It is very easy for humans to get so focused on solving an immediate problem that we fail to consider how our decisions today might negatively affect us next year or next decade. Today’s Scripture reading contains a command that prohibited Israel from cutting down fruit trees during a siege because those trees could feed them. This reminds us to consider the potential downside of any decision we make.
In the opening verses of Deuteronomy 20, Israel was commanded not to be afraid when they encountered enemies who were more powerful and more numerous. Furthermore, when drawing near to battle, the officers were to dismiss those who had new houses, new vineyards, new wives, or were afraid.
Deut. 20:10 ¶ “If you come near a city to fight against it, you shall call for terms of peace.
Deut. 20:11 Now it will be that if it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you.
Notice that if a city surrendered, then the people within it were to be allowed to live.
Deut. 20:12 However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
Deut. 20:13 And Yahweh your God shall give it into your hand, and you shall strike all the males in it with the edge of the sword.
Also notice that if a city did not surrender, then all the male inhabitants were to be killed.
If Israel had consistently done this, then they would have earned a reputation for being merciful to those who surrendered and harsh with those who did not surrender. That would have motivated their enemies to surrender so that they could live.
Deut. 20:14 Only the women and the little ones and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall consume the spoil of your enemies which Yahweh your God has given you.
Deut. 20:15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby.
Don’t miss the words “that are very far from you”. The rules in verses 10-14 only applied to cities that were outside the land given to Israel.
Deut. 20:16 Only in the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes.
Israel was explicitly told to have no mercy on the Canaanites themselves. Every Canaanite was to be killed.
Deut. 20:17 But you shall devote them to destruction, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as Yahweh your God has commanded you,
Deut. 20:18 so that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against Yahweh your God.
Look at the words “so that”. Verse 18 explains that Israel was supposed to kill every Canaanite so that the Canaanites would not lead Israel astray. If the Israelites allowed the Canaanites to live, then the Israelites would have idolatry in their midst, become comfortable with idolatry, and begin to engage in idolatry.
We see a similar concern in the New Testament. Paul wrote that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (see 1 Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9). Paul commanded the Corinthians to remove the wicked man from among themselves so that the wicked man did not induce anyone else into sin (see 1 Corinthians 5:13).
Deut. 20:19 ¶ “If you besiege a city for many days, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you?
Take note of the prohibition against destroying all the trees. There were two reasons for this. First, if some of the trees were fruit trees, then the trees were able to provide food for Israel during and after the siege. Second, the trees were not soldiers, so there was no need to destroy all the trees.
Deut. 20:20 Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you shall destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls.
Look at the words “not trees for food” and “siegeworks”.
Ponder the big picture that is taught in this verse. When Israel besieged a city, the temptation would have been to cut down the trees which were nearest the city so that it was as easy as possible to build the siegeworks. However, that may have involved cutting down fruit trees. Cutting down fruit trees was short-sighted. Yes, the fruit trees may have been the most convenient trees to cut down in order to build siege works, but the fruit trees could also provide food for Israel. Cutting down fruit trees for a short-term benefit caused a long-term problem in feeding themselves.
Deut. 21:1 ¶ “If a slain person is found fallen in the open country in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has struck him,
Look at the word “slain”. That implies this person was murdered. Look at the words “it is not known”. Chapter 21 told the Israelites what to do when a man was killed and it was not known who killed him.
Deut. 21:2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one.
Deut. 21:3 And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke;
Deut. 21:4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.
Deut. 21:5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to minister for Him and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and every dispute and every assault shall be settled by them.
Deut. 21:6 And all the elders of that city who are nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;
Deut. 21:7 and they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.
Murder was such a serious issue that, even when it was not known who murdered a man, it was still necessary to take action regarding the murder.
Humans have a tendency to get so fixated on immediate problems and short-term solutions that we lose sight of the long-term ramifications of what we do. Parents are tempted to give in to temper tantrums and whining because they want to make the noise go away. However, that teaches children that they can always get their way by doing something irritating. Christian parents skip church on Sunday because they are tired and want to sleep in and get some rest, but that teaches their children that church is optional and not a high priority.
Just as Israel was commanded to think about the long-term consequences of cutting down trees, so too we should think about the long-term implications of our decisions. Foolish people do what feels good in the moment. Wise people make decisions that are good for the future.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”