Deuteronomy 23:15-25

Text Read:

15 “You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him. 17 “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God. 19 “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 21 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth. 24 “If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. 25 If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.

Text Explained

The Escaped Slave

15 “You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him. Now this Law is absolutely fascinating because the common accusation against Christianity and the OT in particular is that it had laws concerning slavery. Yet here we find a Law that commanded the Israelites to allow a slave who had fled from his master to the nation of Israel to be allowed to live anywhere in Israel. The catch words are “not give up to/do not deliver to” and “escaped/sought refuge”. Because of the phrase “sought refuge” and the fact that this Law uses the phrase “your towns” (Israel as a whole), has caused scholars to to view the refugee/escaped slave to be a foreigner who has come to Israel to escape his master. This is significant because in the Ancient Near East (ANE) it was common for treaties between nations to have provisions to extradite an escaped slave. In fact all the Law codes dealt with the issue of runaway slaves as a problem of social order as well as property. The code of Hammurabi states “(16) If a man has hidden in his house a slave or slave-girl who has disappeared from the temple or from a workman and does not produce them when the alarm is raised, the owner of that house shall be killed.” (Richardson, M. E. J. (2004). Hammurabi’s laws: text, translation, and glossary (p. 47). T&T Clark.) In contrast, not only was Israel legally obligated not to return the escaped slave but Israel was to allow the person to settle wherever he chose. The slave was allowed to begin a new and be given yānâ which carries the idea of a merciful treatment of strangers. This law highlights how different Israel was from their surrounding neighbors. One scholar observes that the slave’s “status is somewhat like that of the Israelite who has served his six years in restitution for unpaid debt, and who is able to return to an independent life.” (McConville, J. G. (2002). Deuteronomy (D. W. Baker & G. J. Wenham, Eds.; Vol. 5, p. 351). Apollos; InterVarsity Press.) Christian, it would do us well to remember that while slavery was permitted in the OT, it was viewed very differently from the surrounding cultures. Now we will deal with slavery more at a later date, but suffice it to say the slavery we find in the Mosaic Law was not the same as what we had in the 1800’s In fact one scholar notes “If Deut 23:15-16 had been implemented in the South in the first half of the 1800s, things might have been quite different!” (Paul Himes in email to me).

Prostitution & Ill-gotten Giving

17 “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God. Here is a Law that condemns the practice of cult-prostitution. One scholar notes: “Sexual intercourse with them (Cult Prostitute) may have been seen as a fertility ritual, the sexual act corresponding to the (pagan) deities’ sexual fertility, designed to secure plenty in the agricultural sphere.” (McConville, J. G. (2002). Deuteronomy (D. W. Baker & G. J. Wenham, Eds.; Vol. 5, p. 351). Apollos; InterVarsity Press.) So this form sexual activity would have been wrong not only because it was outside the covenant of marriage but also because it would have been done in the context of worship. Now this Law was given before the nation even settled into the land, the influence of the Canaanite culture on the Israelites was so persuasive that this practice of cult prostitution became widespread and even when widespread reforms occured, it continued to return. 1 Kings 14:24 “and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” 1 Kings 15:12 “He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.” Hosea 4:14 “I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.” Side note: this should be a warning to us as believers that the culture is always pulling on us to make excuses to do what we know displeases God. Regardless, the Law continues by telling the nation that if a person does this illegal/immoral thing and then takes that money to the Temple to pay a vow, it is an abomination to the Lord. In other words, it doesn’t matter if the person was using the money for a good cause, the way it was earned made it an abomination to the Lord. As another scholar observes: “When a vow was to be paid to God, it was not as though God required the money; the payment betokened an attitude of gratitude for God’s gracious provision, but money that had been acquired by sinful means could not be a part of God’s gift, and therefore could not be used in paying a vow to him.” (Craigie, P. C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy (pp. 301–302). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.” This Law could be summed up as “Don’t be involved in earning “dirty money” and don’t give/pay God with “dirty money”.”

Caring for Family

19 “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. In our modern day, we are surrounded by bank loan, commercial loans, and credit cards that all charge interest for the use of their money. It may be easy to read our modern day into Deuteronomy. However, “Israel’s society was not based on a complex commercial and financial structure. Loans were normally made in an attempt to alleviate poverty, as is made clear by the parallel legislation to these verses.” (Craigie, P. C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy (p. 302). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) Leviticus 25:35–36 “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you.” This goes back to the idea that they were all part of the people of God and thus were to care for one another. Those outside of this national/covenant bond, were not afforded the same care because they were foreigners.

Voluntary Vows are Binding

21 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth. This Law is in reference to a promise made to God that would normally entail a sacrifice. Such as what we find in Leviticus 7:16–17 “But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten. But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire.” It could also mean dedicating goods or even people such as Hannah dedicating her son Samuel in 1 Samuel 1:11 “And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” The Law in Leviticus 27 would allow any of these vows to be commuted or paid off via money. The vows being described here were all voluntary vows being made. They were not required. However, once a person made a vow, that vow became binding upon the person. One of the temptations a person may have is saying well, I made the vow voluntarily therefore I don’t have to pay it. This Law would be a reminder that failure to keep your voluntary vow puts you in a sin.

Do not take advantage of your neighbor

24 “If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. 25 If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain. Here we have a man travelling through the country. I like how P.C. Craigie explains this. “When he/a person passes through a vineyard or through fields of standing grain, he may satisfy his hunger by picking grapes and eating them, or plucking off the ears of grain. This privilege was not to be denied to a man; the harvest was a part of God’s gracious provision. Any privilege, however, may easily be exploited, and the legislation prohibits the removal of foodstuffs from the vineyard or field. In other words, property rights are recognized; the grapes or grain properly belonged to the farmer who grew them and tended them. He/the farmer was to be generous in letting passers-by refresh themselves, but the harvesting of the crop and removal of it could be done only by him.” (Craigie, P. C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy (p. 304). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) Now when we come to the NT in Matthew 12:1, “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.” The condemnation of the pharisees was on a breaking of the sabbath and not on eating someone else’s heads of grain.

Text Applied

Caring for Others: As we examine these Laws, we see a theme emerging. A theme of caring for others.

Those Outside the Family: In Verse 15-16, we find that the Israelites were to refuse to extradite the slave who had escaped to the nation of Israel. This slave was to be free to settle and become a sojourner in the Land of Israel and would become subject to the Laws of Israel. In this, the Israelites were to show a care for the escaped slave who had fled to them for refuge from their former slave master. How fitting is it that slaves of enemy nations be allowed access to and refuge among the Lord’s Covenant people. Dear one, how fitting is it that slaves of our enemy/Satan find yānâ/merciful treatment among the people of God. Leviticus 19:34 states “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Dear one, how we interact and care for people who are not part of God’s people is important to God. For we were also strangers and enemies of God. Yet Christ died for us. We are to care for those outside the family of God.

Those Inside the Family: In verses 19-20 & 24-25, we find special care being given to those within God’s Covenant people. In John 13:35 it says, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” We are to care for those outside of the family of God because we were once outside the family of God, but dear one, we are to give special care for those who are within the family of God. People should look at how we interact with one another and see that we have godly love for one another. Caring for the needs of one another, helping one another when we are in need. Through tangible and intangible methods. We are to give special attention to those within the body of Christ. We are to give special care for those inside the Family of God.

We are to Honest in our Vows: In verses 21-23 we find a legal requirement to keep one’s voluntary vows. Dear one, as Jesus said in Matthew 5:37 “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” If you choose to make a vow to the Lord, breaking that vow is a sin. It is not complicated. Sometimes Christians pray things like, “God if you do this, then I will do this.” Then when God does what you ask, the Christian comes up with reasons why they don’t actually have to do their side of the vow. Christian, it is not inherently wrong to make a vow to God, it is wrong to break it.

Prostitution and Ill-gotten Giving: In verses 17-18, we find a command against prostitution and the giving of ill-gotten money to God. Now prostitution is illegal in most states, but the porn industry is legal. Not only the Hugh Hefner/Playboy type of Pornography, but the Independent Only Fans type of pornography. This is the kind where an 18yr old with a modern cell phone can attempt to make a lot of money quickly. This is the modern form of legal prostitution in America. It serves the god of self and there are many who have fallen into it. But I would contend that the principle goes beyond simply prostitution. I would contend that it reaches to any form of sinful employment a person is involved in. Another example would be if a person is a drug-dealer, that is sinful employment. The text condemns both the employment and the giving to God of money that is recieved through sinful employment. In other words, giving God money from a job God calls sin does not make it alright. For instance, if you were a meth dealer, and then you decided to give out of your drug dealing earnings to God, that gift would not be accepted by God. Dear one, never fall into the trap that if I give to God, it makes everything ok. No, the way you earn money matters to God. He knows how you got it and if it was gotten through sinful means, He does not accept that gift. What you do and how you do it matters. 1 Samuel 15:22“And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”