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Herald Broadcasting Network presents BibleBanquet, a daily devotional on the book of Deuteronomy
Let’s read Deuteronomy Chapter 23: Persons to be Excluded from Sanctuary Service

Of all we have read in this chapter, this is the sum: Who are shut out from the congregation. (1-8) Of fugitive servants, Usury, and other precepts. (9-14) Cleanliness enjoined. (15-25)
Here are some beautiful lessons we may draw from this reading:
1. Rules about the sanctity of the sanctuary were given. Personal blemishes, bastard background, idolatrous nationalists, were listed among conditions that shut people out of the sanctuary. Under the Christian dispensation, only an unsound heart will deprive us of blessings; and a bad example, or an unsuitable marriage, may shut our children from them.
2. The camp of the Lord must have nothing offensive in it. If there must be this care taken to preserve the body clean, much more should we be careful to keep the mind pure.
3. It is honorable to shelter and protect the weak, provided they are not wicked. Proselytes and converts to the truth, should be treated with particular tenderness, that they may have no temptation to return to the world.
4. We cannot honor God with our substance, unless it be honestly and honorably come by. It must not only be considered what we give, but how we got it. Beware! Ill-gotten wealth is abhorable in God’s service.
5. Taking usury was forbidden in order not to take advantage of a poor borrower. The lender should share the gain; but to him that borrows for necessity, pity must be showed.
6. That which is gone out of our lips, as a solemn and deliberate vow, must not be recalled, but shalt be kept and performed punctually and fully.
7. The people were allowed to pluck and eat of the corn or grapes that grew by the road side; only they must not carry any away. This law intimated what great plenty of corn and wine they should have in Canaan. It provided for the support of poor travelers, and teaches us to be kind to such; teaches us to be ready to distribute, and not to think everything lost that is given away.
8. Yet the above liberal allowances forbid us to abuse the kindness of friends, or to take advantage of what is allowed. Faithfulness to any engagement should mark the people of God; and they should never encroach upon others.
Prayer: May the Lord help us to honor God, not only with our substance, but also, with a lifestyle of integrity. May we scrupulously abhor ill-gotten wealth as a plague. May we never take advantage of those who are helpless, but do our best to relieve their needs. May the Holy Spirit teach us to be faithful to God in every affair of life, in Jesus’ name. Amen and Amen.