Deuteronomy 23
Today's Passage: Deuteronomy 23
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
In Romans 16:17–19 Paul wanted believers to guard the assembly in order to protect it from defilement and disunity. The heart of God remained unchanged in the centuries between Moses standing before the second generation and Paul’s words to the church in Rome—God cares about purity for our good and His glory.
For example, verse 1’s prohibition that these men “shall not enter the assembly of the Lord,” could seem harsh for a man having had an unfortunate accident. However, this probably doesn’t refer to accidental disfigurement. Eunuch’s were put in charge or harems and genital mutilation was part of some pagan religious practice. It’s not that these men couldn’t live and be within Israel as a converted follower of Yahweh, but they weren’t allowed into the formal gatherings.
Verse 2, likewise, is a hard chapter because it seems punitive despite being no fault of the punished. However, remember that this generation had not yet entered the Land. These words should be preventative, not punitive. This banishment of illegitimate children from the formal gatherings should have been a clear warning against incest, adultery, uniting oneself to a Canaanite, or taking part in cultic prostitution—all of which is prohibited elsewhere in the Law.
As you continue in the rest of the chapter, it’s important to see God’s heart in the do’s and do not’s. Impurity isn’t necessarily moral standing—neither is entrance into the assembly. These laws provided a tangible way to remind Israel of God’s set-apart-ness (Holiness) but also a very tangible way of loving our neighbor—thinking especially of verse 12–13. As one commentator wrote:
As we read laws that challenge our modern sensibilities, keep in mind how far removed we are physically, culturally, technologically, etc. That’s one reason Paul’s words provide such insight into these kinds of laws. Every part of the Law can be summed up in loving the Lord and loving others. When things seem especially harsh, we must trust in the heart of a good Father. Likewise, there’s often more going on than we can often appreciate being so far removed. The pagan culture they were to conquer was insidious—and history proved the damage that it would do. Obedience to these commands would have spared Israel so much heartache. However, that didn’t end up being the case.
God’s heart is that it may go well with you. Do you believe that? What would change to make your life align with that heart?
Written By: Tyler Short
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
In Romans 16:17–19 Paul wanted believers to guard the assembly in order to protect it from defilement and disunity. The heart of God remained unchanged in the centuries between Moses standing before the second generation and Paul’s words to the church in Rome—God cares about purity for our good and His glory.
For example, verse 1’s prohibition that these men “shall not enter the assembly of the Lord,” could seem harsh for a man having had an unfortunate accident. However, this probably doesn’t refer to accidental disfigurement. Eunuch’s were put in charge or harems and genital mutilation was part of some pagan religious practice. It’s not that these men couldn’t live and be within Israel as a converted follower of Yahweh, but they weren’t allowed into the formal gatherings.
Verse 2, likewise, is a hard chapter because it seems punitive despite being no fault of the punished. However, remember that this generation had not yet entered the Land. These words should be preventative, not punitive. This banishment of illegitimate children from the formal gatherings should have been a clear warning against incest, adultery, uniting oneself to a Canaanite, or taking part in cultic prostitution—all of which is prohibited elsewhere in the Law.
As you continue in the rest of the chapter, it’s important to see God’s heart in the do’s and do not’s. Impurity isn’t necessarily moral standing—neither is entrance into the assembly. These laws provided a tangible way to remind Israel of God’s set-apart-ness (Holiness) but also a very tangible way of loving our neighbor—thinking especially of verse 12–13. As one commentator wrote:
“. . . much of the information found in the [ancient] Egyptian medical texts was medically hazardous. For example donkey feces were used for the treatment of splinters, which probably increased the incidence of tetanus because of tetanus spores present in feces. Crocodile feces were used for birth control. In contrast Moses wrote that God instructed the Israelites to cover their excrement because it was ‘unclean’ (Deut. 23:12-13). At no time did Moses resort to adding the popular medical techniques of his day, though he was ‘educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians’ (Acts 7:22), which certainly included their medical wisdom.”
As we read laws that challenge our modern sensibilities, keep in mind how far removed we are physically, culturally, technologically, etc. That’s one reason Paul’s words provide such insight into these kinds of laws. Every part of the Law can be summed up in loving the Lord and loving others. When things seem especially harsh, we must trust in the heart of a good Father. Likewise, there’s often more going on than we can often appreciate being so far removed. The pagan culture they were to conquer was insidious—and history proved the damage that it would do. Obedience to these commands would have spared Israel so much heartache. However, that didn’t end up being the case.
God’s heart is that it may go well with you. Do you believe that? What would change to make your life align with that heart?
Written By: Tyler Short
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