Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / July 17 - Deuteronomy 20

Transcript

July 17 - Deuteronomy 20 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Thursday.
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  It's the 17th of July. Great to have your company
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  today. Today we move into another area.
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  This is fascinating. So you know how when you enter a
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  new kind of area in your life, you start to learn all these
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  things that you never even considered before?
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  Well, when you enter the world of army chaplaincy, all of a
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  sudden you start to think about army kind of things like war,
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  kind of things like just war theory or ethical behaviour in
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  war, morality in warfare. What do all these things look
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  like? And there is so much doctrine
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  that the Australian Defence Force has and that the UN has
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  developed and that The Hague has handed down to us, so that when
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  the inevitable happens and nations engage in warfare, that
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  the laws of armed conflict will be followed.
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  And as Moses continues to pick apart what it looks like not to
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  murder, how does this look in the field of warfare?
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  And that is exactly what he addresses in today's chapter
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  because you know if you have read much of the Old Testament
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  that there is a whole lot of battling that goes on as God's
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  people take that land. So let us unwrap this complex
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  little beast and see what God's wisdom is at that time through
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  Moses for His people, as we read together Deuteronomy chapter 20.
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  When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and
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  Chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid.
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  The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is
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  with you. When you prepare for battle, the
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  priest must come forward to speak to the troops.
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  He will say to them, Listen to me, all you men of Israel, do
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  not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today.
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  Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them, for the
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  Lord your God is going with you. He will fight for you against
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  your enemies, and He will give you victory.
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  Then the officers of the army must address the troops and say,
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  has anyone here just built a new house but not yet dedicated it?
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  If so, you may go home. You might be killed in the
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  battle and someone else would dedicate your house.
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  Has anyone here just planted a vineyard but not eaten any of
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  its fruit? If so, you may go home.
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  You might die in battle and someone else would eat the first
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  fruit. Has anyone here just become
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  engaged to a woman but not yet married her?
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  Well, you may go home and get married.
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  You might die in the battle and someone else would marry her.
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  Then the officers will also say, Is anyone here afraid or
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  worried? If you are, you may go home
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  before you frighten anyone else. When the officers have finished
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  speaking to their troops, they will appoint the unit
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  commanders. As you approach a town to attack
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  it, you must first offer its people terms for peace.
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  If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all
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  the people inside will serve you in forced labour.
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  But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must
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  attack the town when the Lord your God hands the town over to
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  you. Use your swords to kill every
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  man in the town that you may keep for yourself all the women,
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  children, livestock, and other plunder.
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  You may enjoy the plunder from your enemies that the Lord your
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  God has given you. But these instructions apply
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  only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the
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  land. You will enter in those towns
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  that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession.
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  Destroy every living thing. You must completely destroy the
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  Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and
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  Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you.
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  This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to
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  imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods,
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  which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your
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  God. When you were attacking a town
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  and the war drags on, you must not cut down the trees with your
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  axes. You may eat the fruit, but do
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  not cut down the trees. Are the trees your enemies that
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  you should attack them? You may only cut down trees that
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  you know are not valuable for food.
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  Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy
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  town until it falls. Our Lord, life can be full and
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  complex, and we encounter situations that don't seem to
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  fit very neatly into the Christian life or the life of of
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  a disciple of yours. But here, Jesus, we see that
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  even in the midst of the darkest situations, there are still ways
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  that we can operate with justice and in a way that brings you
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  glory. Lord, I pray that you continue
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  to shape our hearts so that when we encounter difficult
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  situations, situations that seem far from black and far from
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  white, that it is your wisdom and your Kingdom priorities that
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  would lead us through. Make us your agents of love and
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  justice and peace and wholeness in this world, so that people
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  can see the way that we behave and that we can point them to
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  you and your greater rule, how we love you and we rededicate
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  ourselves to you as living sacrifices.
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  We pray all of this in your name, Jesus, Amen.