DEUTERONOMY 20

At the outset of writing this blog, I must be honest and confess that I have no idea where it’s going. Perhaps we will end with more "questions" than "answers" today. And wouldn’t that be delightful! To me, the overriding theme of this chapter is the weird way God wages war. Let’s make a list of the oddities:

1. Right before going into battle, He dismissed a good percentage of His troops, including those who had just built a house, those who had just planted a garden, those who were engaged, and anyone who was just generally fearful or hesitant. Are you scared? It’s okay! You can leave now!

2. The first order of business after meeting "the enemy" was to extend an offer of peace. If the people accepted the offer, they would enter a life of service to the Israelites. Now, at first, this might not seem like such a deal: You pick. Slavery or death. However, don’t forget God’s strict requirements about how Israelites were to treat their servants. Furthermore, the Bible doesn’t say that if the offer of peace was rejected, the Israelites were to attack the enemy. No, it says this: "If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city." (vs 12)

3. If the enemy decided to go to war with Israel, the Israelites were instructed not to let anybody from that city live. However, the Israelites were also equally subject to the fight. This is evidenced by verse 7: "Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her." Actually, when I started thinking about this, it seemed more odd than the other things. If God Almighty was with you and even fighting for you (vs 4), why would you be in danger of death? But apparently the Israelites were subject to the fight. This means that a war with any of their enemies would not simply be a one-sided slaughter. Hmm, so perhaps this kind of war was not about ultimately wiping out the heathen nation. For if it was, God could have certainly done that without needing the Israelites.

So, exactly what kind of "war" was God describing? We might recognize the bloodshed, but given our modern context for war, the honorable discharges and the peace treaties before the fight seem out of place. Also, if God was a fierce warmonger bent on the destruction of His enemies, it doesn’t make sense that He wouldn’t at least put a hedge of protection around all of His troops. What modern general — given the power or technology — wouldn’t safeguard his own soldiers whilst devastating the enemy army?

For me, there are a lot of things that don’t quite add up. And you know what? I’m glad about that. Because it means that we don’t have all the answers; we don’t know everything that was going on here — in the culture, in the context. What I can conclude with confidence (at least to my satisfaction) is that I can’t summarily dismiss the "God of the Old Testament" as some vengeful, warmongering dictator — if for nothing more than the fact that He required His people to offer peace first and practice self-defense if necessary.

Of course, when Jesus came to shine the light on the true character of God, we caught a glimpse of just how far-reaching God’s ideal of peace really is. (Even though it was Jesus who said He had not come to bring peace, but a sword.) Still, as we saw yesterday, God will begin with the hand He’s dealt, and here’s a perfect example of that. In the Israelites, He was dealt a hand of war-loving people. And in Deuteronomy 20, He proves that He will masterfully work with even that hand — waging war, perhaps, but in a totally different manner than we would!