February 12, 2025
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Deuteronomy and Corinthians? Here’s today’s reading:
Deuteronomy 23 (NIV)
Exclusion From the Assembly
1 No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.
2 No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation.……Continue Reading
Outhouse!!
Latrine!
Deuteronomy 23
Interestimg to see what God considers holy and detestable..
We have some more interesting laws and instructions here. The chapters like this can sometimes feel so random and so it always makes me think how much God wants to be a part of every aspect of our lives. He leaves nothing to chance and has instruction on everything right down to how to handle going to the bathroom in camp. I read this and I am humbled by how often I do things without considering God because I don’t think it is important enough or because it is just a mundane moment in my life.
Deuteronomy 23
Verses 1 &2. Restricted from the congregation of the Lord for something they could not control. Curious.
Guys, this is one chapter that defies my understanding of God’s laws to Israel. Yes, Mark, I get the outhouse thing.
Offering money to God from unholy sources, yep, I get it. But…
Someone else’s slave belongs to him, yet the escaped slave is to be protected from his master?
Rejection to the tenth generation, basically, their progeny, really?
Tons of passages like these test my view of God, and I have no answers, save this,
Just because I don’t understand something in Scriptures doesn’t make it right or wrong, true or false, I have learned to give it to God, who knows I don’t understand. I have far more information about Scriptures in my heart, than the thief on the cross had, yet he knew the certainty of his Savior! -gy
Deuteronomy 23
Deuteronomy 23
Deuteronomy 23
I agree that it is hard to understand why certain people would be restricted from the assembly of the Lord, but we can trust that God knows what He is doing. He is also not saying that they are restricted from recognizing Him for who He is and having faith, just not be able to be part of the Jewish camp and worship. We can also be glad that Jesus changes all this and we are under grace and not law and all who believe are accepted in Him. But God means what He says and we should too. And just think how important it is to public health for God to instruct the people to bury their excrement. And what a statement against slavery for God to instruct them not to return a slave to their master. And it is just interesting to see all the various aspects of life that God addresses in the law and how He always does things that promote what is generous and fair.
It is normal for us to impose our understanding of right and wrong on beliefs and cultures of different times. We do it all the time, for instance judging America for slavery, when the whole world practiced slavery and imposing a consequence on those who never practiced slavery. I think of the gentile nations, generally prohibited from the temple and that seems wrong, however consider these were people who actively oppressed Israel, or were to be eliminated under Gods commands (for good reason), or were actively engaged in or introducing idolatry and the like into God’s temple (read Ezekiel). They are a corrupting factor.
Praise God that His plan through Christ was/is to draw all men to Himself. Jew and Gentile alike.