Deuteronomy 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations
My dog Bromley is a good old girl. She looks like a puppy, but we have had her almost thirteen years. She is a Maltese poodle, a very sweet dog. However, recently she has had some bad habits I’ve taken note of. Last night I let her out of the house. Usually she comes back and barks when she is ready to come in, but minutes elapsed and she did not return. I went out and looked for her for a good five minutes and called and called when finally she sheepishly came from the direction of my neighbors. I thought, “O yes, she has done this before. She has probably been looking for the cat food on the carport at our neighbors.” That is a bad habit.
Then, the other day she came into my room, went into the bathroom, then into the shower where she lapped up the residue of water. Where did she get that habit? She got it from a bad influence named Sneffels, my daughter’s dog. Sneffels is a lot of fun, a lovable rogue, but he does all kinds of bad things including the two habits my dog has learned. Even dogs can learn and either bad or good. Philippians 3:2 says, “Beware of dogs.” Paul is warning of false teachers.
In Deuteronomy 18:9 Moses is doing essentially the same thing about those who would lead God’s people in the wrong way. He says, “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.” What Moses is saying is, “Don’t learn the wrong things from the wrong people.” Romans 16:19 says, “I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” So many times, God’s people are the exact opposite. We know all about things that are wicked and very little about what is right. The truth is you cannot do better if you do not know better.
We are accountable for what we do either way, but you can’t possibly do the right thing if you don’t know any better. A lot of the world would say about God’s people, “They are odd. They are different because they just don’t know any better,” yet the proof is in the pudding. Who is living a life of joy and peace? You can’t do better if you don’t know better.
Notice the context of this verse, “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” The context is both the certainty and the goodness of God. When, not if, you come into the land. That is certainty. Notice the goodness. This is the land that God gives. The Canaanites did not surrender it; Israel did not commandeer it. God made it and gave it. Life itself is a gift of God. Notice the word of warning, “Thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of the nations.”
There is a reason for this. Verse 12 says, “Because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” Abomination means “utterly detested, hated.” It is sometimes used as a euphemism for false gods or idols, but it is just talking about that which is false, destroys, ruins, and that which God has a distaste for. He says, “Don’t learn to do.” Learning and doing are hopelessly intertwined. Do I think right so I can do right, or do right so I can think right? Quite honestly, those two are inextricably intertwined. They are hopelessly bound together. If I do right, I will start thinking right. If I think right, I am more likely to do right. The Bible posits both of these statements. Learn and do. For years, God’s people had wanted to do the right things, but were learning all the wrong things.
In the 1950s William Buckley wrote a book called God and Man at Yale. Even in the 1950s Buckley was perplexed and disturbed that his alma mater had moved from the principles that made this country what she is and was moving toward things that were false. He hearkened back to a time as recently as the 1930s where the presidents of Yale were invoking God.
Today, there is nothing wicked in the world because there is no standard of what is right and wrong, yet if there is an abomination, it means there is something detestable in relationship to that which is right and beautiful and that has to be decided by an absolute standard. That standard is God. God said they should go into the land, not that they should be of the land. We go into the world, but we are not of the world. In John 17 Jesus spoke of this quite clearly. He says of the disciples that they were not out of the world, they were not of the world, and He would send them into the world. So, you are not out of the world or of the world and God is sending you into the world to be a light to those who need to see and know. The sensibilities of the day and land are not what give us guidance. God’s truth does.
In Deuteronomy, there are God’s law, God’s statutes, and God’s commandments. Today, we have the entire Bible. Colossians 2:8 says, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit.” Beware of the dogs. We are to beware of false thinking.
Deuteronomy’s theme is to love God, learn the law, and do it. I’m not saying do good things and you will be accepted with God. What I am saying is that a love of God and doing what is commanded are the same thing. It is not as if you love God or obey God. No, they go together. The more I obey God, the more I love God; the more I love God, the more I obey God and it will affect what I do. Deuteronomy says not to learn from the wrong people so you do the wrong things. Learn from the Lord and you will love the Lord and have a life He designed you to have.
You can’t do better if you don’t know better. So, who will you heed today? Who is the main influencer in your mind? Is it your podcast, your friends, your conversations, your books, your screens? Who calls the shots? You can’t do better if you don’t know better, but if you will love and heed God’s Word, you can do the right thing the world you inhabit today.