Punishment for Apostasy

(Deuteronomy 13:1 - 13:18)
"A prophet or a diviner of dreams may appear among you and foretell wonders and miraculous events.  These wonders or miraculous events may come to pass.  But, if he will then urge you, 'Come, let us seek out other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and worship them,’ you must not heed the words of that prophet or diviner of dreams.  This is Jehovah your god testing you, to see if you really love him with all your heart and soul.  It is Jehovah your god that you must follow and him you must revere, keeping his commandments and obeying his words, worshiping him and remaining faithful to him.  Because he has incited rebellion against Jehovah your god, who brought you out of Egypt and released you bondage, and because he is seducing you away from the paths Jehovah has taught you to walk, that prophet or diviner of dreams should be put to death.  You must purge your community of such evil.

"Your brother, the son of your mother, your son or daughter, the wife you love, or your dearest friend may secretly entice you, 'Let us worship other gods,' (gods known neither to you nor to your ancestors, perhaps gods of neighboring peoples or those of far-flung folk who dwell on one end of the earth or the other.)  You must not heed them or be persuaded by them.  Nor should you show them any sympathy.  Do not spare them or shield them.  They must be put to death!  And you must throw the first stone.  Then, all the rest of the people should join in, stoning to death those who are guilty of trying to lure you away from the worship of Jehovah your god, who rescued you from the Egypt, the land where you were slaves.  All of Israel will then come to hear of it and be so fearful that no one among you will again perpetrate such wickedness.

"When you have begun to settle in the towns Jehovah your god is giving you to live in, you may hear of certain men among you, followers of evil, that have led the people of a town astray, declaring, "Let's go and worship other gods,' (gods that were unknown to you).  In such a case, you should inquire into the matter and conduct a thorough investigation.  If it is determined to be true that such an abomination has occurred among you, then you must put the town to the sword.  The town itself should be destroyed utterly as a divine sacrifice along with all its inhabitants, even the livestock. You should collect all the goods of the town in the main square, then burn the town and its goods as an offering to Jehovah your god.  It should remain forever a ruin and never be rebuilt.  Save for your own use none of the town's goods marked for destruction, so that Jehovah will quell the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and compassion.  And he will make you multiply, as he promised your forefathers, if you obey Jehovah your god, keep his commandments, which I am giving you here today, and do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah your god."

Notes
1. Condemnation of the false prophet does not depend upon the accuracy of his prophecies, but upon his divine allegiance.  A prophet who favors some god other than Jehovah can, it is implied, make accurate, even miraculous prophecies, but he is apparently not a legitimate prophet unless he has the sanction of Jehovah.  It is implied that Jehovah allows the false prophet to test his own adherents.  The Jehovan must not be swayed to worship other gods simply because their prophets and diviners have a good track record.  This is similar to the Christian belief that God allows Satan to tempt believers to sin, just so the strength of their belief can be tested.

2. Jehovah's insistence upon religious orthodoxy and uniformity and the draconian punishments for non-conformance and apostasy put to shame the harshest theocracies, which always find it necessary to impress a uniformity of belief and enforce an adherence to "right" thought.   Here, we are told a man must turn in his family member or friend if suspected of urging the worship of gods other than Jehovah.  A modern parallel would be Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia where one was obliged to inform on the family member or friend if any action or remark of his suggested a lack of dedication to the regime.  Among the Israelites -- to make matters worse -- the accuser must be the lead executioner in stoning to death his family member or friend.  (Don’t think even the Nazis thought of that one!)  Dedication to Jehovah must, of course, supersede devotion to family or loyalty to friends, but that it should be taken to such hideous extremes is appalling.  And one wonders what abuses this provision might have permitted and encouraged.  For example, if a man wanted to get rid of an enemy, an unwanted wife, or troublesome brother, all he had to do was to go to the priest and accuse the person of persuading him to worship some god other than Jehovah.  He could then head the stoning party and kill the person himself. --- Modern dictatorships cannot tolerate dissidents because they threaten the civil order and the stability of a government whose legitimacy is not derived from the consent of the government, but from power and often a personality cult that borders on religious worship.  It has been so throughout history: man, a rebellious and headstrong creature who is continually tempted to think for himself, can only be kept in line, herded into common allegiance and common thought, through the imposition of force and the threat of terror.  Those who rule by force know this.  And so does Jehovah, who is no different than the modern totalitarian dictator: " believe in me," he says, "obey me, and you will be rewarded; show one sign of disloyalty to me, one act of defiance, and you will punished with death and utter destruction."

3. The complete destruction the town that strays from the worship of Jehovah, like the punishment of individuals who proselytize for other gods, does not constitute an act of justice, but terrorism, to force obedience and conformity through fear.  Indeed Moses/Jehovah admits as much.