Deuteronomy 20:5 “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.
When coming up with a classroom management plan, some teachers will use a ‘hack’ to create the rules for how their class will operate. They will allow the students to come up with the rules for the class. Interestingly, in most cases the students will come up with a stricter set of guidelines than the teacher would have! This is not due to some inherent goodness or internal sense of justice on the part of the kids. Rather, it’s due to inherent sinfulness!
The Israelites are on the doorstep of the Promised Land for the second time. The first time they were there, they refused to go in. God was not pleased with them and they had to wander forty years in the desert. Their journey was marked with God’s constant provision and guidance and their constant murmuring and complaining. Yet here they are and Moses is delivering to them God’s Law and instructions before they finally go in.
In an interesting passage about how they will do battle, today’s verse is given along with similar ones concerning new vineyards and new wives. It’s really remarkable that they might have occasion to gather for battle and yet one be excused because he hasn’t had a chance to enjoy his new house yet!
But it’s only remarkable when we judge God using a mirror rather than the Bible! When we see God in the Bible, we see a God of grace who is holy, yes, but also gracious. We see a God who loves and works with His people. When you hear the idea of God being vindictive, mean, restrictive, etc., that’s an example of using a mirror to judge Him.
When God’s establishing law we see today’s verse. God’s laws and God’s ways are always for our good. But when people establish laws, they quite enjoy the thrill of telling others what to do and they want more and more. It was God Who said “honor the Sabbath”, it was men who said, “you can’t walk more than ___, you can’t cook food, you can’t pick grain, you can’t read the newspaper”, etc., etc., etc. It’s an inherent sinfulness that causes man to want to rule over his neighbor and creating lots of rules is one way of doing it!
Jesus was constantly accused of breaking God’s Law. He never did. He broke man’s law, and for that, they sought to kill Him. They didn’t like the idea of God not doing what they said!
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
