Deuteronomy 23:15-18 – Helping others and honoring God

God had stipulated in the first four commandments that His people should make Him their first love. This was the right thing to do since He was the one who would help them to make a difference in life. In the next six commandments, God gave them instructions to honor others. Therefore, the first responsibility of the people of God was to love Him. Then, they were also expected to show concern for their fellow men and show respect for others. In Deuteronomy 23:15-18, the people of God were first told to receive runaway slaves who were ill-treated by their masters. And secondly, they were told never to allow their children, sons or daughters, to prostitute themselves and to offer whatever earned from those activities to God.

First to the treatment of runaway slaves is described in verses 15-16. They were told to protect runaway slaves. There was a possibility for slaves who were ill-treated by their masters to run away. Should anyone of the Israelites encounter a slave who had run away from his master, he should be shown compassion and not be sent back to be further abused. Because the Israelites had first-hand experience of what it was like to be ill-treated when they were slaves in Egypt, they ought to be able to feel for the runaway slave. God wanted Israel to be a haven for those who were seeking refuge from their cruel master.

It was earlier established that God wanted pure and right worship. He expected single-hearted devotion and pure worship from His people. In the first six verses of Deuteronomy 23, we saw how He would not allow people who had the slightest hint of moral corruption into the assembly. Verses 17-18 underscore that same expectation of pure worship. The Israelites should never allow their sons or daughters to prostitute themselves like the pagan in their worship. This suggests that some might take the immoral means to make money to offer to God. So here He clearly stated He would never accept any money that was earned from prostituting themselves. Any offering to God must be earned through honorable means.

God wants us to be a caring people. Caring for people calls for us to be willing to help those in their plight. In our society, we have laws to prevent helpers from being ill-treated by their employers. But we do have people who are poor, powerless, helpless, and needy, many of whom are drifting towards a Christless eternity. We who have tasted the love of Christ have the capacity to help them. We can lead them to their eternal refuge in Christ. Above the act of helping others, every one of us must ensure that we offer to God what’s pure and right. Offer to Him only what we have gained through honest means. None should engage in illegal activities with the pretext to earn something to offer to God. He will never accept anything that we have not honorably obtained. Can anything unrighteous be offered to a pure and holy God?