Study Questions:
1. Who was supposed to assure the people of the Lord’s presence when they went to battle? Deuteronomy 20:2-4
2. What was to be the first offer when they approached a city to fight against it? Deuteronomy 20:10
3. In what way was a father supposed to be impartial with his children when dividing the inheritance among them? Deuteronomy 21:15, 16
4. What were the duties of a father and a mother regarding a son who remained rebellious even after exhausting punishments? Deuteronomy 21:18, 19
Commentary and Reflection:
It is important to note that the instructions found in Deuteronomy are given in the context of theocracy, that is, the government of God. They are laws to govern the nation in the historical and cultural context of the time. God spoke to Israel in their context and cultural language.
Under the rule of Yahweh, Israel would go to war only under His direction. When they went, they were not to fear the enemy, no matter how powerful, “for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 20:1. The instructions for the draft office are far from that of mandatory military service. No one with a reason, including fear, was obligated to go to war. Surprising! Isn’t it? The reason is that the strength of Israel’s army was not in its number but in the power of its Supreme Leader.
The same promise applies to us in life when we make sure to fight only God’s battles. It applies to us as a people, as well, when we face the fury of the enemy, especially in this end time when he is most furious.
The battle instructions are magnanimous, but they apply to nations outside the territory of the promised land. The nations of Canaan were to be exterminated by divine judgment for their horrible practices and for filling the measure of wickedness. As chapter 20 states, coexistence with them would represent an existential threat to Israel.
As other writers for this plan have expressed, it is difficult for us to understand the reason behind some of the instructions given to Israel at that time.
I quote Professor Javier Diaz when he wrote addressing this issue,
“It is important to understand these laws and practices of the Old Testament in the context of the imperfect ethics that God allowed in Israel with the objective of serving as a transitional bridge until reaching the ideal that Jesus, by precept and example, modeled for us. In the Sermon on the Mount and in other teachings of Jesus, the foundations were laid for a new ethic, that of the Kingdom of God. During his ministry, Jesus interpreted, reinterpreted, and corrected those laws and practices of the Old Testament when he said, ‘You have heard that it was said … but I say to you,’ Matthew 5. And thus, he set a higher standard based on the spirit of love and not simply the letter of the law. Thanks to Jesus because he simplified the gospel for us.”
May God grant you to be observant of His direction, to fight only His battles, under His guidance.
