AM Bible Study Group; November 9, 2011
Deuteronomy 23:1-18
Theme: God commands that the place where He walks in the midst of His people shall be holy.
The first half of chapter 23 is not a pleasant portion of Scripture. It deals with some very frank matters; and deals with them in terms that may make us feel rather uncomfortable. The things it says may even seem ‘extreme’. But the reason for them is because our God is a very holy God—and He demands that the people, in whose midst He dwells, also be holy in every detail of life.
The key to this passage is verse 14; where Moses told the assembled people of Israel, "For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you." Because God is light, and can have no fellowship with darkness, we must be a holy people if we would enjoy the blessings of fellowship with Him.
Note how this passage speaks to the necessity of holiness with respect to . . .
I. MATTERS OF EXCLUSION (vv. 1-8).
A. In the case of Israel of old, certain classes of individuals were not permitted to have a place in "the assembly" (that is, the formal gathering) of God’s people:
1. Someone who was emasculated (v. 1). Just as an offering was forbidden to offer to the Lord from out of what had been bruised or crushed (see Leviticus 22:24; Deuteronomy 17:1), this excludes someone from the assembly who had been emasculated by crushing or mutilation from entering the assembly. This sounds harsh at first; but because of the fact that God’s word later says that the God- fearing eunuch was welcomed by Him (see Isaiah 56:3-6), it probably has more to do with something that was done as a deliberate act of pagan ritualism and cultism than with something that resulted from an accident or an illness. If so, this illustrates that we must separate ourselves from that which permanently marks itself as in rebellion against God.
2. Someone who was of illegitimate birth (v. 2). Such a person was not permitted to enter the assembly "even to the tenth generation" (that is to say, not ever permitted in). Again, this seems harsh. But it’s probably not speaking merely of someone born out of wedlock (since one of the Bible’s great heroes of faith was born out of wedlock—see Judges 11:1-3; Hebrews 11:32). More likely, it’s speaking of someone who was born from an Israelite’s union with one of the surrounding pagan nations (see Numbers 25:1ff; Nehemiah 13:23; also v. 3 of our passage). Or it may speak of someone born as a result of an encounter with a cultic prostitute as a part of paganistic worship (see vv. 17-18). If so, this illustrates that we must separate ourselves from that which is a product of a turning away from God and of disobedience to His commands.
3. Someone who was hostile to God and His people (vv. 3-8). Just as was the case with someone of illegitimate birth, an Ammonite or a Moabite was not permitted to enter the assembly of the Lord. The reason give was, in the case of the Ammonites, "they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt" (see Numbers 21:21-31); and in the case of the Moabites, "they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you" (see Numbers 22-25; 31:6). The Lord would not listen to Balaam’s curse, and turned it into a blessing instead (see v. 5). But because God had said that those who cursed the offspring of Abraham would themselves be cursed (see Genesis 12:3), the people of these nations were permanently excluded from the assembly of God’s people (see v. 6). Note, however, that God’s people were not to treat other foreign peoples in this way. They were not to abhor an Edomite, because Edom (Esau) was the brother of Jacob (Genesis 25:24-26, 30; 36:1, 8, 19). Nor were they (remarkable as it may seem) to abhor an Egyptian; "because you were an alien in his land" (v. 7; see Isaiah 19:18-25; 45:17). The children of the third generation of those born of an Israelite and an Egyptian or an Edomite may freely enter the assembly of God. This distinction illustrates to us that we must discern; and separate ourselves from that which is clearly hostile to God and His kingdom.
B. These commandments illustrate to us that, if we would walk in fellowship with a holy God in a way that He can bless, then—hard as it may be at times to do—we must be prepared to say "no" to certain things that demand to have a place in our lives. We must separate from all that is in rebellion against Him, or that flows from disobedience to Him, or that is hostile to Him.
II. MATTERS OF CLEANLINESS (vv. 9-14).
A. Verses 9-14 seems to have, as its focus, the conduct of soldiers in the camp during Israel’s battles. As Moses says, "When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing" (v. 9). The word in Hebrew translated "wicked" (ra‛) has to do, not so much with that which is morally evil, as with that which is indecent and unbecoming of a people set apart unto God. This was expressed in two ways:
1. A man was temporarily excluded from the camp if he had "an occurrence in the night". This may be speaking of a nocturnal emission (see also Leviticus 15:16); but some commentators have suggested, because it’s a military camp, that it may be speaking of a man who relieved himself in an inappropriate location because it was late and he didn’t want to go to the appointed place (see verse 12). In either case, complete honesty would have been required; and he would have had to stay outside the camp for the evening.
2. There was to be a place set aside outside the camp for people to relieve themselves. They were to have, as a part of their equipment, a shovel; and they were to make sure than nothing was left out in the open and above ground.
B. The reason for this is stated in verse 14. A holy God walks in the midst of the camp "to deliver you and give your enemies over to you". Therefore, they were to make sure that they kept the camp holy; and that God may see no unclean thing among them. This illustrates to us that, in our own personal lives, we must make sure that we respect God’s holiness in all our ways. We must not be careless and disordered; but make sure that there is nothing along our way that is displeasing to Him. He is a holy God. In Him is no darkness at all. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" (1 John 1:6).
III. MATTERS OF ATTITUDE (vv. 15-16).
A. These two verses speak of the way that the people of Israel were to treat foreign slaves who came to them for refuge—having escaped from their cruel foreign masters (see 1 Samuel 22:2; 25:10):
1. They were to be given refuge. In the law-codes of other cultures of the time, it was required that the slave be returned to his or her foreign master—and often into great cruelty or death (see 1 Samuel 30:11-15). But the Israelites were not to do this. To do so would imply a treaty-like obligation to a foreign nation; and this was forbidden.
2. The slave was to be free to dwell among the people of God wherever he or she wished. Perhaps the reputation of the Israelites as "God’s people" drew the fearful slave to them in the hopes of mercy; and God’s people were not to disappoint that hope. They were to welcome all who sought refuge with God.
3. They were not to be oppressed by the Israelites. The Israelites were to remember that they too were once slaves.
B. This shows us that God desires even the attitudes of His people to be holy in His sight. To forget the mercy that God had shown them—and to refuse to welcome the one who sought liberty, or to treat them with cruelty, or to oppress them, or to take advantage of their need, was to have an attitude of sinful ingratitude and pride that was an unholy thing in the midst of the people of God.
IV. MATTERS OF ASSOCIATION (vv. 17-18).
A. The people of God were to even be holy with respect to things that are a few steps removed from sin. There was not to be a "ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel" (v. 17). Prostitution was forbidden (Leviticus 19:29); but this is speaking of a particular kind of prostitution—one that was related to paganism and cultic worship. Both female and male forms of this—both of which were prevalent in the pagan people groups that they were to drive out of the promised land—are here mentioned and forbidden. The male version of this is called "dogs" in verse 18 (see also 1 Kings 14:24; 15:12; 2 Kings 23:7).
B. These forms of prostitution were considered a part of the fertility rites of foreign nations, and was one of the most wicked aspects of the worship of foreign gods (see Numbers 25:1-9; Hosea 4:14). And not only was there to be no such practice among God’s people, but they were not even to bring the wages of such a practice into the house of the Lord as a vowed offering; "for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God" (v. 18). God here makes clear that His people were not to be associated with such sins in even a secondary way. God’s people are to hate "even the garment defiled by the flesh" (Jude 23).