Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp, and shalt go forth thither.
A rule about sanitation sits in the middle of Israel's laws: the camp needed a set place outside it. The reason comes two verses later, and it is surprising — God Himself walks through the camp, so even this must suit Him.
Israel had no plumbing. The law set aside ground outside the camp for this ordinary need:
Israel had to keep its camp clean. Since there were no plumbing facilities, they had to provide a place outside the camp where people could go to dispose of their body waste. They had to bring with them a tool to cover the waste with earth afterwards (vv. 12-13). So this reminds us that whatever spiritual good there may be in our lives, we still have excesses to get rid of. See Philippians 3:8 — for God was in the camp, and in His presence there is no place for uncleanness.
That God gives a rule about a latrine surprises us. One writer sees in it how far His care for His people reached:
The Almighty Creator and moral Governor of the universe watched the smallest details in the daily life of His people. No mother could be more careful of her little child's habits and manners. By day and by night, waking and sleeping, at home and abroad, He looked after them. Their clothing, their food, their manners and ways toward one another, how they were to build their houses, how they were to plough and sow their ground, how they were to carry themselves in the deepest privacy of their personal life — He saw to all of it. He provided for it in a way that fills us with wonder, love and praise.
The rule is not hygiene for its own sake. It rests on who was walking among them:
What a precious privilege to have the Lord walking in their midst! What a motive for purity of conduct, and for refined delicacy in their persons and domestic habits! If He was in their midst to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life. They were never, for one moment, to forget the majestic Person who walked up and down among them. Would this thought be irksome to anyone? Only to those who did not love holiness, purity and moral order.
Everything turns on who owns the camp. Weak men filled it, but they were not the only ones in it:
This chapter lays down various regulations of this kind. It also forbids anything indecent or unfitting for the camp. What camp? The camp of Israel? Of course, but much more. Of course there was weakness in a camp of men. That is not the question. The question is whether it is also the camp of the Lord. God makes allowance for the fact that we are men. Still, He would have His people trained to feel that He is in their midst, and to decide everything by what suits His presence.
God gave these rules to an army on the march. Soldiers have an obvious reply ready — there are bigger things at stake than a spade:
Next we have Israel going out to war. Here men might plead the work in hand as an excuse for carelessness about minor things. God does not think so. He insists on the most careful purity. Is not God with them their strength? What is all their human might if, because of their ways, He cannot show Himself for them? The lesson is very simple, and no one can answer the argument. And yet, have His people learned it?
The camp is gone, but the reason behind the rule is not. One writer points to where God lives now:
The camp of Israel had to stay clean and pure. They were to remember at all times: "the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp... therefore your camp must be holy, so that He may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you." This is why any uncleanness of the body counted as an evil thing. The Lord gave even instructions like these, because He wanted His people clean and set apart for Himself. The Lord is not only with us, in the midst of His people, but God the Holy Spirit has made our bodies His temples.
- Presence. God walking through the camp is the single reason behind the rule; every other detail follows from it.
- Place. The waste went outside the camp, because God's presence leaves no room for uncleanness.
- Cover. Each man carried his own tool, so getting rid of what is unclean was daily work, not an emergency.
- Care. The God who ordered Israel's clothing, food and homes also ordered this; nothing in your private life is beneath His notice.
- Conquest. The presence that gives victory also demands holiness. Care in small things is not a distraction from the battle; it is part of winning it.
And thou shalt have a shovel amongst thy weapons, and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which is come from thee.
Deuteronomy 23:13 is one of the plainest commands in the Bible. A soldier on campaign carried a digging tool and buried his own waste outside the camp. Why would the God who rules the universe give a rule about something so small and so private?
What kind of tool was it? A Bible dictionary explains the word:
Literally 'a pin or nail'; probably a small spade. Deuteronomy 23:13.
One writer explains the practical arrangement, then draws a spiritual lesson from it:
Israel's camp had to be kept clean… They had no plumbing, so they were to set aside a place outside the camp where people could dispose of their body waste. They had to bring some tool with them to cover the waste with earth afterwards (vs.12-13). So we are reminded of this. Whatever spiritual good there may be in our lives, there are also excesses we must get rid of… for God was in the camp, and in His presence there is no place for uncleanness.
The command only makes sense when you ask who the camp belongs to. Human weakness in a camp of men was never the issue.
Anything unsightly and unfitting for the camp is also forbidden. What camp? The camp of Israel? Of course, but much more. It was natural that there should be weakness in a camp of men. That is not the question. The question is whether it is also the camp of Jehovah. God makes allowance for the fact that we are men. Still, He would have His people trained to feel that He is among them, and that everything must be decided by what suits His presence.
The same presence that won Israel's battles also set the standard for their behaviour. How a person takes that depends on what he loves.
What a precious privilege to have Jehovah walking among them! What a reason for pure conduct, and for careful decency in their persons and their home life! If He was among them to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life. They were never, for one moment, to forget the majestic Person who walked up and down among them. Would the thought of this be irksome to any? Only to such as did not love holiness, purity and moral order. Every true Israelite would delight in the thought of having One dwelling in their midst who could not endure anything that was unholy, unseemly or impure.
A rule about a spade seems far beneath the majesty of God. It shows instead that He watches over every detail of His people's lives.
Nothing escaped His gracious notice; nothing was too trivial for His tender care. Think of a mother watching over the habits and manners of her little child. The Almighty Creator and moral Governor of the universe was even more careful than that about the smallest details of His people's daily life. By day and by night, waking and sleeping, at home and away, He looked after them… down to how they were to behave in the most private part of their personal life. He attended to it all and provided for it all.
This command reached Israel as an army on the march. That is where men say the job is too urgent for small things.
Next we see Israel going out to war. Here men might plead the work in hand as an excuse for carelessness about small things. God does not think so. He insists on the strictest purity. Is not God, who is with them, their strength? What is all their human might if, because of their ways, He is unable to show Himself for them? The lesson is very simple, and the argument cannot be answered. Yet have His people learned it?
One writer carries the same principle to the believer's own body, where God now dwells.
For this reason all uncleanness and dirtiness of the body counted as an evil thing. The Lord gave even instructions like these, because He wanted His people to be clean and set apart for Himself. And how important it is for us to pay attention to all this. Jehovah is not only with us, among His people, but God the Holy Spirit has made our bodies His temples. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
- Presence. The whole command rests on one fact: the camp is not merely Israel's, it is His. What suits His presence decides everything.
- Privacy. He walks there, so His claim reaches the most private corner of life. The spade matters as much as the sword.
- Care. These small rules are not fussiness but tender care. Nothing about His people is too trivial for His notice.
- Warfare. Battle is where men plead urgency and drop small care. Yet God Himself is their strength, and He insists on purity there.
- Application. The principle comes closer still. The body itself is now the temple of the Holy Spirit, so glorify God in it.
For Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; and thy camp shall be holy, that he see nothing unseemly with thee, and turn away from thee.
Israel's camp on the march was also the place where God lived. So the verse joins two things people keep apart: what God's presence gives, and what it demands.
The first half of the verse says why God is among them: to rescue them and hand over their enemies.
Who could rightly estimate the high privilege of having the Lord dwelling in their midst? By day and by night, there He was, to guide and guard, shield and shelter them. He met their every need, gave them bread from heaven, and brought them water out of the rock. His presence was a safeguard against every foe, so they had nothing whatever to fear. He took charge of all their needs, whether great or small. He looked after their clothes, that they might not wear out; He looked after their feet, that they might not swell.
The word "therefore" in the middle of the verse is the hinge.
These two things must never be separated. The very same Presence that secures victory demands holiness. It has an individual as well as a collective application. If we are to walk with God — or rather, if He is to walk with us — we must judge and put away everything inconsistent with His holy presence. He cannot approve unjudged evil in His people. He can pardon, heal, restore and bless; but He will not tolerate evil.
The rules make sense only when you ask who lives there.
In the chapter before us various regulations of this kind are laid down. The chapter also forbids anything improper or unfitting for the camp. What camp? The camp of Israel? Of course, but much more. It was natural that there should be weakness in a camp of men. That is not the question; the question is whether it is not the camp of the Lord. We must make allowance for the fact that we are only men. Even so, God would have His people trained to feel that He is among them, and that everything must be decided by what suits His presence.
Because of this, nothing was too small to fall under the rule. His presence shaped their behaviour when nobody else was watching.
Israel's whole conduct was to be regulated by the great fact of the Divine Presence among them. Not only their great public national institutions, but their most private habits were to be brought under the controlling influence of the Lord's presence with them. By night and by day, sleeping and waking, sitting in the house or walking by the way, alone or in company, He looked after them.
The verses just before this one are very practical. They deal with washing, and with burying waste outside the camp.
Israel's camp was to be kept clean. Even if something happened in the night that made a person unclean, he was to go outside the camp. He stayed there until he washed with water in the evening and was clean again (vv. 10-11). They had no plumbing, so they had to set aside a place outside the camp for people to dispose of their body waste. They had to bring an implement with them to cover the waste with earth afterwards (vv. 12-13). So we are reminded that whatever spiritual good there may be in our lives, there are excesses that must be disposed of. For God was in the camp, and in His presence there is no place for uncleanness.
The verse ends with a warning. God's power is never separate from His holiness.
The Almighty power of God is with the church in its warfare. But His infinite holiness is there also. He will not make His power effective in their conflicts if His holiness is compromised. His people compromise it by defilement, by carelessness, by thoughtless levity, or by failing in those feelings and affections that suit the presence of God. For it is God Himself who is there.
Is such a standard heavy? That depends on the heart.
Would the thought of this be a burden to anyone? Only to those who did not love holiness, purity and moral order. Every true Israelite would be glad to have One living among them who could not put up with anything unholy, improper or impure.
Commentators apply the verse in two directions — to the body of each believer, and to God's people gathered together.
This is why all uncleanness or dirtiness of the body counted as an evil thing. The Lord gave even such instructions as these, because He wanted His people to be clean and separated to Himself. We too must pay close attention to all these things! The Lord is not only with us, in the midst of His people, but God the Holy Spirit has made our bodies His temples. "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
But the Holy Spirit does not only dwell in each individual believer; He also dwells in the church collectively. "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16). It is on this fact that the apostle bases his exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, "Do not quench the Spirit."
- Presence — God walks in the camp. That is the whole basis of the verse; every command in it flows from who is living there.
- Protection — His presence wins the battle. He rescues His people, feeds them, and hands their enemies over.
- Purity — The same presence that wins the battle demands holiness. It reaches the most private habits, right down to a spade and a covered pit.
- Peril — Compromise His holiness and He turns away. He will not put His power behind unjudged evil among His people.
- Pleasure — Only those who do not love holiness find this heavy. For everyone else, it is a rich privilege to walk with One who cannot tolerate what is impure.