Deuteronomy 20:10-15 Bible Study | Episode 920

April 18, 2025

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Deuteronomy 20:10-15 Bible Study | Episode #920

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Applying God's word to your daily life. Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up.

His word to you and allow you.

To see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus name.

Well, good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Church's morning Bible study. We are In Deuteronomy, chapter 20. Deuteronomy, chapter 20 and verses 10 through 15. Like I said earlier, we're going through the warfare section. It has direct application to the New Testament principles of spiritual warfare. Interestingly, the passage that we're in today is a passage that was used highly effectively. And by the way, this is written in about 1500 years before Christ. It's 1500 BC 14, 1300, somewhere in that neighborhood, about seven centuries later. Really more like ten. But somewhere between seven, five and seven and ten centuries later. The. Excuse me, the. There was a group of people who used these principles. Now, did they know these principles from the Bible? Probably not. Maybe they did, but likely not. They use these principles to create the largest empire the world had ever known, and that's the Romans. And so I say that to you to give you some insight, to give you some understanding as you're studying along with me, that these principles that God gives us, oftentimes we think that they're just spiritual principles. And they're not just spiritual principles. These are principles given to us by God, who created everything. And so the principles that God gives us, even though they are spiritual, even though they do teach us things, even though they do grow us through things, even though they give us insights into the eternal, insights into things that are beyond ourselves, they are eminently. They're eminently real for our own life. They're applicable to who we are and where we live. They're eminently applicable to how we live our lives. And so when I tell you that the Roman Empire used these principles in order to grow the largest empire that had been known by the world at that time, I'm telling you that they use these principles. In fact, they use these principles on the Jews in Jerusalem around two or three hundred years before Christ. They use These principles in Jerusalem in order to subjugate the Jews. And that's how we got Pontius Pilate. That's how we got the Roman centurion. That's how we get the Apostle Paul, actually, that's how we get what we get in the New Testament. And in all actuality, that's how we get the roads that were built by the Romans on which the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread rapidly because there was an ability for people to travel all over Europe, North Africa, the Middle east, on into the Asian steppes. Those people who had the gospel in their hearts. After Jesus came, those people were able to spread the gospel mainly because the Roman Empire built those roads, the Roman Empire built the civilization in which the Gospel spread all over the world. Now, understanding that and that the Romans used these principles, maybe not from God, meaning maybe they didn't get it from reading the Hebrew Bible, reading the book of Deuteronomy, but it doesn't matter. God's principles, when they're put into action, have spiritual and eternal value, but they have real personal, physical, social value to the believer, where we live and where we're at. So what happened? He says when you go to a near to a city to fight against it. Now remember, he's told them when they go in the promised land, that they're supposed to take the whole promised land and that they're supposed to eradicate all the Canaanites. And we've already discussed why they were supposed to eradicate all the Canaanites. The, the reason for the eradication of the Canaanites is because their, their culture and their practices had become so detestable that God was not going to allow the Jews to live alongside a people who did the things that they did. And we're talking about human sacrifice and more specifically infant sacrifice. God was not going to allow his people to be around a group of people that had that moral code, because that moral code's just totally out of line with what God's nature is. And so he told them to eradicate the Canaanites, remove the Canaanites, don't have the Canaanites near you. He's going to explain later on in this passage that these are, this is talking about when they attack a city or when they go out and do battle against a city that is away from their land. Now here's the thing. They never really did what God told them to do as far as the Canaanites, they never really did that. And because they didn't do that, they never got the opportunity to Expand out to the places where God would have allowed them to do what they're being told to do here. And that, sadly, is a intense spiritual picture of what happens to believers. God gives us principles and understandings and ideas that would allow us to be, what would allow us to be world changing people, world changing human beings, individuals that make a difference everywhere we go, that change the lives of people all around us, that change the world that we live in. He's made us to be that. He said, Jesus said, I'm the light of the world. And remember, that light, John tells us, is the life of God. That light that he is is the life of God. And then he says, you're the light of the world, meaning the same light that's in him is in us, which means the same life that's in him is in us. And therefore all of the repercussions of that life, all the things that that life changes and causes, is imminently available to us to change the world that we live in. But the problem is, is that we never ever are obedient by faith, meaning we never walk in truth, walk in his revelation, willing to do what he says and tells us to do. We're unable to do that. We're totally and completely unable to do that with our lives. Such that, such that we never get a chance to be true light in the world because we're, we're unwilling, willing to walk by faith and unwilling to allow his life to change us, just being honest with him. And, and so when you run across a Christian that is a world changing, life altering Christian, it's not because there's something special about them other than they are willing to believe and walk in what God has told them to do because his promises and his word or amen and true. And so when, when you go near to a city and fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. What he's saying is when you go to that city, go and tell them, listen, we're here to fight you and we're here to take your city, but we're going to offer you peace. And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace and open to you, then all the people who were found in it shall be placed under tribute to you and serve you. What does that mean? Well, the city's going to pay tax to you, they're going to offer you tribute back to you, and you're not going to destroy the city. Why? Well, because it's a great source of income. Why would I destroy something which can be beneficial to me and beneficial to the people that are in the city. And how is it beneficial to people in the city? Well, they're going to be placed in tribute to meet you and serve you. But you're also going to provide protection for them because you're, they're going to now be in your sphere of influence. They're going to be a nation that you protect. And by the way, we sure enough understand that we have nations all over the world where the United States protects them, protects them by sea, by air, protects them with our, with our advanced and, and highly capable military. And many of those nations pay nothing. Some of those nations should be paying more. Very few pay actually what they should be paying, meaning contributing to the military that is protecting them. But we do this. We understand this. And so these people that we protect should be helping us, not hindering us. They should be a blessing to us because we're a blessing to them. Now that's not political for today. That's just facts. Okay? He says, now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. Meaning if they're not gonna, if they're not going to come under your power and influence, and by the way, they're not gonna get the blessing of God's word either. If they're not gonna do that, then besiege it. And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in, in with the edge of the sword. And so he's saying, kill all the men. And then he says, but the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder to yourself and you shall eat the enemy's plunder which the Lord your God gives you. Meaning. Don't kill the women and children. You bring them into your society. And there would have been slavery as part of that probably, but mainly you would bring them into your society. And, and he says, thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. Now, the Romans did this. The Romans did this. And this is how they grew their empire. They started doing this in the middle part of the Italian peninsula. I'm not talking about the whole Italian peninsula. I'm just talking about the middle part of the Italian peninsula and eventually grew to the level of influence where they had, where Rome was known, from England to sub Saharan Africa, from Spain all the way to China. Why? Because they would come to a city and they would, not only would they offer them peace. Not only would they make them tribute, but they actually made the leaders of the city a part of Rome, part of the Roman Empire. The leaders, the kings and the nobility would be Roman citizens. Really. That's what they did. Now, by the way, if these cities came under the influence of the Jewish people, they would have been taught the good news, they would have been taught God's word, and they would have become part of the kingdom. And by the way, in every way, that's a spiritual idea. We are to go out and be more than conquerors, be more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. We're to go out and, and be the light and to, to remove the darkness and to provide hope for people. That's our job. That's who we're supposed to be as believers. And as we do that, we not only overcome the sin and death of others with our light and with the life that God has given us and the light that God has given us, but we make them a part of us. They're not Roman citizens, they're citizens of heaven. They're citizens of the kingdom of God. And that's what this passage is really all about. It's not about the Jews taking cities that are far away, because the truth is they never really did this. This is more of a passage for us. And it's how to conquer the human heart. How do we do that? We go and we lay siege to it. How do we lay siege to a human heart? Well, we shine light on it and just keep shining light on it. And either the people inside give up or it does destroy them. Because the good news of Jesus Christ when it's rejected is death to those who are perishing. But it's the sweet smell of life to those who have been with you.

As you go today.

I pray that the Lord will bless.

You and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you, and.

That he will give you hope and.

Peace today in Jesus name.