Jesus Made a Way

Anyone here ever had an awkward conversation? Or actually put better, how many have walked into a conversation thinking “oh, this is going to be awkward!” In the end it is really good, but you’ve got to slog through the initial phase of awkward first to reach that point.

Today we’re continuing on our series entitled “It says WHAT? Finding Jesus is some of the weird, wild, and wacky parts of the Bible.” Last week we look at the little command in Exodus and Deuteronomy that talks about not boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk. This verse might seem arbitrary, maybe even petty, but in truth as we consider the implication of worshipping God, we need to realize that this verse lends itself to the idea of living as a holy people, set apart for God.

Now you’re probably thinking, “oh great, what’s he going to pull out this week?” Well, this is where it gets awkward a little bit. But we can get through this together.

Deuteronomy 23:1–2 ESV

“No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord. “No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord.

In our world today, this sort of a verse might just seem not necessary. Why would God put something like this in His law, if He’s supposed to be the God of love?? Doesn’t it seem a little harsh? Especially for the kids who have done nothing! How do we understand this now? (Or maybe you’re just thinking “what’s he gonna get out of this?!?”)

You’re probably wondering why we’re bothering with these verses. Well, I was too. But I couldn’t get away from this this week, for reasons I will share as we progress. Yes, it’s an awkward passage. No, it’s not your typical Sunday morning topic. But the whole of the Bible, right from Genesis through to Revelation, is a gift from God.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So, if we believe this, then even the weird, wild, and wacky passages have something to tell us! So, we are asking two questions about each passages as we go through this series:

How does this fit into the grand story of the Bible?

How does it communicate the truth of the gospel?

This is what we will look at today. What is this passage all about? How do we fit this into the grand story of the Bible? And how do we find the gospel message even here, in this harder-to-read passage?

Because of Jesus, we can stand in God’s Holy presence.

What man perverted in worship (sexuality, sex, the body through mutilation) God redeemed through Jesus, our perfect high priest.

You’re not supposed to be like them, or worship like them. Don’t prostitute yourself to the world Mon-Sat and show up Sun for worship!

Then: Holiness Demonstrated

Deuteronomy was written for the second generation of Israelites - those who would see the fulfillment of entering the Promised Land. Remember that the original generation who were brought out of Egypt chose to rebel, and not trust God when they originally made it to the promised land that God had for them. So God led them in the wilderness 40 years, until all that remained of that generation except Joshua and Caleb had passed away. Now, in the second generation, Moses again reiterates the law to the Israelites. We need to realize something right off the hop: In Deuteronomy there is this theme that has two sides: On one side is the blessing that comes with following YHWH’s laws. Blessings follow. Prosperity in the land. On the other hand is the curse that could come as a result of Israel forgetting their covenant with YHWH.

Now, we see these prohibitions are within the context of the assembly of the LORD. What is this? At first glance, this looks like the nation of Israel as a whole. Though the word for assembly could mean that, here especially in Deuteronomy this meant the worship gathering. This is perhaps one of the most important things for us to remember. Although it may still seem harsh, we need to realize that these specific people were barred from the worship gathering, but not the nation itself.

A eunuch was a man who had been castrated. This made him of course infertile, but also had other hormonal and physical effects. Here’s the biggest thing about this though: Making someone a eunuch was a very common practice in the ancient world in pagan cultures. They often held high offices, perhaps presiding over the king’s harem, or the treasury as we see of the eunuch in Acts 8. Problem is, in Jewish society at least over time Eunuchs because of their physical condition were seen as half-men - incapable of producing an heir (https://renew.org/what-is-a-eunuch-in-the-bible/). Though pagan cultures often practiced this, it was generally looked down upon in Israelite culture.

Now we turn to verse 2, where we read:

Deuteronomy 23:2 ESV

“No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord.

What is a forbidden marriage? This is most likely someone born of an incestuous relationship. This was a strictly forbidden thing in Israel, as we see in Lev 18. But again, it was a pagan practice. The Lord says that someone born of this a type of union was not allowed into the assembly, even to the tenth generation. This is important. This is God’s way of saying never. No one of this lineage can enter the worship assembly.

Now we come to it: Does it seem harsh to you? Does it seem maybe discriminatory? In our world today that is a word that gets a lot of attention. Can you imagine barring someone from our churches because of something like this? Aside from the moral complications of that, how would that person react? How quickly would that church be in hot water?

It is hard to read these passages because, at least for me, I think: Why punish someone for something they either did clearly before they worshipping the one true God, or for no fault of their own. Why exclude someone who had no choice in their conception or lineage?

This is why this passage gets attention as a passage that might seem a bit wild, or wacky, or just plain hard.

We need to realize the holiness of God as we read this. We need to put away for a moment whatever moral outrage or confusion we might have as we read this passage, and take a minute to realize that God is holy. Nothing imperfect can be in His presence. Nothing. And the holy God insists that, as John Piper puts it:

…there [must] be a correlation between the perfections of those who approach the sanctuary and the perfection of the sanctuary itself, which is a reflection of His own perfection.

Now, no person is perfect, but those who had blemishes and outward physical imperfection (like what we read in Deuteronomy) could not be in the worship assembly, because this represented a spiritual dysfunction or disbarment. The Old Testament law highlights the necessity of holiness in God’s presence. In fact in Leviticus the requirements for the priests were as follows:

Leviticus 21:21–23 ESV

No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

Now this is the requirements for priests, but we must keep in mind that both prohibitions in Deuteronomy 23 - for eunuchs and those born of a forbidden relationship related to pagan worship of other gods.

Last week, we read this in Exodus 23 13

Exodus 23:13 ESV

“Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

This was the standard of Israel’s worship. He is so holy, He is so set apart that anything imperfect, anything unholy could not be in His presence. Even names of other gods should not be heard among the people who serve the Holy One True God.

This helps us understand this passage. It’s hard, because our 21st century view rails against such laws that would bar people from a worship assembly, especially for that which they did not do. But we need to understand this within the context of a Holy God allowing people to draw near to Him. We - humanity - broke something. We broke God’s moral law. We alienated ourselves from the Most High. In a general sense that is what we broke. In a more contextual sense, the practice of making eunuchs, or even these forbidden unions were gross perversions of how God designed things to be. They are gross perversions of worship. The holy God would not allow these types of people to enter the worship assembly because their physical circumstances symbolized a spiritual dysfunction. But, we need to realize that even within this, they are by no means barred from God’s mercy and grace. They are still part of the nation - at least those who converted. They still experience God’s grace in their lives and wait with the rest of the nation for the blessed hope of the coming Messiah, regardless of how - because of human brokenness - they were barred from coming close to God in the worship place.

Now: Love Made a Way

We’ve focused on a hard passage here, and we’ve been hit with a hard reality: The reality of God’s holiness, and the need for the nation of Israel to not even entertain that which is unholy, or pagan. It’s a hard reality to face. It’s hard for us to understand it. But in order for us to understand just what Jesus has done for us, we need to understand the seriousness of sin. This is part of the result of sin. There were barriers, for good reason. The Old Testament highlighted the understanding that nothing imperfect can stand for long in God’s presence. Even for those priests or people who could gather in worship, it was not the same as it is for us. Their time in God’s presence was limited - bought by the blood of an animal. Only for a short time could the high priest enter the holy of holies, to be in God’s earthly throne room. But then:

Jesus

If the “then” was understanding that the brokenness we cause creates barriers to God’s presence, even to the point that some with certain physical defects were not admitted to the worship assembly, the “now” must be the understanding of how Jesus changed it all.

In Acts 8:26-40, we read of the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch. This man clearly loved God, having travelled from his own far away land to worship in Jerusalem. Yet he clearly could never be a full part of Israel or enter the assembly of worshippers. Yet we find him on his way home studying the Scriptures. The Spirit led Philip the evangelist out to meet him, and as they talk and Philip shares with him the good news, the Eunuch believes. He sees a body of water and asks:

Acts 8:36 ESV

And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

The implication is this text is nothing. Nothing prevents you from being baptized. Now, as we have looked at previously, baptism is a sign of the New Covenant. In fact it is the sign of entrance, and a symbol that God has already done the work of saving you and begun to change you from the inside out. It’s an outward testimony to the inward change that has and continues to take place. So, even though this man is a Gentile, and foreigner, and a eunuch, there are no barriers! There are no “buts.”

Do you know the requirements of the gospel? Paul lays them out in Romans 10:9-11:

Romans 10:9–11 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

That’s it, those are the requirements. Jesus, when He died for us, paid the price. He made the path to God clear again. Because of Jesus, because He gives to us His righteousness and has paid the price on our behalf, we can come to God. And God welcomes those who are of lowly origin: be it physical, or social, or cultural deficiencies, it is these who He seeks out along with the rest. And often, it is these who are more ready to respond, and lead the way in following the only one who can fix what we broke. Think about how many Jesus came to that were excluded. Lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes. These were the reprobates. And when society or culture deemed them unworthy, Jesus said “you are mine.” When even the law had to - by necessity - exclude certain members of the nation, Jesus calls to them and says “I have made a way.”

We talk about how this passage fits into the grand story of Scripture, because it is hard, because it hurts to get faced with the reality of the consequences of sin next to the Holy God. It’s hard to realize that yes, without Jesus there were barriers. It reviles us to think that people would be excluded based on something they may or may not be able to control. Yet God in His holiness could not allow that which symbolized pagan worship and therefore spiritual deficiencies and dysfunction into His worship assembly.

How do you find Jesus in that? Where’s the gospel hope in that? In the realization that this pointed forward, with anticipation, to a day when humanity could stand in God’s holy presence, washed clean of sin. No longer sinners, but literally made new! Restoration.

Who did that? Jesus Christ. With His sinless life, sacrificial death, triumphant raising to life, Christ bought and paid for us, and redeemed us from the power of sin and death. What we perverted in breaking God’s law, or perverted in our actions, Jesus redeems through his sacrifice.

So, in the family of God, as we read in:

Colossians 3:11 (ESV)

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Because of Jesus, no one is turned away. No one is excluded from the worship assembly, or the body of Christ. Because of Jesus an imperfect people can stand in the presence of a holy God, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s the testimony of the good news that we proclaim.

Conclusion

We are in the presence of a holy God. We stand here not as perfect people, but as sinners saved by grace. Sinners who look forward to the day when God will make everything new. In Jesus, we enjoy some benefits of salvation, even as we look forward to the coming hope.

Because of Jesus, we can stand in God’s Holy presence.

We sinned. We alienated ourselves from God. As we consider this somewhat awkward and hard passage in Deuteronomy, we are reminded of just how messed up some of the pagan cultures around Israel were, and the seriousness of sin. These physical outward defects symbolized a inward spiritual dysfunction. We need to see within this the holiness of God, and how important it was to be pure within the worshipping community of Israel.

Yet we also see, as we come to the New Testament and see Jesus, that these barriers are now removed. Now the Eunuch can really become a full-fledged member of the family of God. The one born out of incest, or rape or some other horrible crime can find redemption, love, and purpose in the Saviour. That is what this law points to, and that is what we now celebrate.

Salvation call

Church, for us today we must, as the hands and feet of Christ, do that which Christ has done: find the lost. We can’t save them, but we sure can give our best shot as at telling them who can!

What people today continue to be cultural, social, or financial "eunuchs"? What can you do to minister the Good News to them? (Ligonier Ministries)

Cultural Eunuch: Someone who is devoid of cultural understanding?

Social Eunuch: Socially inept?

Financial Eunuch: Cannot provide for themselves?

This is our calling church. We serve the God who is completely holy. Yet He has mercifully made the way back to Him clear. Will we not tell this to the world, for all we’re worth?

Prayer.