Three times in these four chapters Moses states the following:
"So you shall purge the evil from your midst." (17:7) See also 17:12 and 19:19
The responsibility for purity in the midst of the people was the people. God demands a lot from leadership but here He is telling the nation to police themselves. When they see someone who is doing something contrary to God's Word they are to purge the evil from their midst. Believers in the Church have the same responsibility. In Galatians 6 we read that when we see another brother overtaken in a fault we are to restore them. In James 5 we are to pray for them and turn them from their evil. Personal responsibility toward one another is a key component of God's plan. We are not to ignore the fellow believer who ignores God and His Word. We are to step in and correct him/her. Our desire should be to humbly correct them and get them to see the way of God. In the OT God gave specific instructions that they were to destroy the sinner who leads them astray and disobeys God. In the NT we are told to restore them and if they fail to repent we are to disassociate ourselves with them (1 Corinthians 5). Biblically we have a responsibility to keep the community clean and pure. That is our responsibility.
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