Many people think that Old Testament religion was characterised by a harsh and unbending legalism. Our meditations from Deuteronomy 23:15-25:19 will show that this characterisation is far from the truth. The rules of Deuteronomy were intended to give joy and stability to Israel, among other things-to make them a pleasant people among whom to live. Let's take a look at some of these laws, behind most of which lie lessons useful to us.

Verses 15-16 are about helping slaves who seek refuge after fleeing from a harsh master, even though that would anger their former master. Slavery in the ancient world, especially in Israel, was often more humane than slavery in the modern world. Slaves were often educated and could buy their freedom. But they could be exploited. Genuine faith is often expressed through Christians breaking class barriers and being kind to despised people with no voice (see James 1:27).

Verses 17-18 tackle prostitution. Verse 17 speaks of cult prostitutes. The surrounding nations used prostitutes in sexual rituals to try to persuade fertility gods to release their blessings on the earth. Israelites were prohibited from becoming such. Verse 18 speaks of female and male prostitutes. There is evidence that prostitution was used in those days to raise funds for pagan temples. Christians may also be tempted to use methods that break God's principles when raising funds for the ″work of God″. That has led many movements down the slippery slope to ineffectiveness.

Verses 19-20 prohibit charging interest and exploiting needy Israelites who look for relief through a loan in a difficult situation. In pre-inflationary times, not charging interest was not a significant loss to the lender. But an unkind person could exploit a poor person in desperate need of funds by lending him money with exorbitant interest, enslaving the borrower to the lender. An application of this law today would require Christians not to be like dubious moneylenders who offer high interest loans to those who cannot seek relief from regular financial institutions. Deuteronomy has many teachings about not exploiting helpless people for personal gain.

Verses 21-23 call for the immediate fulfilment of promises made by vowing. The implicit principle is that we should not make vows if we know we will not be able to fulfil them. Just like God's words can be trusted, those of His followers also should be trustworthy (Matthew 5:33-37). How often we make rash promises to God in a crisis and conveniently forget them when the crisis is over!

Verses 24-25 show how God intended Israel to be a compassionate society that permits hungry travellers or neighbours to eat the produce of a vineyard or field they enter. But recipients must not exploit this kindness by taking too much.

Despite growing individualism and selfishness in our societies today, let us continue to uphold good neighbourliness. God intended us to live in societies where people are considerate towards others and faithful in fulfilling what they pledge.