Deuteronomy 17 proclaimed that idolatry was a sin worthy of death. If the guilt was certain, no trial was necessary. Upon the testimony of two or three witnesses, the idolater was to be taken to the gates of the city, and stoned. “So you shall put away the evil from among you” (vs. 7).
In matters that were difficult to judge, where the guilt or innocence, or the appropriateness of punishment could not easily be determined, instructions were given to go to the priests, Levites and judges (vs. 9). Inquiry would be made, and judgment would be pronounced. When that judgment was pronounced, the Israelites were bound to obey it. “According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you” (vs. 11).
What if a man was unwilling to submit to the pronouncement of the priests in the matter? He was labeled as presumptuous.
“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 from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously” (vss. 12-13).
Notice the death penalty was required for a man who acted presumptuously. The Hebrew word here translated derives from a root indicating pride or insolence. Such refusal to obey is indicative of an arrogant spirit. By presumptuous it is meant that he was unwilling to heed and submit to the law, the will of God.
It has always been thus. To act presumptuously in response to God’s will has always been sinful. It was sinful in the Patriarchal age of man, it was sinful for the Israelites under Moses’ law, and it is sinful today. “The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just. Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:33-34).
It is the responsibility of the servant to do the will of His master. Paul, as a “bondservant of Jesus Christ” (cf. Romans 1:1), understood this truth well. He wrote to the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
The applications of this truth permeate every aspect of our lives. James quoted Proverbs 3 (above) in the context of worldliness, saying, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). Our Lord condemned the arrogance of the Pharisees, as they elevated their traditions to the level of scripture. “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9).
Many today want Christ as their Savior, but reject Him as their Lord. They want the blessing of eternal life, but they reject the will of God as authoritative in their lives. They want the inheritance without embracing the spirit of adoption. They want to be their own master, rather than submitting to another. May we all, “Therefore submit to God” (James 4:7).
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