You know what the worst adversary is? One that you don’t know about. Can you imagine fighting an enemy today that you can’t see, don’t know the location of and don’t know how to defeat? I think that’s why the world is so fearful of the Corona virus, how do you fight an enemy that can’t be found? But, if you could pinpoint your the enemy, then you can now take the fight to them. Folks, you have three enemies today and most people on this planet have no idea they are even under attack. These three enemies? The world, the flesh, and the devil.
Deuteronomy chapter 23 continues on in the vein of a Jeopardy potpourri category and we see God hopping around to many different topics, all concerning domestic and personal relationships within the Israelite community. God is concerned with everything within our lives and you can see that in chapters such as ours today. If you had a bet with somebody about weird stuff in the Bible, I would go to a chapter like this to really stump people. But chapters like this remind you of the old saying, “the devil is in the details” because we will not necessarily be attacked in the big things in life, but in the small, minuscule, seemingly unimportant daily things. You see, our adversary, satan, is not some buffoon but an extremely wise and crafty foe. We have our work cut out for us today as we battle the world, the flesh and the devil.
Within this hodge-podge of commands this morning we can find all three enemies buried within the text like a four leaf clover hidden among the regulars. Let’s take a look at a few that are easily missed.
1) A eunuch shall never be allowed in the temple. (23:1) A eunuch is a man that has been neutered. Ouch, it hurts just saying it. In order to resist all sexual temptation, they have altered their body to endure the temptation instead of allowing God to have the victory over the flesh. You must be in the world and you must deal with your flesh in this world, you can’t change, alter, or mutilate the flesh to escape this fact. God wants you to rely on Him to defeat the flesh, not yourself. As a result of this process, God will never allow those that rely completely on themselves to enter the temple and worship Him.
2) A bastard shall not enter the Lord’s congregation even until the 10th generation. (23:2) You must be born again through Jesus Christ to be a child of God. Folks, there are a lot of people playing church today that are not children of God. Vernon McGee in his commentary says there are two people in the world today, “believers” and “make-believers.” This law had a very practical application in the OT but for us today, it has a tremendous Spiritual application. To be allowed into Heaven and the presence of God for eternity, you must achieve that access through the only One that can make it so, Jesus Christ, the Son of God that died for our sins upon the Cross.
3) You shall not abhor an Edomite or an Egyptian. (23:7-8) Recall that Esau, Jacob’s brother was nicknamed Edom. (Gen 36:1) Esau founded the Edomite nation and they have warred with God’s people throughout scripture. So, if they have constantly fought with God’s people then why shouldn’t God allow them to be destroyed? We’re told in our verse, “because he is your brother.” Esau represents our old nature before we were saved by Jesus, that is, our flesh. After you called upon Jesus to save you, you became a new creature. The Holy Spirit of God came into your heart and changed you. But that old nature won’t give up so easy and just go away. Old habits are hard to break, and your flesh will still desire that same old sin that satisfied you in the moment. We are at war with our flesh, but God clearly tells us here in this verse not to hate our flesh. Interesting. You see, you can’t realistically hate yourself for your fleshly desires and then turn around and love yourself. This battle can only be won in the Spirit, that is, through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. When you are tempted by your flesh to engage in those old sinful ways, you must in that moment engage the Holy Spirit. Just as when Jesus was tempted in the desert by satan with fleshy things, He used the Word of God to repel the three attacks of satan. Be prepared to do battle with your flesh, but don’t hate your flesh for what it is.
The Egyptians had enslaved the Israelites for 430 years, shouldn’t this warrant some type of vicious retaliation? God says no. You see, Egypt represents the world in scripture. The world we live in today is directly ran and operated by none other that satan.
“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” 2 Cor 4:4
“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” 1 John 5:19
Folks, let’s face a fact. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have no choice but to live in a world that is under the control of satan. And as we do, we live side by side with those that have been blinded by the lies of satan as they have chosen to refuse the gospel of Jesus. Quite the conundrum, yes? We can’t fly to Mars and we can’t hide under a rock, we must live in this world and do battle. But never fear, God has more than equipped us for this daily battle. The caveat though is that you must be prepared to fight every day. The only offensive weapon in the armor of God is the Sword of the Spirit, that is, God’s Word. As you do battle with an evil world today you must know God’s Word to have a chance at victory. I pray that you are in a daily study of God’s Word, you don’t want to go into battle without your sword.
4) Be clean and keep a clean camp. (23:10-14) Cleanliness is next to Godliness. You know that this is found nowhere in the Bible, right? It’s believed to be an old Hebrew proverb. But even though it’s not in the Bible, it holds great truth. God is all about clean. Did God give us dirty land, dirty rivers and dirty oceans. Nope, God gave us a beautiful clean world, man made them dirty. Did God give us polluted air and acid rain? Nope God gave us fresh clean air and in rain, a process to drench the land in clean, nutrient-infused water. Did God send us a Savior that had even a trace of sin? Absolutely not, He sent us a spotless lamb to take away the sins of the world. You see, cleanliness is important to God. He wants us to be clean in body, clean in thought, clean in action and yes, clean in environment.
God is light and He is pure. As we bring our sin into a relationship with Him, we pollute the relationship. But through the Holy Spirit we can walk pure in this world. But to do that means to resist the flesh, resist the world and flee from satan. Folks, God has prepared us to do battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. Use the tools, the armor and the weapons He has provided and emerge victorious today. As a result of your victory, you can then offer help to others in this world that are losing the battle.
God bless you, if you’re reading this you’re being prayed for.
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