The Lord is a Man of War: Text: Deuteronomy 20:1-9
Introduction: A Peculiar Kind of Army
We live in an age that is deeply confused about warfare. On the one hand, our secular culture is squeamish and sentimental, pretending that conflict can always be resolved with dialogue and negotiation, as though a pack of wolves can be reasoned with. On the other hand, when our leaders do commit to war, they do so with a totalizing, godless fury, demanding absolute submission from every citizen through mechanisms like conscription, which Samuel warned us was the hallmark of a pagan king. They want the power of Jehovah's wars without Jehovah's authority or Jehovah's rules of engagement.
The modern state believes it owns the people, and can therefore take them and use them as it sees fit. But the God of Israel operates on a completely different economy. He does not need to draft His people; He owns them by right of redemption. And because He is a God of life, liberty, and fruitfulness, He makes provisions for these things even in the midst of war. This is utterly unique in the ancient world, and it remains scandalous to the modern world.
The laws of warfare laid out here in Deuteronomy 20 are not a military strategy manual in the vein of Sun Tzu. They are a theological treatise. They are designed to teach Israel one central, critical lesson: the battle belongs to the Lord. Their victory would not depend on the size of their army, the sharpness of their swords, or the courage in their hearts. Their victory would depend entirely on the presence and power of Yahweh their God. This is why the army is prepared not just by the officers, but first by the priest. This is why the army is systematically, deliberately, and publicly whittled down, sending men home for reasons that would make a modern drill sergeant's head explode.
This is not about military efficiency in human terms; it is about cultivating absolute reliance on God. God is about to give them the land, and He wants to make it abundantly clear from the outset who the conqueror is. It is not Israel. It is the God who goes before them. This passage is a direct assault on human pride, military hubris, and the pagan notion that victory belongs to the strong. For the people of God, victory belongs to the faithful, even if they are few, outnumbered, and by all human standards, afraid.
The Text
"If you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. Now it will be, when you are drawing near to the battle, the priest shall approach and speak to the people. And he shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are drawing near to the battle against your enemies today. Do not let your heart be faint. Do not be afraid, nor be alarmed, nor be in dread before them, for Yahweh your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, 'Who is the man 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. Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man begin to use its fruit. And who is the man that is engaged to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.' Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, 'Who is the man that is afraid and whose heart is faint? Let him go and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers' hearts melt like his heart.' Now it will be that when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people."
(Deuteronomy 20:1-9 LSB)
The Divine Reassurance (v. 1)
The instruction begins by addressing the most natural human reaction to overwhelming odds: fear.
"If you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you." (Deuteronomy 20:1)
Notice the basis of the command, "do not be afraid." It is not positive thinking. It is not a pep talk about their own latent courage. It is a theological reality. The reason they are not to be afraid is because Yahweh is with them. The presence of God is the only antidote to fear. All other forms of courage are just whistling past the graveyard.
And God gives them a historical anchor for this confidence. He is the God "who brought you up from the land of Egypt." This is the bedrock of their faith. They are to look at the present impossibility, the horses and chariots of the enemy, through the lens of a past, greater impossibility. What are horses and chariots compared to the might of Pharaoh, the greatest superpower on earth at the time? What is an army compared to the Red Sea? God is telling them to reason from their redemption. He didn't save them from Egypt just to let them get slaughtered in Canaan. His reputation is on the line. His past faithfulness guarantees their future victory. This is a covenant promise. He is with them.
The Priestly Exhortation (v. 2-4)
Before the generals speak, the priest speaks. This is crucial. The battle is framed as a liturgical act, an act of worship, before it is framed as a military one.
"Now it will be, when you are drawing near to the battle, the priest shall approach and speak to the people. And he shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are drawing near to the battle against your enemies today. Do not let your heart be faint. Do not be afraid, nor be alarmed, nor be in dread before them, for Yahweh your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.'" (Deuteronomy 20:2-4 LSB)
The priest's job is to remind the people of the covenant. His words are a sermon, a declaration of God's character and promises. He piles up four synonyms for fear: do not let your heart be faint, do not be afraid, nor be alarmed, nor be in dread. God knows our frame; He knows how fear can grip the heart from multiple angles. And the answer to all of them is the same.
The reason is stated plainly: "for Yahweh your God is the one who goes with you." He is not a distant deity sending them off with a pat on the back. He is Immanuel, God with us. He is the warrior in their midst. And His purpose is twofold: "to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." He is both the warrior and the savior. This is the essence of holy war. It is not Israel's war in which they ask for God's help. It is Yahweh's war in which He invites Israel to participate. This is why worship is warfare. When we declare the praises of God, we are reminding ourselves and the spiritual forces of darkness who is actually in charge. The battle is won in the heavenlies before it is ever fought on the ground.
The Officers' Exemptions (v. 5-7)
After the theological foundation is laid, the officers step forward to apply it in a most peculiar way. They begin to shrink the army.
"The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, 'Who is the man that has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house... Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use its fruit? Let him go and return to his house... And who is the man that is engaged to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house...'" (Deuteronomy 20:5-7 LSB)
This is a stunning display of God's priorities. He is a God of life, fruitfulness, and dominion. He wants men to build houses, plant vineyards, and marry wives. These are the foundational tasks of the creation mandate. And God values these things so highly that He will exempt men from warfare to pursue them. He is not a god of death and destruction, like the pagan deities. He is the God of hearth and home.
There is a profound principle here. God does not want reluctant warriors whose hearts are elsewhere. A man worried about his undedicated house, his untasted vineyard, or his unwed fiancée is a distracted soldier. God is saying, "I would rather have a smaller army of focused men than a larger army of distracted men." This is because the victory does not depend on their numbers anyway. It depends on Him. This is also a merciful provision. God wants men to enjoy the fruit of their labor. It is a curse for one man to build and another to inhabit, for one to plant and another to eat. God is protecting His people from this curse, even in wartime.
The Final Filter: Fear (v. 8-9)
The final exemption is the most shocking of all. It is a public invitation for cowards to go home.
"Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, 'Who is the man that is afraid and whose heart is faint? Let him go and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers' hearts melt like his heart.' Now it will be that when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people." (Deuteronomy 20:8-9 LSB)
This goes against every principle of military psychology. You don't ask for a show of hands from the fearful. You shame them, you threaten them, you motivate them. But God says to send them home. Why? Not for their own sake, primarily, but for the sake of the army. "So that he might not make his brothers' hearts melt like his heart." Fear is contagious. It is a spiritual virus. One panicked soldier can rout an entire company.
God would rather have a small, courageous army that trusts in Him than a large, fearful army that trusts in its own numbers and is riddled with spiritual disease. This is the principle of Gideon's army. God deliberately whittled Gideon's force down from 32,000 to just 300 men, "lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me" (Judges 7:2). God rigs the fight to ensure that He gets all the glory.
Only after this process of purification, after the priest has spoken and the officers have filtered out the distracted and the fearful, only then are the commanders appointed. Leadership is established over a willing, consecrated, and trusting remnant. This is God's pattern for His people in every age.
The Gospel of the Fearful Soldier
This passage is not just about ancient Israel's military code. It is a picture of how God wages war against His ultimate enemies: sin, death, and the devil. And it reveals how we are to engage in that spiritual warfare.
First, we are constantly confronted with overwhelming odds. We see the horses and chariots of our own sin, the vast armies of a hostile culture, and the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. The first word of the gospel to us is, "Do not be afraid." Why? Because Yahweh our God, the one who brought us up out of the slavery of sin in our own personal Egypt, is with us. Our confidence is not in our own strength, but in His redemptive history with us.
Second, the priest must speak to us before we go into battle. Our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, has spoken. He has announced that the battle belongs to the Lord. He has said, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). He is the one who goes with us, to fight for us, to save us. Our warfare is simply walking in the victory He has already won.
But what about the exemptions? What about the man whose heart is faint? In the great spiritual war for the souls of men, we are all that fearful soldier. Left to ourselves, every one of us would turn and run. Our hearts are naturally faint. We are all afraid and alarmed and in dread before the holiness of God and the power of the enemy. We all deserve to be sent home in disgrace.
But this is where the glory of the gospel shines. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one true Israelite who was not afraid. He set His face like flint toward Jerusalem, toward the cross, toward the ultimate battle. He did not turn back. He did not allow His heart to grow faint. And He fought not for Himself, but for us, the fearful and faint-hearted. He became the champion who fought on our behalf.
Because He was courageous for us, we can now be courageous in Him. He sends His Spirit, not the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). He takes our melting hearts and gives us hearts of flesh. He fights for us, and through us. And He calls us to fight, not because we are naturally brave, but because He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. The battle still belongs to the Lord, and because we belong to the Lord, the victory belongs to us.