Deuteronomy 20 FACING OPPOSITION
All through the history of man, the independent spirit of self-will and the idea of "up with man" has been in opposition to the mind and will of God. Adam showed that first when he deliberately did what God told him not to do. Cain went farther in his self-will by refusing to do what God wanted. In essence he as much as said, "God, if you won't accept what I want to give you on my terms, then I won't bring anything as a sacrifice." The "up with man, down with God" attitude has been around a long time. God knew the Israelites would face that kind of attitude often in their own minds as well as those of their enemies, so He established a protocol for their army to follow when they had to go to war. We constantly face opposition when we go forward with the Gospel to "make disciples of all nations." God hasn't given up His plan to have peace on earth, but it is not going to be a compromised peace made on man-made terms. Man's method of peace making has been tried hundreds of times and has failed. There will be a time of peace on earth when the Prince of Peace comes and establishes peace on earth, but not before.
In the mean time, there will be battles for property, battles for political reasons, ideological battles and spiritual battles. Moses gave Israel instructions to follow when the battle was for property. First, before the battle would take place, they had to be sure this action was God's will. The priest would address the army in the name of the Lord and assure them that when they did what was right, God would be with them and they would overcome the enemy. Opinions of men over interpretations of scripture, are not necessarily right ones. However, when there are plain scriptural precepts and doctrines that are very easy to understand, we are not able to surrender what is right in order to show tolerance and have an unrighteous peace.
The next thing to be done was the officers spoke to the soldiers under their command to exhort them in a practical way. If a man has just finished building a house or planted a new vineyard, he was free to go home because he would be thinking about what he would miss if he died in battle. Even more so was if he was planning to be married or was newly married, his love and desire for his wife would jeopardize not only his life but the soldiers around him because he would be distracted in his mind and heart. That would endanger a lot of soldiers as well as himself because he would be less than whole-hearted in his commitment to winning the battle. When we feel like we are outnumbered by all that is going on around us, and our cause seems helpless and hopeless, we need to recall the command of the Lord and His promise as we carry out His commission, "Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world (age)."
God intended for there to be an offer of surrender to avoid bloodshed when a battle was for property. The offer would give the terms of surrender in which those who surrendered would serve the conquerors. A peaceful surrender would save lives and the property would change owners. Occasionally among God's people there are issues that arise that can be settled by coming together and seeking out ways that agreement can be reached without compromising God's Word. Such accommodation is not an attempt to "cross-pollinate" doctrinal positions held by different groups, but is to strengthen a scriptural testimony by unifying those who are seeking the same objective.
Some of the battles Israel fought would be spiritual battles of truth against lies; righteousness against unrighteousness; the kingdom of God against the devil. Right from the victory of Israel over the Amorites and in battles all around the promised land to the land of the Jebusites: those ungodly, licentious, idol worshipping tribes that had such evil practices, had to be totally destroyed in order to preserve the moral standards of the whole Middle East. The whole society of those tribes was so evil that the Lord God wanted them annihilated in order to save those around them from doing the same things. That was Israel's instruction but they did not carry it out. Because of that unwillingness in the past, millions of people have died there of people in those other nations and from the Israelites and their descendants. That antagonism against the Jews continues to this day. We need to remember in our calling as the people of God, that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers; against spiritual wickedness in high places." To allow sin to remain unjudged creates greater problems (in Israel, greater bloodshed) then if we follow God's word at the beginning of a "warfare."
Another instruction was given to the Israelites regarding facing opposition. There would be a new kind of warfare they had not yet experienced. They had fought and won by God's power on open terrain and in fields. Urban warfare was something they had not yet faced. This took more time because there were high walls to face and other obstacles around cities to keep enemies out. They were going to need trees to build bulwarks and siege engines to get them close enough to breach the walls. God had anticipated their victory ahead of time and knew the Israelites would need the fruit trees for food later on. They were not to cut down any fruit trees.
There are practices we follow that may vary in different assemblies. Usually the way a work begins and the practices they follow, will establish the way things are done for many years to come. The times of meetings, the ways chairs are set, the order of meetings are practices that differ from place to place. The teaching of the Word of God, the preaching of the Gospel and the carrying out of the ordinances have been designated by God and are not ours to change. Those "fruit trees" are there to provide on-going benefit to the people of God in spite of doctrinal opposition by those groups around us who make their own statement of faith. Other groups gather together occasionally to formulate their doctrinal beliefs and practices based on what the majority of people want. A scriptural assembly of God's people is not a democracy. The "voice of the people" does not establish the doctrines of an assembly. We are under divine authority and are like a living body, an organism with each part functioning within the body and fulfilling a role to which they have been suited by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the whole body.
In facing opposition, our strength is in God, our orders are from Him, our plan of operation is in His Word and our goals are defined by God. The results of the united effort of the people of God are for the glory of God, the furtherance of His kingdom and the blessing of His people.