Let’s read Deuteronomy 23:9-12, 14 “When you go out as an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing. If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp. But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may reenter the camp.” “Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.” (NASB)

Before we begin a discourse on this portion, let’s first read 1 Corinthians 10:11 which tell us, “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” This tells us clearly that some of the things in the Old Testament were written FOR us, instead of TO us. The Lord allowed certain things to happen so that we might learn lessons from them. They happened so that we might have examples to learn from. With that in mind, let’s consider what lesson we might learn from this portion.

This portion is written to the armies of Israel. It teaches that as true soldiers of the Lord, these men were expected to remain pure and sanitary before the Lord. If one becomes impure, there were steps to take to return to their former purity. You might think that a person would not be responsible for having a wet dream, or nocturnal emissions. This happens while you are sleeping and might be considered to be out of our control. However, the armies of Israel were called to strict obedience and purity. Perhaps one may be lying in his cot at night and his mind turn to his wife or girlfriend and he begins to fantasize about being with his wife or girlfriend, which could cause nocturnal emissions…and he would be considered unclean for this.

In our day, as believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are considered soldiers. We are instructed in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” As soldiers, we too, are told to endure hardness and not to get tangled up with the things of the world. As soldiers, we have one goal…to “please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” We are to focus on our savior and seek to live our lives to honor Him. Colossians 3:1-2 tells us, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

With our focus on the Lord, even our private thoughts are important. 2 Corinthians 10:5 instructs us, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are TAKING EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST.” So, we should not waste our time on useless or harmful fantasies. These things will draw our hearts away from the Lord until we just think about pleasing ourselves.

What do we do if we become impure by our thoughts or by our actions? 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When we truly repent of our sins and confess them to the Lord, he not only forgives us, but he CLEANSES us. He returns our purity by making us clean. (296.8)