Let’s look at each verse separately and then we’ll consider whether or not a connection can be made between the two. In Deuteronomy 23:18 we read, “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” (NKJV). God condemned prostitution of any kind, whether it was a woman (i.e. harlot) or a man (the word “dog” was used for a “male prostitute”). And thus He also condemned a prostitute bringing the money they acquired by their act of immorality into the temple of the Lord. So, if a male or female prostitute came to “the house of the Lord” to pay a vow, using the money they received through an act of prostitution, it would be “an abomination to the Lord.” We might add it would also be the height of hypocrisy, for it would be pretending to be pious worshiper while living in sin.

Now let’s read Proverbs 13:22, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” It is a blessing indeed for a good man to acquire wealth by honest and righteous means and then to bless his grandchildren with an inheritance, but the sinner who obtains wealth by dishonest means often lose its and one day it will pass into the hands of the righteous. One has said, “Ill-gotten gain has a way of finding better hands.” A good example of this is the case of the Egyptians and the Israelites, for though the wicked Egyptians had stored up much wealth, they ended up giving it to the Israelites. Exodus 12:35 states, “Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus THEY PLUNDERED THE EGYPTIANS.” We have another example later on in the history of the Israelites, for when they entered into Canaan they were blessed with all the riches of the ungodly Canaanites. The Lord told them at that time, “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant” (Joshua 24:13). Let’s consider one more example. In Matthew 5:5 we read, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” As we look around us today and we see the ungodly heaping up “treasures on earth,” often through dishonest and immoral ways, it is a comfort to know that the earth will “one day pass into the hands of the righteous.”

So, do we see a connection between our verses? Both verses clearly speak of wicked men and women acquiring money (and other forms of wealth) through sinful means, but perhaps that’s the only real connection to be made. As far was what happens to their money, we see something very different in these passages. In Deuteronomy 23:18 their money is looked upon as an “abomination the Lord” and cannot be accepted by Him. Yet in Proverbs 13:22 their money and possessions will eventually be transferred from them to the righteous. Why is their money rejected in one case and accepted in the other? Let’s remember that money itself is NOT wicked. But when money (acquired by sinning) is connected with the worship of the Lord it is indeed an abomination to Him and downright hypocrisy. The wealth of the wicked that passes into the hands of the righteous will not be connected with the worship of the Lord and thus the Lord will be pleased to give it as an inheritance to the righteous. (313.1) (DO)