Now we turn our attention to the Law. To a good Jew, of course, all of what we’ve been discussing so far is part of the Torah, what we call the Law. But I’m speaking specifically of the legal code found in Exodus through Deuteronomy.

A commenter the other day suggested that arguments for pacifism are based on “Thou shalt not kill” from the Ten Commandments. I’ve yet to read a pacifist who presented that as a main argument, nor have I seen it in the discussion on this blog. It doesn’t take much reading to realize that the very next chapter in Exodus lays out situations in which the death penalty is to be applied! No, those four words from the Ten Commandments lend little to the discussion.

A better insight into the Law’s views toward war are found in Deuteronomy 20. Some interesting things in that chapter:

• Priests play a major role in the army’s activities
• Broad exceptions are granted to those who choose not to fight
• Differences are made between battles within the Promised Land and battles outside the Promised Land
• Tactics avoid harming food-bearing trees

Admittedly, that third point rocked my world recently. I had a nice little theology about war, and Deuteronomy 20:10-15 doesn’t fit! I’m still looking to find balance. I had believed (and taught) that wars in the Old Testament fell into two categories: self-defense and conquest of the Promised Land. Lo and behold, these verses don’t fit either of those categories. While I can’t think of an example of this, of the Israelites fighting merely to conquer a distant city, the Law does allow for it. Sounds like a license for “imperialism.”

So do we just write it off to the sort of things that happened before God became a Christian? Or how do we understand these verses?