Deuteronomy 23-24

Intro

Read Deut 23

I. Excluded from Worship vs. 1-8

vs. 1 Missing parts

By crushing or mutilation: This refers to those emasculated by either birth defect, accident, or by deliberate emasculation.

Shall not enter the assembly of the LORD: When we read this term, it usually refers to the nation gathered before the LORD in worship, such as when they were gathered at Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 5:22, 9:10, 10:4, and 18:16). But it doesn’t always have this sense

Isaiah 56:3-5 shows that even eunuchs and foreigners could be accepted before the LORD if they would obey Him, and they would be accepted before the “normal” people who disobeyed God.

Shall not enter the assembly of the LORD:

Eunuchs were excluded because God’s covenant with Israel was vitally connected with the idea of the seed, and emasculation is a “crime” against the seed of man.

Additionally, most eunuchs were made to be so in pagan ceremonies where they were dedicated to pagan gods.

vs. 2 Forbidden Union

One of illegitimate birth:

It is difficult to define exactly what is meant by the term of illegitimate birth.

Some later Jewish writers defined this as someone who was born of an incestuous relationship between Jews; others said it refers to those born of mixed marriages between the people of Israel and their pagan neighbors (as in Nehemiah 13:23).

vs. 3-6 No Ammonites or Moabites

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD:

The Moabites and the Ammonites not only treated Israel cruelly on their way to the Promised Land, but they also were a people with a disgraceful beginning. Moab and Ammon were the two sons born to the daughters of Lot through their incest with their father (Genesis 19:30-38).

vs. 7-8 Edomite’s and Egyptian’s

You shall not abhor an Edomite:

The Edomites were ethnically related to Israel, because Israel’s brother Esau was the father of the Edomite peoples. Therefore, Israel was commanded to not abhor an Edomite.

Interestingly, one of the most famous Edomites in history was abhorred by Israel – Herod the Great. Many of his spectacular building projects in Judea were intended to not only glorify his own name, but to win the favor of the Jews who despised him as an Edomite.

You shall not abhor an Egyptian:

The Egyptians were also to receive more favor than the Moabites or Ammonites, because Israel was a guest in Egypt for almost 400 years. Though the years Israel spent in Egypt were hard, God had a great purpose for them. Egypt was like a mother’s womb for Israel; they went in as a large family and came out as a distinct nation.

II. Uncleanness in the Camp vs. 9-14

vs. 9-11 Nocturnal Emission

God commanded ceremonial cleanliness among the army of Israel. Some occurrence in the night probably refers to nocturnal emissions, and the cleansing ceremony for this is described in Leviticus 15:16-18. After observing the ceremonial washing, he may come into the camp again.

vs. 12-14 Bring a trowel

God commanded sanitary cleanliness among the army of Israel; each soldier was to carry some type of shovel, with which he could cover [his] refuse.

III. Misc Laws vs. 15-25

This collection of laws relates to opportunities that the Jews would have to show kindness and generosity to both humans and animals.

vs. 15-16 Escaped slaves

Contrary to the laws of other nations, the law of Israel allowed the Jews to harbor fugitive slaves and protect them.

These slaves would not be Jewish, because the Jews were not allowed to enslave their brothers.

Jewish servants were either released in the Sabbath year or would agree to serve willingly for life

Also, Jewish masters were not allowed to abuse their servants so that they would want to flee.

These fugitives would be from the surrounding nations, and assisting them would give the Jews opportunity to tell them about the God of Israel.

vs. 17-18 Prostitution forbidden

Temple prostitutes in Corinth

“Playing the harlot” is a euphemism for idolatry because the pagan shrines did offer worshipers female and male prostitutes (“dogs”).

No Jewish man or woman was ever to become a shrine prostitute, and no vow could be paid to the Lord with the hire of a prostitute.

We don’t do evil that good may come from it (Rom. 3:8).

All money is defiled in a sense—Paul and Peter both called it “filthy lucre”

but some money is especially filthy because of its origin.

No vow could be paid to the Lord with money earned by committing sin

vs. 19-20 Charging Interest

If a lender needed collateral for a loan, he wasn’t permitted to take the borrower’s millstones (Deut. 24:6), because the man needed them in order to feed himself and his family.

The lender was not to demean the borrower by going into his house to secure a pledge (vv. 10–15), and if that pledge was the man’s cloak, the borrower had to return it by sunset (Ex. 22:25–27).

Business transactions between Jewish brethren were to be humane and compassionate, to help the needy brother and not to enrich the lender.

vs. 21-23 Making a Vow

The subject of vows is discussed also in Leviticus 27 and Numbers 30.

A Jew could make a vow to give the Lord something, or do something for Him, in return for a special blessing.

The vow could also involve abstaining from something in order to please the Lord.

Vows were purely voluntary (Deut. 23:22), and they had to be declared openly and fulfilled obediently (v. 23).

Whatever was promised had to be brought to the sanctuary and given to the Lord

Ecc. 5:4–6 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

To make the promise and not keep it would be taking the Lord’s name in vain

vs. 24-25 Stealing Grapes & Grains

The farmer was to leave some “gleanings” for the poor during the time of harvest

Lev. 19:9–10 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

This would give the aliens, orphans, and widows opportunity to gather food in a dignified way and not be forced to beg.

As with the lender, so with the generous farmer: God would bless him in his work and reward him for his kindness to the poor

Prov. 14:21 Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

Acts 20:35 “It is more blessed to give than to receive”

This generosity should also extend to one’s animals

To muzzle the ox that is threshing the grain is to frustrate him and make his work unnecessarily painful.

Once again, the Lord shows compassion for animals and urges us to show pity to those under our care.

“A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel” (Prov. 12:10, nkjv).

Paul used this verse to teach that those who labor in the Gospel should be supported by God’s people

IV. Laws concerning Divorce 24:1-4

It’s bad enough when a family has a rebellious son to disturb the home, but it’s even worse when the husband and wife don’t get along and the marriage breaks up.

The original Edenic law of marriage said nothing about divorce (Gen. 2:18–25).

Marriage is fundamentally a physical union (“one flesh”), so only a physical reason can dissolve it

There are two such reasons:

The death of one spouse

1 Cor. 7:39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

Adultery

The adulterous man and woman were killed, leaving the innocent spouses free to remarry.

Deut 22:22 If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

The Law of Moses did not allow divorce for adultery because the guilty spouse was stoned to death for his or her sin.

Since the “uncleanness” (“something indecent,” niv) couldn’t be adultery, what was it that it permitted a man to divorce his wife?

In our Lord’s day, the rabbinical school of Hillel took a very broad view and interpreted “uncleanness” to mean “anything that displeased the husband.”

But the school of Rabbi Shammai took the narrow view that “uncleanness” meant some kind of sexual sin.

Jesus didn’t define “uncleanness” but made it clear that the Mosaic Law of divorce was a concession and not a command.

God permitted it because of the hardness of the human heart.

However, it appears that Jesus did permit divorce if one of the spouses committed adultery. The assumption is that the innocent spouse was free to remarry; otherwise, why get a divorce?

When our Lord permitted divorce because of adultery, He was equating divorce with death.

The church doesn’t have the right to kill people for committing adultery or any other sin, but they can accept divorce as the equivalent of death, thus leaving the innocent partner free to remarry.

Jesus affirmed the priority of the original Edenic law of marriage, but He also granted this concession.

Of course, it’s better that the guilty party confess the sin, repent, and be restored and forgiven; but this doesn’t always happen.

Sin is the great destroyer, and where the privileges are the highest, as in marriage, the pain of that sin is the greatest.

The “bill of divorcement” was an official document that protected the women from slander and abuse and also gave her the privilege of a second marriage.

The time that was required to secure this document would give the husband opportunity to think the matter through and possibly reconsider.

He would lose what was left of the marriage price or dowry, and that might be costly.

Too many separations and divorces are the result of built-up emotions, festering wounds, and thoughtless words that could have been avoided if the spouses had been honest with each other, talked things over, and sought the Lord’s help earlier in the problem.