A reading of Deuteronomy 13 may leave one wondering about the love of God. Instructing God's people to put to death the prophet who suggests we "go after other gods" may seem a bit harsh to our modern sensibilities. Even worse is the instruction to do the same to your brother, or son, or daughter, or even your wife or friend. Imagine actually carrying this out! This is serious stuff. Nor did the instruction end there. The Lord, through Moses, taught that if a city had such worthless fellows in it who suggested they "follow after other gods", an investigation should be made, and if found to be true, the city was to be leveled. God seems to be pretty serious about having a people who are fully devoted to Him.
Now in our day which touts religious tolerance as a primal virtue, it might be easy to focus on the harshness of these orders and overlook some very important points. Consider the following:
1. This instruction was given to the people of God. God was interested in having a people who were wholly devoted to Him. To have a people who worshipped a plethora of gods was to diminsh the uniqueness of this people, not to say anything about the uniqueness of their God. They had been "redeemed" by the Lord. They had been bought out of slavery through the Lord's strong arm. This was a people, gathered to the Lord, given the express purpose of making His glories known throughout the earth. To allow the confusion of "religious tolerance" within this people was to make them unsuitable for the purposes God had for them. It was actually to take away the only source of blessing to the nations as well.
2. Secondly, to allow unfaithfulness in the land, was to place this people under the anger of God. Deut 13:17 relates "that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as He swor to your fathers, if you obey the voice of the Lord..." This turning from His anger was in response to Israel taking decisive action against idolatry in their midst, but it clearly shows that God's anger will be upon His people when they play the harlot with other gods. That is not a position we should want anyone to remain under.
3. Thirdly, defection from God is the crime of all crimes. It is the foundation of all other crimes in a nation. When a person or nation rebels against the rule of God, the rule of personal desire takes over, and in a land where personal desire reigns you are apt to find all manner of crimes being perpetuated against one another. The 10 commandments seem to suggest that when we fail to follow the first four Godward commandments, then we open the floodgates of sin among mankind. Families disintegrate, murder and adultery become more common, as does lying, stealing and coveting. Romans 1 shows the same progression.
So, perhaps in light of the above, what might be considered "religious intolerance" is really the loving instruction of a God who truly has the best interest of His people in mind. It is simiar to the parent who lays upon his child a severe discipline because the parent deeply wants the child to know fullness of life and not end up making mistakes that will have damaging consequences all their life.
Our God is a loving and merciful God. Sometimes His love and mercies are severe, but that severity, rather than make us question His love, should convince us of the depth of His love. Know today, people of God, that the love of your heavenly Father is immeasurably deep - deep enough to insist on religious intolerance among His people.
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