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Scripture Reading: Deut. 23:9-14, 17-18, 24-25; 24:5, 8-9; 25:17-19; 26:16-19
In this message, the last on the rehearsal of the law, we will cover further general statutes and judgments.
Deuteronomy 23:9-14 speaks concerning keeping the camp clean. When the children of Israel as a camp went forth against their enemies, they were to keep themselves from every evil thing, especially from the discharges of their physical bodies (vv. 9-13). Jehovah their God walked in the midst of their camp to rescue them and deliver up their enemies before them; therefore their camp was to be holy (v. 14). This indicates that in the church as God's fighting camp today everything must be clean.
A camp is a group of people who have been formed into an army for fighting. If the camp is not clean and orderly, how can the army fight? Whether or not an army can fight depends on how those in the army take care of the camp. A clean, orderly camp is a sign of a strong, disciplined army. As the army of God today, we must keep our camp clean and in a good order. This is our training and our discipline, which enable us to fight.
There was not to be a cult prostitute among the daughters of Israel, nor was there to be a cult prostitute among the sons of Israel (v. 17). The payment for a harlot and the price for a dog were not to be brought into the house of Jehovah for a vow, for both of them were an abomination to Jehovah (v. 18). Here the term dog refers to a male prostitute or sodomite.
When the children of Israel entered their neighbor's vineyard, they could eat grapes, but they were not to put any into their vessel (v. 24). If they had put grapes into a vessel, they would have been greedy. Likewise, when they went into their neighbor's standing grain, they could pluck some ears with their hand, but they were not to wield a sickle upon their neighbor's standing grain (v. 25). Wielding a sickle would also have been a sign that they were greedy. These verses indicate that we should care only for our need and should not be greedy. We need to learn to be restricted in any kind of seeking.
In 24:5 we have a word concerning a man taking a new wife. When a man took a new wife, he was not to go out with the army, nor was he to be charged with any duty. He was to be free at home for one year, and he was to make his wife happy. The concern shown here is very human.
God likes to see a male and a female come together in marriage for reproduction. Marriage is for human existence and human reproduction. Therefore, we must honor marriage and not damage it. God encourages us to get married, and any way in which we might damage marriage is hateful to Him.
God is happy to see the young people coming together in marriage, and He is even more happy to see them reproduce. Immediately after God created man, He charged man to be "fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Gen. 1:28), that is, to fill the earth with human beings. This indicates that we need to be married properly according to God's purpose and for God's purpose. God's purpose in marriage is to use us to maintain the existence of mankind on earth. Even today, at the end of the age, God still needs more people. Some married couples do not want to have children because they do not want to be bothered. It is not according to God's way for a married couple not to have children. God's way is that human beings get married and then reproduce.
God also wants us to be reproductive in the church life through the preaching of the gospel that sinners might be saved and regenerated. If we are spiritually barren, this is a shame in the sight of God. God hates barrenness and fruitlessness. But He is happy to see us becoming spiritually productive and fruitful.
Concerning a case of leprosy, the people were to carefully keep what the Levitical priests instructed them, as God commanded the priests (Deut. 24:8). The children of Israel were to remember what Jehovah their God did to Miriam on the way when they came out of Egypt (v. 9). (For details regarding the case of Miriam, please see the life-study on Numbers 12.)
The children of Israel were to remember what Amalek did to them on the way when they came out of Egypt, striking all their worn-out ones who were at the rear, when they were faint and weary (Deut. 25:17-18). Amalek did not fear God and was the greatest enemy of God's people, frustrating them in taking God's way and attacking the younger and weaker ones and those who were worn-out and unable to go further on the journey. Therefore, when Jehovah their God gave the children of Israel rest from all their enemies and gave to them the God-promised land as an inheritance, they were to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven, and they were not to forget this (v. 19).
Amalek typifies our flesh. The thing that is most opposed to God's way is our flesh. Therefore, the flesh must be dealt with thoroughly. This is the spiritual significance of the requirement to blot out the memory of Amalek.
In 26:16-19 we have a concluding word of this section to the children of Israel. Moses used thirteen chapters, from chapter fourteen through chapter twenty-six, to cover the rehearsal of the law with certain developments. That day — the day Moses had finished the rehearsal of the law — Jehovah their God was commanding the children of Israel to do these statutes and judgments, and they were to keep them and do them with all their heart and with all their soul (v. 16). On that day they had declared Jehovah to be their God and had also declared that they would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments and listen to His voice (v. 17). That declaration was actually a vow. Furthermore, on that day Jehovah had declared them to be a people for His personal treasure, even as He promised them, and had declared that they would keep all His commandments (v. 18). Here we see that the condition for being God's personal treasure is that the people keep all His commandments. God also declared that He would set the children of Israel high above all the nations, for praise, for a name, and for honor, and that they would be a holy people to Jehovah their God as He had spoken (v. 19).
In this section on the rehearsal of the law, five governing principles of our behavior are implied: (1) toward God, to be sanctified and fearing; (2) toward oneself, to be righteous and pure; (3) toward others, to be kind and generous; (4) toward animals, to be sparing and sympathetic; and (5) toward the devil, to be rejecting and separated.
These five principles govern our behavior in five directions — toward God, toward ourselves, toward others, toward animals, and toward the devil. Toward God we should always be sanctified and fearing. We should fear God and want to be separated, sanctified, unto Him as a holy people. Toward ourselves we should be righteous and pure. This means that we should be just and strict, not having any looseness. Whereas we should be strict with ourselves, toward others we should be kind and generous, always willing to give. Toward animals we should be sparing and sympathetic. If we can sympathize with animals, we can, and will, sympathize with people. We may have the assurance that those who are kind to animals will also be kind to us. However, some people hate animals and mistreat them. When such people meet a dog or a cat, they may treat it in a very mean way. I will always stay away from this kind of person, for I realize that one who can mistreat animals can also mistreat people. Finally, toward the devil we should be rejecting and separated. We must reject the enemy, Satan, and separate ourselves from him. I believe that if we practice these principles by the divine life, we will become a different kind of person.
If we compare Deuteronomy with Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, we will see that the law, statutes, and ordinances which Moses rehearsed in Deuteronomy are the same, but in his rehearsal there are some extensions, additions, and developments. All the rehearsed statutes and judgments, with the new developments, speak forth in detail how fine, how tender, how considerate, and how sympathetic is the great God of Israel. This indicates that the book of Deuteronomy is very particular in its revelation of what God is. The God manifested in this book is not only loving, merciful, and gracious; He is also very fine, tender, considerate, and sympathetic. This is our God.
