Sound Bytes Living Torah
Don’t Be a Whore
Selling oneself to pay tithes
Strange title, but Deuteronomy 23 is a strange chapter in some ways.
Here again, we come to a “Law,” or set of laws really, clearly laying out a specific behavior that is abominable to the Father.
Deuteronomy 23:17–18 — “None of the daughters of Yisra’ĕl is to be a cult prostitute, nor any of the sons of Yisra’ĕl be a cult prostitute. “Do not bring the harlot-fee of a whore or the pay of a dog <male prostitute> to the House of יהוה your Elohim for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to יהוה your Elohim.
Christianity says the Torah is abolished, it is done away with.
The Torah says: Do not allow your daughters to become prostitutes. The world’s oldest profession centered around pagan temples, specifically the “cult prostitute” as a primary sexual commodity 3,500 years ago. A male would go to present a pagan sacrifice and “interact” with the idol/god, but first, a little payment to the temple prostitute to elevate himself to a higher plain. A little sexual ecstasy to increase your good feelings inside the temple.
This went both ways.
Okay, very few go to present a sacrifice at a pagan temple and stop and engage the services of the temple prostitute these days. BUT! How MANY open their laptops and “elevate” their state of mind with a few minutes…hours…days…of perusing through the pornography of modern pagan prostitutes before heading to “church”?
A friend of mine brought an interesting observation to my attention several years back in Hong Kong. He struggled with a problem. But he understood that it was an issue. As we talked and worked through it together, he shared with me that many of the young women in the images and videos wore (or were tattooed with) a crucifix. He found that ironic considering they were literally selling themselves as prostitutes.
But this takes on another aspect. Read the verse: DO NOT bring the money you make being a prostitute and present it as a tithe or offering, NOR use it to buy the sacrifice you intend to present. The Father sees even the money earned from the world’s oldest profession to be defiled and not worthy of presentation before Him — in any form.
And lest we ignore the important factor in the verse
This forbidden behavior extended to the male prostitute as well. Just like the daughter, the son is forbidden from becoming a prostitute and from presenting the money or materials purchased with it as an offering or sacrifice before the Father. The offering is equally defiled regardless of whether brought by a son or daughter defiled through prostitution.
But… Christianity says the Torah was abolished.
Perhaps this is the reason so many of the prostitutes in the images and videos wear their religious talisman while engaging in prostitution.
I hit this idea — Christianity abolished the Torah — hard and frequently because it is from a complete lack of knowledge about the Torah that such a ridiculous statement flies in Christian doctrine today. <Hos 4:6>
While no Christian “church” approves of prostitution per se, MANY accept homosexuality, transgenderism, identity issues, and other sexual perversions as acceptable.
Likewise, there is no difference between physically engaging in the services of a prostitute versus viewing the products of prostitution captured in photos and video. There is no difference. <Rom 2:1–13>
Hoshea 4:6, 14 — “My people have perished for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being priest for Me. Since you have forgotten the Torah of your Elohim, I also forget your children... 14) “I would not punish your daughters when they commit whoring, nor your brides when they commit adultery, for the men themselves go aside with whores, and slaughter with cult prostitutes — a people that do not understand are thrust down!
Hoshea 4:17–19 — “Ephrayim is joined to idols, let him alone. Their drink is sour, they have whored continually. Her rulers wildly loved shame. A wind has bound her up in its wings, and they are ashamed because of their slaughterings {sacrifices}.
We all struggle with sin. It is a daily and constant battle. I am not better than anyone else. There is sin in my life and I fight to remove it, like the leaven, every day. Sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I fail. But I repent and turn back to Him. I try again.
It’s about having a heart open to change, eyes to recognize, and willingness to bring it before the assembly.
Not a “holier-than-thou” attitude.
These new Sound Bytes “Living Torah” posts present the absurdity of pretending the moral standard of the Father no longer applies to those who claim to be His. Each examines how it still applies, and how we can live Torah in love for Him.
**This hits close for me as I have daughters (and sons) and I would be truly heartbroken if any of them found their way on a path into prostitution — of any kind.
