CHAPTER 23

(1451 B.C.)

EXCLUDED FROM THE CONGREGATION

¹He who is wounded in the stones (testicles), or has his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. (This did not pertain to accidents, etc. It rather pertained to prohibitions concerning idolatry. Parents in the heathen tribes surrounding Israel often mutilated in various ways their children, either in honor of their gods, or else to get higher wages for them as servants. Israel was not to conduct herself at all in this manner. Of course, children who would be treated thusly, who had no choice in the matter, could certainly be forgiven by the Lord; however, if such children were in the Tribe of Levi, they couldnt function as Priests, although they could definitely be saved.)

²A 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. (As well, this pertains to idolatry. Many children in heathen tribes were born, not in wedlock, but as a result of idolatrous, licentious ceremonies. As well, it pertained to one born out of wedlock in any case. Again, to be sure, the child would have no responsibility in the matter. But, still, while it could certainly be saved and live for God, such a child could not be a Priest, even if a Levite.)

³An 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 for ever (the number ten, at least used in this fashion, was a number of indefiniteness; in other words, it meant forever; Ammon and Moab had met the Israelites with hostility, and had brought Balaam to curse them, which curse God turned upon these heathen tribes; however, those who evidenced Faith in God, even as it was with Ruth, who was a Moabitess, could definitely enter into the congregation of the Lord; in fact, Ruth, due to her Faith, was an ancestress of our Saviour [Mat. 1:5]):

⁴Because they (the Ammonites and Moabites) met you not with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

⁵Nevertheless the LORD your God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD your God turned the curse into a Blessing unto you, because the LORD your God loved you (the entirety of the human race, because of the Fall, is plagued with a curse; but Jesus turned the curse into a Blessing, and did so at the Cross [Gal. 3:13-14]).

⁶You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days for ever (God blesses those who bless His People, and places a curse upon those who do the opposite; in other words, the harm that the world would seek to do to the people of God is ultimately turned by God against the world).

⁷You shall not abhor an Edomite for he is your brother: you shall not abhor (hate) an Egyptian; because you were a stranger in his land (the Edomites were descendants of Esau, therefore, the brother of Jacob; even though the Egyptians harmed Israel greatly at the last, Egypt, in fact, gave solace and help to Jacob at the beginning; God does not forget that done to His Children, good or bad).

⁸The children who are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation (providing they desired to become a proselyte Jew).

RULES FOR SANITATION

⁹When the host goes forth against your enemies, then you must keep yourself from every wicked thing (when the people went forth to war, all impurity and defilement were to be kept out of their camp, because their victory depended on the Blessings of the Lord; and God cannot bless that which is wicked).

¹⁰If there be among you any man, who is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chances him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:

¹¹But it shall be, when evening comes on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again (as is obvious here, purity was demanded at all times).

¹²You shall have a place also without the camp, where you shall go forth abroad:

¹³And you shall have a paddle upon your weapon; and it shall be, when you will ease yourself abroad, you shall dig therewith, and shall turn back and cover that which comes from you (sanitary conditions were demanded, because these people were Gods People):

¹⁴For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore shall your camp be holy: that He see no unclean thing in you, and turn away from you (while the Lord walked up and down among them at that time, the Holy Spirit now lives within the hearts and lives of Believers [I Cor. 3:16]; consequently, the same demands, as would be obvious, and even more, are upon the modern Child of God; every single thing we do, we are to keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is with us at all times and, thereby, conduct ourselves accordingly).

VARIOUS REGULATIONS

¹⁵You shall not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto you (the reference is to a foreign slave who had fled from the harsh treatment of his heathen master, and desired to seek refuge in Israel; he was to be given that refuge and not returned to his heathen master):

¹⁶He shall dwell with you, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of your gates, where it likes him best: you shall not oppress him (all of this was a type of the lost coming to Christ, and entering into the Family of God).

¹⁷There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel (whoredom in every capacity is banned, as well as homosexuality).

¹⁸You shall not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog (the latter has nothing to do with the canine variety, but rather likens homosexuals to dogs), into the House of the LORD your God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD your God (but yet, Rahab the harlot was allowed to come into the Family of God, and even to become an ancestress of Christ; she did so by Faith, which always overrides all law [Mat. 1:5]; none of this means that such people cannot be Saved, but only that Israel must oppose these sins greatly).

¹⁹You shall not lend upon usury to your brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury (an Israelite was to not charge interest on a loan given to a fellow Israelite):

²⁰Unto a stranger (Gentile) you may lend upon usury (can charge interest); but unto your brother you shall not lend upon usury: that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you set your hand to in the land where you go to possess it (the Blessings of the Lord then, and the Blessings of the Lord now, depend upon obedience to Him; then it was obedience to the Law, now it is obedience to Grace).

²¹When you shall vow a vow unto the LORD your God, you shall not slack to pay it: for the LORD your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you (dont vow if you dont intend to pay it, because God is going to collect the vow in one way or the other; it is the same thing presently with Tithes; every Christian pays Tithes, whether willingly or not; God, in one way or the other, will collect).

²²But if you shall forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in you (no one is under any obligation to vow, this is to be a purely voluntary act).

²³That which is gone out of your lips you shall keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as you have vowed unto the LORD your God, which you have promised with your mouth (our word is to be the same as the Word of the Lord, at least as it regards integrity and veracity).

²⁴When you come into your neighbours vineyard, then you may eat grapes your fill at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your vessel (eat all you want, but dont take any with you, because the grapes belong to someone else).

²⁵When you come into the standing corn (grain) of your neighbour, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not move a sickle unto your neighbours standing corn (complete honesty is demanded at all times).