Deuteronomy 20:1-20
Q.1. What role was filled by the priests in battle? How were the officers to select soldiers for the army? Why? – (Dt.20:1-9)
The prophets often recorded the way that Israel insulted God by turning to other nations, rather than being faithful to Him. Therefore, it is not surprising that God’s representatives, the priests, were to lead in battle. This was to remind the people of the reality of God’s presence among them (c.f. 2 Chr.13:12; 20:21-22). Their role was to challenge and encourage the soldiers to trust in God, in spite of the difficult odds – “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you (Dt.20:1 c.f. 20:3). The captains of the army were also to prune the army of those whose affections were elsewhere, so that – … he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’ (Dt.20:8). This included not only the faint-hearted, but also those who had unfinished business at home, such as dedicating a new home, bringing in the vintage of a new vineyard, or getting married. They were to march out to war as one, under the Commander-in-Chief, the Lord of hosts (c.f. Jos.5:14-15).
Q.2. What battle-plan did God give Israel? What was Israel to do with the opposing army, their families, and livestock? Why? – (Dt.20:10-18)
The battle-plan was never the same. However, the strategy was firstly to offer terms of peace, and bring the enemy into servitude as forced labourers (Dt.20:10-11). If the nation resisted and was far off, they were to kill all the soldiers but preserve the women, children, and livestock for themselves (Dt.20:12-14). However, the inhabitants of the Promised Land itself were to be utterly destroyed – 16 Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you (Dt.20:16-17). This is hard for us to reconcile with a God of love (which is undeniable when we consider the cross – Jn.3:16-17). However, as we have seen, God restrained His judgment until these nations were ripe for judgment. They had to be removed – so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the Lord your God (Dt.20:18). Such treatment would stave off another judgment like the Flood, when only eight out of millions could be saved – 4 “Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, `Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. 5 It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Dt.9:4-5). We know that it is not God’s will that any should perish, and that God understands the ‘mystery of lawlessness’ that forces Him to cut short its evil influence, which would result in more people being lost forever (Mt.24:12-14, 21-22; 2 Thes.2:7; 2 Pet.3:9).
Q.3. How concerned was Israel to be for the conservation of the land? What trees could they use for battle? – (Dt.20:19-20)
The ‘scorched earth policy’ has been used throughout history by armies, in order to rob a nation’s wealth and leave them with little to rise again. Examples were the atom bombs that destroyed the Japanese cities and people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Israel was expressly forbidden to treat the land that way – “When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? (Dt.20:19). Many trees produced fruit. Non-fruit trees could be used in battle against their opponents. Consistent with God’s creation principle – Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it (Gen.2:15). After the Curse is removed, the new Heaven and earth will not just be restored. They will reflect God’s fruitfulness, creativity, and glory (Rev.chpts.21-22).