Deuteronomy 20:1

When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 20:1)

God's ancient rules of warfare reveal a God who fights for His people and offers peace even to those in open rebellion against Him.

Where We Are in Deuteronomy

We've been going through the book of Deuteronomy for some time, and we've finally arrived at chapter 20. This is Moses's second reading of the law to the people of Israel, right before they enter the promised land—an overview of God's expectations for His children. As a parent of a two-year-old, I have expectations for how she should act at the store, at church, and at home. No matter what household you grew up in, your parents had expectations for you. In the same way, God has expectations for His children, and when we get misaligned with His expectations—the law of God—there are consequences.

In the first ten chapters, Moses reminds the people of the mistakes their parents and previous generations made. Essentially, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Hebrews 2:1 says, "Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." Spend good time in the word and learn from the mistakes of those in the past.

Scripture is different from any other ancient text. The kings and people of God are portrayed in a very realistic light—their mistakes are right out in the open, their good times and bad times written plainly. Other ancient Near Eastern texts tended to portray their people better than they actually were. But God reminds us that His people were very much like us. They made mistakes, wandered from God, and He brought them back.

From chapter 11 on, Moses instructs and prepares the people to enter the promised land—blessing in obedience, what worship was to look like, how God felt about false gods and idols, and how to live for God with all of your life. The source of true wisdom is found in the word of God.

Reviewing Chapter 19: God's Justice and the City of Refuge

Last week in Deuteronomy 19, we looked at God's justice system—how His people were to operate justly and self-govern. There was no standing police force, because the people were responsible to govern themselves through strong family structures. In society there were expectations: you could not steal, kill, lie, or cheat, and there were consequences if you did. It was really the first form of a republic.

God also instituted the cities of refuge—cities where someone who accidentally killed another person could flee from a family seeking vengeance and find safety. These had to be established right away and easily accessible. It's a great picture foreshadowing Jesus: He is always near, our place of safety and refuge. We don't need to climb mountains or wade through rivers to reach Him. Jesus did all the work; we simply need to turn to Him.

Reading the Scriptures in Their Context

Now in chapter 20, God shifts to instructing His people about warfare. Whereas before the focus was internal—how to deal with injustices within their own people—now the question is how to deal with conflict outside their walls, outside their nation.

I encourage us not to read these scriptures, written close to 4,000 years ago, through our cultural lens, superimposing our values and beliefs over what the text actually says. We often look at Scripture through our expectations and ask, "How could they possibly have lived like this? How could God allow these things?" Context is king. Pastor Miles is going to be doing a "How to Study Your Bible" class—dig into the context: who the author is writing to, what kind of writing it is, and what was normal in that time, so we can understand why God's word was so different from the surrounding culture.

There's also a difference between our individualistic Western culture and the collective-minded culture of the ancient Near East. Back then, you saw yourself as connected to a family, a tribe, a nation. You were a king because your father was a king; you were a priest because you were born into the tribe of Levi. Today we're uncomfortable with unchosen obligations. But in that culture, if you were a man, it was expected you would go fight—and we'll see there were only four reasons you could be excused.

As men, the Scriptures tell us we have certain obligations we did not choose, because we did not choose to be men—but God has given them to us in our families and in society. Not everything is about you. In fact, when we look at this scripture, it's all about God; it's all about Jesus. God wants to invite you into something greater—His kingdom work on this earth.

The Heart for the Battle

The first instructions in chapter 20 concern the heart for the battle. It begins, "When you go out to war against your enemies"—notice it does not say if. God is guaranteeing that this nation will encounter conflict. And "when," not "if," you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward:

Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for the battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts be faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you the victory.

Before any physical or practical preparation for battle, God sees a greater need: spiritual preparation. Even today, soldiers know that when they're deployed, they're facing death—and if you're not ready to face death with confidence, knowing where you stand spiritually, you won't be a very good soldier.

It was the priests' job to encourage these soldiers, reminding them that God is for them and will give them the victory. They would see armies bigger, stronger, faster, and better-equipped than themselves, and the natural reaction is fear. The priests were given the job of encouraging the soldiers before the battle.

A Picture of Chaplaincy

This is encouraging to me as a chaplain. We often forget that chaplaincy is a very real ministry that has played a significant role in encouraging troops throughout the world wars. We should be praying for chaplains—not just those who work with fire and police departments, but those deploying with our armed forces, ministering in places the church cannot otherwise go. Not anyone can walk into a police or fire station and minister; special access is needed. We need to pray for those who have access to minister to people in stressful jobs.

At the beginning of World War II, it was well known that there must be spiritual preparation before going to battle. President Franklin Roosevelt, in partnership with the Gideons, issued pocket New Testaments to our troops with a preface: "As Commander in Chief, I take great pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries, men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the sacred book words of wisdom, counsel, and inspiration. It is a foundation of strength and now, as always, an aid to attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul." Roosevelt understood that going into battle meant facing death, and a soldier needed to be spiritually prepared.

The phrase "Hear, O Israel" would have echoed the Shema: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." Here it's, "Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for the battle." Do not look at this as a battle between man and man, but between God and man—and you are on God's side.

The world is in a shaky place right now, but I want to encourage you, church: God is on our side. Do not fear. He is with us. He will fight for us. The church has never died and never will. The mission of the church has not stopped—it is even greater today that we get the good news of Jesus Christ out.

Point One: The Heart of the Army Is More Important Than Its Size

The priests' job was to turn the hearts of the soldiers to God, reminding them that God Himself was fighting for them—the God who brought them out of Egypt, who parted the Red Sea when they were backed up against it with the greatest army on earth behind them. Time and again God protected and saved His people. Soldiers who know God and trust in Him are a fighting force none can match. If God is for us, who can stand against us? We are never alone in the battles we face.

Point Two: A Good Soldier Is Fearless, Faithful, and Focused on God's Plan

Then, surprisingly, God begins sending soldiers home. James 1:8 says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, and 2 Timothy 2:4 says, "No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him."

First, "Is there any man among you who has built a new house and has not dedicated it?" When you're on the battlefield, the last thing you want to be thinking about is your unfinished house and your family being unprotected. God says: if you've started building but haven't finished and enjoyed it, go home first. Our first ministry, biblically, is our family, and keeping priorities in order is of utmost importance: God first, then spouse and family, then job and ministry. Every time those priorities get out of order, the consequences are devastating—not just to you, but to the ring of people around you. If our home isn't in order, we have no business being in the battle.

Second, "Is there any man who has planted a vineyard and not enjoyed its fruit?" This is the man who has done all the work but not yet tasted the labor's reward. God calls men to be not only the spiritual head of the home but the provider. The Bible says the man who does not provide for his family is worse than an unbeliever.

Third, "Is any man newly engaged or married?" Go home. God tells the young Jewish man to defer the battle for a year and start his family. It's more important for the nation that he be with his new wife than that he go off to war.

Point Three: God Wants Us to Enjoy the Blessings of Life, Not Just the Battles

Over the last three years, we've experienced turbulent times and perhaps fewer of life's blessings—or we feel guilty as Christians when we experience them, whether playing on a softball team or going fishing. God wants you and me to enjoy the blessings of life, not just the battles. God wants us to enjoy our homes, our spouses, our families, and our occupations. He did not want these Jewish men to use military duty to neglect their families.

Home life, work life, and marriage are three things that, if out of order, will make your life very hard. When I applied to be a chaplain with the police department, I went through the same extensive background check as any officer. They didn't just examine my moral character; they looked at whether I'd been financially responsible, what kind of employee I was, whether my bosses and coworkers respected me. When we get our lives out of order, everything is affected. Get your house in order, guys—your job, your finances, and your marriage.

When Fear Spreads

Verse 8: if you are afraid, go home—fear is contagious. It is completely natural to be fearful in battle. Many have heard of the fight, flight, or freeze response. Fear can make a soldier focused and lethal, or completely incapacitated. But the fear of one man can spread to the entire regiment, so God says send him home. I need men who are focused, faithful, and dedicated to God and His plan.

Think about Gideon. Hiding in a winepress, threshing grain in fear of the Midianites who plundered Israel's harvest like locusts, Gideon hears God call him "mighty warrior." God assembles 32,000 men, then tells Gideon there are too many. Those who are afraid go home—20,000 leave. Then God whittles the number down at the stream, keeping only the 300 who scooped water to their mouths. The point of these deferrals was to reduce the army so drastically that victory could only be attributed to God.

Offering Terms of Peace

When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it... But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword. But the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourself.

This sounds barbaric until we look at the context. God tells His fighting men: when you come to a city, offer peace first. You don't go with a heart to kill everyone; you go extending peace. Yahweh Himself is extending peace—will you take it? Those who took the peace were saved.

This is a picture of how God approaches us. Sin separates us from Him, yet God came for us while we were still sinners. While we were holding up weapons in open, armed rebellion against God, He sent His Son to die for us. We had not yet laid down our arms or surrendered, and still He came offering peace. Sin is war with God, and He comes to us first offering peace. If you reject Him, there is judgment. If you accept His peace, you will live.

If a city refused peace, God said to lay siege to it—like Jericho, where the people marched around the city and the walls came tumbling down. Siege warfare was new for Israel; some cities had walls up to 30 feet tall with moats. Some rejected the offer of peace, and God said, surround that city and wait until the Lord gives it into your hand. Throughout this passage, God gets the glory. It is not our strength, might, tactics, or wisdom—it is the Lord who gives victory, lest any of us should boast.

Point Four: God's People Never Get to Stand on Their Own

God's people never reach a place where they can stand on their own. God gets all the glory; we are wholly reliant on Him for life, breath, and everything. This is the God who formed us from the dust, breathed life into us, and made us in His image—spiritual beings meant for eternity, with hearts and souls, feelings and emotions like God.

When we turn to self-reliance—my bank account, my power, my strength, my wisdom—all of those things can fail, but God never will. The mature Christian looks at all his wealth and possessions and says, "God, this is all Yours; help me do with it what You would have me do, to be a blessing and to love those around me. You loved us while we were yet sinners, so help me be a person of peace to the sinner like You were to me."

Why the Males, and Why Total Destruction Within the Land

Why did God say to put all the males to the sword? In that culture, the women had zero political say in the city's decision to reject peace; they were to submit to their husbands and had no voice in such matters. God wanted to give those women a chance. Also, an enemy man left alive would be an enemy forever. The men had knowingly rejected the offer of peace. God only judges those responsible for the decision. You and I will be judged for the personal decisions we make. God's grace in this situation was that He gave everyone the opportunity to know the true and living God.

Consider how warfare was conducted then. The Assyrian army—like all armies of the time—was brutal. They forced captured enemy soldiers to dig up the graves of their ancestors and grind the bones to dust. They took enemy commanders to public places, filleted their skin off with sharp knives, and hung it on pillars. God's law actually placed vast limits on what Israel could do. Captive women and children in that culture would have become slaves or worse, with no protection at all. God said: if you take one of their women, you marry her, which means you protect her, put a roof over her head, feed her, and love her. That was vastly different from any other army of the time.

There were different rules for the nations within the promised land—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, and others—who were to be utterly destroyed, even their livestock. We know this didn't fully happen, because these peoples plagued Israel for centuries. Why such judgment? Because for hundreds of years these people had opportunities to repent and refused, turning to idol worship, sorcery, and paganism. God does not wish for any to perish, but desires all to come to a saving knowledge of Him.

God's Grace Is Not God's Permission

God's grace does not equal God's permission. For hundreds of years these nations got away with their wickedness, and God didn't act. Doesn't that mean He permitted it? No. Because God allows wicked behavior for a time does not mean He approves of it. There is a coming judgment where we will answer for every single thing we did. You might say, "God, You didn't judge me even though I did X, Y, and Z and wasn't faithful." Just because God was gracious with you for so long does not mean He gave you permission.

God also commanded their removal because He knew Israel would become just like them. If you camp among idol worshipers, you will end up worshiping idols. We're like sponges; we become like those we hang out with. And God knew His people were especially susceptible—at Mount Sinai, with no surrounding nation to influence them, while Moses was on the mountain 40 days, they pooled their gold and made a golden calf. No wonder God made them grind that idol to dust and eat it.

We as Christians are called to put to death the works of the flesh—removing anything that causes us to sin—because bad company corrupts good morals. Our standard for living today is not the culture; it's the Bible. Are you looking at pornography? Are you cheating on someone? Why are you allowing yourself to continue? Put to death the works of the flesh. Surround yourself with Christians, join a connect group, get engaged in church, start serving, show up regularly, read your Scriptures and pray like you mean it. Get your house in order.

Conclusion: Leaving the Fruit Trees

At the end of this section, God commands that when besieging a city, you must not cut down the trees that bear fruit. Surrounding armies would cut down every tree to make weapons, ladders, and siege instruments, but God said to leave the fruit trees because they're profitable. God had a longer-term picture of feeding and blessing people. His army doesn't need to rely on conventional means for victory, because they have Him. God's people are to wage war differently—not utterly destructive—so leave what's bearing fruit.

So how do we prepare for the battles we face? We need a proper heart, faith, and focus. We need our homes, marriages, lives, and finances in order. We need to be 100% reliant on God for everything. And we need to come with peace to those who do not know God, sharing His love, mercy, and grace—not being judgmental and self-righteous toward the world.

It can be easy to feel detached from this text and say, "I'm not in warfare; I'm not a young Jewish man going off to war." But remember: the very Gentile nations these ancient Jews fought are you and me—those in direct rebellion against God. And yet God chose to sacrifice His only Son to have a relationship with us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly, so that we should believe in Jesus and not perish but have everlasting life. I hope you can look death in the face and say, "I have everlasting life, and my God is for me, so who can be against me?" And if you can't, I pray you would strongly believe in Jesus Christ—turn to Him, repent of your sins, be forgiven, and follow Him the rest of your days.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank You for this time in Your word, for the rules of warfare You gave Your people, and the restrictions You set so they would not become the barbarians the surrounding culture accepted. You put in place protections for women and children, for livestock, and even for trees that bore fruit. The battles we face today may be greatly different from those faced thousands of years ago, but as Your word says, nothing is new under the sun. Help us to be good soldiers for You, for we do not wage war against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities of this dark age. Until You come again, You've given us the great mission of sharing Your good news with the lost, the dying, and the rebellious. Help us to be people of peace, and may our declaration of the gospel of Jesus Christ sway hearts and minds as Your Holy Spirit softens them, that many should be saved and none should perish. This is our hope and where we put our trust. In Jesus' precious name, amen.