Introduction
In this chapter we find a people who possess the promised land and want to conquer more (Deu 19:8). This is in accordance with God’s thoughts, for He wants to give expansion. Which in turn, is linked to the responsibility of man. There will be no expansion if there is no fight. These are voluntary wars, there is no obligation. That is why some exemptions are given. Additionally, to those afraid is given the opportunity to go home. There are other wars which God commands, and from which no one should escape, such as the ones against the Canaanites.
We can apply this to the local church. We may ask ourselves how many believers have been added to the local church in recent years. Has the area been expanded? It has to do with our spiritual power, through which we can evince where the church stands as aligned to God’s thoughts. If there is a real desire to make that happen, it is possible to win others.
Defending the truth is not only defensive, but also offensive. We can win souls through the gospel and bring them to the place God has chosen to make His Name dwell. In New Testament language, this is the bringing of those who accepted the Lord Jesus into the local church of which the Lord Jesus Himself says: “I am there in their midst” (Mt 18:20).
1 - 4 Encouragement by the Priest
1 “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. 2 When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. 3 He shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, 4 for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
With a view to the battle, the priest first addresses the people. In verse 5, the “officers” do so. The priest encourages the people. He points to the LORD their God, Who goes with them (Isa 41:10) to fight for them and to give them the victory. To know what it means that the LORD goes with them, Moses reminds the people of the redemption out of Egypt. The priest who speaks encouragements is a picture of the Lord Jesus. He encourages by His word (Jn 16:33) and by His intercession (Lk 22:32; Heb 7:25).
The enemy shows himself in his power and vast array and thereby tries to impress and deter God’s people. Horses and chariots essentially make up the army of hostile nations with which Israel must deal (Jos 17:16; Jdg 4:3; 1Sam 13:5; 2Sam 8:4; 1Chr 18:4; 19:18). Inclined as Israel is to be impressed by that display of strength, the priest gives a fourfold encouragement to face the enemy:
1. do not be fainthearted,
2. do not be afraid,
3. do not panic and
4. do not tremble.
The reason for this is the presence of the LORD. Together with the Lord, we need not fear the greatest and most powerful enemy (2Chr 32:7), for he is a defeated enemy from the outset. Without the Lord, however, even the most insignificant enemy has the upper hand.
Believers who encourage us as true priests, that is, from God’s presence, are urgently needed. There is no need for believers who want to impose on us a certain strategy or tactic, often derived from the model of the world. The gospel and the truth of God are not articles to be sold through management techniques. Believers who work with these means live predominantly in the presence of the world. They are under the influence of the thinking that reigns in the world, and not in the presence of the Lord and under the influence of His thinking.
5 - 9 The Officers Speak to the People
5 The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would dedicate it. 6 Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use its fruit? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would begin to use its fruit. 7 And who is the man that is engaged to a woman and has not married her? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would marry her.’ 8 Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him depart and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’ 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people.
After the priest, the officers speak to the people. The priest encourages in view of the battle. The officials discourage certain categories from taking part in the battle. They must ensure that only qualified soldiers take up the fight. A believer is a qualified soldier if he can devote himself completely to the Lord, without having to deal with anything else (2Tim 2:4). This means that he goes into the battle in complete confidence on the Lord and only focused on Him.
The officers do not prohibit these categories from participating, but suggest that they first deal with the situation they have just found themselves in. These are people who have recently entered into a new situation to which certain expectations apply, expectations not yet realized by such as these. It concerns those who have
1. built a new house,
2. planted a vineyard, and
3. become engaged to a woman.
Anyone who has built a new house, but has not yet lived in it, may first move into it. This can be applied to someone who has just been converted. As a result he has come to live in the house of God. Now such a person must learn how to behave in that house (1Tim 3:15). The saying that we are ‘saved to save’ may sound good, but doesn’t originate from the Word of God. A person must first learn to take his place in the local church. Only then can he go out.
Also someone who has planted a vineyard, but has not yet enjoyed its fruit, need not join the battle. He may wait for the first fruit to enjoy it. This waiting time can be as long as five years (Lev 19:23-25). Wine is a picture of joy (Jdg 9:13a). Here is the lesson that first we can and must enjoy the blessings ourselves in order to be able to distribute them. We can’t testify truthfully to something we haven’t enjoyed the experience of ourselves.
Someone who is engaged to a woman, also, need not join the battle (Deu 24:5). He may first marry and rejoice in intimacy with his wife; this includes sexual intercourse. The joy of sexual intercourse in marriage is also associated with the conception of offspring. It is the experience of the intimacy of love with the resulting fruit. This can be applied to the experience of the fellowship with the Lord Jesus and the fruit that this produces for Him. The exercise of fellowship with the Lord Jesus must come first. Then one can set of to the battle.
Another category is mentioned in verse 8. Everyone will have been afraid in the fight once. However, if someone is marked by a spirit of fear, the Lord cannot use him. Such a person may go back home. Paul acts as an officer when he sends John Mark back home (Acts 15:38). Mark spent some time with Paul, but the hardships have become too much for him (Acts 13:13). Being a Christian cost him too much. Taking someone like him to the work poses more of a hindrance than a help to the furtherance of the gospel.
With Gideon we too see the effect of this verse. He receives from the LORD the instruction to act according to the directions of this verse. As a result, no less than 22,000 men have dropped out of his already small army (Jdg 7:3)!
After everyone has had the opportunity to make a personal decision not to take part in the battle, the battle can begin. The army is provided with army commanders. They go first and are examples for the soldiers who follow. They do not define the way of fighting. God does.
10 - 15 The Offer of Peace
10 “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. 11 If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. 12 However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. 14 Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby.
In the preceding verses, we have seen the preparations for the battle. From verse 10 onwards we have the actual battle. Yet the battle does not immediately ensue. The first thing to do is to offer peace to a city that one wants to conquer. Listening to this results in a covenant relationship. In this way what has been in the realm of the world is brought into the realm of God’s people and put into their service. Not all cities submit so quickly. In instances of resistance, judgment must be exercised.
The full counsel of God is also contained in the proclamation of the gospel. When that truth is presented, we often encounter resistance. That resistance must be done away with. This is necessary, so that others can be won. The passage puts it in stark terms: the men (actioning resistance) are killed, the women (who submit) remain alive.
In the life of the believer there are different kinds of fights. We must distinguish between our fight and God’s fight. Our fight stems from the fact that sin still dwells within us (Gal 5:17). This fight often prevents us from fighting God’s fight.
If the flesh is kept down, we can put on the full armor of God and fight God’s fight (Eph 6:12-13). This battle is fought in propagating, proclaiming and defending what God has entrusted to us. Thus Paul can say that he fought the good fight (2Tim 4:7). That is the God-given battle delivered to him: the gospel of peace.
‘Battle’ and ‘service’ are the same word in Hebrew. The proclamation of the Word is Levitical service and it is also battle. We are obligated to go out in that service. God sees the people as in the land. Similarly, He sees the Christian as seated in Christ in the heavenly places. From that established position, in full awareness thereof, we may proclaim God’s truth.
16 - 18 Cities 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, 18 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.
Nothing can be spared from the enemies mentioned in these verses. They should not be offered peace. The offer of peace applies only to cities outside the land. The cities of the nations of the land represent the strongholds of evil in which the wickedness in the heavenly places is expressed (Eph 6:12).
19 - 20 Trees with Edible Fruit
19 “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? 20 Only the trees which you know are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls.
In a besieged city, elements may be present that are useful to the people of God. That is why we must work with distinction in the fight. Whatever is created by God as food and therefore is good (1Tim 4:4-5), we must spare. Here we must distinguish between the things of the world and the things of the earth or creation. For example, we may use the things from creation for spiritual purposes, thinking of things like buildings, implements and technique.
Trees do no harm to people. On the contrary, there are trees that bear fruit for the benefit of man. Only trees that do not produce fruit, that occupy the ground without generative purpose, should be cut down. Yet even the destruction of inanimate things must be done with discernment. The Lord Jesus makes His disciples “gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost” which serves the maintenance of the life of man (Jn 6:12).