Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother. Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a sojourner in his land.
God names two peoples Israel had every reason to loathe: the descendants of Esau, and Egypt, where Israel had lived in bondage. He forbids that loathing, and His reasons are surprising — family in one case, Israel's own past as a foreigner in the other.
Esau's line had a long record of hostility toward Jacob's line. God does not pretend otherwise. Yet He presses the family tie as the reason to hold back.
You remember that Esau planned to murder his brother. What grieved God most, it seems, was the relentless hatred that Esau's descendants carried toward Jacob's descendants, the people of God. Yet we may see the longing of God's heart over these descendants of Esau, for He says, "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother." Despite all the waywardness and sin of Esau and his line, the Lord would still have Israel remember the claim of a brother that Edom had on them.
God's dealings run on two lines: government and grace. One writer marks the difference, and shows where Israel's duty lay.
Where it is a matter of government, the LORD does not forget. He does forget — and that is exactly what He does — where it is a question of grace… but when speaking of the Edomite He says, "He is your brother." So too with those who once opposed them: "You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land." So we see it is not a question of hatred on our part. It is a question of subjection to God — of taking the direction of our thoughts from His word, and of forming our judgments and our conduct by it.
The reason attached to Egypt is not that Egypt behaved well. It is that Israel had lived there. That memory was to work on the Israelites themselves.
The LORD had made sure that an Egyptian could enter the assembly of God. But those affections were to be at work toward the Egyptians for the good of the souls of the Israelites themselves. They were not to harden their hearts against those among whom they had lived as foreigners… Where there is nobleness of feeling, men who know each other will still acknowledge one another once the evil is past. That holds even though they have injured each other.
The command is not a blanket welcome. The same writer names a spirit that deserves only disgust. Tolerating it costs you your own heart.
But there is a spirit that deserves nothing but disgust. To tolerate it is only sparing yourself. It lets that very spirit into your own heart, so that you share in it. The question is not one of judging, but of the state of your own heart. There was a recognised distance between an Egyptian and God. But if he was in relationship with Him for three generations, why keep him at a distance? Why should he stay an outsider?… We must bring God into our affairs and our relationships. Then charity, firmness, and fairness in our judgments will each find its place and show in all our ways.
Edom and Egypt were not shut out for ever. One writer reads a picture in the two nations and in the number three.
Israel was to treat them with more consideration, and after the third generation they could become part of Israel. The number three speaks of the judgment of the flesh in death and resurrection. For Edom pictures man in the flesh — not the false deception of Satan seen in Ammon and Moab, but man without God… Egypt is like Edom in this: it stands for the world in its independence of God. Israel had once been in bondage to Egypt, as we all were once in bondage to a world away from God.
Edom received this favour and threw it away. One writer follows the story to its end: the nearness made the judgment heavier.
God had spared Edom, and Israel was even to receive them in their third generation. Yet their hatred of Israel had no limit, so they would be completely destroyed in the judgment of that day… God spared them at the beginning as the brothers of Israel. They only abused this favour, sad to say, so that the judgment would fall on them harder than on the rest.
- Brother. God ties the command to relationship. Edom is family, and that claim survives generations of hostility.
- Memory. With Egypt, God points to Israel's own past as foreigners there. That memory was meant to soften them, not to feed resentment.
- Obedience. Israel's part was not private feeling. It was subjection to God, with judgments shaped by His word.
- Door. The distance was not permanent. The third generation could enter — a picture, some suggest, of the flesh judged in death and resurrection.
- Danger. Favour abused makes judgment heavier. God spared Edom, Edom despised the kindness, and the judgment fell on them harder than on the rest.
Children that are born to them shall come into the congregation of Jehovah in the third generation.
Deuteronomy 23 draws a line around Israel's assembly, and this verse is where the line opens. Children of two nations Israel had good reason to resent may come in — but why Edom and Egypt, and why only in the third generation?
The assembly Israel guarded was not their own. It belonged to the LORD, so He alone set the terms of entry.
No Ammonite or Moabite could enter this assembly, even to their tenth generation, forever. The children of an Edomite, though they descended from Abraham, could only become part of it in the third generation. It was a privileged company indeed, for it was the LORD's assembly, and it is called the congregation of the LORD. He had the right, therefore, to limit it to Israel as a nation. He also had the right to decide on what terms, and at what time, anyone not of the race of Israel by natural descent should be counted among it.
Edom descended from Esau, Jacob's brother. That family tie is the reason for the softer treatment, and it brought privileges other nations never had.
Remember that Edom, or Esau, was Jacob's brother. For this reason the Israelite was to treat the Edomite with special regard. The Edomite was to have certain privileges connected with "the congregation of the LORD" which other nations were not given.
God asked for this kindness despite what Esau's line had done.
Despite all the waywardness and sin of Esau and his descendants, the Lord would still have Israel remember the family claim that Edom had upon them. But Edom despised and rejected even this grace.
Israel had once lived in Egypt as foreigners. The rule about the Egyptian opened a door to Egypt, and it guarded Israel's own heart.
The LORD had made sure that an Egyptian could enter the assembly of God. Israel was to show such affection towards the Egyptians for the good of their own souls. They were not to harden their hearts against the people they had lived among.
Just above, Ammon and Moab are shut out to the tenth generation. Edom and Egypt stand on the other side of that line, and the difference shows two ways God deals with people.
The LORD does not forget where it is a matter of government. He does forget — and that is exactly what He does — when it is a question of grace. He also says, "You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever." But it is remarkable that when He speaks about the Edomite… He says, "He is your brother." And of those who once opposed them He says, "You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land." So it is not a question of hatred on our part, but of being subject to God.
These nations, and the three-generation wait, also carry a picture.
Israel was to treat them with more consideration, and after the third generation they could be taken into Israel. The number three speaks of the judgment of the flesh in death and resurrection. Edom pictures man in the flesh — not the false deception of Satan seen in Ammon and Moab, but simply man without God. How much easier these are to deal with than people who have embraced a false religion! Egypt is like Edom in this: it pictures the world in its independence of God. Israel had once been in captivity to Egypt, as we have all at one time been in bondage to a world away from God.
The chapter teaches Israel to weigh each case rather than treat everyone alike. It also shows where weighing stops.
Yet we must make distinctions, though never with favouritism, which is always wrong… Where it is a question of His grace, there is no difference at all; all stand on one level. On the one hand, sin puts everyone on one level before His eternal judgment. On the other hand, grace does the same, but in the opposite way… Alike lost in sins, we are alike saved from them by faith in Jesus.
- Brother. Edom gets special regard for one reason: he is Israel's brother. That tie outranks the grudge.
- Memory. Israel once lived in Egypt as strangers, so Israel must not despise an Egyptian. The rule keeps Israel's own heart from hardening.
- Government. God remembers wrongs when He governs. He forgets them when He shows grace. Ammon and Moab stand on one side of that line; Edom and Egypt on the other.
- Picture. Writers read the third generation as death and resurrection. Plain human nature and the world can come in; false religion cannot.
- Level ground. Conduct calls for careful distinctions. Grace makes none: all alike lost, all alike saved by faith in Jesus.