“No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, not even in the tenth generation.”
Deuteronomy 23:3 (NIV)
Various thoughts enter our heads as we read the diverse group of instructions found in this chapter. The instruction about latrine pits makes us wince although we see the wisdom, and in a very basic way seems to drive the point of the whole chapter home - The LORD is holy, and we should do our part to keep the place where His protective Presence dwells among us holy. The instruction in the last verse about eating standing grain makes us smile as we remember the confrontation with the Pharisees over the disciples eating grain while walking with Jesus on Sabbath, and the wonderful truths taught by Christ - that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, and that the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The first 6 verses, however, bring joy to my heart as I realize how God has turned the curse of the law into a blessing for me because I was cut off from the holy assembly - like the eunuch, like a mixed-race individual, like the Moabite and the Ammonite. But praise God for His mercy shown to me in the gift of the grace given to me that I would put my faith in His Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, that I may draw near to God in the holy assembly of His people covered in the righteousness of Christ. Praise God! No longer on the outside, no longer filthy and defiled, for I have been made holy and clean, acceptable to God through the blood of my beloved Saviour Jesus Christ.
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