Moses’ word in chs. 12 and 13 charges God’s people to avoid division and reject apostasy. Apostasy in the Old Testament denotes giving up God and turning away from God to idols. In the New Testament apostasy is heresy, denoting the denial of Christ’s deity; it refers to not believing that Jesus Christ is God incarnated to be a man (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:2-3). Apostasy, or heresy, insults God and damages the person of Christ, and division destroys the Body of Christ as Christ’s corporate expression. Thus, apostasy and division damage the entire economy of God. Because of this, the apostle Paul charges us to turn away from the divisive ones (Rom. 16:17), and the apostle John enjoins us to reject the heretical ones (2 John 1:9-11). Like Moses in this book and the apostles in the New Testament, we must be very strict concerning division and apostasy. We must keep the unique oneness of God’s people and the unique faith in the person and redemptive work of Christ (Eph. 4:3, 13 and note Eph. 4:3¹ and note Eph. 4:13^2a).

Lit., burn out, consume. So throughout the book.