Deuteronomy 19:15-20:20

Deuteronomy 19:15-20:20

The end of Deuteronomy gives another discussion on the importance of having more than one witness in a situation. Every believer has the responsibility to look out for their brothers, whether that be to stand by them in their time of need, such as persecution, or to confront them in the midst of sin. In this passage the focus is on the danger of bringing a false witness. Whether it is one, two, or a group of people, there were consequences of those who falsely accused someone of some wrong doing. We saw earlier that the reason for having more than one witness was to prevent false accusations, but as we see here, those false accusations were still possible. Therefore, God was sure to warn the Israelites of such an instance, showing how important honesty is. Bringing false testimony not only harms your reputation, but it will also harm the reputation of the one you are accusing. There is no room in the family of God for such an offense.

The next chapter introduces a new set of laws that deal specifically with the conquest that Israel was about to embark on. God laid out a series of laws that dealt specifically with warfare. After reminding them that He will be by their side through all their battles (meaning that they would have no reason to fear no matter how bad the odds looked), God explained how they should go about the conquest. What is interesting is that He does not tell them to go into the land and start killing. These nations that they were about to encounter had defied God in many ways. They worshipped other gods and did not follow His commands, and yet God was willing to give them one more chance. As we will continue to see over and over again throughout Scripture, God has a heart for the nations, not just Israel. He was using Israel to reach out to these other nations on many occasions. In this situation, God wanted Israel to first offer terms of peace to the various cities. If they accepted the truce, then they would become slaves to Israel. This would allow Israel to have a positive effect on that group of people, hopefully showing them where they had faltered (in worshipping false gods) and who they needed to follow. On the other hand, if they were not willing to make peace, then Israel was commanded to go in and destroy the city. This was to protect Israel from being influenced by their false religions. God had only one thing in mind, drawing the nations to Himself. This could only be done through complete destruction or through the positive influence of Israel on the nations. There was no room for compromise.

This discussion has implications for us today. It is so easy to be influenced by the ways of the world. Like Israel, we must constantly be on guard, knowing that God is right by our side, in the different situations that will confront us in life. When a situation arises, we too have two choices. We can either confront the situation, trying to turn it over for good, and hopefully be able to be a good influence in that situation, and give it to God, or we can let it rule us and end up finding ourselves in a situation of compromise. We must not let the second option become reality. We are called to be the salt and light of the earth, directing people to God so that they might know Him and worship Him. Therefore, we cannot afford to let those situations, confrontations, or temptations gain victory over us. There is too much at stake to let that happen.

Matt