Deuteronomy 20:1-20 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 20:1-20. Let’s go!
Deuteronomy 20:1-4 (NIV)
1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.
2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army.
3 He shall say: “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them.
4 For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
On verses 1-4: In Deuteronomy 20:1-9, Moses prepares the Israelites for war against their enemies. His big message to the Israelite army: do not be afraid, for God is with you (v1-4).
Praise God that, similarly, we have every reason to live life with courage. That’s because God is with us. As Moses says, “do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you” (v1).
Even if the challenge you are facing seems so much bigger than you (v1), don’t be afraid. The One who conquered our biggest problems — sin and death — is bigger than any challenge you face. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Live with courage today!
Deuteronomy 20:5-7 (NIV)
5 The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may dedicate it.
6 Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it.
7 Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.”
On verses 5-7: A problem that can affect the success of a team is distraction. If I’m distracted, this doesn’t affect me only; it hurts the team I’m a part of – whether it’s a team at church, work, school, anywhere. That’s why in verses 5-7 Moses tells the officers to tell any soldier who is distracted by other commitments to go home.
Deuteronomy 20:8-9 (NIV)
8 Then the officers shall add, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too.”
9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.
On verses 8-9: Why does Moses encourage the officers of Israel’s army to eradicate fear from the army? It’s because he knows that fear works like a virus. It can spread.
You might think that fear is a personal issue, that if I am fearful it affects me alone. But Deuteronomy 20:8 reminds us that my fear affects those around me. If you’ve ever worked with or lived with someone who had a problem with fear, you know that one person’s fear can hurt the entire team. That’s why Moses insists that any soldier who is afraid or fainthearted go home, “so that his brothers will not become disheartened too.” (v8)
On the other hand, when you move in faith and not fear, that can be contagious too. Through your courage, you can encourage others. “Encourage”, after all, means to put courage in someone else.
Do you want the people around you to be courageous? It starts with you.
May you be courageous in the things you do today, for courage is contagious.
Deuteronomy 20:10-18 (NIV)
10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.
11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you.
12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city.
13 When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.
14 As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the LORD your God gives you from your enemies.
15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
16 However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.
17 Completely destroy them–the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites–as the LORD your God has commanded you.
18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.
On verses 10-18: Here Moses sets up two different standards for dealing with nations that the Israelites will conquer, depending on where they live. If they live far away from the Promised Land, the Israelites are to take a more peaceful approach: offer a peace settlement and if they refuse, lay seige to the city and take the women and children as plunder. But if the enemy is located inside the Promised Land itself, the Israelites must completely destroy that nation. Why? Verse 18 gives the reason: “Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.”
What’s the lesson here? The closer you allow someone to get to you, the more important it is that you and that person be aligned in your vision and values. That of course includes whom you worship and how. Otherwise, there will be much conflict and you will end up compromising your vision and values. So before you attach yourself to someone romantically or financially, before you promote a person to become a senior leader on your team, make sure that their heart is very much aligned with yours. The closer they get to you, or the bigger the promotion, the more crucial it is that they have the same heart, vision and values as you do. Otherwise you’re setting yourself up for much pain and conflict that you would have been better off avoiding.
Deuteronomy 20:19-20 (NIV)
19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees of the field people, that you should besiege them?
20 However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.
On verses 19-20: Moses instructs the Israelites on how to use trees that they find. (Seriously! Moses was a detail-oriented guy. Definitely a beaver personality!) What can we learn from this? Be wise in how you use the resources God gives to you. Treat the trees that bear fruit with special care. Don’t abuse them or take them for granted. Care for them in a way that will enable them to continue to bear fruit for the long term. Recognize the difference between trees that you can use for long term benefit and resources that are best to be used just once only.
Praise You God for all the lessons we can learn from Your Word. Thank You that because You are with me, I don’t need to be afraid and I can live with courage today. Please give me wisdom to use wisely all that You have made available to me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
