Preparing for Battle

INTRO

Deuteronomy 19 deals with the cities of refuge in Canaan. It also explains how to deal with intentional and unintentional manslaughter, the role of neighbors, and how evil can be purged, with two to three witnesses. Eugene Merrill identified Deuteronomy 20 as “a manual of warfare.”¹The Israelites hadn’t gone into the land or even put together an army. First they had the manual, and then the army.

TEACHING

Deuteronomy 20:1: The manual begins with, if the opposing army was larger than the Israelites, they should not be afraid. God had continually shown up for the Israelites, and He was with them as they entered the Promised Land. Instead, they needed to walk by faith because the battle was God’s (Psalm 20:7; Exodus 15:3; Deuteronomy 20:4).

Deuteronomy 20:2–4: Before the battle even began, the priest was to come forward and address the army (v. 2) and then the priests would blow the trumpets (Numbers 10:8–9). In verse 3, the message the priest was to deliver was “Do not be cowardly. Do not be afraid, alarmed, or terrified.” This message was given to the patriarchs as well (Genesis 15:1; 46:3; Exodus 14:13; Isaiah 41:10; Luke 1:13, 30). Each of these were walking into new territory, into the unknown, in faith. Sometimes in the anxiety and worry of the moment, we think we have to do something ourselves. “For the LORD your God is the One who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory” (v. 4). So the priest served as the mediator between the army and God. First Chronicles 27:5 shows the importance of priests in the battle.

Deuteronomy 20:5: In verse 5, exemptions from battle for soldiers were given. Nelson’s commentary stated, “The exemptions indicate God’s compassion for people whose minds are somewhere else (home, vineyard, wife) or whose hearts are not with Him (fear).”²Wiersbe identified three types of exemptions. The first exemption was about home and “was to allow the soldier to dedicate a new house to the Lord and start living in it . . . to start living in the house with his family and enjoying it.”³This had to do with the immediacy of war, and suggests that if the soldier couldn’t focus on the battle because of what he’d left behind, it would be better for him not to be there. Eugene Merrill says, “It’s a well-attested fact that fear or preoccupation in the midst of a conflict can endanger the life not only of the person afflicted by it but also the person’s compatriots.”⁴(Luke 9:23–27; 57–62; 2 Timothy 2:4; James 1:8)

Deuteronomy 20:6: Wiersbe explains the second reason for an exemption was about the harvest and allowing the soldier to return home “to harvest a vineyard whose fruit the soldier hadn’t yet tasted.”⁵Nelson’s commentary explains, “It took as many as five years for a vineyard to begin to produce. A man who had waited for several years for the first produce from his vines was allowed to oversee the vines until they produced grapes.”⁶Maybe this is a picture of God’s compassion for a family— being in a short battle wasn’t worth the family losing their harvest.

Deuteronomy 20:7: Wiersbe explains the third exemption was about the honeymoon and “was to permit the engaged soldier to go home and get married.”⁷Deuteronomy 24:5 says, “When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free to stay at home for one year so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.” We interviewed two young men who wanted to come on the mission field with the Time to Revive organization, but both were about to get married. We turned them down because we thought it was more important, at that time, for them to get their marriages established before being on the road one week per month. This seems to point to that same idea: Get your marriage grounded before you do this.

Deuteronomy 20:8-9: This is another exemption. If the soldier was afraid or a coward, they were to go home. Constable says, “God’s purpose was to use only the best soldiers, those that were confident in God’s promise of victory.”⁸God didn’t need a big army because He was in charge. Remember what happened with Gideon? He started with 32,000 men, but 22,000 turned back (Judges 7:1-3). There were too many for God to receive glory in the victory.

Deuteronomy 20:10–15: When coming to each city, they must first offer peace. If they accepted the peace, they became the Israelites’ slaves (vv. 10-11). If the city didn’t offer peace, then the Israelites would wage war and strike down all the males (vv. 12-13). Everything besides the men—women, children, all the livestock, and whatever was in the city—was to be kept as plunder (v. 14). This was what was done in distant cities (not Canaanite cites).

Deuteronomy 20:16–18: When they went into Canaanite cities, they were to destroy everything (v. 16–17). This was so the Canaanites would not corrupt the Israelites with their false gods (v. 18).

Deuteronomy 20:19–20: When the Israelites laid siege to a city for a long time, they were not to cut down the trees because the trees could provide food. However, they could cut down trees that produced no food or were needed to build “siege works against the city . . . until it falls” (v.20).

CLOSING

God was getting His people ready for war. The reality is that when we wake up, we, too, are in a battle every day. Do you realize you are in a battle?

Ephesians 6:12–18: “For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is God’s word. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”

Deuteronomy 19 spells out what refuge cities were. Deuteronomy 20 explains who was going to go to battle. The priests were to be the mediators. There are three exemptions to being able to fight in the army: home, harvest, and honeymoon.