by Chris Thrower

During the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, God gave them many rules for holy living. While Christians are no longer obligated to obey these ceremonial and civil commands because of the New Covenant established by Christ, we can still learn something from the moral principles behind these laws since Jesus showed us that all the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament) are summed up in the command to “love the Lord your God” with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40, c.f. Mark 12:29-31).

“Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement. For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.” - Deuteronomy 23:12-14

The Israelites were to keep their camp clean from natural pollution, the design of this was to teach them:

1. Modesty: Distinguishing between man and animal.

2. Cleanliness: Poop lying around is unsanitary, it stinks,  and it’s just plain lazy.

3. Holiness: Keeping the camp clean reminded the Israelites to keep their hearts and minds clean also.

4. Love for God: Primarily, this was to be done out of love and respect for God’s presence in their midst.

5. Love for Neighbor:  No one likes to step in poop, so this practice benefited everyone.

Those of us who attend Mars Hill can live out the moral principle behind this law by remembering to clean up after ourselves and not leave our crap (i.e. coffee cups, loop notes, papers, ect.) behind for others to pick up. This is one good way to love God and love our neighbors and is especially important at the Shoreline campus where we are sharing a building with Crista ministries.