Deuteronomy 23:15

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 23:15-16, “Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:[16] He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.” The Bible is the greatest book of freedom ever written. The Bible makes it clear that God has given to human beings freedom of choice. The call to believe on Jesus Christ is a call to make a choice, but God does not force anyone to believe. God gives everyone a free will and a free choice. These two verses in Deuteronomy chapter 23 emphasize the freedom that God has given to all people everywhere. One way to understand why God allows such evil and such crimes to take place in the world is because God gives freedom of choice to people and some of them choose to do evil. God allows people to make their own choices, but of course, some day there will be a reckoning. People will stand before God and be judged for the choices that they made. That is why the most important choice is to rely upon Jesus as Savior and to choose Him. Everyone needs the Savior.

In Deuteronomy 23:15-16 God allowed every servant to leave their masters if they chose to do so. And God required the children of Israel to help any servant who was escaping and choosing freedom. This happened in America when the runaway slaves had the underground railroad to help them escape slavery. People know instinctively that such action is the proper thing to do. God said that an escaped servant could dwell in the “place which he shall choose.” That is the ultimate freedom: freedom of choice, freedom of movement, and freedom of self-determination. And then we see that God grants to people the right to seek their own happiness. God said that an escaped servant could go “where it liketh him best.” The founding fathers of America understood the rights that God gave to all people. They wrote, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 23:17-18, “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.[18] Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.” Of course, prostitution is condemned in the Bible because God created male and female to enjoy each other in love in the bond of matrimony. To sell one’s own body is a terrible departure from the way that God set up life on this earth. The word that is translated “sodomite” refers to the temple prostitutes of the false religions that were in the region during the days when the children of Israel were coming into their new land. The main reason that men and women become prostitutes is for the money. Even the money that the prostitutes made was considered tainted and was not acceptable to be given as a gift in the house of the Lord. That demonstrates that it does matter where your money comes from.

It is interesting that God tells the Israelites that they cannot bring “the price of a dog” into the temple either. That is probably because often in the Bible dogs are not looked at favorably. That is probably because in Bible times dogs were often scavengers and were pests, and they carried disease. Therefore, dogs symbolized something that was unclean and undesirable. For example, Jesus said in Matthew 7:6, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 23:19-20, “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:[20] Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.” Usury is interest. The Israelites were told that they were not allowed to charge interest when they loaned money or anything else to other Israelites, their brothers. If they all followed this commandment, that would mean that the nation of Israel would likely not be a debtor nation. The idea is that they would loan to someone who was in need, but to charge interest would be taking advantage of someone. Taking out loans would not be a principle means of financing the activities of their nation. Debt is not a good thing. The Bible teaches that clearly. It is a big mistake that modern economies are based almost entirely on debt. If the children of Israel refrained from using interest (usury) when they loaned to someone in need, God said, “that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 23:21-23, “When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.[22] But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.[23] That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.” These verses are all about keeping your word. If you say you are going to do something, then you should do it. If for some reason, you cannot do what you said you would, then you should explain that to the other party and apologize for it. Of course, a young person or anyone who promises to do something that they should not do in the first place, hopefully will come to their senses before it is too late, and end up not doing what they said. These verses in Deuteronomy refer to making a vow. What is a vow? According to the dictionary, when you make a vow, you solemnly promise to do a specific thing. But if you always tell the truth, why would you need to swear or make a vow? Jesus referred to this when He said in Matthew 5:33-37, “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:[34] But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:[35] Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.[36] Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.[37] But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” Christians should always tell the truth, and therefore would never need to make a vow or to swear that they will do this or that.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 23:24-25, “When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.[25] When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn.” This was God’s welfare system for the nation of Israel. No one was allowed to go hungry. Anyone that had food growing in a field had to allow those that were hungry to eat out of the field for free. There were some restrictions. Those who came for food could not use instruments of harvesting in order to take away a large amount of food. They had to use their bare hands. They also had to do the work of plucking their own food. No one went and got it for them. There was some work involved on their part. One of the problems with our current welfare system is that there is no work requirement. Anyone that is able-bodied should be required to do some amount of work for the assistance that they receive, even if that is to sweep the sidewalk for a couple of hours a day. If they do not like sweeping sidewalks or a task like that then maybe it will motivate them to find their own work that they would rather do. Jesus used these commandments found here in Deuteronomy in His life when He was hungry and had no food with Him. It says in Matthew 12:1-2, “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.[2] But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 24:1-2, “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.[2] And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.” Divorce. That is a big subject: a very big subject. It covers marriage and what marriage should be. It covers when is divorce permitted and when is it not permitted. It covers those who have been divorced and what is their status now that they have been divorced. Before you talk about divorce from a Biblical standpoint, you must also talk about marriage from a Biblical standpoint. But before you finish talking about divorce from a Biblical standpoint, you must talk about those who have been divorced from a Biblical standpoint. What is their situation now that they have been divorced?

First of all we must point out that marriage is designed by God to be temporary. Jesus said in Matthew 22:30, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Marriage can end in one of two ways: death or divorce. Either of those events ends the marriage. Notice a word used in Romans chapter 7 concerning the end of marriage. It says in Romans 7:2, “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.” When a marriage ends, in this case by death, one way of describing the end of the marriage is to say that the individuals are now “loosed” from the marriage bond. They now have freedom where before there was no freedom. They are no longer bound by rules, requirements, or obligations of marriage.

One of the reasons for divorce is because someone married the wrong person. If you have married the wrong person, you are probably in for a terrible time in your marriage, until it ends. Therefore, it is very important to marry the right person. God has a choice for you. God made Eve just for Adam, and then God brought the woman to the man. If you are not married and God wants you to be married, He has a person that He is preparing just for you. If you pray and ask for God’s will, you will meet that person when both of you are ready. If you are a believer in Jesus, make sure you look for another believer in Jesus of the opposite sex. The Biblical principle is for believers to be joined in marriage. Since marriage is a spiritual union as well as a physical union, you want to have the same kind of spiritual life that comes from faith in Christ.

Jesus commented on the passage in Deuteronomy about divorce. Jesus said in Matthew 19:8-9, “Moses because of the hardness of you hearts suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” Many people interpret this passage from Jesus because of the way it sounds in English as saying that there is only one valid reason for divorce: adultery. Perhaps Jesus was saying that adultery is “an” exception to the rule of not breaking the marriage bond, and that would imply that there are other exceptions. In my opinion, one question to ask is this: Is there any other passage in the Bible that demonstrates that divorce is permissible? Let’s look at First Corinthians 7:15. It is talking about a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever. It says, “But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God has called us to peace.” What bondage is being talked about here: the marriage bond. This gives desertion as a justifiable reason for divorce. It also gives fighting or turmoil or incompatibility as a justification for divorce because it says “God has called us to peace.” God wants you to have peace in your home. God permits you to do what you must do to get that peace, including divorce.

One thing is for sure: divorce is meant to be the exception, and not the rule. Once a person has been divorced, they can start over as any other unmarried person would. If the divorce is because of any sin or failure on your part, the Lord will forgive you and let you start over. He is a God of second chances. The question becomes the same as for any unmarried person, whether you are unmarried because you never have been married, because your spouse has died, or because of divorce: does the Lord want you to enter into the marriage bond with a person of the opposite sex? If so, seek His will and His leading and you will find that person.

___________________________________________________