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Deuteronomy 12:15 "However, you may slaughter and eat flesh within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat it, as of the gazelle and as of the hart."

 

The "however" here is a follow-up to the Lord telling the Israelites that they should not offer their burnt offerings anywhere but the place He designates. (Deuteronomy 12:13-14) So the sacrifices that are to made to the Lord as burnt offerings must be done in certain places, while the meat for consumption may be slaughtered and eaten anywhere within their towns, and they may eat as much as they desire (although there are some restrictions, like they may not consume the blood of the slaughtered animal (Deuteronomy 12:16)).

 

These rules about the place and timing of the slaughter of animals and the eating of meat can seem fussy to us nowadays, but there was a reason for them, God is not arbitrary. Even if the people did not understand, they could trust that the God who loved them was giving them these rules for a good reason.

 

My husband and I just had a talk with our adult son about cohabitation, and it felt in some ways like we were being as fussy as these kind of rules from Deuteronomy. Our children are so steeped in the culture of permissive sex, they look on restrictions like waiting for marriage much like we look at those on the time and place of slaughtering meat to be consumed. But again, God is not arbitrary, there is a reason for everything He tells us. As we said to our son, that reason is love. In the case of cohabitation, love is being denied by the lack of commitment to each other. It is also being denied to the potential children of the union, in fact, life itself may be being denied those children, through contraception or, worse, abortion. 

 

Much like the Israelites being permitted to eat as much meat as they desired in their own towns, though, if done in the right place (marriage) and with certain restrictions, God has no problem with couples partaking in sex as much as they desire, He created it, after all! In His love, God has given us things we like to do, like eat delicious food, and have sex. He just wants us to do those things with love, as well, love that mirrors His love in giving them to us, not selfish love that takes them for our own purposes.