Deuteronomy 20: God And War

A chapter like Deuteronomy 20 can be difficult to reconcile with our New Testament faith.  What about Jesus' ethics such as, "Love your enemies?"  Why does God not only green light the killing of others, but even commands it in the case of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites?  The wiping out of entire nations smacks of genocide.  What gives?

I think it is important to suggest that God does not view death the same way that we do.  To us, death is the end.  It is often considered to be the worst of all possible outcomes.  Yet, would that same verdict be true from God's perspective?  If we are truly eternal creatures, does not He see beyond this world?  Could there be, in God's sight, something worse than death?

These commands in Deuteronomy 20 are not the only time that we see God actively causing the death of people.  Even during Israel's sojourn in the wilderness, He caused some rebels to be swallowed up by an earthquake, others destroyed by a plague, and still others killed by the Levites.  The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were utterly wiped out for their sin.  And even the whole world was sentenced to death in a flood, save for Noah and his family and those creatures aboard the ark.

Let me try an analogy.  A diagnosis of cancer is a terrible thing.  Its treatment has sometimes been considered even worse.  Radiation burns away the malignancy, sometimes causing pain and anguish.  Chemotherapy is a poison injected into the body to hunt down and kill rapidly growing cells.  Who would ever approve of such actions as applying these treatments to patients, even children?  Some of the most compassionate doctors you would ever hope to meet.  They know that radical therapy is needed, and that some destruction is necessary to save life.  Their eye is on the ultimate goal - a cure for the sickness which threatens the life of their patient.

Sin is that spiritual disease that threatens not just each one of us individually and those we know, but also the whole human race.  In the Old Testament, God has in mind a cure for the world.  It will require not a toxic brew of chemotherapy or a dose of harmful radiation, but an infusion of His Son's precious blood.  The death of the Donor is necessary.  But it is a price God was willing to pay for the good of His other children who are adopted into His family by His grace.

In light of His plan of salvation for the world and the age to come, God had to establish Israel as the nation from which the Messiah would come.  Unfortunately, to plant her securely in righteousness meant that a lot of evil nations who already had judgment coming their way would have to go.

Yet, in His mercy, God mitigates the damage.  For those towns far from Israel, there is to be an offer of peace first (vs. 10).  Not everything is to be ruthlessly destroyed (vs. 14).  He is even concerned for fruit trees, commanding that they not be harmed during a siege (vs. 20).

Something more important than individual human lives or even the lives of nations is going on in the Old Testament.  God is laying the foundation for the salvation of the whole world.  Even though we might not understand it, He knew that it would, at times, require war and destruction.