You must purge the evil from among you.
That term was used in the Old Testament first,
when people would choose to do evil.
They still do.
God wanted them separate, set apart for Himself.
He still does.
Our first example was when God removed Adam and Eve
from the portion of the Garden
where the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was.
And the Lord God said,
Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:
and now, lest he put forth his hand,
and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man;
and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims,
and a flaming sword which turned every way,
to keep the way of the tree of life.. Genesis 3:22-24
In Deuteronomy 13, the warning was to the the house of Israel:
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams,
and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, v 1
And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known,
and let us serve them; v 2
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet,
or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you,
to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul. v3
Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him,
and keep His commandments, and obey His voice,
and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him. v4
And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death;
because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God,
which brought you out of the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you out of the house of bondage,
to thrust thee out of the way
which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in.
So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. v 5
God commanded them to stone those with stones and kill those who lied
and who led people astray from serving Him.
And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die;
because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God,
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. v10
And all Israel shall hear, and fear,
and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you. v 11
It is quite sobering to see just the book of Deuteronomy’s references to purging the evil that God required. These are from the NIV translation:
Deuteronomy 13:5
That prophet or dreamer must be put to death
for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you
from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow.
You must purge the evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 17:7
The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people.
You must purge the evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 17:12
Anyone who shows contempt for the judge
or for the priest who stands ministering there to the Lord your God
is to be put to death.
You must purge the evil from Israel.
Deuteronomy 19:13
Show no pity.
You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood,
so that it may go well with you.
Deuteronomy 19:19
then do to the false witness
as that witness intended to do to the other party.
You must purge the evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 21:9
and you will have purged from yourselves
the guilt of shedding innocent blood,
since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 21:21
Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death.
You must purge the evil from among you.
All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
Deuteronomy 22:21
she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house
and there the men of her town shall stone her to death.
She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous
while still in her father’s house.
You must purge the evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 22:22
If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife,
both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.
You must purge the evil from Israel.
Deuteronomy 22:24
you shall take both of them to the gate of that town
and stone them to death—
the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help,
and the man because he violated another man’s wife.
You must purge the evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 24:7
If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite
and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die.
You must purge the evil from among you.
While the methods may have changed,
God still wants us to purge the evil from among us and not to partake,
or allow our hearts to be led astray.
Paul said he is not speaking of the world, otherwise,
we would have to leave the world.
He is speaking of those who trust in the Lord
and who are called by His name.
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without?
do not ye judge them that are within?
But them that are without God judgeth.
Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
1 Corinthians 5:12-13
Some people don’t like the Old Testament.
They think God was mean.
God showed a part of Himself.
God does not change.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8
He is a Holy God.
He does not dwell with evil.
He is the same God, Old Testament and New.
We are about to see His Judgment and Wrath as we go toward The End.
God still cannot tolerate evil.
He has been very patient.
All bible quotes are KJV or NKJV unless otherwise noted.