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Deuteronomy 20:1-20
“When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, 3 and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; 4 for the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. 5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it. 7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. 8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart. 9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. 10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. 12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13 and when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: 14 but the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. 16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: 17 but thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD hath commanded thee: 18 that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God. 19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is a man’s life) to employ them in the siege: 20 only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.”
Introduction
[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED606]
“We are in Deuteronomy chapter 20, if you will turn there. This chapter outlining for us some of the laws of warfare. Israel is encamped on the border of the Promised Land, Jericho is within view. They had turned away 38 years earlier, terrified by the Anakim, the inhabitants of the land. Moses has led them, they’re back to this place again on the border of the land, looking in, and God will now speak to them in regards to warfare in two respects. First of all, all of their initial warfare will be offensive, they will go into the land of Canaan, and there are the seven nations of Canaan that they are to defeat. They are to be on the offensive. After they settle in the land, there will be times when they will be on the defensive, there may be times when they might be attacked, and there will be times when they go to war with nations outside of their borders, and God will say some different things about that. The sad thing about chapter 20 is it begins with the word “When” not “if.” I wish as I read this it would say “If you go to war,” it doesn’t, it says “When you go to war.” For God’s people for this scene historically, but certainly for you and I today, the Christian life is a life of conflict, there just are conflicts, and they come in all different flavours, shapes and sizes. Paul talks about trials without, fear within, there are just so many things we encounter as Christians that are against the grain of what God has to say to us. We are new creations in Christ, we have a new nature, that new nature is very dissatisfied with so much in this world, and you and I are in contact with that all the time, and that conflict puts us in a situation often where we’re making decisions. Sometimes the things we’re experiencing seem overwhelming, they seem too great. Sometimes we look at things nationally, and we think this is overwhelming, how will this ever change. Sometimes even just within us there’s conflict, there’s fear, ‘Lord, if I do this, your Word says to do this, and if I just simply trust your Word, instead of taking this circumstance into my own hands, is this really going to work out? Am I naïve, just a Bible-thumper? You know, this is what your Word says, and it seems so simplistic, Lord do you really want me just to do that, and just to trust you? Because I’m wrestling with these tremendous things inside.’ And there is conflict, and we are learning to trust him, we are discovering who he is, we are growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are many of these things that are mandatory courses, they are not electives. It is interesting as we look at the children of Israel in the Book of Judges, after Joshua and the children of Israel have victory in the land of Canaan, it says there that God allowed some of the enemies to remain in the land, that he might teach the next generation how to do warfare. And he’s not talking about swordsmanship and bow and arrow stuff, he’s talking about them getting on their knees when they’re facing obstacles and enemies, and learning in those circumstances to trust the LORD and to trust his strength. So Moses now is going to exhort this new generation that has grown up in the wilderness, the older generation passing away, that have seen a number of victories in regards to Amorites and Og and Sihon and so forth. Now they’re on the edge of the Promised Land and there’s these exhortations in regards to warfare.
‘When Thou Goest Out To Battle’ --Various Exemptions
It begins by saying, “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (verse 1) They were going into the Promised Land not as tourists, if we ever get a chance to go again, we go as tourists. They weren’t going as tourists or sightseers, they’re headed in as conquerors. And by the way, he begins right there, because he had brought them up out of the land of Egypt against all odds, and had defeated the Egyptian army, drowning them in the depths of the sea. And he’s reminding these people of that. Moses doesn’t anywhere belittle the size or the strength of the enemy. What he does is magnify the power of the LORD and his majesty. He’s not naïve, he doesn’t say there might not be, he doesn’t say you’re not going to run into the giants, he doesn’t say you’re not going to run into great cities and chariots. He says when you encounter these things, when you come face to face with them, “be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” again, against all odds. We will hear David stand before the Philistine, and David said to the Philistine [Goliath] ‘Thou comest unto me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied,’ and he comes to him with a sling and a stone, and gives Goliath Excedrin headache number 99 that day. So here God is exhorting them. “And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,” (verse 2) before the generals, before the military people, it says “the priest shall approach and speak” Now it’s important for us to remember, whatever struggle we have, that we have a High Priest, who can be touched with our infirmities, he is at the right hand of God the Father, who ever liveth and maketh intercession for the saints. It is important, and look, there isn’t anybody who dislikes conflict more than me. I’m a wimp. You know, I want to sing songs, teach Bible studies and get Raptured. But it may not happen that way. We face hardships in this life in regards to illness, betrayal, disappointment, financial struggles, prodigals, divorce, loss [yup to all of those things], there’s all kinds of struggles that we face. But before we go to face any of them, also our High Priest would come and stand in front of us and address us. Before we do anything in our strength, or do anything with our equipment, do anything with our skills, it’s wonderful to hear from the Priest. Interesting here, he comes forward, “the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; for the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” (verses 2b-4) Now that, by the way, I believe is still true of Israel. Daniel chapter 12, verse 1 tells us ‘that in the last days, Michael, the prince of thy people shall stand up.’ And in the days we live in, Michael the archangel, and there’s only one archangel in the Bible, it’s always singular, definite article, “the archangel,” there is no other like him, Michael has a specific duty relative to a piece of real estate in the Middle East called Israel. And it says in the last days he will stand up and do his duty in regards to that nation. Whatever victories they see in the time ahead of us will not come from their own strength. But there are spiritual tensions, again, behind the scenes. If you read Billy Graham’s book on angels, he talks in there about flying somewhere in the world with Henry Kissinger, and trying to tell Henry Kissinger, ‘You know, it’s great you’re negotiating, you’re involved in all this. But Henry, behind the scenes, there are principalities and power,’ and he can think Henry’s thinking ‘Good Billy…’ But the Bible tells us, it says Daniel when he’s there in Babylon, and he begins to seek the LORD with fasting and finally Gabriel comes and says ‘You know, when you began your fast, I began to come and was held up by the prince of Persia, and Michael came and assisted me, and now I’m going to leave and have to face the prince of Greece.’ That was 200 years in human time [between the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar and Alexander the Great, approximately]. But he’s saying there’s a prince of Persia, there’s a prince of Greece, there’s [angelic/demonic] principalities and powers involved in this. We know in the last days, Ezekiel 38, it talks about Gog, King James says, “the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal,” chief there is a proper noun, not an adjective, it should say “the prince of Rosh.” And you go to Israel today, “Rosh” is Russia [and the real prince of Rosh is probably inspiring Vladimir Putin, just as Satan was demonically possessing Adolf Hitler at strategic times]. Gog, there’s some principality and power, he is the prince of Rosh, like you have the prince of Greece, the prince of Persia, we know he’s a principality and power, because at the end of the Millenium he shows up again, those spirits are loosed from the Abyss, he raises his ugly head again and causes another rebellion [cf. Revelation 20:7-10]. So those things are happening around us today. The wonderful thing is, if those things on a lesser level are happening today, then the other thing that’s happening today, is our Lord, the Lord of lords, the King of kings, our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Rearguard, our Buckler, our Shield, the One who stands up on our behalf, is also working today on your behalf and on my behalf as individuals in a remarkable way. And what a wonderful thing that is for us. So, here he says don’t fear, because it is the LORD that goes with you to fight against your enemies, there’s spiritual forces, the LORD is going with you to fight against your enemies, to save you. Now, after the priests give the exhortation, it says, “And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.” (verse 5) He’s going to outline this. Look, fear either motivates or it paralyzes. Fear can motivate us, it can paralyze us. Those who had settled into their homes, and began to enjoy them, that would take their inheritance in Canaan, those who would plant their fields and partake of them, those who would marry and enjoy their wife, when fear came and a threat came, they would have something to fight for, they would have something to defend, they would have something that they understood was worthwhile. He’s going to say those of you who have not tasted those things, you know, warfare doesn’t make any sense if there isn’t homeland, if there isn’t something to defend, that isn’t worthwhile, if you don’t have something worth dying for, you don’t have anything worth living for. You look at your wife, you look at your husband, you look at your children, you look at your home, there are things that are worth laying down your life for. And now these military folks are now going to challenge this young army in regards to those things, and he says if you’ve got your land, you’ve settled into it, but you haven’t settled down in it yet, you haven’t dedicated it, that word “dedicate” means to use, you haven’t initiated the use of it yet, if you haven’t done that, and you’re afraid that you’re going to die and somebody else is going to end up enjoying your land, your inheritance, ‘go home, go.’ Then he says in verse 6, “And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.” You’ve taken your portion in Canaan, but you’ve not cultivated it, it hasn’t produced anything yet, you haven’t been involved in enjoying it, and you’re sitting here thinking ‘Here I am, I’m going to die in this war, and I haven’t even had an opportunity to enjoy my homestead, my land.’ You know, Paul will say ‘No man that wareth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him that hath chosen him to be a soldier.’ There’s a difference, entangled with the things of this life, and being involved with the things of this life. We certainly have responsibilities, to be husbands, to be mothers, to be parents, to be children, to be earning a living, to be living with dignity, to be able to give to others. We’re to be involved with the things of this life, but that’s much different than being entangled with the things of this life. And we’re not to get to the point where we’re so entangled with the things of this life, that we can’t step out spiritually and we can’t do the things that the Lord is setting in front of us. And here in this scene, he’s saying ‘Look, when you’re ready to go into battle, if all you’re worried about is the fact that you’ve built your house, and you really haven’t had a chance to use it or settle down in it, and that’s all you’re going to be thinking about on the battlefield, go on home and do that, there’s nothing wrong with that.’ If you’ve planted your vineyards and planted your trees, Leviticus chapter 19 would say, fruit trees, you had to wait 5 years before you used them, some guy might be thinking ‘Great, I’ve been working on my orchard for 4 years, and I’m gonna die and some guy is going to start eating it next year,’ he said ‘if that’s where your frame of mind is, you go home.’ Verse 7 says, “And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.” now betrothal is the period of engagement before the wedding night, before the marriage in this culture. “and hath not taken her” you haven’t had intimacy yet, it hasn’t been consummated, the marriage day hasn’t come. “let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.” In chapter 24, verse 5, it says there, “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.” You know, some wives after two months are saying ‘Honey, why don’t you go to war, I’m cheered up enough, I’m happy enough.’ It says there for a whole year, you don’t have to go to war, you don’t have to take care of your business, stay home and cheer up your wife. If you can do that for a year, you’re a good man. And here, ‘you’re engaged, but the marriage hasn’t happened, I don’t want you out on the battlefield,’ the military commander saying ‘if that’s all that’s on your mind, go home, if you’re worried you’re going to die and somebody else is going to end up married to her, you go.’
Fear Is Contagious, Can Cripple An Army
Now look at verse 8, “And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.” you’re not able to listen to the priest who said ‘Don’t be afraid, don’t be terrified, trust the LORD, he’s the one whose going to give you victory in battle.’ You know, there are some who are going to say ‘Let’s go, I can’t wait to see what the LORD’s going to do, man, wait till the arm of the LORD is revealed, my father sat in the tent, and he talked to me about what happened in Egypt,’ because there were parents who had been faithful to tell the next generation about the greatness of their God and how he delivered them from Egypt, and it meant something to them when the priests said that. No doubt there were others where the parents weren’t faithful to do those things, they hadn’t instructed them. And he says ‘You’re terrified, you’re fearful, you don’t want to go to battle, if there’s any man that has that attitude,’ he says, ‘well let him return unto his house.’ Why? “lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.” (verse 8c) So you remember Gideon did this, the LORD said to Gideon, ‘Gideon, tell your army, anybody whose afraid, doesn’t want to go to war, go home’ and 22,000 left. Gideon’s thinking, ‘This doesn’t look good.’ Here, fear cripples faith with doubt. And if you get around somebody else, you know, it even says in a home, a foolish woman tears her house down betimes, a wise woman builds it. Just the influence of a mother or father in the home, complaining, whining, gossiping, you can cripple, you can tear down. When God sets something before a congregation, before a home fellowship, before a family, before a group of believers, all it takes is one person to say ‘We’re nuts, we’re going to do what!? We’re going to support a missionary, are you out of your mind? we’re not going to do that, are you kidding me?’ So he says, look, if that’s you, pull back, lest the heart of your brethren begins to fear also. Fear is contagious. [Comment: In the series Band of Brothers in their Battle of Foy episode, there was this soldier who had ‘lost it,’ was fearfully trying to dig a foxhole with his hands. The officers sent him to the rear lines, out of the outfit of Easy Company, because they knew fear like that was contagious, they didn’t want him a part of Easy Company at all. In the series The Pacific, a rough-tough Gunnery Sgt, Gunny Hainey, emotionally lost it in one of the most tough and long-term battles for an island, a three-month long battle. The commander immediately took him off the lines, he had given his best, no dishonour, just the poor guy was emotionally spent, couldn’t fight anymore.] Fear and doubt are leaven. And fear is a spiritual problem, God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind, he doesn’t want us to live our lives in fear (2nd Timothy 1:6-7). Look, all of us face fears, and there is a good side of that, where we come face to face, and in that transaction, we learn to trust Jesus Christ, we discover things about him we’d have never discovered if we hadn’t come to those difficult places. But there’s another side of that sometimes where people are just crippled by fear, they’re crippled by it. God doesn’t want us to be crippled by it, he doesn’t want us to be crippled by it. And he’s gracious to us, and he’s faithful to us, and he will uphold us, because in that day when we stand around his throne, all of the glory will be his, no flesh is going to glory in his presence. So here he says, the military guy saying ‘If there’s somebody here that’s struggling with fear, let him go home, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.’ “And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.” (verse 9) [Comment: Notice, they were to make captains right on the spot, no sign of this being a professional standing army. Under Israel’s kings, standing professional armies would be created, but it wasn’t part of God’s original will for the nation.]
Rules For Attacking A City Outside The Promised Land
“When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.” (verse 10) Now, at this point he’s talking about cities outside the land of Canaan. Because as we move down further he’s going to tell us, inside Canaan, they’re to wipe out the cities, no peace with the enemies in the land. But when they encounter those at a distance, outside the land of Israel, “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.” (verses 10-11) Alexander the Great would come into areas, and the people in the cities would open the gates and come out and welcome him, because they knew it was suicide to fight him. He lost his mind, he got bored, because there was nobody left to fight, his reputation went before him and nobody would fight him. But all of them ended up paying tribute. So he says to the children of Israel here, if you go out to battle, and you confront a city, stand outside the city before you besiege it, before you go to war, and offer them peace. If they were willing to be at peace with you, and they open the gates to you, then they’ll be tributaries, they’ll pay you tax, they’ll pay you tribute. “And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:” set the siege round about, cut off the water, cut off the food and so forth, “and when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: but the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.” (verses 12-15)
‘But The Cities Which Are Given For Your Inheritance’--Destroy Them
“But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: but thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD hath commanded thee:” (verses 16-17) Now Israel at this point, in regards to the seven nations of Canaan, has become the chastening rod of God. In Genesis chapter 15, verse 16, God has said to Abraham ‘I’m taking your descendants down into Egypt for 400 years, and in the fourth generation I’ll bring them out, bring them into Canaan, because the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet come to a full.’ And what God was saying is, you know God measures time morally. And he was waiting, he was hoping there would be change. But if you study again, the habits and the worship of these Canaanite tribes, they were vile, they sacrificed their children, they were idolatrous, they were immoral, every vile practice you could ever imagine. And even so, when they finally come into the land to the first city, there is a prostitute named Rahab, who lives on the wall, who says ‘We have heard what your God did unto the Egyptians, the whole land of Canaan is melting with fear before you,’ and she hides the spies and makes them promise to protect her and her family, because she’s assured in her heart that their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is going to have victory, and she’s turned in her heart to him, and God is gracious to that woman, and spares her, and spares her family, and you can read about her in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 1. Not only does she get spared, she becomes David’s great grandmother, and becomes part of the family tree of Jesus the Messiah, and he’s not ashamed to take a prostitute that lived on the wall and make her one of his own ancestors, coming into the family, because she had turned with her heart. We read this and say this is callous, it’s cold, yes, there’s a side of this that’s unyielding and intolerant. That’s because God for 400 years had waited and waited and waited, and they refused to turn, they refused to repent. You know what, in the final analysis that’s God’s call. [Comment: What happens to these Canaanites after they die? What is the purpose for all of “unsaved” humanity throughout the long history of this world who die in their sins, unsaved? Do they go to some “everburning hellfire” to spend eternity there? That doesn’t seem fair. Don’t forget, only those with God’s Holy Spirit are offered salvation, eternal life. God is a great teacher, and he’s teaching mankind a great BIG lesson. Mankind is taking the long way around the barn, including all that died in the wilderness, and including all of unsaved Israel, which was all of them except for Moses, Aaron, and maybe Eleazar, Joshua and Caleb. Most all of mankind is learning what Satan’s way is like first, in their normal lifetimes. And then what? Ezekiel 37:1-14 is the only Bible promise given to the Jews in captivity in Babylon of a hope that they would be resurrected back to life at some unspecified time in the future, and verses 13-14 of Ezekiel 37 actually shows God giving his Holy Spirit to those resurrected in this resurrection. Now connecting the dots with the New Testament, we find that Revelation 20:11-13 shows this is the time of the Great White Throne Judgment, the 2nd resurrection, when all of unsaved mankind will be resurrected back to life. In Ezekiel 37:13-14, it shows that at this time, God will give everyone resurrected in this resurrection his Holy Spirit, offering them salvation, which for most coming up in this resurrection, will be the first time that has been offered to them. See https://unityinchrist.com/ezek/Ezekiel%20pt3-2.htm and scroll to Ezekiel 37:1-14 and read that section about what those verses mean. So is God being unfair to the Canaanites, or mankind in general? No way, man. That’s not the God I worship. He is both just and merciful at the same time, all in due time.] When you read the Book of Revelation, in chapter 16 when he’s judging the nations of the world at Armageddon and the last judgments are coming, and the angel’s saying ‘You are just, because they have shed the blood of prophets and of saints, and of your people, now God you are giving them blood to drink, you’re giving it back to them, what they dealt out is coming back.’ So here, in regards to the nations in the land, and it seems very harsh, and it is, that you should spare none of them, nothing that breathes, he’s talking about the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, no termites should live either. Why? “that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God. When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is a man’s life) to employ them in the siege: only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.” (verses 18-20) Now it’s very interesting here in regards to battle in the land of Canaan, God challenges them, it’s conservation here, there are many trees you can use for the tools to besiege the city, to set the battlements against it, to scale the walls. But he says it doesn’t make any sense to cut down the apple trees and the pear trees, and fruit trees, because when you have victory they are there for you, they’re your food, your blessing. So God tells them not to cut down fruit trees that they might eat of. “only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.” (verse 20)
Deuteronomy 21:1-23
“If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: 2 then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 3 and it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 4 and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither cared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley: 5 and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: 6 and all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: 7 and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. 8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. 9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD. 10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, 11 and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; 12 then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 13 and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. 14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her. 15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: 16 then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: 17 but he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. 18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 19 then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his place; 20 and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. 22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”
Finding A Dead Body In The Field
“Now interesting, “If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:” You find a dead body, could you imagine that, hearing on the news that they found a dead person somewhere. Happens everyday, doesn’t it. God, very concerned. When Cain slew Abel, the blood of one man, God said ‘his blood is crying to me from the ground.’ One of the interesting things, if you ever go to Israel, you’ll be there, and one person will be killed, murdered, one soldier will die, and the entire nation will mourn. The entire nation will mourn. I’ve been there many times, and I’ve been there when a soldier is killed, and the entire nation mourns, one life, one life is precious. He says “If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: then thy elders and thy judges” probably speaking of the priests and the Levites, “shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: and it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer,” a young cow that hasn’t been bred, that hasn’t given milk, “which hath not been wrought with,” hasn’t worked, “and which hath not drawn in the yoke; and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley,” notice, “which is neither cared nor sown,” no agriculture, “and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley:” (verses 1-4) So, somebody finds a dead body in the land of Israel, after you subdue your enemies and take possession of this land. God does not take lightly that there’s been a murder in the land, and someone’s blood has polluted the ground, one life is important to him. He says, let then the priests, the elders, the judges, the Levites, go and measure from that dead body to the closest city, and when they determine which city is closest, then the elders of that city get involved, and they come out. And they’re to take a heifer, a young animal that’s never pulled the yoke, that’s never worked, an animal that no doubt reflects this dead person, with so much potential, untapped, so much potential unused, take that young heifer and you take it down into a valley, that also had tremendous potential, that hasn’t been sown, hasn’t been reaped, like that dead body. Because God sees one life with incredible potential. When we dedicate the children up here on Sunday, I think, every time, what is the story that’s attached to this one, Lord, you know. Their lives are written out before you as a tale that was told, as a book. What potential is this. Interesting, those of you who are familiar Tenth Press, at James Montgomery Boyce’s funeral, great man, great ministry, when he died, they told the story, when he was a small boy, 2 years old, he had come into the narthex, come into the entrance of the church with his parents, he was only 2 years old, and Donald Gray Barnhouse was there, and it was the wrong day, they thought something was going on in church, and Barnhouse laughed and said, “No, no, that’s tomorrow night, not tonight.” And he stood there for a minute, and he looked down at James Montgomery Boyce who was 2 years old, and he picked him up, and he prophecied over him, and he said “This is going to be the man that’s going to take my pulpit, this is the man that will take this church.” Isn’t that amazing? Who knows when you look at a little one, what potential they have, one life. And here, God says, ‘This lost life has to be made up for, so take an animal that’s never worked, never pulled a yoke, never lived up to it’s potential, take that down to a field that hasn’t been sown or reaped, that’s never lived up to it’s potential.’ And it doesn’t say ‘Hack off the neck there,’ I don’t know what your translation says, the Hebrew clearly says “break the neck.” This is not a sacrifice, this is a substitute. It doesn’t mention the shedding of blood here. He says “strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley: and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: and all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded” and the Hebrew is “it’s neck has been broken” “in the valley: and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.” (verses 4b-7) We don’t know how this person, this man was murdered or how he died. “Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.” (verses 8-9) Listen, God didn’t want them ever to take for granted ‘Oh ya, seen another dead guy out there today. Bad day to be out there by yourself, we don’t know whose out there.’ No, God wanted one life to be important, he wanted one life to be important enough that the elders of a city would come, the elders of a city would come, and look at that one dead person, and go through an entire ritual, and sware before the priests that ‘We don’t know how this happened, we didn’t see it, our city is innocent of the blood of this individual.’ I think Philadelphia led Baghdad last year in deaths, by the way. It’s more dangerous to be here last year than it was to be in Baghdad. But my hope for Philadelphia is sitting right here, and in the churches across the city. I’m glad we have elected officials, but Jesus said ‘you alone are the salt of the earth,’ it’s emphatic, ‘you alone are the light of the world.’ The hope for this city and the Delaware Valley, look around, right here. But one life, and the elders of that city were to come and stand before the priests and sware they knew nothing about it, and ask God to be merciful, to cleanse the ground of innocent blood. Isn’t it interesting?
Marriage To A Captive Woman Of A Conquered City
Verse 10, “When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,” now these are foreign enemies again, “and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;” (verses 10-11) so they were not allowed to take Canaanite women or Hittite women or Amorite women inside the land, that was all a ban, a dedication to the LORD. But when they went to war outside the land, if they had victory, and they saw a woman from another country that was beautiful, and a soldier wanted to take her to be his wife, and he would desire to have her, then God says in verse 12, “then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;” I guess you’d take another look at her then, ‘got a lot of knots on her head, I don’t know, not sure there.’ which was a sign of mourning in that day, “and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month:” they’re either dead or left behind “and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.” (verses 12-13) So you’re not allowed to just take a woman and rape her, not allowed to just pillage a city and rape the women. If you see someone that’s attractive, you take her, you bring her back to your home, you let her go through the process of mourning, her life is changing, her parents are left behind, everything she knew, you give her a month to still her heart, to get things right, and then after that you can take her, after a full month you can be her husband, not to rape her, not to use her, but you can be her husband and she can be your wife. “And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.” (verse 14) You’re not allowed to sell her or trade her. ‘You know, I really liked you when I saw you, with the long hair, of course I’ve been away from home a long time, maybe my eyes were blurry from the smoke and everything, I got you home, shaved your head, cut those long nails, I don’t know if this is going to work out.’ It says you’re not allowed to trade her or to sell her, she’s a human being. “thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.” she should be allowed to go where she wants to go from there. “If a man have two wives,” double-trouble “one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:” (verse 15) I know this seems strange to us, look, the Bedouin today in Israel still take four wives. There’s cultures today in the Middle East that take more than one wife. Of course we have all the crazy stuff here with some of that. Ah, the Bedouins, when you’re in Israel, they have black tents, they live the way Abraham did 4,000 years ago, remarkable, and they’re remarkable people in some ways. But you buy your wife. One time I was there, a Bedouin said “You know, here we pay once, in America you pay for the rest of your life.” Strange sense of humour for a Bedouin. And what they do, they save enough money, and they buy their first wife, and they buy one strong, they look at her teeth, ‘Strong, good teeth, big muscles!’ because the wife takes down the tent, sets up the tent, takes care of the flocks and everything, so her husband can sit in the gate and drink tea and talk to the other men, he has important stuff to do. And then of course, the extra income that’s created by his strong wife, then when he gets enough he buys his second wife, strong, good teeth, and then he buys a third wife, and by now he’s prospering, but then he saves his money for his old age, and that’s when he buys a beautiful wife, just for his pleasure. I’m not endorsing any of this, I’m just giving you free information about cultures in other places. There are still cultures where there are harems. God did not endorse, but allowed divorce and allowed polygamy, he tolerated it. It was not his plan from the beginning, it was to be one man and one woman, from the Garden of Eden, that was God’s plan and God’s design. In fact, if you read it carefully, Jesus says ‘In the beginning,’ no gap theory [Pastor Chuck Smith endorsed the Gap Theory], not the earth was destroyed and blasted and thousands of years later, in the beginning he made them male and female. But it says here, if a man has two wives, Abraham could talk to you about that, he had Hagar and Sarah. Jacob could talk to you about that, he had Rachel, Leah and their concubines. Solomon could talk to you about that, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, that’s a thousand mother-in-laws, I don’t know if he was the wisest man that ever lived [after awhile he wasn’t]. It says “If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:” (verses 15-16) So God says, if you end up with two wives, and you like one better than the other, and the one you don’t like bears the firstborn. Now it’s interesting, because Jacob was deceived, he loved Rachel, he was deceived into marrying Leah, but Leah bears Judah, the Christ is in her lineage, Jesus. And God certainly using that. Abraham shouldn’t have taken Hagar. Isaac would have been his firstborn. But in the flesh, and Sarah wanted to be God’s little helper, she was tired of being patient, Abraham’s 85 and she’s tired of this story, of hearing ‘We’re going to have kids someday,’ and she’s saying ‘And how, someday, well in the mean time.’ So Ishmael’s born first, but before he was ever born, Isaac had already been promised and was the son of promise, and was as far as God was concerned. The firstborn, in fact, in chapter 22, God says to Abraham, ‘Take now thine son, thine only son.’ because Ishmael was an act of the flesh, ‘thine only son.’ Isn’t that interesting, from God’s perspective? But here he says, because he knows our tendency, that the wife we didn’t find attractive, she found no favour with him, even if she had the firstborn child, which is a type of Christ, and was to be honoured, that we would, we’re so selfish, we would let the firstborn of the wife we like better get the larger inheritance. The LORD says that’s not going to happen, he doesn’t want it to happen. “but he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.” (verse 17)
Law About The Rebellious Son
Now, we’re going to find out this is a grown son, because in verse 20 he’s called a glutton and a drunkard. So this is not a baby, not a little baby, milk-drunk and eating Gerber’s food, this is a glutton and a drunkard, this is an adult. “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:” (verse 18) Now this is staggering, this is an adult son, evidently unmarried, still at home, and God so honouring the role of the mother and father, that he finds fault with the fact that this son won’t obey, this grown son won’t obey the voice of his mother and father. And it says they’ve chastened him, I’m not sure what that means, you’re 22, ‘you’re gonna have a time-out, sit in the corner for awhile.’ They chasten him. Look, what it’s telling us, is God’s perspective of family, God’s perspective of the role of the mother and the father, even in the life of a young adult, how important that is. It says he refused to obey. It doesn’t say he cannot, it says he will not obey the voice of his father, the voice of his mother. “and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his place; and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.” (verses 18b-20) So it’s interesting, this son is going to be put to death. There’s no inquiry made. Up until this point it says if someone is accusing somebody of something that’s worthy of death, it has to be by the mouth of two or three witnesses. But it’s almost as though God realizes what kind of brokenness it would take for a mother and a father to bring forth a son or a daughter for this kind of treatment, there’s no need to inquire, their hearts must be completely broken. Besides the community was close enough for everybody to know this was true, they probably heard the son screaming, drunk, yelling, a glutton and a drunkard. It says “and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.” (verses 20-21) Stubbornness is like idolatry, rebellion as the sin of witchcraft, it says in 1st Samuel chapter 15 there, in regards to Saul who was the king. Stubbornness and rebelliously is something that God very much frowns on. I guess the 5th commandment says ‘obey your mother and father in the LORD, for this is the first commandment with promise, that you might live a long life,’ because if you didn’t it wasn’t that long, I guess. Look, God so honouring, saying to you and to me, to honour the mother and the father, to give honour to the vessels he chose to give you life. I know, sadly, in the culture we live in, there are many mothers and fathers that are not, that deserve no honour in the way they have acted, the way they have treated, the way they have abused, and it’s a horror, and it provides nothing but a brokenness. On the other side of that, those of you who have been abused, you have to say ‘I wouldn’t be alive, if God hadn’t used that vessel of clay, no matter how much I detest some of the things they’ve done, that’s the vessel that God chose to give me life and to bring me into this world, and I wouldn’t be sitting here alive tonight to be bitter against them, if I didn’t have a life.’ And it’s a hard, hard road, it’s riding a broken horse, it’s not what God had ever intended, family is supposed to be something that’s a tremendous blessing. But look, remember, you still have the best Father. If you weren’t here when Greg Laurie was here, I would get the book ‘Lost Boy’ I would just get it and read it, just a tremendous testimony that, ya, there’s brokenness, but there doesn’t have to be crippledness. You can be broken, but you don’t have to be crippled. Interesting picture is given to us here. Of course in the New Testament, God our Father in heaven, when it tells us the story of the prodigal, it doesn’t say the prodigal was necessarily a glutton or a drunkard at home, he just said ‘Give me my inheritance, I want out of here.’ And of course, when he got that, then he spent his money on prostitutes and drunkenness. He may have encountered the elders of the city when he came back, he could have been stoned, he could have been confronted. But what happens is his father girds up his loins and runs to meet him and throws his arm around him and kisses him and holds him, and no one dared throw a stone, because they might kill the father while they’re embracing. And isn’t that the picture of how our Father has embraced us and thrown his arms around us, and puts a new robe on us, and the ring, and brings us back into the family. So, just interesting here. I’m glad they don’t do this anymore, I’d have been dead in my teen years, without a shadow of a doubt. Don’t laugh at me, so would you, some of you.
A Body Shall Not Be Left Hanging On A Tree
“And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” (verses 22-23) Now this gives us no details. Now the only information we have on that, of course, is in Galatians chapter 3, and 1st Peter chapter 3. Galatians 3 says Jesus was accursed because it says accursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. It tells us in 1st Peter chapter 3 that he bore our sins upon the tree, it says, the sins of the world. So, interesting, no specific details right here, but we do have details in regards to this in the New Testament as applied to Christ. Ah, I have a few minutes here.
Deuteronomy 22:1-7
“Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. 2 And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. 3 In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself. 4 Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again. 5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. 6 If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: 7 but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.”
Sundry Laws
“Chapter 22, written for us, great exhortations. “Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.” (verse 1) Isn’t it sad that God has to tell us this? You know, you’re sitting around and you see your neighbours ox walk out into the street, and you’re not to sit there going ‘ahahaha, that stupid ox.’ This was his tractor in those days, you know, don’t watch your neighbour’s car roll down the driveway and don’t tell your neighbour, don’t do anything about it. Isn’t it sad God has to tell us this? If you see your neighbour’s ox or sheep wandering away, don’t just sit there and do nothing about it, he says. Look, in our culture today, there’s a lot of people that just don’t want to get involved, they don’t want to take the first step because they don’t want to be involved. When we head into these sections in Deuteronomy, there are sins of commission that the Torah covers, and there are sins of omission. There are things that we are prohibited from doing in God’s Word, and then there are things that we are exhorted to do. And here the LORD says if you see your neighbour’s ox or his sheep going astray, and you hide yourself from them, “thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.” I don’t want to see you failing to do that. “And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.” (verse 2) Now I don’t know if you have to do that with a cat. But this is an ox or a sheep, something, part of their livelihood. “In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.” (verse 3) There were no finders-keepers-loosers-weepers in the Old Testament, if you found something that was your brother’s, if it came off the truck and towards you, you had a responsibility to help your brother. Look at verse 4, “Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.” So if you see your brother’s ox or donkey fall into a ditch, he says you’re supposed to help, you’re supposed to get involved. Let me translate that for you so you understand. You’re driving down Bustlenut Avenue, you see someone from church, you recognize him but you don’t know their name, and they have a flat tire. Don’t drive by, don’t say ‘Honey, quick, don’t look this way, don’t make eye-contact, then we won’t have to stop.’ Or you see them, they need a battery that needs to get charged, that’s what it’s saying here. Be a neighbour, this is an exhortation, you see something that needs to happen, needs to be taken care of, get involved. ‘Thou shalt not see his ass, his vehicle, or his ox, his tractor fall down by the way and hide thyself from him,’ “thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.” I can get this one out of the way so we don’t have to be here next week. I’m not really sure how this one fits into the rest here. It says “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.” (verse 5) I didn’t write this, God wrote this. Now I know one of the things it’s not saying, it’s not saying girls can’t wear jeans, because there’s all these Pentecostal churches where the girls are not allowed to wear jeans. Of course they’re not allowed to wear makeup either, so they can’t make up their mind whether they’re not allowed to look good or not allowed to look bad. But that’s not what it’s talking about here. In this day, men wore robes, and women, most of them wore robes too. It seems clearly to me to be more than just clothing, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man,” it’s talking about deception and perversion [drag queens anyone?]. It’s not just the clothing, a woman is not allowed to pretend and present herself as a man, and the man was not allowed in a deceptive way to present himself as a woman. [Comment, during the Civil War a few women disguised themselves as men so they could fight in the war, and were only discovered when they got wounded and were under treatment in a battlefield hospital, but this kind of deception was not for the purpose of sexual perversion, it was actually honourable.] One of the Calvary’s in the area a number of years ago, had somebody come into the church, and it was a guy who dressed like a woman and wore a wig. The shame is he was cute enough that he got away with it. The sad thing is, he was cute enough that one of the guys in the church dated him and thought it was a girl. I’m not done 😊. The sad thing is that he kissed her, him, it at the end of the date, you don’t want to find that out afterwards. There’s something that’s wrong with that. You’re not allowed, a man shouldn’t dress like a woman in a deceptive and perverted way, to deceive someone else, and a woman shouldn’t dress like a man to deceive, there’s something here that’s being prohibited. Now look, we’re all mixed up, not me, but all of them out there. We’re all mixed up in this world, we don’t know what we’re doing anymore. You’ve seen the law in Colorado now that says if you are a man, but you think you’re a woman, trapped in a man’s body I guess, you’re allowed to use ladies rooms in the public places. This is a law now in Colorado. If you’re a woman and you think you’re a man, you’re allowed to use the men’s room, public places, public schools, public high schools, public elementary schools, train stations, restaurants, hospitals, public buildings. Now what do you do, do I let my granddaughter go into a bathroom where some guy walks in and thinks he’s a woman? Ain’t happening. Sorry. We’re all confused today. I don’t know, I’m not confused. I don’t know what’s happened. I’m not confused by any of this. But somehow in the midst of worrying about your ox and your neighbour’s ox, neighbour’s tractor and helping him with a flat tire, this got in there. I’m not sure, I guess it’s wrong if you’re a guy whose dressed like a girl, and you get a flat tire, and you act like you need help and some guy pulls over, and just, I don’t know, I don’t know how that got in there, just trying to come up with an angle there, I’ll get in trouble for this, pray for me [loud laughter]. [Hey, I was a submarine sailor, we’d run into these situations all the time 😊] Elephants, some groups, with bad cars, I don’t know. They’ll be on the phone, they’ll be looking for me. We better stop at the birds nest here [loud laughter]. “If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.” (verses 6-7) You’re not allowed to disturb that, no doubt it’s talking about clean fowl verses unclean, it’s not talking about a vulture or something. You come across a bird sitting on the nest with the eggs, with the young, you’re not allowed to take the mom and put her in the soup. There’s a consideration here for conservation, for life, this is a strange group of things put together here. You’re to let the mother go, you can take the young, evidently they’re old enough to take care of, that it may be well with thee, because the older one, the mom, can reproduce again the next year, “that thou mayest prolong thy days.” We’ll stop just before verse 8, good place to start next week if the Lord doesn’t come and I hope he does so I don’t get in trouble for this week [laughter]. [There is a very important law of conservation here, especially as been seen in the East Coast fisheries of the United States and Canada, where whole species of fish have been nearly wiped out to what they call commercial extinction levels due to large factory fishing trawlers or large fishing fleets fishing in spawning grounds off rivers, or the Grand Banks and other known spawning areas during spawning season, or fishing at night when cod and other fish species are known to spawn at night during certain times of the year. With an eye toward the Millennial Kingdom of God, this law will certainly be applied to wildlife and fisheries areas for sure. At least 9 or 10 of the apostles were fishermen, so we know this will become a law governing all wildlife, game animals, and fish spawning grounds. God’s law, in its minutest way is so very important.] I encourage you to read ahead, look, there’s some great things, and some funny things in the Book of Deuteronomy, but there’s some tremendous things in here, and just I encourage you read ahead as we work through this, and we’re working our way towards the culmination of this exhortation on the edge of the Promised Land, Moses going up to Mount Pisgah, and then Joshua assuming responsibility in our next Book, Joshua, the Law is finished, first book in the Bible named after a person, the Book of Yeshua, Jesus, Jesus, Yeshua bringing the children of Israel into the Promised Land, Moses and the Law could never do it, Yeshua can do it. Just it’s beautiful, some remarkable things. So, read ahead, we’ll have some fun in Deuteronomy, pray for me, let’s stand, let’s have the musicians come, and hopefully we’ll have a serious song…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Deuteronomy 20:1-20, Deuteronomy 21:1-23 and Deuteronomy 22:1-7, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]
related links: Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED606
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