Deuteronomy 23.17-18

“None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.”

The use of prostitutes in conjunction with rituals of worship was not uncommon among pagan religions. God is here forbidding any such practice, and, in so doing, reinforcing the idea that Israel must not allow pagan preferences or protocols to infect the pure worship of the living God. Just because the pagans do it, it’s part of the culture with which they are familiar, and it might be a way of wooing them into the community of God’s people – none of these are good reasons to compromise the worship of God.

Here are words of warning we would do well to reflect on in our day, when so many contemporary forms and elements have found their way into the worship of God in virtually every church.

Sign up to receive Crosfigell, our thrice-weekly email devotional, featuring T. M. Moore’s insights to Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition.