Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Deuteronomy 23 Devotional

A Curse Turned to Blessing

“Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.”Deuteronomy 23:5 (BSB)

This chapter's rules about who may enter the LORD's assembly can be hard to read. Ammonites and Moabites are excluded, and the reason given goes back to the journey from Egypt. They withheld food and water and hired Balaam to curse Israel (23:3-4). But the LORD refused to listen to Balaam and turned the curse into a blessing, because he loved his people (23:5). No hired word could undo God's love.

The rest of the chapter keeps showing what kind of God lives among his people. He walks through the camp to protect them, so the camp is to be kept clean (23:14). A slave who escapes to Israel must not be handed back but allowed to live wherever he chooses, free from oppression (23:15-16). A hungry traveler may eat his fill from a neighbor's vineyard or grainfield, though not fill a basket (23:24-25). God's presence makes holiness and kindness belong together. No curse spoken against his people can cancel his love, and that frees you from living under the weight of what others say about you.

To think about: What word spoken against you still has a hold on you, and how does God's love for his people answer it?

About Deuteronomy 23: The Assembly and the Holy Camp

The chapter lists who may enter the Lord's assembly, excluding Ammonites and Moabites, who hired Balaam, while welcoming Edomites and Egyptians in later generations. The camp must be kept clean because God walks in it, and laws follow on escaped slaves, interest, and vows.

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