FLOGGING (DEUT.23)
A man must not take his father’s woman, nor uncover his father’s skirt either. (A SON IS FORBIDDEN TO HAVE SEX WITH HIS FORMER STEP-MOTHER, WHO IS NOT CURRENTLY MARRIED TO HIS FATHER, OR HIS FATHER’S CONCUBINES WHO ARE CURRENTLY IN THE FATHER’S HOUSEHOLD OR EVEN CONCUBINES THAT BELONGED TO THE DECEASED FATHER).
WHILE IT MAY NOT SEEM THAT THIS LAW HAS MUCH TO DO WITH INHERITANCE (BECAUSE SEVERAL OF THE WORLD’S KNOWN CULTURES OF THIS ERA TRADITIONALLY PASSED ALONG THE WIVES AND CONCUBINES OF THE DECEASED FATHER, AS THOUGH THEY WERE SOME KIND OF POSSESSION TO THE INHERITING SON) IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS A MAN’S STEPMOTHER LITERALLY DID BECOME HIS WIFE, AND HIS FATHER’S CONCUBINES NOW FORMED HIS HAREM, AND ALL THE USUAL SEXUAL RIGHTS THAT WENT WITH THESE RELATIONSHIPS WERE INCLUDED. YAHUSHA SAYS THAT WHILE THE OUTSIDE NATIONS CUSTOMARILY DO THIS, IN YISHARAL THAT IS NOT TO BE THE CASE. THERE IS ANOTHER SIMILAR CUSTOM OF THAT ERA THAT IS ALSO BEING ADDRESSED AND IT SHOWS UP BACK IN GENESIS IN THE STORY OF REUBEN TAKING ONE OF HIS FATHER JACOB’S CONCUBINES. AND THE CUSTOM IS THAT IF A MAN INTENDS ON USURPING THE THRONE (WHETHER IT IS OF A KINGSHIP, OR OF A TRIBAL LEADER, OR OF HIS OWN CLAN, OR ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE) HE SHOWS HIS POWER AND AUTHORITY BY HAVING SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THE CURRENT OR FORMER LEADER’S WIVES AND CONCUBINES.
REUBEN’S FIRSTBORN HEIST
JACOB’S FAVOURITE WIFE RACHEL HAD JUST DIED AND REUBEN WAS JACOB’S FIRSTBORN SON. BILHAH WAS ONE OF JACOB’S CONCUBINES WHO HAD PRODUCED A NUMBER OF SONS FOR JACOB AND SHE ALSO SERVED AS A SERVANT TO THE NOW DECEASED RACHEL. REUBEN WENT AND HAD SEX WITH BILHAH AND JACOB FOUND OUT ABOUT IT. WAS THIS INCIDENT A MINOR FAMILY ISSUE OR A MAJOR PROBLEM? THERE WAS A SERIOUS CONSEQUENCE FOR REUBEN HAVING SEX WITH BILHAH AND WHEN JACOB WAS ON HIS DEATHBED AND IT WAS TIME FOR HIM TO PRONOUNCE THE BLESSING UPON HIS SONS, WHICH ESSENTIALLY MEANS TO READ THE WILL, REUBEN (ACKNOWLEDGED AS JACOB’S FIRSTBORN) DID NOT RECEIVE THE FIRSTBORN BIRTHRIGHT OR DOUBLE PORTION BLESSING WHICH WAS RIGHTFULLY GIVEN TO THE FIRSTBORN, BECAUSE HE HAD SEX WITH HIS FATHER’S CONCUBINE, BILHAH.
BY HAVING SEX WITH BILHAH REUBEN WAS SYMBOLICALLY DEMONSTRATING THAT HE WAS TAKING OVER ALL THAT BELONGED TO JACOB. HE WAS USURPING JACOB’S LEADERSHIP. THIS WAS NOT SOME VAGUE, LUSTY OR IMPULSIVE ACT WITH A SUBTLE PSYCHOLOGICAL MEANING; THIS IS HOW THINGS WERE DONE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD THAT THERE WAS REALLY NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS ACT AND REUBEN LITERALLY MARCHING AN ARMY AGAINST HIS FATHER OR EVEN ATTEMPTING TO ASSASSINATE HIM. IT APPEARS THAT IN THIS CASE JACOB DECIDED NOT TO IMMEDIATELY AND OPENLY CONFRONT REUBEN. RATHER HE CHOSE TO LET THINGS PLAY OUT AND AT THE RIGHT MOMENT PUNISH REUBEN IN THE MOST HUMILIATING AND FAR-REACHING MANNER; REUBEN WOULD BE DENIED THE BIRTHRIGHT HE NATURALLY FIGURED FOR HIMSELF, TO BECOME THE LEADER OF THE RAPIDLY GROWING NATION OF YISHARAL.
SO THIS INSTRUCTION HERE ABOUT TAKING A FATHER’S WOMAN OR UNCOVERING HIS SKIRT SIMPLY TAKES AN “UNWRITTEN LAW” THAT YAHUSHA HAD IMPRESSED UPON HUMANITY IN THE MOST ANCIENT OF TIMES (AS DEMONSTRATED IN THE REUBEN AFFAIR) AND MADE IT OFFICIAL.
NOW THERE’S ANOTHER ONE OF THESE INTERESTING HEBREW IDIOMS HERE TOO WHERE IT SAYS THAT A SON “SHALL NOT UNCOVER HIS FATHER’S SKIRT”. WE SEE VARIATIONS ON THIS THEME IN A NUMBER OF PLACES IN THE SCRIPTURE; PHRASES SUCH AS “UNCOVERING NAKEDNESS” AND “SEEING SOMEONE’S NAKEDNESS” DO NOT MEAN SOMETHING LIKE A BOY RUNNING INTO THE GIRLS SHOWER ROOM AT AN OPPORTUNE MOMENT AND GETTING AN EYEFUL. IT IS AN IDIOM (METAPHOR/ILLUSTRATION) THAT MEANS HAVING SEX.
ALSO IN IDIOMATIC HEBREW SYMBOLISM, A MAN’S WIFE IS HIS GARMENT. DID YOU CATCH THAT? IN THINKING AND IN SPEECH, IN THAT ERA A MAN’S WIFE WAS THOUGHT OF AND REFERRED TO AS HIS CLOTHING, OR COVERING, OR SKIRT (A STANDARD MEN’S GARMENT). THIS IS BY NO MEANS A DEMEANING REFERENCE. RATHER IT IS THE CONCEPT THAT A MAN’S WIFE IS SO IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE AND CLOSE TO HIM THAT IT’S AS IF HE WEARS HER LIKE A GARMENT; SHE IS A KIND OF COVERING FOR HIM. THEREFORE FOR THIS SON TO “REMOVE HIS FATHER’S GARMENT” IS TO STEAL WHAT IS CLOSEST AND MOST MEANINGFUL TO HIS FATHER (HIS FATHER’S WIVES AND CONCUBINES) AND CLOTHE HIMSELF IN THEM. HE IS TAKING THAT WHICH IS MEANT EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE FATHER WITHIN THE UNITY OF MARRIAGE (THE SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS WIVES AND CONCUBINES) AND IS ILLEGALLY PARTAKING IN IT. IT IS A FORBIDDEN MIXTURE, AN ILLICIT UNION THAT THE SON IS SEEKING TO FORM.
AND JUST AS TO UNCOVER NAKEDNESS (REMOVE A GARMENT) MEANS TO HAVE SEX, TO COVER OVER WITH A GARMENT MEANS TO BETROTH AND THEN MARRY. WE SEE THIS PARTICULAR SCENARIO WITH MESSIAH’S ANCESTOR RUTH, WHO SAYS TO BOAZ, “COVER OVER ME WITH YOUR SKIRT” (GARMENT OR ROBE MEANS “BETROTH TO BE MARRIED”). THIS IS A GREAT ILLUSTRATION OF WHY WE HAVE SO MANY SCRIPTURAL TRANSLATION PROBLEMS THAT RESULT IN UNDERSTANDING PROBLEMS.
ONE OF THE THINGS THIS INSTRUCTION ALSO DOES IS THAT IT TURNS ON ITS HEAD AN EVERY DAY, UNIVERSALLY RECOGNISED CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AT THAT TIME. YAHUSHA SAYS THAT WHILE EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD (THE NATIONS) PASS THEIR WIVES AND CONCUBINES ALONG AS PART OF THE INHERITANCE PACKAGE, IN YISHARAL IT’S NOT TO BE DONE.
GOING FORWARD LET’S TAKE UP ANOTHER IDEA THAT WILL BE HELPFUL TO GRASP. WE OFTEN SEE THE SCRIPTURAL TERM “TAKING” AS IT REGARDS A MAN WITH A WOMAN. WE READ THAT REUBEN “TOOK” BILHAH OR HERE IN DEUT23 THAT A SON IS NOT TO “TAKE” HIS FATHER’S FORMER WIFE. “TAKE” ACTUALLY HAS A DUAL MEANING IN SCRIPTURE-SPEAK: IT MEANS BOTH TO HAVE SEX (MARRIAGE THROUGH CONSUMMATION). WHY IS SEXUAL INTERCOURSE SO IMPORTANT IN THE PRESENT ERA OF MANKIND? BECAUSE IT IS THE BEGINNING OF CREATING A FAMILY; IT IS THE FIRST STEP IN HAVING CHILDREN. AND CRITICAL TO THE BLOOD-COVENANT OF ABRAHAM IS FRUITFULNESS AND FERTILITY. YAHUSHA EXPECTS EVERY YISHARALITE TO BE ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS IN ABRAHAM’S BLOOD-COVENANT BY MULTIPLYING THEMSELVES VIA YAHUSHA’S PLAN OF PROCREATION. THUS MARRIAGE IS NOT ONLY A MATTER OF A DESIRABLE AND PERMITTED UNION BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMEN, IT IS THE STARTING LINE FOR EVERY HEBREW’S DUTY BEFORE YAHUSHA: TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BLOOD-COVENANT BY BEING FRUITFUL.
If a man’s testicles have been crushed or his penis has been cut off (OFTEN DONE TO SHOW DEVOTION TO A DEITY) he cannot enter the assembly of Yahuah’s people. No one born outside of a legal marriage (ILLIGITIMATE/BASTARD) or any of their descendants for ten generations, can enter the assembly of Yahuah’s people either.
SO WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ABOVE ABOUT PROCREATING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE BLOOD-COVENANT OF ABRAHAM, WHAT ON THE SURFACE SEEMED TO HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH SEX AND MARRIAGE (NO MALE WHOSE GENITALS ARE DESTROYED, ALTERED, OR REMOVED MAY JOIN THE ASSEMBLY OF YISHARAL), WE SEE THAT A EUNUCH OR STERILE MAN IS BEING BARRED FROM JOINING YISHARAL BECAUSE HE’S INCAPABLE OF RAISING OFFSPRING AND THEREBY FULFILLING YAHUSHA’S BLOOD-COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM (DO YOU SEE HOW THIS ALL STARTS FOLDING TOGETHER?).
THIS LAW OF THE EUNUCH (OR A FOREIGNER WHO IS STERILE) BEGINS A SERIES OF REGULATIONS THAT DEALS WITH RESTRICTIONS ON WHO CAN AND CANNOT JOIN YISHARAL. THAT SUBJECT IS PRETTY INTERESTING BECAUSE SINCE THE TIME OF ABRAHAM YAHUSHA MADE IT CLEAR THAT NOT ONLY IS THE RESULT OF YAHUSHA’S PLAN THROUGH ABRAHAM MEANT IN SOME RESPECTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT THAT THE NATIONS ARE TO BE ALLOWED TO JOIN YISHARAL AS THE MEANS OF EXPANDING THAT BENEFIT BEYOND THE HEBREW RACE. YET HERE WE ARE MEETING A WHOLE SERIES OF EXCLUSIONS THAT SEEMS TO ALTER THAT GOAL.
SO A FOREIGN EUNUCH (OR POSSIBLY EVEN A STERILE MALE FOREIGNER) CANNOT BECOME A CITIZEN OF YISHARAL. A PERSON BECAME A EUNUCH FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS; SOMETIMES IT WAS AS A RESULT OF PUNISHMENT. OTHER TIMES PAGAN RELIGIOUS SECTS THAT WORSHIPPED A FEMALE DEITY (GODDESS) REQUIRED EMASCULATION OF THEIR PRIESTS. THERE WERE PERIODS OF TIME WHEN VOLUNTARY CASTRATION WAS PRACTICED AS PART OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONY. AND YET AT OTHER TIMES GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WERE CASTRATED AND MADE PART A SPECIAL GROUP CALLED SARIS.
THIS PROBABLY DID NOT INCLUDE MALES BORN WITH GENITAL DEFECTS OR WERE A RESULT OF DISEASE OR INJURY. INTENTION WAS LIKELY AT THE CENTRE OF THE EXCLUSION. FOREIGN MEN WHO WERE EMASCULATED AS A RESULT OF THEIR PAGANISM WERE MOST LIKELY THE EXCLUDED CLASS.
THE PROBLEM WITH EUNUCHS IS CENTRED IN THEIR REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS (OR LACK THEREOF). AND THE REQUIREMENT FOR CITIZENSHIP INTO YISHARAL (FOR A FOREIGNER) HAS AN AWFUL LOT TO DO WITH THEIR SEXUAL ORGANS BECAUSE A MALE MUST BE CIRCUMCISED IN THAT ORGAN TO BE CONSIDERED A FULL-FLEDGED MEMBER OF YISHARAL AND GENERALLY SPEAKING MUST BE CAPABLE OF SIRING CHILDREN (REMEMBER THE SEED PASSES THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE CIRCUMCISION, CONTINUING THE BLOOD COVENANT TO THE NEXT GENERATION). A EUNUCH HAS MUTILATED HIS SEXUAL ORGAN SUCH THAT IT IS NO LONGER SUITABLE (AND IN SOME UNFORTUNATE CASES NOT EVEN AVAILABLE) FOR CIRCUMCISION. WE CAN SCOFF AT THE IDEA OF CIRCUMCISION AS A RELIGIOUS SYMBOL BUT YAHUSHA TAKES IT DEAD SERIOUSLY.
BY MEANS OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT OF ABRAHAM YAHUSHA GAVE CIRCUMCISION A SPIRITUAL MEANING; IT INDICATED INCLUSION INTO HIS KINGDOM. TO USE IT FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE IS, THEREFORE, PERVERSE. JACOB’S SONS SIMEON AND LEVI USED CIRCUMCISION IN AN INCORRECT MANNER TO DECEIVE THE MEN OF SHECKEM AND WEAKEN THEM FOR A BLOOD-BATH OF SLAUGHTER, AND JACOB (MORE OR LESS) LAID A CURSE ON SIMEON AND LEVI FOR THIS HORRENDOUS ACT. AND EVEN THOUGH ON THE SURFACE IT WAS BECAUSE OF THEIR MURDERING, IT WAS MORE BECAUSE OF THEIR MISUSE OF THE SET-APART SIGN OF CIRCUMCISION.
CIRCUMCISION IS THE KEY IN MAKING ESPECIALLY A FOREIGNER A MEMBER OF YISHARAL. IT MUST HAPPEN WITH THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGAN BECAUSE HUMAN FRUITFULNESS IS ALL ABOUT REPRODUCTION THROUGH THE BLOOD-COVENANT PROMISE.
EVEN PAUL SAYS THAT EVEN THOUGH CIRCUMCISION WAS A PHYSICAL REQUIREMENT TO BE PART OF YISHARAL, IT ALWAYS WAS A SPIRITUAL ISSUE (AND NOW MORE THAN EVER THROUGH YAHUSHA’S BLOOD).
SO JUST AS SIMEON AND LEVI MISUSED CIRCUMCISION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DENYING THE MALE RESIDENTS OF SHECHEM FROM JOINING YISHARAL, WHEN ANY BELIEVER TAKES THEIR SPIRITUAL CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART AND THEN STATES THAT THEY AREN’T PART OF YISHARAL (THE EARTHLY KINGDOM OF YAHUSHA) THEY ARE MISUSING THAT CIRCUMCISION, KIND OF LIKE EATING AND DRINKING OF YAHUSHA UNWORTHILY, HENCE MAKING THEM BLOOD-GUILTY . . . INTERESTING?
No Ammonites or Moabites, or any of their descendants for ten generations, can enter the assembly of Yahuah’s people, because when you came out of Egypt, they refused to provide you with food and water. And besides, they hired Balaam remember, to put a curse on you. But Yahuah your Alahim loves you, so he refused to listen to Balaam and turned Balaam’s curse into a blessing for you. So don’t even think of signing a peace treaty with Moab or Ammon. But the Edomites are your relatives, and you lived as foreigners in the country of Egypt so you must be kind to Edomites and Egyptians and let their great-grandchildren become part of Yisharal, and enter the assembly of Yahuah’s people.
THE REASON FOR THE AMMONITES AND MOABITES HAVING THIS SPECIAL RESTRICTION SEEMS TO BE HISTORIC IN NATURE; WHEN YISHARAL NEEDED HELP THEY DIDN’T GIVEN THEM ANY. INSTEAD AMMON REFUSED TO LET YISHARAL PASS THROUGH AND MOAB TRIED TO HAVE YISHARAL CURSED. FURTHER THEY APPARENTLY SOLD YISHARAL THE ESSENTIALS OF LIFE THAT THEY NEEDED WITHOUT OFFERING IT TO THEM AS THE GUESTS THEY WERE. THIS WAS A GREAT OFFENSE TOO. AMMON AND MOAB INSULTED YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE AND THEREFORE YAHUSHA HIMSELF. SO THE WONDERFUL BLESSING OF JOINING WITH YISHARAL WAS HELD BACK FROM MOAB AND AMMON. DON’T EVER THINK THIS IDEA, OR THIS EXAMPLE, OF WHAT YAHUSHA EXPECTS OF THE NATIONS TOWARDS YISHARAL EVENTUALLY LEFT HEBREW THOUGHT OR YAHUSHA’S THOUGHT EITHER. LISTEN TO YAHUSHA’ STATEMENT:
MATTHEW 25:34 "THEN THE KING WILL SAY TO THOSE ON HIS RIGHT, 'COME, YOU WHOM MY FATHER HAS BLESSED, TAKE YOUR INHERITANCE, THE KINGDOM PREPARED FOR YOU FROM THE FOUNDING OF THE WORLD. FOR I WAS HUNGRY AND YOU GAVE ME FOOD, I WAS THIRSTY AND YOU GAVE ME SOMETHING TO DRINK, I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU MADE ME YOUR GUEST".
YOU SEE, SO MUCH OF WHAT YAHUSHA’S FOLLOWERS WROTE ACTUALLY RECALL THE ANCIENT HISTORIC HAPPENINGS OF YISHARAL’S PAST THAT REMAINED EMBEDDED IN HEBREW CULTURAL FABRIC. JUST AS THIS STATEMENT OF MESSIAH IN THE BOOK OF MATTHEW SO ELOQUENTLY SAYS, THOSE WHO THE FATHER HAS BLESSED ARE WELCOME TO COME AND TAKE THEIR INHERITANCE (AS PART OF YISHARAL). WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR BEING BLESSED? “I WAS HUNGRY, YOU FED ME; I WAS THIRSTY, YOU GAVE ME DRINK; I WAS A STRANGER, YOU WELCOMED ME”. AMMON AND MOAB DID NONE OF THIS FOR YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE SO THEY ARE EXCLUDED FROM JOINING YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE AND FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE INHERITANCE RESERVED FOR YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE, YISHARAL.
EDOM IS ANOTHER NAME FOR ESAU. EDOM MEANS “THE RED” WHICH IS A KIND OF NICKNAME FOR ESAU (SON OF ISAAC) WHO WE ARE TOLD HAD REDDISH HAIR AND A RUDDY COMPLEXION (GENERALLY MUCH LIKE KING DAVID WOULD HAVE). ESAU’S TWIN BROTHER WAS JACOB (WHOSE NAME WAS LATER CHANGED TO YISHARAL). SO INDEED EDOM AND YISHARAL ARE BROTHERS (FRATERNAL TWINS) AND YAHUSHA INTENDED ON HONORING THIS RELATIONSHIP.
AS FOR EGYPT, AS UNLIKELY AS IT WOULD ALL SEEM ON THE SURFACE, YAHUSHA HAS RESERVED A SPECIAL PLACE IN HIS HEART FOR EGYPT BECAUSE IT WAS WHERE YISHARAL SOJOURNED. APPARENTLY YAHUSHA IS SORT OF BALANCING THE GREAT HONOR AND RESPECT THAT EGYPT GAVE YISHARAL WHEN HE FIRST ARRIVED (WITH JOSEPH AS THE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT) AND FOR ABOUT ½ OF THEIR STAY THERE, VERSUS THE HARD OPPRESSION EGYPT EVENTUALLY FORCED UPON YISHARAL (DURING THE LAST ½ OF THEIR TIME IN EGYPT) THAT LED TO YAHUSHA RESCUING THEM VIA MOSES. NOW WITHOUT DOUBT THIS DECISION ABOUT EGYPT WAS A PRACTICAL ONE BECAUSE THOUSANDS OF EGYPTIANS HAD ATTACHED THEMSELVES TO YISHARAL AS THEY FLED EGYPT (SO IMPRESSED WERE THEY WITH THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL). WHAT WAS TO BE THEIR STATUS, THOUGH? AFTER A COUPLE OF GENERATIONS (AND PERHAPS THE FIRST 2 GENERATIONS OF EGYPTIANS WERE PART OF THE WILDERNESS JOURNEY) THE 3RD GENERATION CAN BE ADMITTED TO YISHARAL. VERY LIKELY THE DESCENDANTS OF THOSE EGYPTIANS THAT ACCOMPANIED YISHARAL FROM EGYPT, AND WHO PRODUCED CHILDREN AND THEN DIED, WERE ALMOST INSTANTLY MADE FULL CITIZENS UPON THE CONQUERING OF THE PROMISED LAND.
When your men go off to fight your enemies, make sure your camp is acceptable to Yahuah by staying away from evil behaviour. For example, if a man ejaculates at night, that makes him unclean, so he must go outside the camp and stay there until evening. Then he must take a bath, and as the sun sets he can go back into camp.
THIS IS NOT SOME KIND OF STRANGE SUPERSTITION RATHER IT IS TO ILLUSTRATE A PROFOUND YAHUSHA-PRINCIPLE. HUMAN SEXUALITY IS AT THE HEART OF THIS SECTION OF MOSES’ MESSAGE AND UNDERLIES THE FOUNDATION OF THE ENTIRE SCRIPTURE SO JUST AS A WOMAN IS DECLARED IMPURE BY THE ONSET OF HER MONTHLY CYCLE IN HER REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM, SO IS A MAN DECLARED IMPURE BY AN UNINTENDED EMISSION OF SEMEN. IN ONE CASE A HUMAN EGG IS REJECTED AS NOT VIABLE AND IN THE OTHER SPERM IS SPONTANEOUSLY EJECTED BUT WITHOUT AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE NEW LIFE.
INTERESTINGLY IMPURITY HAPPENS TO BOTH THE MALE AND FEMALE IN THIS CASE BECAUSE OF A MISUSE OF YAHUSHA’S PROCREATIVE SYSTEM EVEN IF IT’S UNAVOIDABLE... THEREFORE THIS IS NOT CALLED EVIL OR DISOBEDIENCE. HOWEVER BY DEFINITION THIS FAILURE OF PROCREATION WHEREBY NOT ALL EGGS SURVIVE AND NOT ALL SPERM MEANT FOR FERTILISATION ARE PUT TO THEIR INTENDED GOOD USE, IS THE RESULT OF MANKIND’S FALLEN NATURE AND CONDITION. DEATH OF THOSE OVUM AND SPERM SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN FOR THEY CONTAIN LIFE, PRECIOUS LIFE. THEREFORE YAHUSHA DECLARES THAT THIS MAN (THIS SOLDIER) WHO HAD AN EMISSION MUST IMMEDIATELY LEAVE THE CAMP AND GO TO A DESIGNATED PLACE (OUTSIDE THE CAMP).
WHILE DISOBEDIENCE AND IMPURITY ARE RELATED THEY ARE NOT EXACTLY THE SAME THING AND THEREFORE WE FIND THE SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLE THAT WHILE WATER IS USED FOR CLEANSING FROM IMPURITY, ONLY BLOOD CAN ATONE FOR DISOBEDIENCE.
THE PRINCIPLE OF BEING SENT AWAY BECAUSE OF IMPURITY BUT BEING ALLOWED BACK ONCE PURIFIED IS WHAT PAUL EXPLAINS USING A DIFFERENT METAPHOR, THE OLIVE TREE IN ROMANS 11, SAYING THAT ALTHOUGH MUCH OF YISHARAL BECAME IMPURE BY NOT ACCEPTING YAHUSHA, SHOULD THEY CHANGE THEIR MINDS THEY CAN BE MADE PURE AND TAKEN BACK. JUST AS THE MAN WITH THE NOCTURNAL EMISSION IS REMOVED FROM THE CAMP OF YISHARAL BECAUSE HE IS IMPURE BUT CAN COME BACK ONCE HE’S CLEANSED IN WATER, SO IT IS FOR THOSE BRANCHES WHO WERE CUT OFF THE TREE OF YISHARAL BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO ACCEPT MESSIAH AND WERE THUS DEEMED IMPURE; THEY CAN RETURN ONCE THEY ARE CLEANSED BY BEING IMMERSED IN THE PURITY OF YAHUSHA AND ATONED FOR BY ACCEPTING HIS BLOOD.
Also set up a place outside the camp to be used as a toilet area, make sure you have a small shovel in your equipment so that when you go out to the toilet area, you use the shovel to dig a hole. Then, after you’ve gone to the toilet, bury the waste in the hole. Remember Yahuah your Alahim walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and conquer your enemies, so your camp had better be set-apart and clean so that He doesn’t see any filthy things among you and leave your camp.
When runaway slaves from other countries come to Yisharal and ask for protection, you must not hand them back to their owners, but instead, you must let them choose which one of your towns they want to live in. Don’t be cruel to runaway slaves OK. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE AND PATTERN IS SET OUT BEFORE US. WE AS FOREIGNERS TO YAHUSHA AND HIS PEOPLE ESCAPE OUR CRUEL SLAVE MASTER (SATAN) AND RUN TO OUR DELIVERER FOR SANCTUARY IN HIS KINGDOM. THE RULE IS THAT NOT ONLY MUST WE BE ACCEPTED BUT THAT THE KING OF THIS KINGDOM WILL NEVER FORCE US TO RETURN TO OUR FORMER SLAVE MASTER AND TO THAT FORMER CONDITION. EVEN MORE THESE ESCAPED SLAVES MUST LIVE FREELY AMONG YISHARAL AND ARE NOT TO BE TOLD WHERE THEY CAN LIVE AND WHERE THEY CAN’T. THEY MUST NOT BE ILL TREATED NOR SHUNNED. IN YAHUSHA’S EYES THEY ARE JUST AS VALUABLE AS THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE NATURAL-BORN FREE YISHARALITES.
Make sure that none of your sons or daughters become Temple Prostitutes, and don’t bring the gift of a whore or the pay of a dog to the House of Yahuah your Alahim (no matter what was promised) for both their behaviours and their offerings are an abomination to Him. WHATEVER A PROSTITUTE OF EITHER SEX EARNS FOR THEIR SERVICES IS NEVER TO BE OFFERED TO YAHUSHA AS A VOW PAYMENT OR A SACRIFICE OR A TITHE AND SUCH A THING IS AN ABOMINATION TO YAHUSHA BECAUSE IT IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ILLICIT MIXTURE. THE MONEY GAINED FROM THIS PRACTICE CAME FROM AN UNAUTHORISED UNION; THEREFORE THE MONEY (THE FRUIT OF THAT ILLEGAL UNION) IS TAINTED AND UNACCEPTABLE. ONE OF THE REASONS THAT THE TERM TEMPLE PROSTITUTE OR CULT PROSTITUTE IS CHOSEN AS THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION IN THIS VERSE IS BECAUSE THE HEBREW WORD DOES NOT MEAN ONLY PROSTITUTE, BUT A SET-APART “HOLY” WOMAN” OR “PRIESTESS’. YET IN THE HEBREW CULTURE THIS WORD TOOK ON A VERY DEROGATIVE MEANING BECAUSE IN YISHARAL’S PRIESTHOOD SYSTEM ONLY MEN COULD BE PRIESTS AND BECAUSE THIS PAGAN FEMALE “HOLY” WOMAN WAS BY DEFINITION SERVING A FALSE DEITY. NOTHING COULD BE MORE INDICATIVE OF AN ILLICIT UNION IN EVERY WAY SO THE SAME WORD EVENTUALLY BECAME AN IDIOM FOR “PROSTITUTE” (ONE WHO ENGAGES IN ILLICIT UNIONS FOR PAY).
BECAUSE ALL PAGANISM IS ABOUT REBIRTH AND FERTILITY, FEMALE PRIESTS WOULD HAVE SEX WITH MALE PRIESTS AS A KIND OF COMMEMORATIVE DRAMA TO REENACT THE REPRODUCTIVE EVENT. WHAT IS EQUALLY AS DISGUSTING (MAYBE MORE) IS THAT SOME MALE PRIESTS WOULD DRESS UP AS, AND TAKE THE ROLE OF FEMALES AND PERFORM THIS SAME RITUAL WITH ANOTHER MALE PRIEST WHO TOOK ON THE MALE ROLE. THUS WE HAVE THE REFERENCE TO THE “WAGES OF A DOG”, WHICH WAS A COMMON HEBREW IDIOM THAT MEANT A HOMOSEXUAL MALE PROSTITUTE.
WITH THIS OVERALL UNDERSTANDING YOU CAN CERTAINLY SEE WHY YAHUSHA FORBADE SUCH THINGS FOR YISHARAL, EVEN TO GO SO FAR AS TO SAY THAT THE MONEY GAINED FROM ANY KIND OF PROSTITUTION UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WAS NEVER TO BE USED FOR A SET-APART PURPOSE LIKE TITHING OR PAYING A VOW PRICE TO THE TEMPLE OF YAHUSHA.
When you lend money, food, or anything else to another Yisharalite, you are not allowed to charge interest. You can charge a foreigner interest but if you charge your neighbour interest, Yahuah your Alahim will not let you be successful in the land you are about to take.
If you make a promise to give a gift to Yahuah then do it as soon as you can, because if Yahuah has to come looking for the gift you promised, you will be guilty of breaking that promise. On the other hand, if you never make a promise in the first place, you can’t be guilty of breaking it can you. Basically make sure you keep whatever promises you make to Yahuah, after all, you are the one who chose to make the promises. SINCE IT SEEMS LIKE PRACTICALLY EVERY CHAPTER IN THE SCRIPTURE DEALS WITH PEOPLE MAKING OR BREAKING VOWS OF ONE SORT OR ANOTHER, LET’S EXAMINE THIS A BIT SO THAT WE CAN WRAP OUR MINDS AROUND THIS VERY ANCIENT CUSTOM OF VOW-MAKING TO A DEITY.
IT IS GOOD IN OUR CURRENT ERA TO REMEMBER THAT IN TIMES PAST THE EXISTENCE OF GODS AND GODDESSES (AND OTHER SPIRIT BEINGS AS WELL) WAS AS UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED AND BELIEVED AS THE NECESSITY FOR A HUMAN TO BREATHE AIR AND DRINK WATER IF HE WANTED TO LIVE. IT’S ONLY SINCE THE PERIOD OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT IN THE EARLY 1700’S THAT CERTAIN PHILOSOPHERS LIKE KANT, AND VOLTAIRE, AND HUME CHALLENGED THAT UNIVERSAL BELIEF AND SAID THAT ONLY THE UNENLIGHTENED AND IGNORANT ACCEPTED SUCH SUPERSTITIOUS NONSENSE THAT THERE IS AN INVISIBLE ALL-POWERFUL CREATOR, OR THAT THERE WERE ANGELS OR SPIRIT BEINGS, BECAUSE THIS PREMISE WAS NOT SCIENTIFICALLY VERIFIABLE. THUS WE HAVE THE BIRTH OF ATHEISM AND SECULAR HUMANISM BARELY 300 YEARS AGO.
SO PRIOR TO THE 1700’S VOW MAKING TO THE DEITIES WAS AS USUAL AS EATING A MEAL. IT WAS NO DIFFERENT FOR THE YISHARALITES THAN FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD EXCEPT FOR ONE THING: IT IS SAID OF THE PAGAN DEITIES THAT THEY WANT THEIR FOLLOWERS TO MAKE THOSE VOWS AND PLEDGES BUT YAHUSHA SAYS HE WOULD RATHER A PERSON DIDN'T MAKE VOWS AND PLEDGES TO HIM. WHY DID THOSE PAGAN TEMPLES WITH THEIR PAGAN PRIESTS ENTHUSIASTICALLY ENDORSE VOW MAKING? BECAUSE VOW MAKING MEANT BRINGING A GIFT TO THAT PAGAN DEITY. IN THE END, OF COURSE, THAT GIFT WOUND UP IN THE HANDS OF THE TEMPLE PRIESTS. IT WAS NO DIFFERENT IN YISHARAL BECAUSE WHEN A PERSON MADE A VOW IT REQUIRED A SACRIFICE AND AN OFFERING TO BEGIN IT AND COMPLETE IT, AND MANY OF THOSE OFFERINGS WERE GIVEN TO THE PRIESTHOOD.
If you go into a vineyard that belongs to someone else, you are allowed to eat as many grapes as you want while you are there, but don’t take any with you when you leave. In the same way, if you are in a grain field that belongs to someone else, you can pick heads of grain and eat the kernels, but don’t be a thief and cut down the stalks of grain to take with you. A PERSON CAN PINCH OFF SOME HEADS OF GRAIN AND EAT THEM, OR PLUCK SOME GRAPES AND EAT THEM TO SATISFY THEIR IMMEDIATE HUNGER. BUT THEY CAN’T ASK FOR A DOGGY BAG, OR COME AND FILL A BASKET, OR TAKE A SICKLE AND ACTUALLY HARVEST AND TAKE IT AWAY.
THIS REALLY WASN’T ABOUT FEEDING THE POOR BECAUSE FOR THE POOR THE LAWS OF GLEANING HAD ALREADY BEEN ESTABLISHED. AND INDEED THE POOR WEREN’T RESTRICTED TO ONLY EATING WHAT THEY COULD CONSUME ON THE SPOT. RATHER THIS PARTICULAR LAW IS FOR TRAVELERS. IT WAS PERFECTLY PERMISSIBLE IN ANCIENT TIMES TO WALK THROUGH SOMEONE’S FIELD ON A JOURNEY. NOT EVERYWHERE ONE NEEDED TO TRAVEL HAD A WELL DEFINED PATH OR ROAD. SOMETIMES IT WAS NECESSARY TO SIMPLY HEAD OUT IN A GENERAL DIRECTION; AND SINCE FIELDS WERE LAID OUT EVERYWHERE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH TOO ARDUOUS TO WALK AROUND THE EDGES OF THE FIELDS TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION. PLUS THERE WERE NO REST STOPS AND HOSTELS ALONG THE WAY AND SINCE MOST COMMON FOLKS TRAVELED ON FOOT THEY DIDN’T WANT TO CARRY LARGE LOADS. SO AS THEY WERE PASSING THROUGH A FIELD OR A VINEYARD AND BECAME HUNGRY THE LAW PERMITTED THEM TO EAT THE PRODUCE OF THAT FIELD OR VINE IN A LIMITED WAY.
WE GET AN INTERESTING PICTURE OF THIS EXACT SITUATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MATTHEW 12 WHEN YAHUSHA AND HIS DISCIPLES GOT INTO A DISPUTE WITH SOME PHARISEES OVER THEY’RE PLUCKING AND EATING SOME GRAIN FROM A FIELD THEY HAD BEEN WALKING THROUGH (IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS LAW OF TRAVELERS IN DEUTERONOMY 23). BUT THE ISSUE WAS NOT ABOUT STEALING OR TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A FARMER; RATHER IT WAS THAT THIS HAPPENED ON A SABBATH AND THUS YAHUSHA WAS ACCUSED OF DEFILING THE SABBATH. UNDOUBTEDLY THIS WAS BECAUSE HE HAD WALKED MORE THAN THE DISTANCE PERMITTED ON A SABBATH (AS DEFINED BY THE PHARISEES) IN ORDER TO HAVE BEEN IN THE FIELD OUTSIDE OF TOWN AND HE WAS GATHERING” GRAIN TO EAT, THEREFORE THAT WAS ALSO CONSIDERED WORK ACCORDING TO SOME TRADITIONS. YAHUSHA DIDN’T SEEM TO THINK THAT THE LAWS HE GAVE TO MOSES 1300 YEARS EARLIER SHOULD BE COUNTERMANDED BY THE LATEST SERIES OF MAN-MADE DOCTRINES THAT JUDAISM HAD COME UP WITH.
