About Deuteronomy 20:4 - from calebrikkilambert.tripod.com

Journal Entry - Monday 26 April 2004 - War and Deuteronomy 20:4
Please, before you read this, if you are not a Christian, I urge you to read "About Jesus" on this website first. Otherwise, I fear a lot of this journal entry will not make sense to you. You are welcome to come back and look at this after looking at this page.
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Anzac Day yesterday.
The Iraq war continues.
Our own war continues.
The similarities to the Iraq situation are striking. Analogies do, however, often break down in the detail. But here we go.
We took our own "Baghdad" - in the Lord's strength alone - on 20 April 2004 at 3:25pm. At that time, Caleb was born healthy. Most importantly, he was alive.
What joy and satisfaction!
Even then though we had doubts and troubles. Similarly in Iraq, as Baghdad was taken and the statues of Saddam came tumbling down, the Allies feared resistance, Hussein and his supporters, suicide bombings.
Some may say Caleb's safe birth was expected but the question of his brain problems was always the big issue. This is certainly true. So too is that observation of Iraq.
Our enemy is somewhat hard to pinpoint.
In our war though, the weapons are not conventional.
Trust and faith in God are our defences.
Prayer is our only form of attack.
Setbacks strike us like suicide bombers causing heartache. Our defences absorb these attacks, however, and our resolve to fight on remains unmoved.
Like comic book heroes, we disappear under enemy explosions, but when the smoke clears we are still standing. How?! Not because of our own superhuman strength. Not because of supernatural powers. Because of the Rock we stand on - Jesus Christ.
We chose Deuteronomy 20:4 as Caleb's verse, his promise for his future. I will put it in context by reading from the start of chapter 20:
1 "When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt (RL:remember Moses?), will be with you."
2 "When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army"
3 "He shall say: "Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them."
4 "For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory"
Yes, we have won a victory when Caleb was born. We stand on the words of Deuteronomy 20:4, as the battle continues.
Deuteronomy, I note, is Moses' sermon to Israel before it entered Israel. You remember Moses, who led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt by calling down plagues on the Egyptians, then led the Hebrews through a parted Red Sea into the Sinai Peninsula? This same Moses - now a very old man - preaches a long sermon to Israel about how they should live when they finally arrive at their destination (from a journey that began many years earlier, exiting Egypt) - Canaan - the promised land of "milk and honey".
This sermon to the people comes at Israel's second attempt - not first - to enter Canaan.
At their first attempt, Israel faltered. Failing to heed the reports of two faithful spies - Joshua and Caleb, they instead heeded the reports of the other 10 spies, who said the inhabitants were too big and scary to make it worth going in. Because of their unbelief, God said Israel had to wander in the desert outside of Canaan for another 40 years. Only Joshua, Caleb and Moses were to survive to see Canaan a second time, 40 years later.
This is the prelude to the second attempt to take Canaan. Even Moses himself would not enter the promised land. Only Joshua and Caleb would enter out of the people who rejected God's promise 40 years earlier.
In Joshua and Caleb's hearing, Moses preached God's word to the assembled people before he himself died in view of Canaan.
Deuteronomy 20:1-4 stands as a law for battle. It prepared Joshua, Caleb and their people for the many battles they would face - starting with the attack on Jericho (see the book of Joshua in the Bible).
This verse stands too here as a promise to our sons, Joshua and Caleb, of how God will protect them and win battles for them in the future. Our enemies are not flesh and blood, but the evils of this world - Satan's minions - who corrupt God's plans for this world. Against them alone we fight and stand, holding firm to God's promise and, in particular, the One who fulfilled his ultimate promise to all people - Jesus Christ.