Dear Refiner's Fire...

I have a couple of questions I'd like you to answer.

1. Would you discontinue doing a mitzvah to avoid violent (physical) persecution?

2. If a Messianic Jewish man had a full brother who became a Muslim and he (the Muslim brother) secretly enticed the Messianic Jewish man to serve Allah, should the Messianic Jewish man kill his brother in accordance with Torah?

Deuteronomy 13:6-10: 6 "If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 some of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him; 9 but you shall kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Our Response....

If the enticement was done secretly, then obviously the one being enticed would have to be the one to bring the charge to the proper authorities. Would people actually turn in their own family members? Most probably would not, some probably would.

The entire point of the biblical passage is that God's people must be faithful to God above all other relationships. This is also taught by Yeshua Himself in Luke 14:25-26: Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, " If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

The "hating" part here is telling us that our commitment to God must supersede all other relationships that we have, including family. In Matt 10:21-22, it shows that family members who do not believe in God will turn believing family members over to authorities to be "punished".

21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

It continues in Matt 10:34-36 where Yeshua quotes Micah 7:6 (For son treats father contemptuously, Daughter rises up against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man's enemies are the men of his own household.)

34 " Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 "For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; 36 and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.

The point is that our belief in God has the potential of distancing us from other people, including those closest to us. But our commitment to God must be primary.