Deuteronomy 17:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is a law meant to protect the honor of God’s worship by making sure no animal with any defect was offered in sacrifice to him, (Deuteronomy 17:1). This warning appears often in Scripture: you must not sacrifice anything that has a blemish, whether it is visibly flawed or has some hidden sickness or weakness. Such an offering is an insult to God. God is the best of all beings, so what is offered to him should be the best of its kind.

This mattered especially with the Old Testament sacrifices, because they pointed ahead to Christ, the Lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:19). Jesus was perfectly pure, with no sin and no hint of sin. In the later days of the Jewish church, after the Babylonian captivity had cured them of idolatry, they were still rebuked for breaking this law by offering the blind, the lame, and the sick (Malachi 1:8).

There is also a law here for punishing those who worship false gods. In chapter 13, it was made a capital offense to lead others into idolatry. Here, it is made just as serious to be led into it oneself. If the blind lead the blind, both fall into the ditch. God wanted them to fear this sin, because so many severe laws were aimed against it. He also wanted to keep others from it, even if they could not be persuaded by anything else.

The crime itself was serving or worshiping other gods, (Deuteronomy 17:3). The law especially mentions the oldest and most appealing kind of idolatry, worshiping the sun, moon, and stars. If that was so hateful to God, then worshiping statues, carved images, or even creatures held in low esteem was no less wrong. The point is that God had not commanded it. He had repeatedly forbidden it, and that alone should have been enough. In worship, God’s command is our rule and our warrant.

This sin is wicked in God’s sight, even if people hide it well, (Deuteronomy 17:2). God sees it, and no clever excuse can make him approve of it. It is a very serious sin and the greatest insult that can be given to Almighty God. It is also a breaking of the covenant. God had chosen them to be his special people on the condition that they would worship him alone. If they gave another god the honor that belonged to him alone, they broke that covenant and lost its blessings.

The text also calls idolatry an abomination in Israel, (Deuteronomy 17:4). Idolatry was evil anywhere, but it was especially disgusting among Israel, a people who had received such clear knowledge of the only true and living God. Their sin was greater because their light was greater.

If someone was suspected of serving other gods, whether man or woman, the matter had to be investigated, (Deuteronomy 17:4). Even if the truth was not clear at first, search might uncover it. If it could be discovered, it must not go unpunished. And even the inquiry itself would teach the whole nation to fear such evil.

Still, no one could be punished without solid proof, (Deuteronomy 17:6). However evil and dangerous the crime was, they were not to punish anyone unless there was good evidence from at least two witnesses. They were not allowed, under the pretense of honoring God, to wrong an innocent person. This rule about two witnesses in a case involving life had already been given before (Numbers 35:30), and it is quoted again by Jesus (Matthew 18:16).

If the charge was proven, the sentence was death by stoning, whether the offender was man or woman, (Deuteronomy 17:5). Being female was no excuse. The execution was to take place at the city gate, so the shame would be public and the warning visible to all. The witnesses had to cast the first stones, showing that they stood by their testimony and taking solemn responsibility for the death if they had spoken falsely.

After that, all the people were to join in the execution. In this way, they would show their hatred of the sin and remove the evil from among them, as was already commanded before (Deuteronomy 13:9).