Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 501 | Encouragement for the Battle (Deuteronomy 20)

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501 | Encouragement for the Battle (Deuteronomy 20) · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  God is in control.
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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Living her life for Christ She's a happy girl.
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  Music.
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  She's a happy girl,
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  Have you ever faced a battle that seemed bigger than you?
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  Deuteronomy chapter 20 reminds us that for God's people, battles were never a matter of if, but when.
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  The Israelites would face enemies with more horses, more chariots, and more soldiers.
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  Yet they had something far greater, the presence of the Lord their God in the
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  memory of his past victories.
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  In this chapter, Moses teaches the people how to go to war God's way with courage,
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  with order, with compassion, and with faith.
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  From the priest's commandment before battle, to the exemptions for those not ready to fight,
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  to the commandment to speak peace before raising the sword, and even the stewardship
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  of fruit trees, we see that God's instructions were never about destruction
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  for destruction's sake.
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  They were about preserving life, guarding holiness, and trusting in Him.
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  Join us for this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast as Erica
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  Close walks through Deuteronomy chapter 20 and reminds us that in our daily
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  battles, we are never alone.
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  The Lord goes with us. His desire for us is peace, and His love sustains us
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  through every challenge.
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  Join with me as we jump into Deuteronomy chapter 20, starting in verse 1.
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  When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots
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  and people more than thou, be not afraid of them.
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  For the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
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  And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priests shall
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  approach and speak to the people, and shall say unto them, hear,
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  O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies.
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  Let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them.
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  For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
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  And the officer shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that
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  hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it.
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  Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in battle, and another man dedicate it.
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  And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it?
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  Let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle,
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  and another man eat of it.
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  And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her?
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  Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle,
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  and another man take her.
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  And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say,
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  What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted?
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  Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.
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  And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people,
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  that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.
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  And when thou comest nigh into a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
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  And it shall be, if it make thee an answer of peace, and open unto thee,
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  then shall it be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries
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  unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
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  And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee,
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  then thou shalt besiege it.
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  And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands,
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  thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword.
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  But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city,
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  even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat
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  the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
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  Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee,
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  which are not of the cities of these nations.
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  But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance,
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  thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth, but thou shalt utterly destroy
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  them, namely the Hittites and the Amorites,
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  the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
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  as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee,
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  that they teach you not to do after all their admonitions, which they have done
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  unto their gods, so should ye sin against the Lord your God.
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  When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take
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  it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them.
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  For thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down.
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  For the tree of the field is man's life, to employ them in the siege.
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  Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat,
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  thou shalt destroy and cut them down.
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  And thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee until it be subdued.
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  Deuteronomy chapter 19 contained applications of three of the Ten Commandments
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  and how they were to play out in the lives of the Israelites.
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  Deuteronomy chapter 20 shifts the focus outward, emphasizing community,
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  other nations, and governance.
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  In particular, this chapter addresses how the Israelites were to go to war with
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  those they were commanded to conquer.
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  Walk with me through Deuteronomy chapter 20.
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  As verse 1 opens, it becomes clear that going to battle was not an if for the Israelites, but a when.
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  Going into battle would always be a challenge, since the nations they faced
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  had more horses, more chariots, and more people than the Israelites themselves did.
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  Yet what the Israelites did have was the presence of the Lord their God.
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  Deuteronomy 20, 1, makes it clear that the Israelites entered battle with two
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  distinct advantages over their enemies.
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  First, they had the Lord their God with them. Second, they carried the memory
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  and understanding of what the Lord had already done for them in Egypt.
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  They were not walking out to battle empty-handed, but with both faith and confidence.
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  Faith in God's power and confidence rooted in His proven faithfulness.
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  If we look at verse 2, we see that when it was time to go into battle,
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  before the battle began, the priests always had to come and speak to those heading
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  off to war. The priest had his own commandments to follow, making sure that
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  the Israelites were encouraged.
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  He was to remind them that they did not need to be afraid or to tremble because they had the Lord.
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  Verse 4 declares, For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you,
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  to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
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  As we move into the next section, we see that actual exemptions were given to
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  those who were going to war.
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  The officers responsible for assembling the groups heading into battle were
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  to carefully examine the men to
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  ensure they were ready and able to commit themselves fully to the fight.
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  In verse 5, if a man had not yet finished his home, he was not to go to battle.
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  If he had planted a vineyard but had not yet eaten of its fruit, he was not to go.
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  If he was betrothed but not yet married, he was not to go.
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  Even more, the officers were to consider the mental and emotional state of those preparing for war.
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  If a man was fearful and faint-hearted, he was not to go, because fear is contagious.
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  It spreads very quickly.
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  Verse 8 says, Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart
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  faint as well as his heart.
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  The next section of this chapter deals with the concept of speaking peace before battle.
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  The Israelites were commanded that when they came to a city with the intent
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  to fight against it, they were first to speak peace.
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  They were to explain their reasons for battle and offer an opportunity for peace.
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  Verse 11 shows that if peace were accepted, the people of that city were to
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  become tributaries to the Israelites and serve them.
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  But if peace was not accepted, we see in verse 12 that they were to make war against the city.
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  Verse 13 then makes another important statement, this time with a when instead of an if.
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  And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands.
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  This was a reminder that when the Israelites followed the commands of the Lord,
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  their success was guaranteed.
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  The Lord gave very specific instructions about going into battle.
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  After the command to speak peace prior to battle, he clarified that these instructions
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  were for cities not very far away and not among the specific nations marked for destruction.
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  For these nations, the Lord's command was different. Their cities were to be completely destroyed.
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  The nations are listed in Deuteronomy 20, and in verse 18, the reason is given
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  that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have
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  done unto their gods, should you sin against the Lord your God.
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  Their evil practices were contagious, and the Lord's intent was to protect his
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  people by removing that influence entirely.
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  This chapter closes with some very specific environmental notes about trees.
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  Verse 19 makes it clear that when the Israelites were besieging a city,
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  they were not to destroy the fruit trees.
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  Although it was common that timber would be needed in battle,
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  the Lord commanded that the trees providing food were to be preserved.
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  Thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them,
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  for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down.
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  For the tree of the field is man's life, to employ them in the siege.
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  Only the trees that did not provide this meat or food could be cut down and
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  used for building in battle.
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  While few of us have careers as soldiers, many of us still go into some sort of battle each day.
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  We may not think of it as a battle, but the reality is that all of us are battling
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  the devil, who walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour every single day.
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  The devil uses the circumstances of this life to try to keep us defeated.
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  The first section in Deuteronomy chapter 20 should give us amazing encouragement
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  for the battles we face in our lives.
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  First of all, we do not walk into
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  any battle alone. As Moses told the Israelites, the Lord goes with us.
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  Secondly, we should also be encouraged because we can think back and remember
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  all the things the Lord has done for us.
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  The Lord has fought battles for us in the past, and each day as we enter a new
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  battle, we can take the past successes to heart and use them to fuel us as we go throughout each day.
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  Deuteronomy chapter 20 makes it clear too that the Lord understands the things
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  that are going on in our lives.
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  The Lord instructed those who were assembling the Israelite armies that homes,
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  families, vineyards, personalities, and even the mental health of soldiers were
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  to be taken into consideration.
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  We serve a tremendous loving God who knows us well and knows us intimately.
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  We should take comfort in the fact that He sees our circumstances.
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  While those circumstances should not dictate the faith we have in Him,
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  we can rest in knowing that He sees them and that they matter to Him in the
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  same way they matter to us.
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  When we go into any sort of situation or battle, the lesson to speak peace to.
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  The battle is one we should all consider and learn.
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  So often tempers flare, and this step of seeking and speaking peace is missed.
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  How much more successful would we be in our lives' battles if we brought peace
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  in the presence of Jesus into each situation first?
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  In the same manner, just as the Lord gave instructions for peace,
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  He also gave instructions for times when peace was not the priority.
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  While I do not believe the Lord's intent is ever that we should destroy anyone
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  else, and His prohibition against murder is very clear, Thou shalt not kill, is in Exodus 20.13,
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  it is important to note that when we are a situation where something could be
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  impacting our families, our faith, or tempting us to follow an evil path,
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  that is not a time to approach the situation passively.
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  Instead, if we need a clean house to ensure the influences of the devil are
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  not impacting our own lives or
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  the lives of our families, I believe the Lord's intent is that we do so.
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  I also think it's important to note that as we close out this chapter of Deuteronomy,
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  we look closely at this section on fruit trees.
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  Our God is not a God of destruction for destruction's sake.
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  Following the flood, the Lord promised Noah that he would never again destroy the earth.
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  Genesis 9-11 We need to ensure that as we go about our daily lives,
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  we're not destroying things that do not need to be destroyed,
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  and that we are being good stewards of the things that can provide life for
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  us, for our families, and for our communities.
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  In Deuteronomy chapter 20, it was the life-giving food that came from fruit trees.
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  But there are many things that give life to us and our communities.
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  It is important that in the same way we are seeking and speaking peace,
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  we are also seeking and speaking life.
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  As you go about your days heading into situations and what seem to be battles,
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  Remember that the Lord goes with you, that the Lord has been working for you
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  your entire life, that his desire for you is peace and that his desire for you is plenty.
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  Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  Music.