Morning Light – Deuteronomy 23

[Deuteronomy Chapter 23] Be Circumspect Before the Battle. In this chapter, God instructs the people to be conscientious in the area of personal holiness when facing a spiritual battle. Many times we are turned back in battle and fail to see breakthrough because of allowances we afford ourselves that ultimately GRIEVE the Holy Ghost and cause our prayers to go unanswered.

[Deu 23:1-25 KJV] 1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. 2 A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD. 3 An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD forever: 4 Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. 5 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. 6 Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever. 7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he [is] thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land. 8 The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation. 9 When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing. 10 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp: 11 But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash [himself] with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp [again]. 12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: 13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: 14 For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee. 15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: 16 He shall dwell with thee, [even] among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him. 17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. 18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these [are] abomination unto the LORD thy God. 19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury: 20 Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. 22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. 23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; [even] a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth. 24 When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put [any] in thy vessel. 25 When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour’s standing corn.

The chapter deals with the Holiness of the Lord in the midst of the people and God’s expectations as a result. For instance, a person that was wounded in his reproductive organs could not enter into the congregation of the Lord. What does this tell us? Paul said in 1 Cor. 4:15 that you could have 10,000 instructors in Christ but not many fathers. The fathers in the faith are those that establish the paternity of God in our lives. Wounds beget woundedness. If you are raised up by a wounded leader, that woundedness will be reproduced in you. Generational offenses are reproduced in this way. God wants us to have a walk unimpeded by offense or any other hindrance.

Likewise, a fatherless person was not allowed into the tabernacle. A fatherless leader can only produce an orphaned spirit in those that follow after them. This is the most effective assault the enemy has brought against mankind. God intended fathers to represent and model Father-God to their children. If a person was raised without a father or had an abusive father, then that individual will have some serious repercussions relating to God as the loving Father caring for them throughout their lives. The Ammonite and the Moabites were rejected from the congregation as well, which is interesting because while other reasons were given, they were the product of incest. God doesn’t want us to become ingrown in our relationship with God by being incapable of establishing relationships outside of our spiritual tribe. If you only listen or follow one stream of leadership in the body of Christ, you are in danger of becoming inbred in your understanding of God. This produces an attitude that leads to insulating yourself as the Ammonites and Moabites did from others and having an uncaring attitude for those who are not directly connected with what God is doing in your life or in your circle. The Edomites were the children of Esau. The Israelites were to allow them to be a part of the worship of Jehovah. We often reject people who make poor choices and never allow them to participate in the life of the church in any meaningful way. This has always been a severe prejudice in the culture of the church. The example set here in the law is we are to be forgiving and permissive toward those who have in times past made choices that excluded themselves from God’s best choice at the time. We must be forgiving from the heart in practical and substantial ways.

In verses 9-16, we find that in a time of warfare, the people were to take extra measures to ensure their sanctity and holiness before the Lord because “the Lord thy God walking in the midst of the camp…” We have the Spirit of God living IN US all the time; therefore, these prohibitions and cautions would apply to us at all times. Nonetheless, when you are under the intense pressure of spiritual warfare, that is a time to break with your normal routine and keep closer accounts in the area of outside influences and personal holiness. We often see God as always tolerant or lenient but consider the words of Paul:

[Eph 4:30 KJV] 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

The Holy Spirit lives in you – and He can be grieved. He can be grieved, and as a result, you may see His favor or working withdrawn from your life. There are consequences to this. Much unanswered prayer and problems that make us question “why God?” because we have grieved the Holy Spirit that lives within us by those things that we allow and tolerate in our own lack of standards regarding personal holiness.

We also see when escaped slaves came into the nation of Israel, they were to be received and allowed to be in their midst. The people were not allowed to take the attitude that they didn’t want to be involved. Escaped slaves came with baggage and problems that were very likely to reproduce themselves in the lives of those around them. It would be easy to say, “not in my backyard.” Very often in your life, you will find yourself interacting and unwillingly getting involved with needy people. God audits how we treat these people and reminds us:

[Mat 25:40 KJV] 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.

In vs. 17-25, we encounter warnings about compromise of our morality in the area of sexual intimacy. Sexual promiscuity is the distress of our times. Our society is one of the most sexualized cultures in all of human history. Coupled with the relativism and subjectivism common in popular thought, it results in rampant confusion and complication in this area. In a nearby bible belt city, we were in a Christian singles group when we were dating when one of the leaders glibly recounted the night before being out in a bar and witnessing to a man who was hitting on her. This was not a young woman but a mature woman seen as a spiritual leader speaking to a room full of young men and women. She laughingly told how she witnessed to the man though she was drunk but didn’t lead him to Christ because she was too inebriated. Upon telling this shocking story, she then turned and gave a loud and stern diatribe against someone else in the room who didn’t meet her “moral standards”. The amazing thing was that no one seemed to think anything was unusual or out of place in the whole exchange. Whatever your attitudes are regarding your personal sexual standards, reading verses like these in Deut. 23 should give you pause and ask yourself if the Holy Spirit is grieved by such thinking in your own life or others.

This passage also mentions usury. Debt and financial obligations cripple many Christians. They don’t have the freedom to obey God in many areas of their lives because they are bound by debt and obligation. What is usury? The word usury is usually defined as exorbitant interest rates. It comes from a word that means “to bite like a serpent” or “to vex.” Are you vexed in the area of finances? God holds those imposing that bondage upon you accountable for their actions, whether it is a credit card holder, payday loan broker, etc. God wants you financially free. Likewise, if you have means and the poor come to you – be aware that you are not to vex or take advantage of the poor. If you cannot give something away freely, then I would recommend that you simply refuse a request because loaning something to a person who is already in financial straits only compounds their problem.

[Pro 19:17 KJV] 17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

I’ve seen people living in comparative luxury yet have a poverty mentality when it comes to giving. There is always someone worse off than you. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you. If your reluctant attitude in this area brings grief upon those in whose lives you could make a difference, there will be repercussions. Learn to maintain a generous heart.