Purity

Synopsis     Deuteronomy 22:24-23:4     3/7/2018

In the case that a man violates a woman who is betrothed, Moses commanded that he should receive capital punishment. The consequences for the woman depended on her response to the violation. In the case of a woman who was not betrothed, the man was required to marry and pay a dowry penalty, and he was never at liberty to divorce his wife.

Moses deemed certain relationships essentially immoral. These included the man who married his father’s wife (but not his mother – which is covered elsewhere). He also forbade that anyone with reproductive injuries, or those who were born from an illicit union, should be allowed to join the assembly of the Lord.

Purity

In the assembly of God, everything takes its order with respect to God’s purposes. To remain unstained means to live for holiness – to live entirely for my purpose in creation.

“but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, “Be holy because I [am] holy.” 1Peter 1:15-16