The Jews weren’t entering Canaan as sightseers but as soldiers prepared for battle and expecting God to give them victory. It’s important to note that God gave the nation two different military approaches, one for the cities in the land of Canaan (vv. 1–9, 16–18) and the other for cities outside Canaan (vv. 10–15). After Israel had conquered the land and was settled down in their inheritance, they might have to attack a distant city, because there were always enemies to deal with, and they could always accept the challenge of claiming God’s promise and enlarging the land (19:8–9).
The Lord’s assurance (v. 1). Moses didn’t minimize either the size or the strength of the enemy, for he knew that the nations living in Canaan had horses, chariots, large armies, and fortified cities. The spies who had investigated the land thirty-eight years before had seen all these obstacles and dangers (Num. 13) but had failed to see how small these matters were when compared to the greatness of their God. Moses reminded the people that the Lord had successfully brought them from the land of Egypt to the plains of Moab and defeated every enemy that had attacked them. In fact, the territory Israel now inhabited belonged to the Jews and not to the enemy, because the Lord had given His people great victory over the nations east of the Jordan. Just as the Lord had defeated Pharaoh and his army in Egypt, so He would defeat the nations in Canaan.
In the early days of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his inaugural address, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” There is a fear that mobilizes a person, as when you hear the fire alarm go off, but there is also a fear that paralyzes a person, and that’s the fear that Moses was addressing. When we fear the Lord and trust Him, we need not fear the enemy. Israel had nothing to fear, for the God who drowned the army of Egypt would defeat the armies of Canaan.
The priest’s encouragement (vv. 2–4). This was not the high priest but one of the other priests who was assigned to address the army. We shouldn’t be surprised to hear a priest encouraging the army, because the wars in Canaan were holy wars, God’s judgment against wicked nations that had rebelled against Him and sinned against a flood of light. The Lord had given these nations ample time to repent and turn to Him, but they refused to obey. Israel’s miraculous deliverance from Egypt and crossing of the Jordan River were proof enough that Almighty God was with them and judgment was coming (Josh. 2). The Jews were God’s people, fighting God’s battles, and it was fitting that they hear from God’s servant, a priest.
The Lord’s, “Fear not” is what every believer needs to hear when confronting the enemies of the faith. It’s the message the Lord gave to Abraham after helping him defeat the kings (Gen. 15:1) and to Jacob when he left home to go to Egypt (46:3). Moses gave that message to the Jews as they stood at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:13), and the prophet Isaiah repeated it several times to encourage the Jewish remnant (Isa. 41:10, 13–14; 43:1, 5; 44:2, 8). You find the phrase seven times in the gospel of Luke (1:13, 30; 2:10; 5:10; 8:50; 12:7, 32). When we walk by faith and keep our eyes on the Lord (Heb. 12:1–3), He will give us the peace we need (Phil. 4:4–9). You are heading for victory when you know that the Lord is with you and fighting for you.
The officers’ encouragement (vv. 5–9). The priest encouraged the soldiers to face the enemy without fear, but the officers told them to go back home if they had any unfinished business. No officer wants to lead distracted soldiers whose minds and hearts are elsewhere, for “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). Paul may have had this scene in mind when he wrote 2 Timothy 2:4, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” ().
The officers announced three different occasions for granting temporary deferment, and the first was to allow the soldier to dedicate a new house to the Lord and start living in it (Deut. 20:5). The word translated “dedicate” (kjv) also means “to initiate,” that is, to start living in the house with his family and enjoying it. The family needed the man much more than the battlefield did, so he was deferred for a year. The second occasion was to harvest a new vineyard whose fruit the soldier hadn’t yet tasted. According to Leviticus 19:23–25, an owner of an orchard had to wait until the fifth year before he could eat the fruit of the trees, but this law probably wasn’t applied to vineyards. Five years would be a rather long deferment. The third occasion was perhaps the most important, and that was to permit the engaged soldier to go home and get married. According to Deuteronomy 24:5, he was deferred a year.
These three exceptions suggest to us that God is more interested in our enjoying the common blessings of life—homes, harvests, and honeymoons—than devoting ourselves only to the battles of life. He didn’t want any of the Jewish men to use their military responsibilities as an excuse to neglect their families, their vineyards, and their fiancées. Certainly military service was important, but the Lord was more concerned that the men have the right priorities in life. What good was accomplished for the Jewish people if their army defeated the enemy on the field but things were falling apart back home?
The priests asked the soldiers to look up and trust the Lord, and the officers asked them to look back and consider any unfinished business that would hinder them from doing their best. But the officers presented another challenge and asked the soldiers to look within and see if they were too afraid to go into battle. Gideon lost 22,000 men when he issued this challenge (Judg. 7:1–3). Fear and faith can’t coexist successfully in the same heart (Matt. 8:26; Luke 8:25). Furthermore, fear is contagious and could discourage the other soldiers. It was fear and unbelief that caused Israel’s great failure at Kadesh (Num. 13—14).
Once the ranks had been thinned out, the officers would appoint captains, so each man had to be ready to serve. At this time, Israel didn’t have what we would call a “standing army” with an organized system of permanent officers. The major officers knew their best men and would assign leadership responsibilities for each campaign. When Saul became king, he formed the nucleus of a standing army, and his successor David developed the organization even more. In fighting God’s battles, faith and courage are important, but so are authority and order.