There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel. You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 23:17-18)
In many ancient cultures, including certain Canaanite cults, male and female prostitutes were hired by devotees of idols to commit various immoral acts in pagan temples as an expression of “worship.” That seems hard to comprehend for us, today, but in that time it was very common and widespread. Knowing this, God warned His people not to follow in the ways of those nations so as to commit abominable acts. In short, there would be no harlots for hire in His house. Furthermore, any gain that had been realized in commission of these idolatrous practices was not to be used in God’s House as an expression of worship.
In fact, the Hebrew words translated as “harlot” and “wages of a harlot” stem from the root word קדש kadash which means, “set apart.” In other words, these male and female harlots were “set apart” for idolatrous rituals while the priests of the LORD were set apart for worship of the True God. Thus, through Moses, God was telling His people not to present to Him as something “holy” that which had been used for a unholy purpose — it is abominable. How does this relate to us today?
The first thing that comes to mind is the attempt on the part of some to legitimize their unsavory activities by “contributing” to God. Believe it or not, there are people who make their living engaging in unlawful or unethical activities but are consistent in their giving to churches and ministries. It seems to me that God considers this an abominable practice. Then there are situations where we try to put lipstick on a pig; we know something has questionable origins but we try to make it holy when it suits us (the reader is welcome to interpret this as he sees fit).
The bottom line is this: if we are going to worship the One, True God in a way that is pleasing to Him, then it must be with clean hands and a pure heart. We must present an offering, whatever that may be, that is not devoted to another “god.” Lastly, we should not incorporate into our worship of Him any practices that we have learned from the world no matter how “relevant” it makes us seem to society at large. In the end, we are not called to be relevant; we are called to be holy. Let us be diligent in that calling
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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