Deuteronomy 23:9-14 – Don’t take God’s holy presence for granted

In the previous eight verses, we learned that God forbade several groups of people from coming near when they gathered to worship Him. Because of their past unsuitable practices, they were rendered unholy and thus should be excluded from God’s presence. The groups include those who mutilated their sex organs and those born out of a sexual relationship with temple prostitutes. These were practices that were common in heathen worship. Then the Ammonites and the Moabites were excluded because of their hardness of hearts and refusal to lend a helping hand to God’s people in their hour of desperation.

So God’s desire was for holiness in the worship assembly. Now in Deuteronomy 23:9-14, He also expected holiness in the camp of the people of Israel, especially when they go out for war. Verse 14 states clearly why holiness in the camp was expected. It says, “Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.” It was because of the presence of the Lord among them. Hence, they must ensure that their camp was not contaminated by unholiness.  

Verse 11 sees nocturnal emission as a defilement that could contaminate the camp. So cleansing was prescribed before a person could join the camp again. What is nocturnal emission? It is the leakage of semen from a man’s sex organ during his sleep in the night. Today, this is known as a wet dream. God considered a man who had nocturnal emission unclean, just as He had considered a woman who had menstruation to be unclean. Therefore, verse 11 prescribed what the man must do before he would be allowed to re-join the camp the next day.   

Verses 12-13 deal with the excrement in the camp. Defecation is a natural process but because of the presence of the Lord among them in the camp, they were expected to defecate outside the camp. Tools to ensure that the excrement was covered must be provided. The issue here is not about the unholiness of the excrement but the holiness of the camp because of the presence of the Lord. It would be indecent and improper to have a camp soiled with excrement where the Lord’s presence was with them.  

The crux of the matter is this. The Christian life is a spiritual battle. The goal is to lay hold of our life for the glory of God. And He is present with us in this battle. We must consider this truth and do whatever is appropriate to advance with Him. Every activity we engage in can either cause us to advance with Him or bring setbacks and retard our progress. We cannot afford to treat His presence in our life with casual disregard by conducting inappropriate activities. Remember that our warfare is not carnal but spiritual, tearing down stronghold and destroying every wicked imagination that opposes God. Consecrated living is essential to advance with the Lord. Be sure to live a consecrated life!