Deuteronomy 23 - Who Shall Enter the Assembly of the Lord?

Notes

Who may enter the assembly of the Lord?

Q: What is the ‘assembly of the Lord’?

v. 1 - no one who has been castrated

v. 2 - no one of illegitimate birth

Q: What is meant by illegitimate?

vv. 3-6 - no Ammonite or Moabite

vv. 7-8 - yes to the sons of the third generation of Edomites and Egyptians

If we are going to understand what this meant to the Israelites, we have to understand what the assembly is. The assembly of the Lord refers to the covenant people of God especially when gathered in His presence for worship. To enter into that assembly would means to become a true Israelite, not just a foreigner who sojourns among the Israelites, but one who worships YHWH, the God of the Israelites.

Some foreigners were not allowed to enter that assembly of the Lord.

These included those emasculated or neutered as stated in v. 1.

Emasculation refers to the male’s testicles being crushed. That combined with the male organ being cut off made one a eunuch. So, one paraphrase of this verses says, “No eunuch is to enter the congregation of God.”

But why would such a thing be done?

Of course, such a thing could’ve been done by some tragic accident.

I remember a story about a baby boy whose circumcision went horribly wrong, the result being that he was left with little remaining to identify him as a male.

Would Deuteronomy 23:1 prevent him from entering the assembly of the Lord?

Probably not.

The prohibition of Deuteronomy 23:1 was more likely meant to prohibit pagan worshippers who still bore the scars of pagan worship from entering the assembly.

As one commentator said, “The self-castrated, who carry on their bodies the sign of their recognition of another god, shall not enter the congregation.”

Another commentator said there were male pagan worshippers in Mesopotamia (to the east of the Promised Land) that castrated themselves and dressed in women’s clothing to worship the false goddess, Ishtar.

Perhaps there were some similar pagan worshippers in the Promised Land before this Joshua and Caleb generation entered to possess it.

If so, they weren’t to be allowed into the assembly.

History matters.

The one who is emasculated or neutered in Deuteronomy 23 was emasculated or neutered in the past, but his past action kept him out of the assembly in the present.

We might wonder how this applies to us, but today the number of emasculated and neutered men is on the rise due to what is called “sex reassignment surgeries.” Women are having themselves surgically altered to appear like men. Men are having themselves surgically altered to appear like women. We know this sort of action is sparked by a spiritual brokenness that cannot be altered with physical surgery, but often our response to those who have undergone this process has been to belittle them or dismiss them rather than patiently love them.

So, let’s say this coming Tuesday I’m in the office and the phone rings. It’s a man who a few years ago went through a sex reassignment procedure to appear as women. Things were done to his body that cannot be undone. Things were removed that cannot be put back like they were. But since then, he has realized that the answer to his spiritual brokenness was not physical surgery. He has realized that he was running from God, running from who and how God made him to be. He has repented from the heart, found salvation and spiritual healing for his spiritual brokenness in Jesus. He has embraced his maleness and lives once again as a man despite the surgical changes to his body.

But he calls the church and gets me on the phone because in his Bible reading, he has come across Deuteronomy 23:1 and now wonders if his emasculation and neutering will keep him from entering the assembly of worshippers in Heaven.

How do you think I should respond to that? More and more pastors are going to have to respond to questions like that and, unlike me, not all of those pastors can say, “Let’s ask, Scott!”

No, here’s what I’d say.

“Brother, what you’re reading in Deuteronomy is the law; and whether its this portion of the law or some other portion, the law shows us all that we don’t measure up. It shows us all that none of us deserve to be in the assembly of worshippers in Heaven.

“But here’s the good news, brother. Where we fall short, Jesus measures up! He does all things well! He has perfectly fulfilled the smallest letter and every stroke of the law for us, and then He took our sins (our lawbreaking) on Himself, dying to pay the price for our lawbreaking on the cross.

“Brother, it’s not the scars on your body that will keep you out of Heaven. It’s the scars on Jesus’s body that guarantee you’re getting in. His scars of grace run deeper than your scares of rebellion.

“But there’s even more good news, as you know: Three days after Jesus died, what happened? That’s right, He rose from the dead, the first fruits of those who believe in Him. This means that one day we will be raised like Him, this perishable body giving way to the imperishable body of resurrection.

“When Jesus comes, brother, you will receive a glorified body ready made for eternity.

“Your scars won’t keep you out. His scars get you in.

“His resurrection guarantees a new body for you when He comes. Rejoice that your present scars won’t be your forever scars.”

“Your history matters, but Jesus matters more.”

But let’s say my friend then responds, “Yes, that is great news, but I’m just afraid that I won’t be happy or fulfilled in life without being married. I’m mean, because of what I’ve done to my body, my chances of getting married are slim to none.”

I would respond by taking my friend to Jesus’s words in Matthew 19:1-12, where Jesus taught on divorce. Large crowds were following Him and Jesus was healing people, but then the Pharisees showed up and tried to trap Jesus with a question, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” Jesus answered by referring to the beginning of marriage, which was during the first week of creation.

Matthew 19:4–5 NASB95

4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

Then Jesus said…

Matthew 19:6 NASB95

6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

But the Pharisees persisted…

Matthew 19:7 NASB95

7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

And Jesus told them the answer…

Matthew 19:8–9 NASB95

8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Now, the Jesus’s own disciples overhear this and later say to Jesus…

Matthew 19:10 NASB95

10 The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

The disciples seem to fear being trapped in unhappy marriages. When divorce on any grounds was permissible, they didn’t fear marriage. But now that Jesus has said, “What God has joined together, let not man separate,” the disciples are afraid and suggest that it is better to just not marry at all.

Listen carefully to how Jesus responds…

Matthew 19:11–12 NASB95

11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

First, Jesus said that not all men can accept the statement “it is better not to marry, but only those to whom it has been given.”

Singleness is not for everyone.

Second, Jesus told His disciples how some have been given the gift of singleness.

Some were given that gift at birth by being born as eunuchs.

Some were given that gift by other men when either by accident or assault some were made eunuchs.

Some were given that gift by choice, not literally making themselves eunuchs, but consciously deciding to live as a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

I would tell my friend, who is essentially a eunuch…

“You’ve been made a eunuch through the choices you’ve made, but God has brought you back to Him and He is going to use you. He is going to use your singleness as an instrument to bring Him glory in the kingdom of Heaven.

“And that life will give you just as much fulfillment as a wife and children.”

If you don’t believe me, listen to the Prophet Isaiah…

Isaiah 56:3–5 ESV

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

Jesus changes everything. In Acts 8, Philip was preaching the Gospel when an angel of the Lord spoke to him, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza,” (Acts 8:26).

We are given a little detail in Acts 8:26 telling us that this was a desert road, so this is an usual request. What could be out on that desert road? Who could be out there?

Philip gets up and goes and…

Acts 8:27–28 NASB95

27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit told Philip to go up to the chariot, and Philip heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). The eunuch says that he needs someone to explain it to him, and then he invited Philip to do just that.

Philip explains Isaiah 53:7-8 to the eunuch.

Jesus is the sheep led to the slaughter.

Jesus is the lamb silent before his shearer.

Jesus was humiliated and denied justice by the wicked of His generation.

Jesus’s life was taken away from the earth.

Acts 8:35 says…

Acts 8:35 NASB95

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

But to this point in the story, we might still be asking, “Will this eunuch be let in? Will he be accepted into the Kingdom if He accepts Jesus as his King? Will he be allowed to enter the assembly of the Lord?” Then answer is seen the eunuch’s baptism.

Acts 8:36–38 ESV

36 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?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Under the Mosaic Covenant, there was no room for eunuchs in the assembly of the Lord.

Under the Mosaic Covenant, there was no room for Ammonites or Moabites.

Under the Mosaic Covenant, there was no room for Edomites or Egyptians until they had lived among the Israelites for three generations.

We understand why. All these commands still fall under the “You shall not commit adultery” command. God is protecting His people from spiritual adultery by protecting them from the influence of pagan eunuchs and pagan offspring, from the unbelieving influence of Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Egyptians.

But under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood, there is room for eunuchs and even Ammonites and Moabites, Edomites and Egyptians.

This is not because the New Covenant in Christ’s blood just swings the door open wide, allowing in anyone no matter what they believe or do.

No, there is room for these in the New Covenant in Christ’s blood because the blood of Jesus transforms us.

The pagan eunuch is transformed into a eunuch for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven by the blood of Jesus.

The sons and daughters of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Egypt are welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven by the blood of Jesus.

Under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood, everyone can be a child of the King—everyone who believes.

How does one keep his camp pure?

v. 9 - by keeping away from every evil thing

vv. 10-11 - by purifying oneself after nocturnal emissions

vv. 12-13 - by excreting in a sanitary manner outside the camp

v. 14 - the camp must be holy because the Lord is in your midst

What do we do with runaway slaves who runs to us?

v. 15 - don’t give him back

v. 16 - he shall live with you as one of you

On Cult Prostitution and Making Offerings

v. 17 - no one in Israel should be involved in cult prostitution

v. 18 - money made in the abomination of cult prostitution should not be offering to God

On Charging Interest

v. 19 - don’t charge interest to another Israelite

v. 20 - you may charge interest to a foreigner

On Vows

v. 21 - If you make a vow, keep it.

v. 22 - Not vowing is no sin.

v. 23 - Do what you say you’re going to do.

*see James 5:12

James 5:12 NASB95

12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

*see Jesus on vows

*see Paul on vows?

On My Neighbors Vineyard & Grain

v. 24 - Eat your neighbors grapes until your stomach is full but don’t fill your basket

v. 25 - Eat your neighbors grain by plucking it with your hands but don’t reap it with your sickle