This chapter continues with various laws and commences with those who were excluded. Firstly, eunuchs were not allowed to enter the assembly. A eunuch is a man who has been emasculated, in this case either by birth defect, accident or by choice. It was normally meant that such a person could not meet with others for worship of The LORD, but it can mean other things. It can mean the congregation which was a meeting of the elders and officers (chapter 31:28) which would be the political life as opposed to the religious life. It was, therefore, the leaders of the people, those in public office.
Even eunuchs and foreigners were welcome in the meeting to worship The LORD if they obeyed Him (Isaiah 56:3-5). Eunuchs were excluded because God’s covenant was connected with procreation, increasing the nation of Israel, their future depended on it. There was also an element of paganism involved.
Those of illegitimate birth were excluded from the assembly, even to the tenth generation (v2). The meaning of illegitimate is uncertain. One train of thought was one of an incestuous relationship or one born of a mixed marriage between Israelites and pagans.
An Ammonite and a Moabite were precluded from entering the assembly, to the tenth generation (v3-6). This was because they treated the Israelites badly when they travelled from Egypt. They failed to give them food and even hired Balaam to curse Israel. The LORD would not listen to Balaam and turned the curse into a blessing because of His love. Once again ‘the assembly’ could mean the civil leaders of the people.
Ruth the Moabitess became a follower of The LORD and was received (see the book of Ruth), thus it seems that it meant the latter and not the fact that she could not enter into worship of the true God after leaving her former roots and becoming a child of God, so much so, that she came into the line of David and ultimately, Jesus, the Messiah.
From Genesis 19 we discover that Moab and Ammon were the two sons of the daughters of Lot through their incestuous relationship with their father.
Finally, God tells them that they were not to show hatred to the Edomites and the Egyptians (v7,8). The children of the third generation of them could enter the assembly (the civil leadership). The Edomites were the descendants of Esau who was the brother of Jacob their ancestor and they were not to hate them. It is interesting that they were to show favour to the Egyptians because they had spent 400 years in their land, often badly treated but growing into a large body of people and came out a great nation.
The LORD continued with other laws and began with the army when they went out to fight their enemies, they were to keep themselves from wicked things. If any of them became unclean during the night, he must go outside the camp. When the next evening came, he was to wash with water and at sunset, he may return to the camp. They had to provide a place outside the camp where they could dig and cover their refuse. He reminded them at He, The LORD walked in the camp as their deliverer, and they were to keep the camp clean and holy so that The LORD would not see it and turn His favour from them (v9-14). This seems to be some personal cleanliness to do with bodily emissions.
Next, He instructed them to receive foreign slaves who had escaped from their master (v15,16). Such slave must not be handed back to his master.
It was evidently different in the New Testament in the case of Onesimus who had run away from Philemon (recorded in the book of Philemon) in Colossae. Paul told him that he should return to his master. Onesimus had been converted and was now a fellow believer (a brother) as was his master.
In verses 17,18 they were instructed that there was to be no female prostitutes nor male prostitutes (perverted sons) and that no income from prostitution was to be given to The LORD. No money from such ill-gotten gains was to be offered to The LORD’s work. People were evidently thinking that they could carry on with their evil practices and by giving the proceeds to the offering for The LORD, it made it alright.
Obviously, our offerings should be pure, and we cannot live as we like and think that if we keep up our giving to The LORD, He will overlook it. God is looking for us to be holy as He is holy, and that holiness covers all we are and do.
The payment to a female prostitute is described as ‘the hire for a harlot’ and that of a male prostitute as ‘the price of a dog’. These are derogatory terms, and little wonder that they are described as an abomination to The LORD.
If they loaned money or food or anything else to a brother Israelite, they were not to charge interest. This was so that The LORD God would bless them in their new land. They could charge interest if it was a loan to a foreigner. (v19,20)
If they made a vow to The LORD their God, they must not delay paying it. It would be sinful, and God would surely require it from them. (v21-23) God looked upon vows as sacred and the breaking of them was sin, therefore it was better not to vow at all.
Some believe that we should not make vows at all nor take oaths. I’ve mentioned this before, but it comes again here, when I worked in the justice system it was a daily thing for people to take an oath when giving evidence in court proceedings. Some Christians would not do this and affirmed, and they often use the words of Jesus (Matthew 5:34-37) as their authority. We all, at some time, have to make Statutory Declarations on forms etc. These are legal requirements and to break them lands us in dire trouble.
I must admit that taking the oath meant absolutely nothing to those who couldn’t care less about telling the truth and it brought the name of God into disrepute. From telling ‘nothing but the truth’ was probably more correctly, ‘anything but the truth’. If I gave evidence, which was exceedingly rare, I took the oath. I believed I was doing an important thing, and it was essential that I told the truth and bringing God’s name into it was not sinful.
I consider that, in the context, Jesus was talking about our truthfulness and particularly between God’s people, that we should not have to swear an oath, but our ‘Yes’ must be ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ must be ‘No’. I don’t think that Jesus was forbidding oaths. In fact, God swore by an oath in Luke 1:73, Hebrews 3:18 etc., and Jesus, in Matthew 26:63,64, did in a court setting.
The Bible makes it very clear that we must carry out our vows and oaths (see Ecclesiastes 5:4,5, Psalm 56:12, 61:8 etc.) otherwise we shouldn’t make them.
Finally in this chapter, God instructs them regarding gleaning rights in neighbours vineyard or fields. They were allowed to pick a few grapes or pluck heads of corn with their hands (v24,25). This was not stealing but it wasn’t right to take to fill their bag or take a harvest with an implement (a sickle), but only for their immediate needs as they travelled.
