Journal Through the Bible: Week 29 Tuesday

This post was updated on 7/25. I am at church camp this week so not only are the journal pages running late but they are not always complete when I post them. Credit it to busyness and sleep deprivation.

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Deuteronomy 22:13-23:23

This is a long list of ordinances that Moses delivered to the people. Most of the items are mentioned for the first time.

Does God issue any commands in this passage?

• Israelite men who bargained with a father for that man's maiden daughter might make accusations about the daughter's virtue after the consummation of the marriage so commandments were set into place to safeguard the reputations of everyone involved. If the accusation was not true and the family could produce the tokens of the woman's purity (including a blood stained cloth) the elders of the city who stood as judges over the case would fine the husband 100 shekels of silver to be paid to the father for the slander of the daughter. The husband could never be granted a divorce from the woman but would be required to meet the marriage requirements. If the accusation was found to be true the daughter would be put to death for the sin of prostitution.
• Adulterers were to be put to death.
• Rapists of engaged women were to be put to death.
• A betrothed woman who is attacked in the city would also be put to death if she did not cry out for help but a betrothed woman that lived in the country would not be punished.
• A man who raped a woman who was not married or betrothed would pay a fine to the father of 50 shekels and he would be required to keep the woman as his wife.
• A man could not take his father's wife.
• Men who sustained in their private parts were not to enter the congregation.
• The descendants of an illegitimate child could not enter the congregation through the tenth generation.
• An Ammonite or Moabite could never enter the congregation because of the way they treated the Children of Israel on their journey between Egypt and Canaan.
• They were not to hate the Edomites because of the family relationship and they were not to hate the Egyptians because they had given them sanctuary during the time of famine. Their children could enter the congregation in their third generation.
• The soldiers of Israel were to keep themselves from wickedness.
• Relieving oneself was to take place outside the camp and human waste was to be buried.
• An escaped slave was not to be returned to his owner but was to be allowed to live wherever he desired.
• The daughters of the Israelites were not to be prostitutes and their sons were not to be sodomites.
• The price of a prostitute or the price of a dog were not to be used to pay for vows before God.
• They were not to lend money with interest to other Israelites but they could lend with interest to other nationalities.
• They were to keep their vows and pay what they promised.

Does God make any promises?

• The LORD promised that He would keep track of the vows made and require them to be fulfilled.
• God said that He would turn away from them if there was uncleanliness in their camp.

Does this passage teach anything about Jesus?

• God stated that He walked through their camp. This could be in reference to the Angel of the Lord that was leading them (and whom I feel is Jesus) or perhaps it is just His presence in the camp. Either way, Jesus is present there.
• God stated that He did not want to see any unclean thing in their camp because He would then turn away from them. Jesus is the One that cleanses from all unrighteousness so that God the Father does not turn away from us.

Does this passage teach anything about yet-future events?

• Nothing that I identified.