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(1) "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, (2) and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'—which you have not known—'and let us serve them,' (3) you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (4) You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. ­Chapter 13 begins where chapter 12 ended. I know that is profound, however, they were told not to add, or take away, from God's commands. ­Now, Moses tells them how they could be taken away in that it can come by way of "signs and wonders," being added to the commands of God. ­In other words, there will be false prophets that will come using dreams, signs, and wonders, to deceive the Israelites into serving other Gods.

­Notice that God allows this for the purpose of testing their hearts to know whether they love the Lord their God with all their heart and their soul. ­This is interesting for a number of reasons not the least of which is its application to our lives, in our day. Signs and wonders are alive and well. ­The deceivers lead astray the believers and they end up following the signs and wonders instead of signs and wonders following the believer.

Mark 16:17­18 KJV And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

­There's something else here that I want to point out. It has to do with, if; what the false prophet says, actually does happen and comes to pass. ­This is what causes people to follow the signs and wonders, it's when something happens in the supernatural, they think it must be from God. ­Here, Moses is telling them what to do if it comes to pass, whereas, when we get to chapter 18, we'll see what to do if it does not come to pass.

Deuteronomy 18:21­22 NKJV (21) And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'— (22) when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

­By the way, it's for this reason the deception today in this, the last days, is waxing worse, seemingly by the day. Signs, are a sign of the times. ­We're told in the New Testament prophecies that the coming of the Anti­Christ will be in concert with the work of Satan's signs and wonders.

2 Thessalonians 2:9­13 NIV (9) The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, (10) and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (11) For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie (12) and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (13) But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

Matthew 24:24 NKJV For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Revelation 16:13­14 NKJV (13) And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (14) For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

­If you were to ask me who these false prophets are, that today, perform signs and wonders to deceive the world, I would have to say it's, TBN. ­The likes of a Paul Crouch, Benny Hinn, and Kenneth Copeland, are today the perpetrators of this word faith, signs and wonders movement. ­Lest you become critical of me naming them as false prophets perhaps you'll consider what the Apostle Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans.

Romans 16:17­18 KJV Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. (18) For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Paul Crouch ­"Christians are little gods." Benny Hinn ­"Christians are little messiahs. Christians are little gods" Kenneth Copeland ­"You don't have a god in you, you are one." http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/quotes.html

(5) But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. ­Before you go out and put to death all of the false prophets, it's important to understand the laws and civil order of the Israelites during that time. ­It was necessary for them to mete out this swift justice by putting the heretic to death because they were deceiving others into a spiritual death. ­Furthermore, God had placed the power of capital punishment in their hands in order to execute this judgment within the Kingdom of Israel.

­The reason that this does not apply to us today, is because of Christ, and in Christ, His Kingdom is not of this world. His Kingdom is in heaven. ­There is a day coming, when God will mete out this swift justice. Never think that just because it's allowed to continue that God approves of it.

2 Peter 2:1 NIV But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

(6) "If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, (7) of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, (8) you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; (9) but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. (10) And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. (11) So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you. ­Moses now specifically gets into the nuts and bolts, of not only how it is that this justice is to be meted out, but by whom it is to be meted out by. ­I find it interesting that the one who is accusing the false prophet is to be the one who casts the first stone in putting them to death by stoning. ­Why? First, it is a deterrent for both the accused and the accuser, in that I'm not as likely to make a false accusation that one is a false prophet.

­Secondly, it's a huge deterrent to all who would witness the stoning, and participate in the stoning, because it would send a very clear message. ­Everyone would think twice before they even considered going after other gods, let alone being the one who led others astray after other gods. ­Thirdly, having the entire congregation of Israelites present at the stoning, even if a family member indicates how this affected the congregation.

1 Timothy 5:19­21 NIV (19) Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. (20) Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning. (21) I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.

(12) "If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell in, saying, (13) 'Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods" '—which you have not known— (14) then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, (15) you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. ­Moses is cautioning against rushing to judgment without the due process of diligently seeking out the truth as to the abomination committed. ­Paul echoed this in what we just read in 1 Timothy 5:19­21, when he says that an accusation against an elder must have two or three witnesses. ­Sadly, human nature is such that a man is guilty until proven innocent instead of innocent until proven guilty. This is our Adamic sin nature.

­Also, this would be a built in protection against what's called "guilt by association." If only some in a particular city were guilty, they were to die. ­This meant that they could utterly destroy that city only after a thorough investigation it was indeed true that an abomination was committed.

(16) And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. (17) So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, (18) because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God. ­This stipulation had another built in protection, this time against the evil of accusing another for the purpose of gaining the spoil materially. ­This is why God commands them to not take for themselves any of the plunder from the city that was destroyed because of their abomination. ­God truly knows us, and He knows how prone we are to have malicious intentions of destroying someone's character in order to profit from it.