor's wife. |
| Deut. 24:7 |
"If a man is found *kidnapping (Lit. stealing)
any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him,
then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil person from
among you." |
| Eccl. 8:11 |
"Because the sentence against an evil work is not
executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them
to do evil."
 Note:
God provided cities of refuge (see Num. 35:9-34) for people who accidentally
killed someone to flee to until the congregation judged him. Life is so
important to God that the person had to give up everything and stay in that
city of refuge until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the
holy oil. Only then could he return home. If he went outside the limits of that
city at any time before, and the avenger of blood killed him, the avenger was
not guilty of *blood (murder) because he should have remained in his city of
refuge until the death of the high priest. But if a person lies in wait for and
strikes another person so that he dies, he is a murderer, and the avenger of
blood was to put him to death when he meets him on the testimony of witnesses. |
| Matt. 12:35-37 |
"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." |
| John 3:17-21 |
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is
not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the
condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil
hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be
exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be
clearly seen, that they have been done in God." |
| John 17:13-19 |
"But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. *Sanctify them (set them apart) by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth." |
| Rom. 12:9-10 |
"Let love be witout hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another." |
| Eph. 5:15-17 |
"See then that you walk *circumspectly (carefully), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." |
| 1 Thes. 5:14-22 |
"Now we *exhort (encourage) you, brethren, warn those who are *unruly (insubordinate or idle), comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks; for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not despise prophecies.
Test all things; hold fast what is good.
Abstain from every form of evil." |
| Heb. 3:12-13 |
"Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you and evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but *exhort (encourage) one another daily while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." |
| Heb. 10:19-25 |
"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." |
| Jas. 1:13-18 |
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."
 Note: Wow! What a striking difference between the harshness of the law against evil in the Old Testament and the graceful encouragement to follow the light of Jesus' love in the New Testament. They went through God's refined fire so we could bathe ourselves in His forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
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