Deuteronomy 17:2
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
If there be found among you a man or woman who has done wickedness in God's sight by breaking His covenant in going to serve and worship other gods, the sun or moon or any host of heaven, it is an abominable breach of His authority that was to be prevented within every local gate. When such a case was told and heard, diligent inquiry had to prove it true and certain, no one could be put to death on one witness but only at the mouth of two or three, and the guilty were then brought to the gates and stoned till dead with the hands of the witnesses first upon them and afterward the hands of all the people, so that the evil was put away. Under Israel's theocracy where God was governor, death belonged to government to protect life and restrain evildoers, and the subverter who taught idolatry was to perish lest his influence destroy the whole nation and bring many to eternal ruin. The same death penalty stood for murder, blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, disobedience to parents and other moral precepts, showing that the moral law embracing the Sabbath formed part of the civil code of the nation and that sameness of penalty does not make the Sabbath merely ceremonial. That civil execution was suspended by Christ's word that only those without sin should cast the first stone, to be carried out at last when wrath desolates the earth, while worship God has not commanded remains a wicked abomination, the greater when done in defiance of clear light, as in keeping Sunday instead of the seventh day He commanded to keep holy.
Setting and Language
Moses' repetition of the law was a rehearsal of the wonderful things God had done for His people and of the chief laws connected with Israel, given before Israel crossed the Jordan River into the promised land after forty years of wandering in the wilderness. It was given as a loving father caring for them, to bring solemnly to their remembrance the lessons God had taught them, and to impress upon them the sacred import of God's holy law and the necessity of keeping it.
It stands among the recounting in Deuteronomy 3 to 22 of the experiences of Israel and the guidance of God, which is one constant appeal to serve the Lord, to turn away from the sins that wrecked the other nations, and to exemplify Him. Israel's greatness and continuance lay only in this, and it stands among the developments after chapter 5 of the precepts of the law with God's gracious promises. The phrase within thy gates describes the local sphere in which an officer was to attend to the people's affairs and interests nearest to him, their needs and interests. Judgment in Israel took place at the city gate, where judges sat in a sheltered public place that kept authority open to view. In the case of a fugitive seeking a city of refuge, elders at the gate received him and decided to admit him, and that decision was only a first hearing, with the regular trial before a higher court coming later after witnesses had been summoned and accusers had time to appear.
Transgression and Punishment
Transgressing the covenant is wickedness in the sight of the Lord, namely going and serving and worshiping other gods, including the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which is a wicked and abominable act, a breach of His covenant and a violation of His authority that Israel was expressly commanded to prevent. God's organization of Israel had God as the center of authority with Moses as visible leader, assisted by a council of seventy, priests, tribal chiefs, captains over thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens, and officers for special duties, with able men who fear God, love truth, and hate covetousness chosen as rulers and heads over companies of different sizes throughout the land to manage affairs, know the people's conditions and needs, and counsel them in spiritual welfare. When such a case is told and heard, there must be diligent inquiry to prove it true and certain that the abomination is wrought in Israel.
No one is put to death on one witness, but only at the mouth of two or three witnesses, to which Paul alludes when he refers to death under Moses' law. The guilty man or woman is brought to the gates and stoned with stones till death, with the hands of the witnesses first upon him and afterward the hands of all the people, so the evil is put away. Priests and elders serve as judges showing the sentence of judgment from the Bible as constitution, and witnesses and the people carry out the penalty. Under Israel's theocracy covenant transgression was treated as a crime subject to the death penalty, an example of the old covenant's ministration of condemnation and death in which human authorities enforced the penalty.
God as governor of Israel ordered death for the one who teaches idolatry and leads the people after other gods, since the death penalty belongs to government to protect lives and property and restrain evildoers. If such crimes continued the whole nation would be destroyed by evil influence and many would suffer eternal destruction, so it is better that the subverter perish than the nation be destroyed, and such executions were to stand as examples to the young to turn from demoralizing practices. This governmental punishment does not remove the individual's duty, Thou shalt not kill.
Doctrine and Present Application
The death penalty attached to transgressing the covenant by idolatry was stoning with stones till death, the same death penalty attached to murder, smiting father or mother, blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, enticing to idolatry, disobedience to parents, and covetousness and theft. Sameness of penalty therefore does not make the Sabbath ceremonial or merely positive rather than moral. Idolatry and Sabbath-breaking stand grouped together as offenses under the Mosaic law that carried the death penalty.
The verse reflects that the moral law embracing the Sabbath formed part of the civil code of the Hebrew nation, with death at the hand of the civil magistrate attached to transgressing the covenant, to Sabbath-breaking, and to most of the precepts of the moral law. The penalties to be inflicted by the magistrate shadowed the final retribution of the ungodly. That required civil execution was suspended by Christ's decision that only those without sin should cast the first stone, to be carried out in the future when hailstones of wrath desolate the earth. The real penalty of the law, the wages of sin, was never set aside nor the precept weakened.
Because this case concerns transgression of the covenant and includes the Ten Commandments, it shows that the decalogue formed part of the larger Mosaic law, the law in which death came under Moses on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Violating the covenant by worshiping other gods, including the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, was a wicked and abominable act punishable by death. More broadly, worship that God has not commanded is a wicked thing and an abomination, and offering it in defiance of a clear command makes the sin greater.
This principle applies to worship offered without a command from God, specifically treating Sunday observance as unauthorized worship and as disobedience to the command to keep the seventh day holy. Those acting ignorantly are distinguished from those who continue after receiving light.