Two characteristics of modern society are dishonesty and sexual promiscuity. We will see in today’s Scripture reading that both of those were prohibited in ancient Israel. The New Testament also prohibits both of those in the church age.
Yesterday, we stopped reading partway through chapter 23. This chapter is part of a long discourse in which Moses delivered many different commands which were to govern the nation of Israel.
Deut. 23:9 ¶ “When you go out as an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.
Deut. 23:10 ¶ “If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp.
It appears to me that the instruction in verse 10 is an explanation of how to carry out verse 9. That means the instruction in verse 10 applied to the army of Israel when it was out on a campaign, not necessarily to daily life.
Deut. 23:11 But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may reenter the camp.
It appears that verses 12-14 also explain verse 9, meaning the instructions in those verses were specifically about when the army was out on a campaign.
Deut. 23:12 ¶ “You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there,
Deut. 23:13 and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement.
Deut. 23:14 Since Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give your enemies over to you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you, or He will turn away from you.
Notice the words “give your enemies over to you”. This reinforces the idea that verses 10-14 applied to the army when it was fighting Israel’s enemies.
The point was the soldiers had to maintain standards of hygiene when they went to fight battles. They could not get sloppy simply because they were away from home. This had both a health benefit and a quality of life benefit.
Deut. 23:15 ¶ “You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.
Deut. 23:16 He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your gates of the towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him.
Since this passage contains rules that regulated the army when it was out fighting Israel’s enemies, the reference to slaves may be a reference to the slaves of their enemies. In other words, when the army was fighting their enemies, they were not to return the slaves of their enemies to their enemies. Instead, they were to give refuge to those slaves.
Deut. 23:17 ¶ “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute.
Take note of the prohibition against both male and female prostitution.
Deut. 23:18 You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of Yahweh your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God.
The phrase “wages of a dog” probably refers to the wages of a male prostitute. That fits with verse 17.
The Hebrew word that is translated “dog” is the word “kelev”. That word often refers to the animal we know as dogs, but sometimes it is a derogatory term for men. For example, when David drew near to fight Goliath with only a few stones, Goliath asked, “Am I a dog?” (see 1 Samuel 17:43).
Deut. 23:19 ¶ “You shall not charge interest to your brother: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest.
The term “brother” referred to fellow Israelites. The Israelites were prohibited from charging each other interest.
Deut. 23:20 You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you send forth your hand to do in the land which you are about to enter to possess.
Verses 19-20 had an impact on medieval church history. The Catholic Church interpreted these verses, as well as Luke 6:34-35, as meaning that Christians could not lend money at interest (see Second Lateran Council, Canon 13). However, Christians could charge interest to Jews and vice versa, so that ended up happening.
Deut. 23:21 ¶ “When you make a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it will be a sin in you.
Look at the words “not delay” and “sin”. Anyone who made a vow to Yahweh had to pay the vow.
Deut. 23:22 However, if you refrain from vowing, it will not be a sin in you.
Deut. 23:23 You shall be careful and do what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to Yahweh your God that which you spoke with your mouth.
Moses repeated the importance of doing what you say.
This passage was the basis for some harsh words Jesus delivered to the scribes and Pharisees. By the first century AD, the Jewish leaders had developed a tradition that anyone who swore a vow by the sanctuary or the altar was not obligated to fulfill the vow. Vows were only binding if they were sworn by the gold of the sanctuary or the offering on the altar. Jesus clearly condemned that practice (see Matthew 23:16-22).
Jesus told His disciples to make no oaths (see Matthew 5:34). James also commanded us to make no oaths or vows. Instead, our yes is to be yes and our no is to be no (see James 5:12). In other words, we need to speak plainly and honestly.
Deut. 23:24 ¶ “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket.
Deut. 23:25 ¶ “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.
Deut. 24:1 ¶ “If a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,
Deut. 24:2 and she goes out of his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife,
Deut. 24:3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife,
Deut. 24:4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before Yahweh, and you shall not bring sin on the land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance.
Take note of the word “abomination”. Switching sexual partners was an abomination.
Just as sexual purity was important in the Mosaic Law, so too it is important in the church age. Jesus said marrying a divorced woman is adultery (see Matthew 5:32). Paul wrote multiple times against sexual immorality (see 1 Corinthians 6:9, Galatians 5:19, and Ephesians 5:3).
Modern society is known for dishonesty and sexual promiscuity. However, just as ancient Israel was ordered to fulfill all vows and refrain from sexual abomination, so too we Christians have similar commands in the New Testament. We must speak plainly and honestly. We must control our urges and be sexually pure.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”