Making War pt2: Deuteronomy 20:10-20

Text Read

Deuteronomy 20:10–20

“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God. “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

Text Explained

Deuteronomy 20:10–20

Cities Far (10-15)

“When you draw near to a city to fight against it This passage gives no reasons as to why the Israelites would be going to war with a neighboring nation. Perhaps the neighboring nation is encroaching or threatening, who knows. This passage does not comment on the reasons for war, but rather accepts the reality that nations go to war. So when the time came for Israel to go to war, how were they supposed to respond. I believe there is an assumption that Israel had gone to battle and was now in the position of advantage. I say this, first because the previous 9 verses have told us that God would give the victory over their enemies who had horses and chariots etc, military equipment used in open battle and not in a siege, second, the normal next step after defeating an army in open battle is to besiege their cities and third, as scholar J.G. McConville points out: “The offer of peace concerns the kind of relationship that will exist between conqueror and conquered after the war, in accordance with the universal practice of treaty-making in the ANE.” (McConville, J. G. (2002). Deuteronomy (D. W. Baker & G. J. Wenham, Eds.; Vol. 5, p. 320). Apollos; InterVarsity Press.). So here the setting is most likely the Israelites now in the advantageous position of besieging an enemy city. When they are in this position, what does God require of them? First, they are to offer terms of peace to it. “The idea was not that of a simple nonaggression pact in which both parties agreed to live in peace but a demand for capitulation. Only under such terms could the threatened city expect survival. To make peace was therefore tantamount to making covenant, the kind in which the city under attack placed itself in subservience to the peoples demanding the terms of peace.” (Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 285). Broadman & Holman Publishers.) Last week we noticed the repetition of assured victory because the Lord would fight for them. Now as that promise of victory is at hand, when the enemy is on the ropes, they are to offer terms of peace. Will the enemies surrender/submit and become vassals of the Israelites or would they continue to resist.

Peaceful Submission/Surrender

And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. If a city chooses to surrender and submit they would have to serve the Israelites. An interesting though peculiar illustration of this is found in Joshua 9. In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites had heard of the defeat of Jericho and AI. In fear of destruction, they put on worn out clothes and took dry and crumbly food in order to give the Israelites the impression that they had come from a long distance. Upon arrival they surrendered and placed themselves under the vassal treaty. In accordance with the command we find here in Deuteronomy 20, they took oaths and signed treaties, only then was it discovered that the Gibeonites were just three days from where the Israelites were. The text in Joshua 9:14 makes it clear that the Israelites ...did not ask counsel from the Lord. Nevertheless, the Israelites kept their vow not to destroy them and the Gibeonites forced servitude required them to be cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation (Josh 9:21). This is a peculiar illustration, but this illustrate what it might look like to surrender to the Israelites. So if a far city/nation made war with the Israelites, when they lost and if they surrendered they were to be treated honorably and with mercy in accord with the terms of their vassalship. However...

Continued Resistance

But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. If the city refuses to surrender/submit, then ...when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, God’s victory is taken for granted, you shall put all its males to the sword, All the men are to be executed and everything else is to be spared. but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. Why kill all the men? One scholar points out “The death of the men was not only to induce other cities to a more ready submission to Israel but to prevent future uprising in the city that had just been taken. These drastic measures seem harsh indeed, but one must never forget that the sovereign purposes of God are not up for negotiation. Those who attempt to thwart them(God’s purposes) lay themselves open to swift and sure retribution.”(Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 286). Broadman & Holman Publishers.) Israel was to have the boundaries of the Promised Land. If another nation attempted to encroach upon the Promised Land, they were not just going against God’s people, they were in essence going against God Himself. God said the Israelites were to have this Land and if another attempted to steal some of it, there must be consequences. (Ill. If you as a parent give a gift to your child and another kid from school attempts to steal it by force, you are going to have a problem with that.) So if a nation attempts to conquer or take by force, when that nation is defeated in battle, and then continues to refuses to submit, even though they are now besieged, then they have chosen their end. However, I would have you notice, that even in this resistance, there is mercy. The women and children are NOT to be put to the sword. Only the men are to be killed. One may say, “Yeah well that’s not much of a comfort b/c now they are slaves/plunder.” This is war. War is not nice. If a nation makes war on Israel, loses, and still refuses to submit, then they must be forced to submit, or the Israelites would suffer again once that nation grew in power. Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. When war occurs with cities far away and when God gives the victory, there is to be mercy for those who submit, execution of men and complete loss for those who refuse. However, for the...

Cities Near

But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, This verse brings up the morality of God. When discussing the morality of God, so many people like to point back to the Jewish Conquest of Canaan as an immoral act of God. How dare He the Creator of the Universe, the Sustainer of Life, the One who holds all things together by the power of His Word, how dare He, the Judge of All the Earth, pronounce judgement on nations… Some might say, “God should have given them a chance.” I would refer you to a conversation God had with Abraham 400 years earlier Gen 15:16 And they/Israelites shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” While the Amorites were mentioned specifically in this context, we see that God’s longsuffering is made clear. 400 years to continue in their sin or to turn to God. Also, they saw God working in the life of Abraham, they had a witness, yet they did not repent and turn. I find it ironic that people will claim with one breath that God is immoral for executing judgment upon such a wicked people then in the very next breath condemn God for letting bad people get away with doing bad things. Do you want God to execute judgment or not? But what about the women and children? Many of the women would have been complicit in the evil acts (women can be evil too, consider Jezebel or the “cows of Bashan” Amos 4:1), and as for the children, Parent’s your actions, good or bad, affect the life of your children. (Ill. When a Judge puts a set of parents in jail, it negatively affects the children.) Everything I have just said is part of the larger discussion on the conquest of Canaan, but I want us to notice something, our text today is more focused on keeping evil away from the Israelites then on punishing the evil of the Canaanites...

One Purpose of the Canaanites Destruction

that they/Canaanites may not teach you/Israelites to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God. The purpose being emphasized here in this part of Deuteronomy is to keep the Israelites away from learning and then doing abominable practices. Why? B/c if the Israelites begin to do those practices, then they will also come under the judgment of God and God would remove them just like He was going to remove the Canaanites. Embedded in this verse is a warning to the Israelites. If God used the Israelites to execute judgement for sin, then God would execute judgment upon them if they did the same thing. Then our passage returns to the besieging of a city with an interesting few verses.

Save the Food Bearing Trees

“When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls. “The practice of cutting down trees and laying waste the land was employed by the Egyptians and other military powers in the Near East. In contrast to the total havoc wreaked by the great military powers of that time, Israel was to discriminate in the use of its destructive power and to be guided by good sense and utilitarian requirements.” (Craigie, P. C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy (pp. 276–277). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) The text points out that the trees are not human, nor did the trees do any besieging against Israel. As one scholar observes “...trees might belong to the enemy, they were not an enemy, and they were not to be treated with vindictive wrath as if they were persons. Even non-fruit-bearing trees should not be cut down at random, but only in order to fulfil particular requirements, such as building siege-works.” (Craigie, P. C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy (p. 277). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) Israel was not to be random in how they waged war, in every facet they were to be disciplined, purposeful, and strictly adhering to the Commands of God.

Text Applied

Judgment Comes for All: For the Canaanites, the time of judgment was come. The opportunity for peace with God had passed. The Israelites were to enter the Land and execute Divine Judgment upon the people for their wickedness. God had been longsuffering. For 400 years, the people of Jericho, AI, and all the other cities were continuing in their sin not knowing that these escaped slaves on the other side of the Jordan were to be the divine instruments of their destruction. So many in our world are in the same place. Continuing as if there is no judgment, not realizing that The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) The day of Judgment will come and on that Day, the time of repentance is past.

All will submit to God: In our text, we see that the enemies of God will be defeated. God will Always have the Victory. The means by which God claims the victory may change, but God will ALWAYS have the victory. Those who are the enemies of God have the choice to willingly submit or to continue to resist until the end. Let us not flatter ourselves. We were all born enemies of God. while we were enemies (of God) (Rom5:10) God was opposed to us. He was marching to victory over us, yet He was merciful. Through Christ, He offered terms for peace. Submit and serve Him. God does not call to us as some feeble and weak beggar who is hoping you will have enough compassion in yourself to follow. He is calling to us as a victorious Warrior, the Lord is a Warrior, the Lord is His name (Ex 15:3). He is waging a Holy War and He is standing at the gates of your city. You are surrounded. Oh you may think you have a chance, behind your walls faulty arguments and earthly pleasures, but in the end your city will fall and you will die, and after death comes the judgment. You can choose to submit to Him now and serve Him now while He offers you terms of surrender, terms of peace. And by the way, His terms are wonderful. Yes you are to submit to His commands, His way of looking at the world, His definition of right and wrong, His Lordship, but He also does not call you servants, but sons and daughters. He adopts you into His family with all the rights and responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is to put on the whole armor of God and step into the spiritual warfare that is life. These are the terms of peace He offers you. These are the terms purchased by the blood of Jesus. If you have not repented of your sin, if you have not surrendered/submitted, the terms for peace are available to you.

If you are one who refuses to submit, that is your decision. You can stay behind your walls of arrogance, faulty arguments, unbelief. You may remain there in rebellion until the very end. But make no mistake, the Lord will have the victory. One day, you will your walls will fall and you will stand before the Judge of all the earth. And on that Day, the opportunity to have peace with God will be over.

If you have submitted to God. If you have repented/believed, then you have peace with God. You have been adopted as sons and daughters, and you have been given responsibility to serve your King. To live lives worthy of the Gospel that you have been called to. You have been commanded 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:22-23) Be on guard so that you do not fall into the same sins as the culture around us. We are to, as John Owen wrote, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” We are to be daily putting on the armor of God. If we have submitted and become followers of God, then we are to live like it. In word AND in action. We are to take every thought captive, and live like our Savior King commands. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil (What He defines as evil); hold fast to what is good (What He defines is good). (Rom 12:9) Our entire purpose is this: 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Be Purposeful in Your Activities: The Jews were commanded to discern which trees to cut down and to do so for a purpose. This was to be done during a siege, during a time of war. I would contend that we as Christians are to be the same. To be purposeful and controlled especially while engaged in Spiritual Warfare. Apologist Greg Koukle goes so far as to say, “If anyone in the discussion gets angry, you lose.” As, not if, you engage those who do not believe, as you speak/live the Truth in Love, be Purposeful and Controlled.