God Speaks
“If a man’s testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
2 “If a person is illegitimate by birth, neither he nor his descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
3 “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. 4 These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the Lord your God loves you. 6 As long as you live, you must never promote the welfare and prosperity of the Ammonites or Moabites.
7 “Do not detest the Edomites or the Egyptians, because the Edomites are your relatives and you lived as foreigners among the Egyptians. 8 The third generation of Edomites and Egyptians may enter the assembly of the Lord.
9 “When you go to war against your enemies, be sure to stay away from anything that is impure.
10 “Any man who becomes ceremonially defiled because of a nocturnal emission must leave the camp and stay away all day. 11 Toward evening he must bathe himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.
12 “You must have a designated area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. 13 Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement. 14 The camp must be holy, for the Lord your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or he will turn away from you.
15 “If slaves should escape from their masters and take refuge with you, you must not hand them over to their masters. 16 Let them live among you in any town they choose, and do not oppress them.
17 “No Israelite, whether man or woman, may become a temple prostitute. 18 When you are bringing an offering to fulfill a vow, you must not bring to the house of the Lord your God any offering from the earnings of a prostitute, whether a man or a woman, for both are detestable to the Lord your God.
19 “Do not charge interest on the loans you make to a fellow Israelite, whether you loan money, or food, or anything else. 20 You may charge interest to foreigners, but you may not charge interest to Israelites, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
21 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin. 22 However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. 23 But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the Lord your God.
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not carry any away in a basket. 25 And when you enter your neighbor’s field of grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not harvest it with a sickle.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Deuteronomy 23:
1. What does this chapter tell me about God?
2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?
Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.
1. All that God is and what He does is too much for mere human beings to understand.
2. People often get involved in practices that have long-lasting consequences for themselves and future generations.
Prayer:
3. How might I pray regarding Deuteronomy 23?
Dear LORD God, I know and declare that You are a good, kind, and loving God. Whenever I doubt this and think that I know better than You, please be patient with me and help me to understand that You have good and loving reasons for the restrictions You put in place (like in Deuteronomy 23). Help me never to think that I know better than You how things should be. May I so trust and obey You that You, O LORD, will turn any curses against me to blessings for me because You love me. Teach me the tremendous importance of forgiveness. Help me to learn and apply empathy. I need the power of the Holy Spirit to follow Your instructions regarding enemies, foreigners, travelers, loans, taking vows, and respecting the property rights of others. I affirm that all Your laws are meant for our ultimate good and Your glory. AMEN
[My understanding of God’s purpose for these laws was greatly enhanced by reading Dennis Prager’s The Rational Bible: Deuteronomy, pages 357-373.]
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Deuteronomy 23?
- I will be kind to (but not cater to) transgender people even though I strongly disagree with their ideology; I will encourage them to recognize and celebrate the benefits of the sex they were born.
- I will counsel anyone I know who was born out of wedlock that they are loved by Jesus Christ and not responsible for the circumstances of their birth, but to determine to be happy in their life now and for eternity.
- I will try to understand the basis for the beliefs of people involved in secularism, other religions, cults, the occult, or satanism without being pulled away from worshiping YHWH, the true and living Triune God.
- I will love, trust, and obey God even when I don’t understand why He is doing what He is doing.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.