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?
I think we need an understanding of progressive revelation that finds its fullness in Jesus who reveals God himself (not just his will, but his self) to us. In other words, with the Torah God was leading back to what he created them to be but it wasn’t the final picture. The final picture of who God’s people are to be is revealed to us in Jesus.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
K. Rex is right. Not much here to munch on is there? Specific instructions, to a specific people for a specific time and place…..
But there is still a God behind these commands. And the commands reflect on Who that God is.
God is who He is. With respect, we need to be careful not to seek a progressive revelation that winds up revealing the God we want to see. To think we have to understand and approve of God’s nature is a form of human arrogance. The God who sent His Son to die for everyone is the same God who ordered His people to kill without mercy and to take no prisoners. Does that bother me? Yes, it does. Does that change who God is? Not one bit. At the end of the day, we’re called on to follow and obey God, not to pass judgment on His commands and actions.
Having said that, I don’t recall God ordering any modern nation to go to war or to build an empire. When God delivers a constitution to us directly and enters into a covenant directly with the United States, then, and only then, can we say we are a Christian nation…and until that happens, Solomon’s Temple prayer and God’s political rules for Israel have no direct relevance for us, except as they reveal God’s nature and God’s values. Perhaps, Tim, after this series you can have a discussion of God’s value system. I don’t seem to hear a lot about that these days (and that’s different than God’s character).
Thanks Robert. The difference between being a covenant nation and a non-covenant nation is important to keep in mind.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
But you have to ask the question no one wants to ask. So I will ask it, We are discussing Moses and the law. God’s will to see Israel flourish in the promise land, right? Then why don’t you discuss, God granting the Romans to destroy the temple, and Jeruselem and take a quarter of a million inhabitants back to Rome as slaves in 70 A.D. You can talk all you want about the law, but you can’t side step or dance around this cataclysmic event. Well maybe you can…..What value system does this envoke?
Deuteronomy 20 is a fascinating text Tim. It would NOT be required reading in most War Rooms. Extensive negotiations! Newly weds exempt! Cowards exempt! And dont make war indiscriminately on God’s earth!! (Agent Orange is illegal in God’s Code of War!) The restrictions on war are amazing.
I think wonderful applications of the “rules of engagement” are found in Judges 7 (Israelite soldiers are not even given “weapons”) and 2 Chronicles 20. I discuss the latter in Kingdom Come, pp. 150ff.
The book of Joshua is frequently appealed to by Christians, ironically, as either authority or permission to engage in war. Yet even in the Hebrew Scriptures it is apparent that Joshua describes unique events and circumstances. There were unique and special rules for that occurrence.
A fine older work by a non-pacifist author on war in the Hebrew Bible is Peter Craigie’s The Problem of War in the Old Testament. More than worth chewing on.
I appreciate your willingness to think these difficult matters through in such a fine spirit.
Thanks Bobby. 2 Chronicles 20 is a favorite story of mine, maybe because I was always in choir. :-)
That being said, I don’t know that those stories are normative, even within the context of Scripture.
Tim,
I am not sure what you mean by “normative” and to what do you refer? Which stories? the ones in Judges 7 & 2 Chron 20? or do you mean Joshua? I did not refer to them (Judges 7 & 2 C 20) as “normative” … as in establishing a precedent but rather I suggest that they are applications of the rules of engagement laid down in the Torah. As for Deut 20 I suspect that a consistent application of the rules of engagement found there would result in the virtual elimination of war.
To be honest, I don’t think I meant to write “normative.” {blush} What I should have written was normal, that is, both of those stories are exceptional in their own ways.
I think you’re right about Deuteronomy 20, though I still wonder about the section on laying siege to cities outside of the Promised Land. Sounds like wars of aggression.
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