I've been going through Deuteronomy (which I think is my favorite OT book now!) and it just strikes me how so much of it sounds exactly like the NT and our lives. It really shows how consistent God's character is. Take for example, the chapter I was reading last night, Deut 20. Its a chapter that talks about Israel going to war against its enemies. Now I don't really have any true physical enemies, and if I did, I probably wouldn't go to war against them, but I do have very real spiritual enemies. They are all the lies and temptations that keep me from seeking God with all I am. In the past, I've been fairly ignorant towards them, buying into their claims and enticements. I would get some (metaphorical) shards and arrows stuck in me and I've been fairly lucky that God has given me enough sense to pull them out every once in a while and keep going. But even with the power of God's unrelenting goodness and mercy, its a slow grind, and takes a toll after a while. I'm not sure how intact my spiritual life would be if this just continued indefinitely. I can't imagine it would be anything good and it's scary to think about.
Thankfully though, that's not what God has in mind for us. Over the past few months, God has moved in a way in both myself and our church that has basically been, the best I can describe, a war with those spiritual enemies. It's a war that I had avoided, perhaps for the precise reason Israel was thinking.
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Deut 20
1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.
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I didn't want to commit myself to this war, because 1) it's hard and 2) I was scared of losing (and what would that mean about God if I lost?). So I didn't commit. I didn't give it (and God) everything that I had; I wasn't willing to offer up every part of my life to achieve victory. I would rely on my own devices and a prayer for God to change my heart. At the time, I really thought that was everything I could do, but it was far from it.
This is what God says about fighting:
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5 The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not yet begun to live in it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may begin to live in it. 6 Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. 7 Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.” 8 Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.”
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(doesn't that sound like a quote straight from 300?)
God says that if there's something left of value -- a vineyard, a woman, academics, worldly pleasures, pride -- and you still want it, then just go home. You are not fit to fight, and you could lose it, so just go home and enjoy it. If you're afraid or fainthearted, go home. But if you want to stay and fight, do this:
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12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.
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Lay siege to the city. It's not going to be a short fight. It will take persistence, vigilance, and constant bombardment. But what's more, the enemy is trapped. We are laying siege to them, not the other way around, because God is already victorious. And when God delivers the enemy into our hands, not if, we are to put the sword to all the men in it, not leaving a chance for the enemy.
It's all a matter of if we commit and fight.
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