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“He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off…no bastard…no Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD…” Deuteronomy 23:1-3 (Revised Standard Version)
Other translations vary slightly, but no man without intact genitals, no one born out of wedlock, and those of certain nationalities could enter in and worship with the believers in Jehovah. But why?
The Bible does offer an explanation for the Ammonites and Moabites, they were not hospitable to the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. But what of the following generations who had no part in the ancestors behaviors?
The illegitimate children and sometimes the eunuchs have no choice in how or who they are. They are condemned before birth or through an accident, even to the tenth generation as given in the Mosaic Law above.
These are hard questions with no easy answers. They become even harder when one considers the Ethiopian eunuch Phillip spoke with in Acts 8:26-39. Reading the story of how Perez was conceived in Genesis chapter 38 (Judah believes he is with a prostitute but it is really his daughter-in-law) gives no indication why, as an illegitimate offspring, he would be forbidden to fellowship in the sanctuary. Then there is the wonderful story of Ruth, the Moabitess, who follows her mother-in-law back to Israel in an act of love.
The Ethiopian eunuch was returning from worshiping in Jerusalem and ended up being baptized by Phillip. Some believe the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon was actually from the land of Ethiopia and there is a large Jewish and Christian population in that country to this day.
Perez was in the lineage of King David, only eight generations out. Our Lord and Savior was a descendant of both Perez and David. We know little of Perez outside the listings of the “begats”. However, there is one other mention of Perez and he must have been a man of God because the LORD instructed Boaz to take Ruth as his wife and, “may your family be like that of Perez, who Tamar bore to Judah” (Ruth 4:12). Pretty high praise from God Himself!
Ruth ended up being the grandmother of King David. We don’t know how much influence she was on David but we can assume, if she was alive and living close by, she did have a Godly influence. He certainly didn’t turn out too bad, God called David, “a man after His own heart.”
Did God break His own law?
Questions, questions, questions! Are you ready for the answers? Good.
But you’ll just have to wait and ask the LORD when you get there because I don’t have them. I do have the calm assurance that He holds all the answers. His love and wisdom are far beyond my limited ability to comprehend. And Praise the Lord for that!
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