(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 23:1-25)

17 No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute. 18 You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord your God to pay any vow, because the Lord your God detests them both.

What was the purpose of a shrine (cult) prostitute? Shine prostitutes were not male and female workers making a living selling their bodies, but rather in the ancient Near East, shrine prostitutes were part of pagan religious worship.

The rituals performed by the shrine prostitutes were tied into how certain cultures understood gods, fertility, and blessing. Many ancient religions believed that sexual activity could stimulate the gods, influence crop growth, animal reproduction, and human fertility.

The shrine prostitutes were viewed as a sacred tool to manipulate divine power. Shrine prostitution was considered a legitimate religious service, a form of devotion, and a ritual offering, with money exchanged serving as religious offering.

Therefore, shrine prostitution was a form of idol worship, that would take the focus away from God’s relationship with His people, replacing it with false worship used to manipulate the gods. Can God be manipulated?

Perhaps more relatable is Taiwanese folk religion where the ritual of self-cutting, piercing, or bloodletting is practiced to influence or compel divine action rather than simply to express devotion. In Taiwanese folk religion, female dancers also appear in temple festivals, processions, and rituals.

Their role is not entertainment only, but an offering of their beauty and celebration to please the gods, hoping this will result in blessing and protection. Can God be manipulated?

Brothers and sisters, I don’t know if we have ever thought about it before, but do we ever use our worship or our devotion to God as a way to manipulate Him? When we read the Bible more, prayer more, worship harder and louder, do we then think that we will awaken the Lord so that we can command Him to do what we want?

Or are we approaching our Lord in relationship with Him, approaching Him as His child and He as our Father? Yes, we make requests, we fervently pray, but in relationship this is more than just manipulation, but communication, a way for us to seek after God’s will, a way for us to bring our petitions, intercessions, and requests to the God that has a relationship with us.

In relationship, we cry out to the Lord in worship, hoping that He hears our voice, giving control over to Him. If we try to manipulate God, then there is no relationship, and it is us rather that want to be in control. When we worship and pray, may we do so in humility knowing that we are praying to the God that created us, called us, and saved us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 23