Deuteronomy 20
LORD gives victory in battleverses 1-4
When you go out to battle against your enemies
and see horses – and chariots – and a people more than you
BE NOT AFRAID of them
for the LORD your God is with you
which brought you up out of the land of Egypt
And it shall be – when you are come nigh to the battle
that the priest shall approach and speak to the people
and shall say to them
Hear – O Israel
You approach this day to battle against your enemies
let not your hearts faint – fear not – do not tremble
neither be you terrified because of them
FOR the LORD your God is HE that goes with you
to fight for you against your enemies – to save you
Reasons for leaving battleverses 5-9
And the officers shall speak to the people
saying
What man is there that has built a NEW HOUSE
and has not dedicated it?
Let him go and return to his house – lest he die in the battle
and another man dedicate it
And what man is he that has planted a VINEYARD
and has not yet eaten of it?
Let him also go and return to his house
lest he die in the battle – and another man eat of it
And what man is there that has BETROTHED a wife
and has not taken her?
Let him go and return to his house – lest he die in the battle
and another man take her
And the officers shall speak further to the people
and they shall say
What man is there that is FEARFUL and FAINT-HEARTED?
let him go and return to his house
lest his brethren’s heart FAINT as well as his heart
And it shall be – when the officers have made an end of speaking
to the people – that they shall make captains of the armies
to lead the people
Fighting far from home: offer peace firstverses 10-15
When you come nigh to a city to fight against it
then proclaim peace to it
And it shall be – IF it make you answer of peace – and open to you
THEN it shall be – that all the people that is found therein
shall be tributaries to you – and they shall serve you
And IF it will make no peace with you – BUT will make war against you
THEN you shall besiege it
And when the LORD your God has delivered it into your hands
you shall 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
shall you take to yourself
and you shall eat the spoil of your enemies
which the LORD your God has given you
THUS shall you do to all the cities which are VERY FAR off from you
which are not of the cities of these nation
Cities of Promised Land completed destroyedverses 16-18
BUT of the cities of these people
which the LORD your God does give you for an inheritance
you shall save alive NOTHING that breaths
but you shall UTTERLY DESTROY them
namely the Hittites – Amorites – Canaanites – Perizzites
Hivites – Jebusites
as the LORD your God has commanded you
that they TEACH you not to do after all their abominations
which they have done to their gods
so should you sin against the LORD your God
Bulwarks made from non-fruit bearing treesverses 19-20
When you shall besiege a city a long time – in making war against it to take it
you shall not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them
FOR you may eat of them – and you shall not cut them down
(for the tree of the field is man’s life)_
to employ them in the siege
ONLY the trees which you know that they be not TREES of MEAT
you shall destroy and cut them down
And you shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you
until it be subdued
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people more than you, be not afraid of them: for the LORD your God is with you, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. (7200 “see” [ra’ah] means look, behold, consider, regard, perceive, or learn about)
DEVOTION: We need to have a spiritual eye test. We need to make sure that we are seeing through the eyes of the LORD and not through our human eyes. Too often we only look at circumstances through our human eyes and the result is a negative impression of our circumstances.
We all go through times that we see the negative things of a circumstance. I have done this many times in my life and the LORD has allowed me to look back and see HIM working in all of the circumstances. At the time I was not sure what was going on but HE knew what was going on. HE knew that the circumstances were bigger than I could handle alone and HE came right beside me and helped me through them.
Presently I could look at what is happening and think that this situation is impossible but it isn’t for HIM. I have to sit back and wait for HIM to show me what to do and then do it.
The same is true of the children of Israel as they were entering the Promised Land. The enemy looked more powerful than they could gain the victory over but they would have been looking through human eyes. God reminded them that they needed to remember how big the army of Egypt was and what happened to them.
Our response to any circumstance should not be fear of the enemy. Our response should be to see what our God can do in the circumstances. Our God is bigger than any enemy both human and spiritual.
CHALLENGE: Remember how the LORD has helped you in the past and count on HIM to help you in the present.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 4 For the LORD your God is he that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. (3467 “save” [yasha] means to be open, wide, free, to be safe, deliver, help, rescue, or get victory
DEVOTION: We have enemies in our world. Not everyone is a friend. Not everyone wants t help us. Some don’t care one way or the other but those who are in our world want to get ahead and if we are in the way they will run us over.
There are enemies in the physical and spiritual realm. In the spiritual realm our main enemies are the world, the flesh and the devil.
The world system is against God. In our nation the worldview is not a Christian worldview today as this nation was founded on Christian principles. Our laws were made with the Biblical text involved. However, that has changed.
Our flesh is referring to our inner man. Once Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden we have inherited a sin nature when we were born. This sin nature enjoys sin. Sin is anything that is against the commands of God. The Ten Commandments are given as one source of the commands of God. Every individual has broken at least one of these commandments. So those who become followers of Christ by grace will fight this battle until the day they did.
The third enemy is the Devil or Satan. He has an army of fallen angels called demons that are used to tempt us away from the LORD. The Bible states that he is walking about on this earth seeking whom he may devour. The only protection a believer has is the strength of Jesus Christ to fight his attacks.
The children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land. They were given their marching orders. They were given instructions to destroy all the people of the land. The people that presently inhabited the Promised Land were under the judgment of God. The Bible states that the iniquity of the inhabitants has reached the state of “full.” God wanted them completely destroyed, so that, they would not influence the children of Israel to follow their pagan practices.
They were given instructions regarding who should and who should not be in the army of Israel. They were given instructions regarding those people and places that were far away from the Promised Land.
This chapter begins with a promise. The promise is that the LORD was going to be with the children of Israel in their battles. The children of Israel were not to look at the number in the opposing army. The children of Israel we never to be afraid. Why? BECAUSE the LORD was with them. The LORD was going to keep them safe. The LORD was going to help them. The LORD was going to give the VICTORY.
It is a matter of trust that is in question here. There was a group of individuals who were not willing to trust the LORD to give them victory. They were supposed to be taken out of the army because they would cause others not to trust.
When God tells them to “fear not,” HE wants them to trust HIM. The only ONE that believers are to fear or reverence is the Biblical Godhead, made up of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All others are not to be feared.
Do we have a tendency to fear people who are around us? YES! It takes faith to put our confidence that the LORD will give us victory.
That is a great promise. The same promise is giving to us in the New Testament. Christ promised to never leave or forsake HIS people. We have the LORD at our side during each battle we face. We are going to win the WAR! We are going to spend eternity in heaven. Yes, we are going to lose some battles because of our lack of trust in the LORD or because HE wants us to be totally dependent on HIM. Is that not a great promise????
CHALLENGE: Don’t look at people with fear. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND. Remember this verse, especially when circumstances seem impossible.
: 8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart. (7390 “fainthearted” [rak] means weak, tenderhearted, soft, delicate, wanting in physical strength, infirm, pampered, incapable, inexperienced, weak, spoiled, coddled, or timid)
DEVOTION: Before the children of Israel were to go to battle the army had to be questioned regarding their present status regarding fighting the battle.
The LORD gave four reasons why someone shouldn’t enter the battle field. The first was someone who had built a house but had not lived in it. The second was someone who had planted a vineyard and not eaten from it. The third was someone who was engaged to be married. The fourth was the one we are considering now.
The fourth one was someone who was afraid or worried about fighting. This individual could cause problems in battle. If he looked only at the enemy and not to the LORD he might run away. It was not a problem if he just ran away but the problem was that others might run with him.
One coward could cause many to run and the battle could be lost because of these actions. Only the brave were to fight in the army of the LORD.
The Bible states that we should not have the “spirit of fear” in us. It is not something the Holy Spirit gives those who are genuine believers. HE wants us to face our battles with the strength that is provided by the LORD.
Running away is not something a believer should do if he is entering into a battle the LORD wants him to fight. The truth be told every day is a new battle that we have to face. Some battles are more difficult than others but the LORD can give us the victory both in small battles and large battles if we are bring glory to HIS name.
Young believers are given small battles to face. As we mature in the faith our battles should be larger because we have been shown how powerful our God can be in battle.
We are in the LORD’S army where running is not an option. We need to face the enemy in the strength of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Remember the tendency of the old nature is to not trust the LORD to help us in our battles.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD your God does give you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breaths. (3605 “nothing” [kol] means all, the whole, totality, everything, everybody, total, all together, or completely)
DEVOTION: Here we have a command of the LORD. When the children come to a place that is not a part of the Promised Land they were allowed to keep some of the people alive.
Here we find that they were commanded not to keep anything that breathed alive. They were to totally destroy everything that was alive. They were to have nothing to do with the people of the land.
The sin of the land had reached the limit of the standard of God. The people in the land were worshiping false gods. They were doing things to each other that was not appropriate. They were giving their children as sacrifices to their false gods.
God was totally done with the people of the Promised Land and HE didn’t want the children of Israel to be influenced by their actions. The command was just in HIS eyes. HE had HIS reasons for the children of Israel to be obedient.
The problem is that they were not obedient and they were influenced by the people of the land to worship false gods. This is what HE didn’t want.
Now we have to realize that in our world we are influenced by those people around us that don’t know the LORD. We don’t have the same command that the LORD gave to the children of Israel.
We have to live in a world that doesn’t honor the LORD. We have to live with people who don’t love the LORD and want us to not love the LORD. There is supposed to be freedom of religion in many countries but that is not as true as it sounds.
We are living in an age when there are people who want to limit what we can teach and what we can do in the name of the LORD. Witnessing is outlawed in some nations. Churches are outlawed in some nations.
If people worship the LORD they can be put in jail. If people want to honor the LORD in some countries they can go to jail for saying what the Bible says about certain actions that others want to practice that is against the teachings of the Word of God.
Freedom to worship the LORD in our everyday life in the workplace is sometimes challenged. Many people are fired for not going along with the crowd that wants to have nothing to do with the God of the Bible.
Our responsibility is to worship the LORD in spirit and in truth in our world. We are to speak against those things that the LORD is against. We are not to try to hurt people physically but we are to try to persuade them concerning the teachings of the Word of God regarding issues that don’t please the LORD.
We have to do all this in a loving manner which is hard at times because many don’t want to hear it. The LORD will give us strength to face these challenges each day through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
CHALLENGE: Trust in the LORD for strength each day to witness for the LORD when HE gives us opportunity. Remember we have to do it in a loving manner – not like the Israelites in this passage.
: 18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations which they have done to their gods; so should you sin against the LORD your God. (8441 “abominations” [tow‘ebah] means disgusting thing, abhorrence, something that is an abomination which causes horror and disgust in others, detestable, offensive, idol, or things that are impure or illicit by decrees of religion.)
DEVOTION: Most of the time the LORD gives a reason why HE wants us to do a certain thing in our world. HE doesn’t have to explain HIMSELF. HE chooses to explain sometimes, so that HIS people can understand where HE is coming from in HIS instructions.
Here we find that the LORD knows that we have a tendency to listen to those around us. If the children of Israel didn’t kill all of those living in the Promised Land they would have been taught how to worship the false gods of the land which would have turned them from following the LORD to following the false gods.
The worship of false gods was such that the things they did in their worship services pleased the flesh but not the LORD. God wanted them to honor HIM with their bodies as well as their souls and spirits. So if they allowed some to live their wandering would take place faster than it would have if all of them were destroyed.
This is true today as well. The company we keep influences our thinking. If we keep company with genuine believers who are trying to please the LORD on a daily basis we would be following a good example.
If we keep company with those who claim to be believers but are not faithful to the LORD we will find ourselves being preoccupied with things other than what pleases the LORD.
The more we wander from the service we are supposed to be doing with the gift the Holy Spirit has given us the more we stop wanting to service the LORD at all. The downward spiral of a believer is something we should try to help stop. Too often however once a believer wanders from the LORD it takes the correction of the LORD to get them back.
CHALLENGE: The LORD wants us to watch the company we keep. Our goal should be to fellowship with believers who will help us stay on the path the LORD has designed for all believers.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 1, 13, 14, 16, 18
God (Elohim)verses 1, 13, 14, 16, 18
LORD thy Godverses 1, 13, 14, 16
LORD your Godverses 4, 18
God with Israel to fightverse 4
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Enemiesverses 1, 3, 4
Land of Egyptverse 1
Nationsverses 15-20
Hittites
Amorites
Canaanites
Perizzites
Hivites
Jebusites
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Afraidverses 1, 3, 8
Faint heartsverses 3, 8
Fear verse 3
Trembleverse 3
Terrified verse 3
Listening to nations in Promised Landverse 18
Abominationsverse 18
Worshiping false godsverse 18
Sinverse 18
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Be not afraidverse 1
Presence of the LORDverse 1
Fear notverse 3
Do not trembleverse 3
LORD fights for youverse 4
LORD saves youverse 4
Inheritanceverse 16
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Prepare for battleverse 1
Priest speaks to people before battleverse 2
Israelverse 3
Officers speak to the people regarding except from battleverses 5-9
built a new house
planted a new vineyard
betrothed a wife
if fearful or fainthearted
make captains – lead the people
Proclaim peace to villages
not in Promised Landverses 10-15
tributaries
not want peace
smite every male
others spoil
Promised landverses 16-20
inheritance
save alive NOTHING that breaths
utterly destroy them
not destroy trees that bare fruit
build bulwarks
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
20:7. A man engaged to be married was also exempt from military service. The length of the exemption for a newly married man was one year (24:5). These exemptions (20:5–7) bring one of the basic purposes of holy war into sharp focus. Though it was waged as a punishment for the wickedness of the Canaanite population (see comments on chap. 7), it was also fought so that Israel might have a land in which to live a stable and peaceful life—building homes, planting crops, and raising families under God’s rule. Since God was fighting for Israel it was not necessary for the war to take total priority over all domestic functions. (Deere, J. S. (1985). Deuteronomy. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 299). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
20:1–20 The conduct of war. This chapter contains principles for the conduct of war. These include rules for war in general (10–15) as well as the special kind of war against the peoples who occupied the land God was giving to Israel (16–18). The opening commands, however, apply to all war.
The main point in vs 1–4 is that all Israel’s wars are really God’s. His power in rescuing Israel from Egypt, against impossible odds, is a reassurance that the enemy’s apparent greater strength need never be decisive. Even though not all war is ‘holy’, in the special sense reserved for war in the promised land (16–18), nevertheless, everything Israel did was ‘religious’, because their king was God. Thus it is that the army is addressed by the priest before going into battle. The main burden of his message is that the people need not fear, because God’s power is made available to them.
The law evidently did not intend that Israel should have a standing army (of the sort that Solomon would later gather; 1 Ki. 10:26). Rather, it has a citizen army in mind. This is clear from v 9, where commanders are appointed only when the army is being prepared for battle. It is clear too because vs 5–9 assume that people will be taken from their normal activities in order to serve. In this context certain exemptions are granted. One who has built a new house but not yet lived in it need not go; nor one who is involved in the long process of bringing a new vineyard to fruitfulness (see Lv. 19:23–25); nor one who is engaged but not yet married (see also 24:5). These exemptions are in line with the main thrust of Deuteronomy, that God is giving his people a land whose fruits they are to enjoy, and in which they themselves are to have children so that future generations might also prosper (7:13). All this is only possible, of course, because God will fight for the people. It is a people that trusts God that can dare to allow some of its best people not to join its army in a crucial battle.
This is most obvious from the final exemption, which is simply for those who are afraid (8)! It was imperative that God’s army should not be fearful, since victory depended on faith in a God who could overcome the odds. A fearful soldier might easily spread fear, and this could turn the tide against the whole army. (McConville, J. G. (1994). Deuteronomy. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 218). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.)
The officers’ encouragement (vv. 5–9). The priest encouraged the soldiers to face the enemy without fear, but the officers told them to go back home if they had any unfinished business. No officer wants to lead distracted soldiers whose minds and hearts are elsewhere, for “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). Paul may have had this scene in mind when he wrote 2 Timothy 2:4, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” (nkjv).
The officers announced three different occasions for granting temporary deferment, and the first was to allow the soldier to dedicate a new house to the Lord and start living in it (Deut. 20:5). The word translated “dedicate” (kjv) also means “to initiate,” that is, to start living in the house with his family and enjoying it. The family needed the man much more than the battlefield did, so he was deferred for a year. The second occasion was to harvest a new vineyard whose fruit the soldier hadn’t yet tasted. According to Leviticus 19:23–25, an owner of an orchard had to wait until the fifth year before he could eat the fruit of the trees, but this law probably wasn’t applied to vineyards. Five years would be a rather long deferment. The third occasion was perhaps the most important, and that was to permit the engaged soldier to go home and get married. According to Deuteronomy 24:5, he was deferred a year.
These three exceptions suggest to us that God is more interested in our enjoying the common blessings of life—homes, harvests, and honeymoons—than devoting ourselves only to the battles of life. He didn’t want any of the Jewish men to use their military responsibilities as an excuse to neglect their families, their vineyards, and their fiancées. Certainly military service was important, but the Lord was more concerned that the men have the right priorities in life. What good was accomplished for the Jewish people if their army defeated the enemy on the field but things were falling apart back home?
The priests asked the soldiers to look up and trust the Lord, and the officers asked them to look back and consider any unfinished business that would hinder them from doing their best. But the officers presented another challenge and asked the soldiers to look within and see if they were too afraid to go into battle. Gideon lost 22,000 men when he issued this challenge (Jud. 7:1–3). Fear and faith can’t coexist successfully in the same heart (Matt. 8:26; Luke 8:25). Furthermore, fear is contagious and could discourage the other soldiers. It was fear and unbelief that caused Israel’s great failure at Kadesh (Num. 13–14).
Once the ranks had been thinned out, the officers would appoint captains, so each man had to be ready to serve. At this time, Israel didn’t have what we would call a “standing army” with an organized system of permanent officers. The major officers knew their best men and would assign leadership responsibilities for each campaign. When Saul became king, he formed the nucleus of a standing army and his successor David developed the organization even more. In fighting God’s battles, faith and courage are important, but so are authority and order. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1999). Be equipped (pp. 135–136). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.)
20:5–8 Let him depart and return to his house. Four exemptions from service in Israel’s volunteer army were cited to illustrate the principle that anyone whose heart was not in the fight should not be there. Those who had other matters on their minds or were afraid were allowed to leave the army and return to their homes, since they would be useless in battle and even influence others to lose courage (v. 8). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Dt 20:5–8). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Three groups of people are exempt from military service on humanitarian grounds: (1) the man who has built a house and has not yet dedicated it (v. 5); (2) the one who has planted a vineyard and has not yet enjoyed its fruit (v. 6—only in the fifth year were Israelites permitted to enjoy the fruit [Lev. 19:23–25]); and (3) the newly engaged or married man (v. 7). Nothing should distract attention from the priority of victory in battle. Related to the humanitarian reasons, the faint-hearted is also exempt, so as not to weaken general morale. (Gilchrist, P. R. (1995). Deuteronomy. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 123). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.)
Ver. 7. And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? &c.] Home to his house and bedded with her; has only betrothed her, but is not properly married to her, the nuptials are not completed; this the Jews understand of any one betrothed to him, whether a virgin or a widow, or the wife of a deceased brother (yea, they say, if his brother is dead in war, he returns and comes home), but not of a former wife divorced and received again: let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in battle, and another man take her; or marry her. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 2, p. 81). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
However, we may also speak of divine priorities for just as in regard to many of the things which we have thought essential to our happiness in days gone by we recognize governmental priorities, so we need to realize that in all things our first duty and responsibility is to God Himself. The Old Testament prophets were constantly stressing the law of divine priorities. I wonder what the Zarephath widow thought when Elijah the prophet applied to her for room and board! She explained that her little store of food was almost gone; there was but a small quantity of meal in the bottom of the barrel and a little oil to mix with it. She was going to do a last baking for herself and her son and then there would be nothing left. But Elijah, the man of God, said, “Make me a cake first.” One could imagine her exclaiming, “What, make you a cake first! you a stranger, when I and my son have so little left!” And the answer might well have been, “Yes, it is a question of priorities. Henceforth you are to run a boarding-house for God. Put God first and He will look after you and your needs.” So off she went and did as she was bidden, and lo, she had more than enough as long as the famine lasted and the prophet remained as her guest. She gave God the first place and He in turn honored her faith and saw that she did not come to want. He will never be anyone’s debtor. It is just a picture of what He will do for all of us when we give Him the first place in our lives, in other words, when we recognize the importance of divine priorities.
Our Lord Jesus insisted on this again and again. We too often fail to put first things first, to recognize the importance of honoring God above everything else. We fuss with one another and we allow all kinds of trivial things to come in to destroy our fellowship with each other. We take offense and bear grudges and then wonder why our prayers are not answered and why we miss the blessing of God in our lives. The Lord Jesus said, “If you come to the altar and remember your brother has aught against you, first go and be reconciled to thy brother, then come and offer thy gift.” That is the law of divine priorities. First get right with men in order that you may be right with God. (Ironside, H. A. (1945). Divine priorities, and other messages (pp. 9–10). New York: Loizeaux Brothers.)
Remember, too, the word of the Apostle Paul in regard to Christian young people. Many of them are serving the Lord faithfully and endeavoring to do His will, but, sad to say, there are many others who do not give God His rightful place in their lives and yet make a great profession. The Word says, “Let them first learn to show piety at home” (1 Timothy 5:4). Some can be very pious at church but very thoughtless at home. Some are very pleasant when out in company, but they can be so unpleasant in the bosom of their own family, where, above all places, they should be shining for Christ. I know it is true that often the home is the place where we seem to get the fur rubbed the wrong way. When one young girl said to an evangelist, “I find it so hard to live for God at home; they always rub the fur the wrong way,” he answered, “Well, my dear young sister, why not turn around?” That is, just give way and do not fight back, and you will be surprised to find how easy it is to get along. (Ironside, H. A. (1945). Divine priorities, and other messages (pp. 11–12). New York: Loizeaux Brothers.)
2 Kings 8 Nothing happens in our lives or in the world apart from divine appointment or permission. Behind every event and incident, there is divine providence. The Shunammite widow, who has done so much for Elisha, is remembered and cared for years afterward. The Lord has a wonderful memory for those who feed Him when He is hungry and minister to Him when He is in need (see Matthew 25:37). The conversation between Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, and the king might seem an accident, but it is providential. When we abide in the will of God, life is sown with divine coincidences. (Quite Walk June 22, 2017)
James 3
The exercise of genuine Christian faith results in controlling the tongue to speak good, not evil.
INSIGHT
Through the use of metaphors, James warns us about the tongue. There is nothing good or bad, right or wrong about a tongue; it is simply a few ounces of muscle. But the tongue articulates the contents of the heart. If a flask full of acid is bumped, acid will spill out. If a flask full of water is bumped, only water will spill out. Water will never spill out of a flask of acid, and acid will never spill out of a flask of water. In that sense, the tongue merely reveals the heart. Let the heart be bumped, and the tongue will reveal what is in the heart. In controlling the tongue, you must control the heart. If you want to change the words of the tongue, you must change the condition of the heart. (Quiet Walk)
KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 1 John 5:3
There is nothing about which we can so deceive ourselves as the fact that we love God. A man may come to me and say he loves God. He says with Browning, “God’s in His Heaven, All’s right with the world.” But when something goes against him, he finds he does not love God. He says, “Why does God…?” Feelings are very deceptive. How do we know we love God? There is the next step—when “we keep his commandments.”
Our Lord emphasizes that in John 14:21: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” You cannot separate these things. Love is not a sentiment; it is the most active, vital thing in the world. If I love God, I want to please Him—I keep the commandments. And what I may regard as the love of God in my soul is a pure delusion unless it leads me to keep God’s commandments and to live life as He wants me to live it.
“Again,” says someone, “you have just shifted the problem. This keeping of the commandments—what is this?” “Well,” says John in essence in a kind of footnote on which he is going to elaborate in the next verse, “what matters in this whole question of keeping the commandments is my attitude toward them. When I face the commandments of God, do I resent them? Do I feel that God is imposing an impossible load upon me? Do I groan and grumble and say, ‘Oh, this hard taskmaster who asks of me the impossible’?”
“If that is your attitude toward the commandments of God,” says John in effect, “you are not keeping them, and neither are you loving God, and you are not loving your brethren—you are outside the life altogether.” For someone who is truly Christian does not find the commandments of God to go against the grain.
A Thought to Ponder: Someone who is truly Christian does not find the commandments of God to go against the grain.
(From Life in God, pp. 30-31 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
He Rides Upon the Heaven
“There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.” (Deuteronomy 33:26)
Chapter 33 of Deuteronomy contains the last recorded words of a truly great man, Moses, “whom the LORD knew face to face” (34:10). Many times Moses had addressed the people of Israel with mixed blessing and warning, listing conditions for blessing and the inevitable results of rejecting God’s plan. But here, as he prepared for his impending death (32:48-52), Moses spoke only of God’s majestic character and the privileges of those who serve Him.
The God of Jeshurun (literally “upright,” here a symbolic name for Israel) is an active God, for He rides in His excellency across the heaven to help us, as we see in our text. He strongly acts on our behalf. “The eternal God is [our] refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (33:27). He is not like the gods of the heathen, who do nothing.
Next, He is a God of grandeur. Here He rides across the sky and the heaven; elsewhere we are told that He “rideth upon the heavens of heavens” (Psalm 68:33). He walks (104:3) and flies (18:10) “upon the wings of the wind.” “The LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet” (Nahum 1:3).
Finally, God is eternal. The “eternal God” with “everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27) assures us of eternal victory. “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:18).
Such was Moses’ God and the God whom we serve today— the One who showers us with incomparable blessings. Indeed, “who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD” (Deuteronomy 33:29) to have such a One as our God?
(JDM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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