The remainder of Deuteronomy 23 contains a list of miscellaneous laws that are not related to each other. This appears to be a compilation of laws given to the congregation at various times.
"If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them." (Deuteronomy 23:15-16) There is some disagreement among scholars regarding the purpose of this law. Some believe it is speaking of slaves who have escaped from foreign lands and have run to Israel for asylum from cruel masters. This would explain why the Israelites are instructed not to "hand them over to their master".
Other scholars think these are cases where slaves (belonging either to Israelites or to foreign masters) have come to the judges of Israel to have cases against their masters heard. These scholars believe that the judges would hear the charges the slave brings against his or her master and that the judges would investigate whether this is a case of ill treatment or whether the slave simply wants to obtain freedom through a false legal case. Slavery in the ancient world wasn't always the type we once had in the United States; you'll recall us talking earlier in our study of the Old Testament about how a person could become an indentured servant (often referred to by the term "slave" in the Bible) for a specific period of time in order to work off a debt they could not pay. If a person wanted to be set free of their indentured servitude, I suppose if they were of unscrupulous character they could claim their master was treating them cruelly in order to get out of serving the remainder of their time. If that's so, then the judges of Israel were not to hand them over to their masters until the case was heard and investigated. If cruelty was proven, then it appears the slave was not to be returned but was free to live wherever they pleased.
"No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute. You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord your God to pay any vow, because the Lord your God detests them both." (Deuteronomy 23:17-18) The heathen nations had shrine prostitutes as part of their idolatrous worship practices. The Lord is prohibiting not only sexual immorality but also idolatry with verse 17. In verse 18 the Lord is prohibiting anyone from bringing "dirty money" into His house. It doesn't honor the Lord when someone comes to His house and goes through the motions of worship while having a heart far from Him and putting ill-gotten gains into the offering plate. I believe the prohibition against dirty money would apply to income from all types of immoral/illegal trades. A lot of people who make their living by questionable methods go to church for reasons other than loving the Lord and are giving money that was made by doing things the Lord hates. I don't believe He takes any pleasure in such offerings. While it's true the church may be able to use this money to do good, I can't imagine the Lord blessing the unrepentant wicked person for bringing money made from immoral deeds or money made by cheating or oppressing their fellow man.
"Do not charge a fellow Israelite interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a fellow Israelite, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess." (Deuteronomy 23:19-20) Their fellow Israelites are to be considered their brothers and sisters in the Lord. They are to think of themselves as one big family. Most of us would not ask our biological brother or sister to pay a loan back to us with interest. We might ask someone who is not related to us to do so, but out of our love for a sibling and out of our family connection to them we would probably give them quite flexible terms for repaying the loan and all we would want back from them is the original amount that was lent. The Lord says He will bless the Israelites for treating each other like brothers and sisters in the matter of lending and borrowing.
"If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth." (Deuteronomy 23:21-23) A person can make a freewill offering at their own discretion but if they make a vow to bring a particular amount of money to the Lord's house, for example, they are obligated to keep the vow. They are not obligated to make a vow in the first place, but once the vow is made they are bound by their words. The Lord wants His people to be people of their word. He doesn't want His people to be unreliable and untrustworthy. He wants them to be promise keepers because He is a promise keeper; a child of God should look like Him. A person is to think carefully before making a promise to the Lord or to their fellow man because their true character will be revealed by whether or not they keep their word.
"If you enter a neighbor's vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain." (Deuteronomy 23:24-25) A hungry traveler is allowed to venture into a vineyard or grainfield along the way and eat enough to satisfy his hunger. He cannot, though, gather grapes in a container or harvest any grain to take with him. If he were allowed to do that then there would be many who abused this law by taking a lot more than they need. At that point it would become a deliberate act of theft. But the Lord cares about growling tummies and He made this law for those in need.
The hungry disciples of Jesus were operating under the law of verse 25 when on the Sabbath they plucked some heads of grain to eat as they journeyed along the roadway. The Pharisees knew Deuteronomy 23:25 permitted this but in order to accuse Jesus of unrighteousness they accused Him of allowing His disciples to break the Sabbath by harvesting grain. They were not harvesting grain because they put no sickle into the grain. As usual, Jesus revealed their hypocrisy to them by shining a light on their unmerciful attitude. He pointed out that David and his men, when they were hungry, had been allowed to eat bread that only the priests were allowed to eat. (This passage is found in 1 Samuel 21.) The priest gave the bread to the men because mercy means more to the Lord than sacrifice does and because the Lord takes more pleasure in a person knowing and loving Him than in a burnt offering. (Hosea 6:6, Matthew 9:13). The disciples were not breaking the Sabbath, but even if they had been, the Lord would have allowed them to fill their empty bellies on the Sabbath. This is why the Lord Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 to His enemies who found fault with Him healing on the Sabbath. Jesus pointed out that it was always lawful to do good deeds, no matter what day of the week it was.
Today is the Sabbath for many of us of the Christian faith. It is lawful for us to do good to our fellow man---today and every day. The Lord desires mercy. The Lord wants us to love our neighbor. The Lord wants us to care about the welfare of our fellow man. That is the reason He made the laws of today's text and all the other laws of the holy Scriptures.
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