Imagine the scene. In ancient Israel, a murdered body is found in a field, and no one knows who committed the crime. Who should deal with the body, and how does God want the people to deal with the blood guilt? In this series we’ve been exploring the fascinating ritual God commands the people to follow. Read part 1 and part 2, covering verses 1-5, and the beginning of the ritual. What happens then in verses 6-9 is the remainder of the ceremony. Thus far, the nearby towns have measured the distance from the body to their towns. The closest town has jurisdiction, and the elders from that town must take a young heifer to a wadi with a flowing stream, and there they break the neck of the heifer with priests observing them. The elders, then, ritually wash their hands over the dead heifer and they recite a prayer to God declaring on behalf of the people that they are innocent, and they ask God to consider them now atoned for.
This ceremony has led to some amazing speculation as to what was going on with all these unique features. Ancient Rabbis, one scholar reports, said that “the ceremony [was] an act of punitive magic. A swarm of worms from the heifer finds the killer and seizes him so that the authorities can bring him to justice; [another Rabbi said] the worms themselves kill him.”[1] Notice that the text says nothing about these magical worms!
So what is the meaning of the wadi with the stream, the heifer, the neck breaking and the hand-washing? There are numerous views, and one scholar I listed above suggests that we should see the ritual “as a reenactment of the murder…, since it…suggests a reasonable explanation of why it must take place at a barren wadi: that is, so that the imitation blood guilt is kept far from civilization. Nevertheless,” the scholar says, “this view is far from certain.”[2]
But what is certain, is what happens at the end of the ritual. The prayer. By going through this ritual, verse 9 tells us, the people will have purged themselves and the land of guilt from bloodshed, declaring that they are innocent, and they are declared as having done what was right in God’s eyes.
Fascinating ritual, isn’t it? It is a unique section of Scripture, but what
does it matter to us? What do we see of
God’s heart in this passage?
Through it all, we see God’s heart for purity. Even when a crime is committed and though they don’t know who the guilty party is, Israel still needs to atone for it. Purity in the land, and purity in his people is vital before God. Tomorrow we add to this theme in part 4 as we have two more illustrations of crime and punishment, through which we will learn more about God’s heart.
[1] Tigay, Jeffrey H. Deuteronomy. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996. Print. The JPS Torah Commentary.
We have a murder on our hands! In part 1 of this series on crime and punishment in Deuteronomy 21, a dead body has been found. But the murderer can’t be found, or is thus far unknown. God has told Israel that the body bring blood guilt on the land, and as we saw in part 1, he takes this very seriously. So God gives them a method to deal with the blood guilt in the land Deuteronomy chapter 21, verses 2-9.
Look at Verse 2. The leaders of local towns are to measure the distance from the body to their various towns. This measurement would most likely happen by counting paces. Is God saying that that the murder was committed by a person who lived in the town closest to the body? No. Again this is not about finding out who did it. We are told that they don’t know who did it, and right now there is a more pressing issue: the body and blood spilled on the land. What we are seeing here is the method Israel is to use to determine which town had jurisdiction to deal with the body.
Once they determine which town is closest to the body, then that town has to deal with the body and blood guilt. This brings us to verses 3-4, and what have in these verses is something that has no exact parallel in the Old Testament Law.
We are told they are to take a heifer, a cow that has never been worked, never worn a yoke. Most likely that means it would be young, probably around 1 year old or so. And they are to take that heifer out to a valley with unplowed, unplanted land, but with a flowing stream. This is called a wadi, which are common in the Middle East. Many wadis have dry riverbeds that flow with water during the rainy season. The wadis that are to be used for this ritual, however, are to have a constantly flowing stream. Here’s the thing, though. While there are many wadis in Israel, only very few have a constantly flowing stream. Some towns are quite far from a wadi with a stream. Why would God want them to perform a ritual in such a remote area? There is much speculation and very little agreement as to how to interpret this. What is agreed upon though is found in the verses that describe the end of the ritual. Before they get to the end of the ritual, however, there are a few steps the elders of the town must perform.
First they are to break the heifer’s neck. No easy task. How do you break the neck of a cow? Cows have huge necks! More importantly, though, why would God want them to break its neck?
God had already told Israel about a
sacrificial procedure for the nation on what is called the Day of Atonement,
where the sins of the nation would be placed on an animal that was sent outside
the camp. That animal was called the
scapegoat. The Day of Atonement scenario
has echoes of what we read here in Deuteronomy 21, but this is different.
The breaking of the heifer’s neck means there is no bloodshed, and further there is no altar. That means this heifer with the broken neck is not being sacrificed. There are plenty of passages in the OT Law that teach things like, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” But here there is no bloodshed. What is going on here?
We have to continue on in the description to fully understand the meaning. In verse 5, after the elders have broken the neck of the heifer, the priests step in as representatives of the Lord, but we are not told why. Perhaps as representatives of God, for this ceremony to be official, they need to be there. The people of that town, if they are serious about dealing with the purity of the land, and they do have a dead body on their land making the land impure, definitely want God’s approval for the purification ceremony, and apparently it requires the priests to be there.
So what is this ritual all about? We’ll explore that further next in part 3.
Do you like crime dramas? Last year I watched a Netflix documentary called Making A Murderer. It was gripping, often feeling like an extended episode of the TV show, Law & Order. There were many interesting characters and plot twists, but in this documentary, all of it was real. No actors. Real interviews. Courtroom and TV news footage. Making A Murderer follows the story of one family over the course of many years, as a police department investigates a murder, as the justice department builds a case, and eventually as suspects are convicted and thrown in prison. But they appeal, and the appeal process takes time, and there are more court room scenes. Surprisingly there is an acquittal. Then there is another murder seemingly involving the same family, which leads to another investigation, court case, imprisonment and appeals. The process is messy and expensive and time-consuming, and you never know what really happened. I was glued to the screen.
In this series of posts in our study through Deuteronomy, we have three illustrations of crime and punishment, and the first one looks a lot like a murder mystery.
If you’d like, see for yourself by reading Deuteronomy 21. What we are seeking is to learn more about God’s heart through his teaching to Israel about crime and punishment.
Look at verse 1, our first crime. As you can see, the text gives us a couple clues that this an unsolved murder case. The first clue is the word “slain” at the beginning of the verse. This is a vivid word in the Hebrew, better translated by our English word “pierced.” It gives us the image of body that has been pierced by a sharp object, like a knife or sword. The second clue that this is a murder is the phrase, “and it is not known who killed him,” at the end of the verse. So we have a body that has been pierced and is dead, but we don’t know who did it.
My mind immediately thinks: murder mystery! I want to know more about this body and who did killed the person, and why. But interestingly, the circumstances surrounding this death are barely in view in this passage. There is no mention of tracking down the perpetrator, or anything like that. It simply says, “it is not known who killed him,” which is vague. We have no idea how much they investigated. Was the body just found that day? Have they been working this case for weeks? We don’t get any details. You might be thinking, but those are important details! Shouldn’t God care about justice for the victim? Absolutely, he does. In fact he already dealt with that, as we will see below.
God has another reason, however, for bringing up unsolved murders here in chapter 21. Look at the middle of verse 1. The body is found lying in a field, and yet notice how he describes the field. It is “in the land the Lord their God is giving them to possess.” That should sound familiar, because throughout our study of Deuteronomy we have heard a lot about the land.
The land they are about to possess is the Promised Land, Canaan, the land of their forefathers, the land flowing with milk and honey. God references the land 178 times in the book of Deuteronomy, and in all but three chapters. I don’t know that it would be possible to overstate how important the land was to God and to the people. For a people without land of their own, it is incredibly emotional when they obtain land. Think about how you felt when you rented your first apartment or purchased your first house? Overjoyed! You had a space of your own.
So jump back with me to chapter 19, verse 10, as there is a mention of the land that connects to what God is talking about here in chapter 21. In chapter 19, you might remember, God gives his people instructions for creating cities of refuge in the land. People can flee to these cities if they have accidentally killed someone. In those cities, they will be protected from any family members of the deceased who might want to take revenge on them. And why? Chapter 19, verse 10 tells us: “Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.”
In another place, Numbers 35:33-34, God teaches Israel something similar: “Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.”
Teachings like these, and many others we have seen throughout Deuteronomy, illustrate how deeply God wanted purity in the land and in his people. He not only wanted the physical land, the dirt, the earth, to be pure, but he also wanted the same for his people. The Canaanites who were living in the land, though, did evil in God’s eyes. They practiced the sacrificing of babies in worship, they were ruthless and murderous. God wanted Israel to be different, to be holy and just, as he was. So he is particular about purity. There must be no innocent bloodshed. When blood was shed, Numbers 35 tells us, the murderer must pay the blood guilt with his own blood (death penalty), and then God declares that the land will be pure again. But what if the murderer can’t be found, or is unknown? How will the blood guilt on the land be dealt with? In other words, they still need to deal with the body! So God gives them a method to deal with the blood guilt in the land when an unsolved murder happens Deuteronomy chapter 21, verses 2-9.
In part 2, we’ll examine what turns out to be a very strange ritual.
What will really change the heart of humanity? Fighting wars? No! Only Jesus.
So what does trust in God look like when we are faced with strife in our world? Christians should be known as a people who pray deeply for and strive for peace. We should love our enemies. We should seek to share the good news of Christ with all. I think of missionaries who train young people to minister in what is called the 10/40 Window. We have friends and family in Muslim countries. At what point do we see Western Christians so trusting in God that they are willing to give up the comforts and ease of America to share the good news about Jesus, even in places that are opposed to Christianity? We should serve locally as well! Faith Church is near the city of Lancaster, and through refugee resettlement, the world has come to us. We could volunteer with an organization like Church World Service, caring and loving refugee families from many countries.
But these ideas are scary, even risky. Thus I want to conclude with where the passage started. The principle in the first four verses is that we must trust in God and depend on him about anything difficult or scary that we are going through. But how do we do this?
We follow his ways, even when people
make fun of us.
We allow God’s ways to define us, and
not the way of the world.
And that means we need to learn God’s ways, and thus we spend time reading the stories of Jesus over and over, for it is there we most clearly see Jesus live out God’s ways. Make 2019 a year where you commit to read through the four stories of Jesus in the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Then we spend time in prayer, in God’s presence, listening for his voice, even when we feel like we don’t have time. That means we have to open up time in our busy schedules to learn to hear his voice!
We start our day asking God to show us
himself in those around us.
We trust him even when we don’t understand what he is telling us to do or why he is telling us to do it. And we are okay with not understanding all of his ways. We act on what we know to be truth and we act humbly and graciously as we interact with others, knowing that we don’t understand it all.
For me it is starting doctoral
studies. I have one semester of classes
under my belt. I will be honest that while I got through that, and it went
well, there is a part of me saying, “Drop out, drop out, it’s too hard. You
can’t do it.” But that’s not the whole
story. God is with me, and I believe he
has opened the door to this, and he is for me.
What
is God calling you to do that seems impossible?
Are you dragging your feet because you are scared, finding it difficult,
thinking you aren’t ready or capable?
All those things are probably at least a little bit true, but they are also
not the whole story, because God is with you, and he is for you, and he has
called you to this!
How should Christians view war? We are not the nation of ancient Israel which
had a special covenant with God. We are
the church, and we are under a new covenant.
So from this passage in Deuteronomy, we can learn God’s heart, but we
have to also take into consideration the new covenant we have with God, and
that is found in the teaching of the New Testament.
There are those who look at Jesus’ teaching in the New Testament, especially in the Sermon on the Mount when he says to be peacemakers, to turn the other cheek, and to “Love your enemies.” These Christians look at the prohibitions against killing in both the Old and New Testaments, and they conclude that war is never right. Our Mennonite and Amish and Brethren friends are examples. They hold to what is called pacifism, or peace. No war, period. They would list Ghandi or Martin Luther King Jr as examples of what is called non-violent resistance in order to deal with injustice. They would not serve in the military, receiving conscientious objector status in a draft. What they hold to is a completely legitimate and viable understanding of New Testament teaching.
Then there are those Christians who look to other teaching in the New Testament, and they conclude that war is right in certain specified conditions. They see Paul, in Romans 13, for example, teaching that God instituted governments to restrain evil. From that they create what is called just war theory. Here “just” is being used not in the sense of “only”, but in the sense of “right”. In other words, what are those are circumstances when it is just or right or legal for one country to wage war against another?
Of course there are many viewpoints on
this, disagreements, but here are the most common points of what is called Just
War Theory:
For one nation to go to war against another, they must have a just cause – Usually this boils down to self-defense.
Next, war must be a last resort – All means of diplomacy must first be tried and tried again.
War must be declared by a proper authority – A recognized sovereign nation.
War must have right intention – The cause must be justice, not self-interest.
War must have a reasonable chance of success – Count the cost, particularly to human life.
The end must be proportional to the means used – For example, don’t use nuclear weaponry for a small border dispute.
And in fact that last point is related to what we see in Deuteronomy 20 verses 19-20 where God says to Israel, “when you bring a siege on a city, don’t cut down fruit trees to build your siege works.”
On the one hand, this is simply wisdom. You need food! So don’t cut off your source of sustenance. Think about the needs of the army, and plan for the future because when you eventually occupy the land, you’ll need those trees for food.
But on the other hand, there is also a
principle: when in war use self-control, don’t allow yourself to use anything
and everything to make war.
So Just War Theory sets a high bar. I once heard a lecture from a Christian speaker from the Center for Public Justice applying just war theory to some of America’s wars in the past. The most obvious war considered to be just was our involvement in the Allied cause during World War 2. In that war multiple unjust aggressors were not going to stop invading nations and slaughtering millions of people until they ruled the world. After Japan bombed our naval base at Pearl Harbor, we committed our military to the cause, sacrificing much. The Allied mission to defeat Japan, Germany and Italy in World War 2 is widely considered to be a just war. That doesn’t mean that every Allied action in the war was just.
But the speaker that day made a surprising comment. He said that the American Revolution might not have been a just war! Was it possible that our forefathers, when they rebelled against the British, did not meet those six standards of just war? Maybe. I’ll let you think on that!
My church and my pastoral credential is with the EC Church, our denomination, and we are not pacifistic. We believe that when there is just cause, one nation can enter into war against another, to restrain evil, and we believe that Christians can in good conscience serve in the military. But because this is an area of theology where Christians disagree, including Christians within the same church, each individual should hold their view with love and grace towards one another.
What I want to be clear about, though, is that Christians and the church should never use violent means to accomplish the mission of God. Sadly we have a poor track record of doing just that, most famously perhaps in the Crusades. We must call any military or violent action of the church what it is: sin. And we must repent of it, over and over. The mission of God is accomplished in love, humility, selflessness, following the example of Jesus who gave his life for the world.
On January 1, 2018, I deactivated my Facebook account. I had been an active Facebook user for about eight years, but I was starting a three-month sabbatical from pastoral ministry in my church, and I was concerned that the purposes of the sabbatical would be impeded if I spent time on social media. I also had numerous games on my phone, and I deleted those as well. Finally, I managed the church Instagram account via my phone, and I gave that up too.
On my laptop, as I navigated through the menus to get to Facebook’s deactivation page, I started feeling nervous. The social media giant had been a significant part of my life for a long time. I shared photos, articles, and kept up with my family, friends and church. All that scrolling through post after post after post. It seemed that extricating myself from that connection would be detrimental. My body actually felt anxious and fearful. Maybe I was making a bad decision. I’d read numerous stories of people who deleted Facebook, and I longed for freedom from the constant pull of fear-of-missing-out.
Similarly, I spent time on Facebook to be present where so many people were spending time. In fact one ministry leader stated on his podcast that pastors are being irresponsible if they aren’t active on Facebook. It makes good sense: be among your people and your community. They aren’t learning about your church by visiting your physical building. Instead they are first spending time on your website or on your social accounts. Now I was removing myself from that. Was I stupid?
To address this, we created a social media team to manage our church Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as the church website and podcast. All those digital connection points have continued to this day. I was the only one leaving social. Still, I was scared that I was making a mistake, personally and missionally.
A huge amount of work had gone into creating this sabbatical, though, and I really wanted it to go well, for me and the church. As I deliberated my Facebook decision, it was the purposes of sabbatical that won the day. Sabbatical has its roots in the word “sabbath,” first mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures when God himself takes a sabbath, a day of rest, after working for six days to create the universe. God embedded that concept of rest into the life of the nation of Israel. This Saturday break from work has numerous benefits, not least of which is a trust in God’s care for their needs. By not working on the 7th day each week, they are in essence, reducing their income by nearly 15%. That’s no small amount. The same goes for sabbatical. It is a period of intentional rest, designed to give a person an opportunity to refresh, and to trust in God. I wrote about that more here, and I knew that I didn’t want Facebook to get in the way. Cognizant of my tendency to open Facebook frequently, I could easily see myself wasting precious sabbatical hours on social media.
I hovered the mouse over Facebook’s “Deactivate” button, and I was sure something would happen after I clicked it. It felt momentous, significant, and very possibly consequential. Visibly shaky, I clicked my mouse and deactivated my account.
And nothing happened.
Not that first hour, nor that first day. Nothing happened for the first week or month. It was oddly calm and quiet. I thought for sure people would notice and contact me. Of course they would, it was such a big deal! They didn’t though. Over the course of the three-month sabbatical, being off Facebook had no discernible negative impact to my life. That has continued for the whole year. No one got angry. No one felt neglected. Or at least they never told me about it. A couple times people messaged me, as I kept Facebook’s Messenger app for that reason. But that was less than a handful of instances, over the past year.
As a result, this lack of impact was very eye-opening to me. I thought of all the hours I spent on Facebook, often justifying to myself that I was connecting with people, spending quality time learning about their lives. But with Facebook gone, I gained a new perspective on social media: it doesn’t matter.
Sure I missed out to some degree. I haven’t seen recent photos of my nieces and nephews, for example, but I still saw them at family events and got to catch up in person. Recently I found out about an acquaintance that got a new job six months ago. If I was on Facebook, I would have known this information all along. What I discovered was that missing out didn’t matter; it didn’t impact me at all. If something important was going on that I needed to be informed of right away, people still got in touch with me.
Removing Facebook actually added something that I believe is quite important. Intentionality. Rather than passively learning about friends and family on Facebook, if I wanted to express interest in them, I would have to be intentional about it. That intentionality is a very good thing, showing that I care about people.
I’m not saying that Facebook is bad or uncaring or that it is not possible to be intentionally friendly through social media. A person can be very healthy and intentional about their use of social media and the plethora of other digital communication and community resources available to us. Given their extreme popularity, many find that their use of social media is beneficial. But I didn’t. While I was on Facebook, I thought it was great. Once I removed myself, I realized how unnecessary it was. Frankly, I wasted a lot of time on social media. I own that. I made the choice. Now a year later, I’m so glad I’m not on any social media.
Will I ever go back? I can’t say. But I don’t think so. What I’ve found on the other side is far better.
In part 1 and part 2 of this series on Deuteronomy 20, we learned that Israel’s priests and army officers are to address the army before battle. Now God gives them some instructions about how to carry out battle. If you aren’t aware of these passages of Scripture, brace yourselves, as they can be shocking.
In verses 10-18, God refers to two kinds of enemies. Those that are far away, and those nearby. Israel was to handle them very differently.
First, in verses 10-15, when Israel goes to war against nations far away, make them an offer of peace, and if they accept, all the enemy’s people will be subject to forced labor and work for Israel. Is God condoning slavery?
But if the people in the faraway nation refuse Israel’s offer of peace, and they engage Israel in battle, God says Israel is to lay siege to the city. When God delivers the city to Israel, he says they should kill all the men, but keep everything else for themselves: women, children, animals, and possessions. Do you feel like it is hard to read a passage like this where God is approving such devastation? I really struggle with it. But it is about to get worse.
Next in verses 16-18, God moves his focus from the nations far away, and now directs Israel’s attention to those enemies nearby. He is referring to the nations who currently lived in the Promised Land of Canaan that they were about to enter. About those nations, God says, kill them all, total destruction, period. He also tells them why they are to take this severe action. “To keep yourselves from worshiping their gods and sinning against God.”
Whew. Enslavement of people. Total decimation in war. This is isn’t the first time we encountered this concept. It came up in 2017 when we studied Deuteronomy chapters 2, 3, and 7. I remember thinking, at the time, how often should a pastor preach about Old Testament holy war? I have wondered numerous times throughout this Deuteronomy series if I made a mistake choosing to preach through it.
I’m not going to rehash it here. If you want you can read the post here in which I discuss options for interpreting these passages. As you’ll read there, I don’t feel there is any satisfying way to understand these instances where God commands holy war leading to total decimation of foreign peoples. I do want to say this, though: war is always devastating. Our nation has fought wars like our Civil War where we slaughtered each other. And we’ve slaughtered other nations, including civilians in other nations, such as dropping atomic bombs on Japan. I say that simply to bring up the reality that war is always awful. We need to remember that when we consider the question I’m going to ask now: how should Christians approach the concept of war?
Can we find anything in Deuteronomy 20 that will help us? Take note that in Deuteronomy 20, Israel is making war. They are going out and starting war. They are about to enter into someone else’s land and try to capture it. Is that right? Why would God do that at all?
Let’s quickly go back to Egypt 40 years before. At the time Israel was a nation of slaves. God rescued them out of slavery in Egypt and when we hear that, we are cheering God. Freedom for the enslaved. Yes! But that raises a huge logistical question: where would this nation go once they have been freed? We’re talking about a nation that is likely a couple million people. That’s enough people to fill a large city. That many people need a land that can sustain them, so they can’t just go into the desert. But the fertile land nearby, land that could provide for them, is already occupied. Who is going to say, “2 million people, here you can have our land. It’s all yours now, and we will just leave and say goodbye”? Not going to happen. It’s like the Syrian refugee migration in Europe. It’s a massive logistical situation.
So what does God do? God gives Israel a land that had been in their family history, the land of Canaan, the land where their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived. He calls it the Promised Land. God is essentially saying, “Israel, I am returning land to you that was previously yours.” But they lived in that land over 400 years before. In 400 years time, when they were in Egypt, things had changed. New peoples and towns and cities and nations lived in that land now. So Israel wasn’t going to be able to walk back in and say, “Alright people, we’re back! You can go away now.” Nope. It was going to be a fight. Here’s the question, though. Was that a just cause? I don’t know that I can answer that. Some say yes, and some say no. Some might say, “Yes, that was their land originally, and they have every right to want it back, and to fight for it.” Others might say, “No, that was 400 years ago. I’m glad they are not slaves any longer, but they chose to leave Canaan looking for food in Egypt, and they have no right to now go back to Canaan and claim it as their own.” Still another might remind us that God is involved, giving the land to them. The whole earth is the Lord’s so he can give it to whomever he desires. Still we have to ask: Is it right for God to have Israel totally decimate the people in the land so God can give it to them? Is that just? What kind of God would do that? So we are back to that difficult issue. How should Christians think about war?
Frankly, I don’t find any material in Deuteronomy 20 that is helpful to Christians who are seeking to form a distinctly Christian viewpoint on war. Instead Christians must head over to the New Testament, and that is where we are going next, in part 4.
Soldiers are hardy, rugged fighters, right? They train to kill, learning not only weaponry, but also hand to hand combat. But what we will find out is that God has some surprising news for Israel’s officers. Some soldiers need to be in their gardens.
In part 1 of this series, we read that right before the Israelite army engaged the enemy in battle, their priests would give them a final pep talk, directing them to remember that God is with them, fighting for them. Now in part 2, we continue in Deuteronomy 20, looking at verses 5-9 where we read that the officers of the army also speak to the soldiers. Chronologically, however, this speech by the officers likely happened before the priests spoke. The scene is back at camp, before the army gets close to battle. In these verses the officers are to let people go home who are not qualified to fight!
God lists specific categories of people who would not be qualified to fight: those who built new homes, those who planted new vineyards, those who are engaged to be married, and those who are fainthearted. All these men can go home, and don’t have to fight.
Is this simply a description of troop selection that is wise or pragmatic for war? Or could we say that this is a description of God’s heart for his people to enjoy life and not be forced beyond what they are capable of? I suspect this surprising directive is both wise and caring. God knows that those who are distracted will not be quality soldiers. Their heart and mind will be elsewhere. The fainthearted could really bring down the morale of the other soldiers, maybe even spook them out. So let them go home. Keep only those who are ready and willing to serve. In Deuteronomy 24 this will come up again, when God says that after a man is married, he is not allowed to fight for a whole year. There again we see God’s heart to provide a good foundation to a new family.
This thinning out of the ranks requires the army to have quite an amazing trust in God, doesn’t it? Think about it. What kind of army reduces its numbers? In the face of battle, that is ridiculous. You want to sustain or, even better, increase your numbers. So the officers push their soldiers hard, even the ones that are fainthearted or missing home or scared. They say, “You want to go home to your wife and garden? Ha! No way. Buck up, buddy, this is what you signed up for. We’ve got a mission, and you’re going to give your all to help accomplish it.” But maybe the soldier didn’t sign up for the army. Maybe they were drafted into the military? There are plenty of times in our country’s history when people had no choice but to serve. There are many countries around the world today where every single person has mandatory military service, often for two years. No choice!
It is amazing, then, to hear God say that he wants the officers to reduce the size of the army. I can imagine plenty of stalwart officers, when they heard Moses giving this part of his teaching, thinking, “This is insane. Every able-bodied person over 20 should be in the army, period. God, you want to let people go home? They’re all going to say they want to go home.” But that’s God, caring for his people, and wanting them to trust in him. The officers, then, must let people out of the army!
That means those officers and soldiers
who stay are going into battle with reduced numbers. They are going to have place their trust in
God. You don’t trust in numbers, God is
saying, you trust in me. A smaller army
with God on its side is in no danger against a much larger more powerful enemy.
And that enemy is who God addresses next. Now that the army is prepared, trusting in God, he gives them very curious instructions about battle, which we’ll study in part 3.
As I was studying Deuteronomy 20 last week, I had songs going through my mind. War songs. Anti-war songs. It is interesting to me that there is in our culture an intersection of war and music. Then again, I suppose music touches all aspects of life. And, perhaps, so does war. I wanted to start my sermon with one or two of these songs, maybe a representative piece from each side of the war debate. There are so many songs about war and peace, so I asked my son to help me mash-up one of each. My younger kids later told me that it was a very weird way to introduce my sermon. See what you think:
How do you view war?
As we return to our study of Deuteronomy, we come to chapter 20, and it is all about war. Deuteronomy is written with a backdrop of war. The people of Israel were a nomadic, traveling nation, with an army. They left Egypt as slaves 40 years before, but in the intervening years, they had been transformed into a nation with a military, having fought battles here and there. Read the first chapters of the book of Numbers, for example, and it refers to the men 20 years old or older that are able to fight. That brings us to Deuteronomy where they are encamped on the eastern side of the Jordan River, getting ready for their most significant battle yet, the conquest of the land of Canaan. This is a people at war.
Earlier in the book of Deuteronomy, particularly in chapters 2, 3, and 7 we talked about war. This goes back to the fall of 2017, and I remember thinking back then, “Why did I choose to preach through Deuteronomy? All this talk about war?” That was over a year ago, and so we’re going to talk about it again today. One final time in this study of Deuteronomy. And we need to talk about it. The USA has been at war for almost 16 years…did you know that? We invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. Then go back through our history, and it has been one war after the other. We, too, are a nation with a context of war.
Can Deuteronomy help us at all? Turn to Deuteronomy 20.
Verses 1-4 are very straightforward. Moses is saying to the people, “When you go to war, and the enemy seems more powerful than you, do not be afraid, God is with you, and God fights for you.” Remember that this was a major issue for the people. They had sent spies across the river into the Promised Land of Canaan, scoped out the land, and most of the spies came back saying, “All the people over there are giants, and we will surely lose.” But two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, said, “No…God will fight for us…we can take them.” Moses is reminding the people that God, the one with unlimited power, is on their side.
I find it interesting that the priest is the first person described as addressing the people. Look at verse 2, and it says the priest will speak before they go into battle. It seems that Moses is not speaking chronologically here. The words “into battle” give the impression that the message from the priest is a final encouragement before the army engages the enemy. It is a reminder to the army of the reality of God at work. But Moses lists it first in the chapter showing its thematic preeminence.
This is a principle that can carry over to us. God is with you, he is for you, no matter what you are going through in life. Israel was not to trust in their own ability, their own weaponry, the size of their army, or the wisdom of their officers. They were to trust in God’s power. From the moment they left Egypt 40 years prior, this was a principle they were to build their nation on: that God was with them and would fight for them. Humanly speaking, there was no way they should have won any of the battles they fought through the whole process. They were a nation of slaves, with no military training, no history, no experience, while the nations around them were much stronger and experienced. But Israel had God who has ultimate power. The whole point was that they should trust in him. We should trust God too. The principle is not saying that we can wage war whenever we want, and God will put his stamp of approval on it, if we just somehow trust in him. No. The principle in these first four verses is that we must trust in God and depend on God about anything difficult or scary that we are going through. But how do we do this? I regularly struggle with how a person actually places their trust in God. It has to be more than saying, “I trust God,” or believing it in our minds. What do we do with our bodies, our choices, our possessions, our time, our relationships, that show we trust in God? We’ll come back to this question at the end of the series.
Check back in to part 2, as we continue looking at what God says about Israel’s army.
Why did you chose to wear the clothing you have on today?
Clothing is often about form rather than function. We want to look good, look appropriate. But clothing is also about function. Do you wear a uniform for your job? Or perhaps your employer or hobby requires you to wear clothing that makes the job or hobby easier. Football players wear all kinds of gear. Same for soldiers or people who work outdoors, or underground, or people who need clothing to hold tools.
Today we are talking about getting dressed and ready! But while we are going to talk a lot about clothing, we are not actually talking about clothing. This is our final sermon in our Advent and Christmas series following the readings from the Lectionary. Each week, we’ve been seeking the thread that ties all four passages together. Turn to 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26, for our first reading.
We are going deep into the history of the nation of Israel, in a period when judges ruled their land. By this time the nation of Israel had taken possession of most of the Promised Land of Canaan, but they really struggled to consistently and deeply follow the way of the Lord, and as a result enemies would attack and persecute them. The people would cry out, repent of their evil ways and God would answer by sending them a judge who would lead them to victory over their enemies. Today we are going to read about the very last of these judges, a prophet named Samuel.
In this passage we read about a time when Samuel was just a boy, serving in the tabernacle, and he had a uniform. The text says that Samuel wore a linen ephod. An ephod is a Hebrew word that refers to a kind of decorative apron that was worn over a robe. The high priest of the land also wore an ephod, which held the breastplate made of metal and decorated with precious gems. But those serving in the tabernacle, like Samuel, would wear a much simpler linen version. Still, Samuel’s ephod showed the role he played, a helper in the temple.
But who was this Samuel guy, and why
in the world is a child away from his family and serving in the
tabernacle? If you turn back to 1 Samuel
1, you can read the story in which Hannah, Samuel’s mother, had no
children. She came to the tabernacle
pleading with God to allow her to have a child, and she said that if God would
give her a child, she would dedicate the child to serve the Lord. God gave her a child, and Hannah kept her
word, dedicating Samuel to the Lord.
As you keep reading the story, Hannah
is amazing. She made sure Samuel was dressed and ready to serve! Every year she visited him, bringing with her
a new robe that she had made for Samuel. Hannah followed through on the promise
she made to God.
The section concludes with a note explaining the Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and men. Keep that in mind.
That takes us to our next passage, Psalm 148. This psalm is pretty straightforward: over and over it says, “Praise the Lord!”
Did you notice any other repetition in the psalm? I’m not just talking about the word “praise him” over and over and over. I wondering if you noticed the structural repetition? There is a literary structure to the psalm, and the writer of the psalm crafted the structure very much on purpose.
Here is the structure.
A – verse 1a – Praise the Lord!
B – verses 1b-4 – List of things that should praise God: spiritual and physical heavens
C
– verses 5-6 – Reason to praise the name of God: act of creation and promise
B’
– verses 7-12 – List of things that should praise God: all things on the earth,
weather, land, animal and human.
C’
– verses 13-14a – Reason to praise the name of God: his name is exalted above
all, and he raised up a horn for his people.
A’ – verse 14 b – Praise the Lord!
How might a psalm like this, filled as it is with so much praise, relate to our theme of being dressed and ready? Perhaps the compiler of the Lectionary had Isaiah 61 in mind? I can’t say for sure, but there is an interesting possible connection.
Read Isaiah 61:1-2. Does that passage sound familiar at all? It is the very passage the Jesus read from when, very early in his ministry, he stopped in to the synagogue at his hometown of Nazareth and read to the people from the Old Testament. Luke in Luke chapter 4 records that Jesus read only the first few verses, proclaiming that these verses were fulfilled in him.
What he reads to them is a description of his mission: to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, to release prisoners from darkness, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s Favor. All that began when Jesus was born as a baby, which is what we are celebrating each Christmas! This mission of Jesus continues today as our mission. It is as though we are living in an extended year of the Lord’s favor, through the ongoing influence of the Spirit of God in our world, through the church. Look what God desires to accomplish through his Spirit-empowered church?
As you see, in verses 2-3 there is a reversal. God’s Kingdom is always about the great reversal. Thus sometimes it is called the upside-down Kingdom, because in God’s Kingdom there is comfort for those who mourn, provision for those who grieve. God gives a number of wonderful gifts to replace the darkness and pain of their lives: the crown of beauty replaces ashes, the oil of gladness replacing mourning, and then notice this last gift, the garment of praise that replaces the spirit of despair! There’s a connection between between praise and clothing.
God wants to clothe us with a garment
of praise! In the midst of our despair,
God wants to give us a new set of clothing, a garment of praise.
There is a great connection here, as well, to Hannah’s song praise in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. She was in the midst of great despair because of her lack of a child. God answered her prayer, and she bursts forth in praise to him. In the same way, at Christmas we burst forth in praise because we are celebrating how God entered into the darkness and pain and despair of our world, becoming one of us, Emmanuel, God with us, to save us and bring us hope.
Thus is right and good for us to praise God like Psalm 148 does. In fact Psalm 148 reminds us that every single thing praises God. What we find when we put on this garment of praise is that praising the Lord is transformative. It glorifies God when we praise him in the midst of difficulty. Just like Hannah did. That is what it means to wear a garment of praise.
This garment of praise brings us to our third reading, Luke 2:41-52. Does this story remind you of the passage in Samuel? Both boys serving the Lord in the tabernacle/temple?
There has been much scholarly discussion about this passage. In the first century Jewish world that Jesus grew up in, he would have gone to school like all children his age. But only the most capable students would study on beyond age 12. Those students identified with special gifts would then attend advanced rabbinical schools. Is that what we are reading about here? We just don’t know. I’ve read good arguments supporting the idea that Jesus went to an elite rabbinical school, and I’ve read good arguments against the idea. None of the Gospel writers mention anything about his life between this event and his baptism. It is regularly assumed that he just learned to be a carpenter, or mason, like his father Joseph. But the Gospels actually don’t say that either. We just don’t know.
What is quite clear, however, is that Jesus knew, even at the age of 12, his role in the mission of God.
Look at verses 46-47, for example. Do you see the verbs that describe Jesus? He was sitting, listening, asking. He was understanding and answering. Look at his response in verse 49. Many Bibles translate this passage as: “I had to be in my Father’s house.” Others translate Jesus as saying, “I had to be with my Father” or “I had to be about my Father’s business.” The point is, Jesus knew his mission! He was dressed and ready! Even at age 12. Those of you that are 11, 12, 13, or older teenagers, that means you can follow Jesus’ example at your age too! Of course we adults can as well.
Do you remember the final verse from the Samuel passage that I asked you to take note of above? 1 Samuel 2:26? The one that talked about Samuel growing in stature and in favor with God and man? Look at Luke 2:52! This is another excellent description of what we are talking about today. Young people, you are growing. In my home, we’ve had teenagers in our home for the past 8 years, and we have watched them shoot up, taller and taller. Just like Samuel’s mom, Hannah, visiting him every year to give him a new robe, our kids grow out of their clothes, and we buy them new ones. We want to keep them dressed and ready. But the description of Jesus and Samuel is more than just physical growth. They are growing in wisdom, and in favor with God and man. They were dressed and ready spiritually! Young people reading this, I especially want to ask you: as your body grows physically, how are you growing spiritually? Are you giving attention to your spiritual growth? You are old enough to read the Bible, think deeply about how God’s words apply to your life, and spend time talking with God or writing to him in a journal, seeking to change your life to honor him!
And that brings us to our final passage. Colossians 3:12-17. Throughout this last month, the Lectionary has taken us to a number of these short letters in the New Testament, almost all from the Apostle Paul to his friends in various churches. This letter is to the church in Colossae. Today, all that remains of Colossae, located in modern-day Turkey, is a hilltop that has yet to be excavated. In Paul’s day, though, there was a bustling city and Christians lived in it. So what did he say to them?
Look at verse 12. He tells them that because they are God’s chosen
people, they need to see themselves as holy and dearly loved! They have a special relationship with
God. This cannot be underestimated. It is so vital. You and I need to dwell on this. We are dearly loved. That is so evident at Christmas. God showed his love for us by giving us his
Son!
Paul then says that our relationship
with God means we should live a certain way, and look at the metaphor he uses:
Clothe yourselves! Be dressed and
ready! How are we to clothe
ourselves? We already saw that we are to
wear a garment of praise. But now Paul has a lot more clothing for us to
wear: Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness,
Patience.
Then he describes this clothing even
more precisely in verse 13, “Bear with each other, Forgive whatever grievances
you have, forgive as God forgave you!”
Are you dressed and ready? Are there any of these clothes that you need to put on?
Paul has more clothing for us in Verse
14, and this is the most important piece of clothing! “Above all [Put on] love, which binds all the
previous quality in unity.
Then in verse 15 he describes this
clothing even more: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since you are
called to members of one body, and be thankful.”
Paul is covering all he bases here. He has a whole closet full of clothing! Are you dressed and ready?
But there is still more: In verse 16 he says, “Let the Word dwell in
you richly, as you teach and admonish, as you sing, with gratitude.” So verse 15 finished with a mention of
thanks, and now verse 16 does too. Being
thankful must be an important piece of clothing!
Paul’s wardrobe continues in verse 17. He says, “Whatever you do, do it all in the
name of Jesus, giving thanks to God.”
Did you hear that? Thanks is
mentioned again. In 15 and 16 and
17!
God is seeking to clothe you with his
righteousness so that you are more prepared to serve him!
I recently heard the story of a woman
was clothed and ready to serve.
Candice Benbow couldn’t sleep. Music was blasting from the apartment next
door. Her neighbor would crank the music
often, but on this night it went really late because he was having a Christmas
party. At 3:30am she couldn’t take it
anymore. So you know what she did? Get on the phone and call the cops? Nope.
Go over there, bang on the door and yell at the neighbor? Nope.
The passive-aggressive move, maybe?
You know, just pound on the wall?
Nope.
Benbow got up and decided to bake a cake. A pound cake to be precise. And she brought it over to her neighbor, and
left it on his doorstep with a note.
Her neighbor, Tom Amaro, said that
Benbow’s apartment had been empty for a while, and he didn’t know anyone had
moved in.
Amaro got the pound cake, and soon
after the music died down. In each of
the next few nights, the music was also quieter, and then on the second day the
two neighbors met.
Benbow said that Amaro apologized for the noise, promised to invite Benbow to his next party, and then said her pound cake was amazing! Amaro later said that he was so grateful Benbow didn’t take action like calling the police. Since that time, the two have become friends. They each realized that they were new to the area, and that the holidays were tough because of the memories of lost loved ones.
Showing that she was dressed and ready
to serve, Benbow tweeted, “we never know what folks are going through and it is
always best to lead with kindness. When
we can extend grace, we really should.”
There is so much in this section of Colossians! Which part is God speaking to you about? Read it again slowly. Maybe read it every day this week. Is there a word or phrase that you feel God wants you to pay particular attention to, or work on in your life? Maybe his Spirit wants to transform you in that way in 2019. Because when you are dressed and ready, God will use you.
Engaging Scripture 