Idolatry isn't always a complete rejection of the Lord in favor of some other religion. Idolatry can also be the mixing of pagan practices with the worship of the one true God. The Israelites are about to enter Canaan where they will see many types of monuments set up in honor of false gods. The heathen tribes of Canaan planted groves where sinful festivals were held. They erected "Asherah poles" which were sometimes trees or other times poles made from tree trunks around which rituals and orgies were held to this "mother goddess". Altars and sacred stones and carved images, in honor of various gods, dotted the landscape. The Israelites were not to allow these to remain because this would create the temptation to reuse them or make more items like them, either alongside their worship of the Lord or instead of their worship of the Lord.
Moses warns the people about mixing idolatry with true religion. "Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the Lord your God, and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the Lord your God hates." (Deuteronomy 16:21-22) Why might someone set up an Asherah pole beside an altar to the Lord? Because Asherah (known by several other names in several cultures) was believed to be the wife of the chief god of these pagan religions. So, in setting up a monument to Asherah beside an altar of the Lord, the person would be placing the Lord's "wife" next to Him.
But the Lord has no wife, not in that sense. He is not married to a female deity. Instead, in the Old Testament we often find the Lord referring to Himself as the husband of Israel, or Israel as His wife. He compares His covenant with Israel to the marriage covenant. In the New Testament we find that the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ is His church. A number of times in His sermons the Lord Jesus refers to Himself as the "bridegroom". On the night before the crucifixion, at the Last Supper, He makes what symbolically amounts to a marriage proposal to His followers by promising He's going home to the Father's house to prepare a place for them and that, when the dwelling place is ready, He will return and take them home with Him. This is what a young man would say to his betrothed. The young man would go home and build onto his father's house or build a dwelling on his father's property and then, when the father thought everything looked satisfactory, he would tell his son to go get the bride. Also in the book of Revelation we find the church being referred to as the bride of the Lamb. So we see why it would be such a sin to put up a monument next to the Lord's altar in honor of some false female goddess who is the Lord's wife. There is no deity who is the Lord's wife. His marriage covenant is with the human beings who love, honor, and obey Him.
On the surface our next verse may not appear to be connected to idolatry but the Lord placed it in the middle of a passage regarding idolatry for a reason. "Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to Him." (Deuteronomy 17:1) The word translated as "detestable" is the same word we find translated in other passages as "abomination". It's a word the Lord uses to describe something idolatrous or something unclean. To offer a defective animal to the Lord is an indication that the bringer of the offering does not regard Him as holy---that the person does not really love Him and is only going through the motions of honoring and obeying Him. Heathens could get away with offering defective animals to their gods because their gods didn't exist. Their gods didn't demand righteous living. Their gods didn't ask them to give their best. Their gods weren't going to discipline them for bringing detestable things to the altar. But the Lord is not going to accept worthless offerings because He doesn't accept worthless worship. True worship must come from the heart and, if the person's heart is right with the Lord, he will bring to the Lord what is good and will worship the Lord in His way.
The judges of Israel are to take action when they are informed that a fellow citizen has been committing idolatry. "If a man or a woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of His covenant, and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly." (Deuteronomy 17:2-4a)
A thorough and careful investigation has to take place because the penalty for idolatry is death. The judges can't just accept one person's word that idolatry has taken place. There must be clear and compelling evidence that such a crime has been committed. In ancient Israel the religion and the government were so closely intertwined that to commit idolatry against the Lord was to commit high treason. It was to commit high treason against the King of kings. In all the governments of that time, high treason was a capital offense. Carrying out the death penalty is a serious matter and should never be done unless the preponderance of evidence leads a judge or jury to believe, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person committed the crime for which he stands trial. "If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness." (Deuteronomy 17:4b-6)
One person's word is not enough to convict anyone of idolatry. Two or more people must actually witness the accused committing idolatry. Suppose a man hates someone so much that he'd like to see him dead. If the testimony of one witness was sufficient to pass the death penalty, he could accuse the person he hates of idolatry and have him executed. To prevent false testimony of this type, two or more witnesses must be able to give firsthand testimony and their testimonies must agree with each other. When questioned separately their statements have to line up. If they give conflicting statements then the case will have to be thrown out of court. It still might be possible for two or more people to conspire with each other to have someone put to death, and they might be able to plan ahead exactly what they will say when questioned under oath, but a person being questioned under oath can't anticipate every question he will be asked. Witnesses who are lying might answer the questions in ways that differ from each other, thus revealing to the judges that the case has no merit.
Another safeguard is put in place to help prevent the bringing of false cases to court. The people who accuse their fellow citizen of idolatry must be willing to be the first to throw stones at him as his execution is being carried out. "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 17:7) It's one thing for a man to wish someone dead and to give false testimony against him that will cause the government to put him to death. It's another thing to have to take part in his execution. No matter how strong the hate the accuser may harbor in his heart, most people would shrink back from having to administer a deadly injury upon another human being unless what he was saying about the person was true. Having to deliver a life-threatening blow to another human being is intended not only to prevent false testimony but also to make sure witnesses really saw what they think they saw. Perhaps the witnesses actually believe they saw their fellow man engaging in idolatrous behavior; before they give their testimony to the judges they must ask themselves, "Am I so certain about what I saw that I'm willing to throw stones at this man and help put him to death? Am I absolutely sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that he actually did what I think he did?"
The eighth commandment says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." This means we are forbidden to lie about our fellow man under oath or under any other circumstances. Lies are capable of destroying lives, literally or figuratively. The Lord's people are to have nothing to do with giving false testimony or spreading rumors or engaging in gossip. Some of the weirdest rumors I ever heard were about myself or about people close to me. These were things none of us had done or even thought about doing but once a lie has been let loose it's nearly impossible to reign it back in. There will always be some people who will believe it's true. This means the victim of the lie is having their good reputation sullied or some of their relationships damaged or their livelihood threatened. Just as a person had to carefully consider whether he actually saw his fellow man committing idolatry, we have to carefully consider anything we say about our fellow man. And we also have to remember that we can't justify gossiping by using this old adage, "It's not gossip if it's true." To use the words of the philosopher Socrates who didn't even serve the God of Israel, before we say anything we must ask ourselves not only if it's true but also, "Is it good? Is it kind? Is it useful? Is it necessary?" If a heathen idolater like Socrates thought gossip was to be avoided, surely the Lord's people should avoid it. We must, "put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor" and speak "only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs". (Ephesians 4:25,29)
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