Deuteronomy 20:10 says, When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. Moses said when the came to a city to fight against it, they should first offer them peace. We as followers of Christ are to first offer peace to those who would fight against us. Verse eleven adds, And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. Moses said if the people there accepted their offering of peace, that they were to be tributaries of the people of Isrwel and serve them. People that we offer the peace of God to today are not our servants if they accept, but are God's servants and our equals in His kingdom. Verse twelve continues, And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: Moses then said if the people of the city would not make peace with them, then the people of Israel were to besiege them. As Christians, all we can do is offer others the good news of the gospel, but we cannot force them to accept it. Verse thirteen states, And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: Moses said when, not if, God delivered them, that they were to slay all the men with the sword. We today as followers of Christ do not still have this same command, but we are to reach out to our enemies with the love of God, and He will one day determine their fate and not us. Verse fourteen adds, But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. Moses then said that they were to take the women, little children, cattle, and all that was in the city as spoils of war. We are not to claim the things of this world that belong to our enemies as our own even if God destroys them, because we are not to follow God for material gain. Verse fifteen continues, Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. Moses said this applied to cities that were very far off from them, which were not cities in the Promised Land itself. Matthew Henry said they were to spare the women and children of those that were far off because they were less likely to contaminate the people of Israel with idolatry. I believe we can say that today we are to be less concerned about those who are far off than we are to be concerned about those who are in our midst who would tempt us to turn away from God. Verse sixteen says, But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: Moses said that of the cities that God gave them they were to utterly destroy everything. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we are to destroy everything in our life that could lead us away from living by faith. Verse seventeen adds, But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: Moses then added the names of the people that they were to utterly destroy. The people of Israel were not to make this determination themselves, but were to act under God's command. We today are still to follow God's command in the way that we treat the lost, even those who are openly at war with us. Verse eighteen continues, That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God. Moses said they were to utterly destroy these people so that the people of Israel would not be tempted to follow the abominations of these people. We need to destroy everything in our life once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord today that would lead us away from God. Verse nineteen states, When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege: Moses said that they were not to destroy the fruit trees around the city. These would provide food the the people of Israel then and later on. Verse twenty adds, Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued. Mose said that they could cut down and use the non fruit bearing trees to use as bulwrks against the city. Though God had promised them the victory, they were still to follow His guidance in how they fought against their enemies. As we as Christians fight against the forces of evil in the world today, were are to do so under God's guidance.
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