Deuteronomy 23:2 is the only verse used to teach that a child born out of wedlock is cursed. It reads, “A BASTARD shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD” (KJV). The NKJV replaces the word “bastard” with “illegitimate birth.” It is not clear what the words “illegitimate birth” refer to. Three possible definitions have been given: 1) the child of an INCESTUOUS MARRIAGE between Jews; 2) the child of a MIXED MARRIAGE between an Israelite and a Philistine (see Zechariah 9:6), Ammonite or Moabite (see Nehemiah 13:23); or 3) the child of an ILLICIT SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP (i.e., fornication). The reason for the child being banned is because of the special “covenant relationship” Israel had with God. For an Israelite child to have the right to worship the Lord (by entering into the assembly of the Lord), they could not have been born “illegitimately.” Was this a “curse on the child?” I think of it more as a “curse on the parents” who had violated God’s holiness. Because of the very special relationship God had with the nation of Israel, they were given certain commands in order to enter into the privileges of that relationship. The Lord had told them in Deuteronomy 7:6, “For you are a HOLY PEOPLE to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” To be “holy” means they were to be “separate” from the Gentile nations and from immoral lifestyles. If they disobeyed the Lord by a “mixed marriage” or an “illicit sexual relationship” they would forfeit the privilege and blessing of seeing their “illegitimate child” enter into the assembly of the Lord. Of course, this also affected the child for they too suffered the consequences of the action of their parents, but we could hardly think of this as a “curse from God.”

Some have taken this verse too far and have taught that the “illegitimate child” could not be saved and enter God’s spiritual family. The Bible clearly teaches that all people are sinners (Romans 3:9-19, 23) and that all people need to be “born again” in order to enter God’s family (see John 3:1-8 along with John 1:12). The sinner is “saved by grace through faith in Christ” (Ephesians 2:8; Acts 16:31)) and there is not one verse in the Bible that teaches some are excluded from coming to God “in repentance and faith” and receiving salvation and eternal life (see John 3:16; Acts 20:21; 11:12-18; 15:1-11).

Having said that, if someone makes a false profession of faith in Christ they are looked upon as a “bastard/illegitimate” child and they will be cursed. We read in Hebrews 12:7-8, “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with SONS; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, they are ye BASTARDS, and NOT SONS” (KJV). Verse 8 in the NKJV replaces the word “bastards” with “illegitimate.”  The “bastard/illegitimate son” in this passage is one who had made a “profession of faith in Christ” but it was not real. His “false profession” is manifested in two ways: 1) There is “no evidence of salvation and eternal life in his life” (no desire to read the Bible, no desire to have fellowship with believers, no desire to speak to lost souls of salvation through Christ, no desire to worship the Lord, etc.; see Matthew 7:16-20 and James 2:14-26); and 2) There is “no chastening (discipline) from God in their lives.” This is most serious, as we said they will indeed BE CURSED! Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in the day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS…Then He shall say to those on the left hand, ‘DEPART FROM ME YOU CURSED, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 7:21-23 and 25:41). How solemn? Is my reader a true son of God through faith in Christ or an illegitimate son?  (DO)  (574.3)