Deuteronomy 17:11
According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
Moses is recounting Israel's experiences and God's guidance, urging Israel to serve the Lord, to turn from the sins that ruined the other nations, and to display God as the basis of their greatness and continuance, while the surrounding chapters set out the precepts of the law and God's gracious promises. The instruction belongs to Deuteronomy 14-17 as part of the repetition of the law, where Deuteronomy means repetition of the law, rehearsing the wonderful things God had done for His people and the chief laws connected with Israel. It was given by Moses before Israel crossed the Jordan into the promised land, as a caring father to often rebellious children through forty years of wilderness wandering, who himself could not enter because impatient hasty words had glorified himself instead of God. He solemnly reminded them of the lessons from those forty years to impress the sacred importance of God's holy law and the necessity of keeping it.
When disputes involving bloodshed, legal claims, and violent injury are too difficult and controversial to decide, the people are to go to the place God chooses and inquire of the Levitical priests and the serving judge. They are then to act in line with the instruction presented and carry out all that is explained, following the legal teaching and the declared decision without deviating to the right hand or to the left. Anyone who arrogantly refuses to listen to the priest ministering before the Lord or to the judge must be put to death to remove evil from Israel, so that all the people will hear, show reverent fear, and no longer act arrogantly. The requirement is to follow the judgment given by the appointed priests and judge in difficult legal disputes, in accord with the law they teach, without departing from it in either direction.
When a local officer faces a matter too difficult to settle, it is to be referred to a higher authority for judgment, and the people are to follow the law and judgment taught and given by that authority without departing from it. When a difficult case is referred to the higher authority, the people are to follow the ruling and instruction given there without turning aside from it. The priests taught the law and declared its judgments for the people to follow without turning aside, and their ceremonial offerings served as visual lessons alongside their spoken teaching about moral duties and the plan of salvation. In the case of a fugitive seeking protection, admission at the gate of the city of refuge did not end the matter, but led to a regular trial before a higher court later, after witnesses had been summoned and the accusers had time to appear.
When any matter arises that is too hard to judge or to know what is right, the priest or judge is to be called upon to learn what the sentence of the law should be in the case, and the decision is to be abided by without turning aside. The people themselves in all cases carry out the punishment. What held in Old Testament times holds in New Testament times, for it is the work of the church to enforce discipline in all cases.