What God, as Commander-In-Chief, Expects from His Military

[ courtesy of topdoctorsonline.com ]

The Need for Holiness, Purity, & Hygiene In the Military -- Deuteronomy 23:9-14

God, through Moses, had some instructions for Israel's armed forces.

If you want to fight your enemies successfully, make sure you "keep yourself from every evil thing."(verse 9)  Now, that's plain and simple and it's true even today as we fight our own individual enemies, our enemies at work, our political enemies, or our spiritual Enemy.

The thing God was most concerned about in the days of Israel was that His people not get involved in the idolatry of the enemies they were fighting. I wonder what God wants His people not to be involved with today as they fight their enemies and God's? Well, looking at those who have professed to be fighting God's enemies recently and have failed, may I humbly suggest that greed, hypocrisy, and sexual sins have been some of the key evil things God would have us "keep ourselves from". Matthew Henry says this,

"Soldiers, in executing their commission, must keep themselves from gratifying the lusts of malice, covetousness, or uncleanness, for these are wicked things-must keep themselves from the idols, or accursed things, they found in the camps they plundered."

Verses 10-11, there are instructions for cleanliness with respect to "some occurrence in the night" which many believe refers to nocturnal emissions. The cleansing ceremony for this is described in Leviticus 15:16-18 and once observed, that individual that was deemed unclean, may return to the camp.

Verses 12-13 describe how God through Moses, even had given thought to our human needs and our disposal of our human excrement. The Israelites were to go outside the camp, with a spade, do their business, then use the spade to cover it.

Now Guzik adds more background:

"God commanded sanitary cleanliness among the army of Israel; each soldier was to carry some type of shovel, with which he could cover [his] refuse.

i. This command was given, "Partly, to prevent the annoyance of ourselves or others; partly, to preserve and exercise modesty and natural honesty; and principally, that by such outward rites they might be inured to the greater reverence of the Divine Majesty, and the greater caution to avoid all real and moral uncleanness." (Poole)

ii. Some ancient rabbis taught that the holy city of Jerusalem should be considered "the camp of the LORD." Under this reasoning, one had to go outside the camp to relieve one's self. However, for many people, the trip outside the large "camp" of Israel (the city of Jerusalem) was longer than what would be permitted on the Sabbath. Therefore, as a practical matter, the rabbis prohibited a Jew from relieving themselves on the Sabbath day." Okay, don't ask me how the Jewish people got around this.  But I assume it's possible if you get your timing right.

Verse 14 gives the reasoning for all of these laws. Moses says the Israelites needed to follow these laws "Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you." And since He is Holy, your camp must be holy. God must not see anything "indecent among you lest He turn away from you." People, it's for your own good, Moses was saying.

Here's the bottom line for me from this passage. There are four laws for fighting your enemies -- 1) keep away from evil things; 2) be physically clean; 3) dispose of your refuse properly; and 4) keep your camp (house) holy.

Everyone of those things are applicable to us today if we are to do the Lord's work and if we want His help in fighting our enemies. Is there any wonder, especially with laws 1 and 4, that many Christians are losing their personal and collective battles against the Enemy today?

I close with this comment. Whether we like it or not, God Who is Holy cannot be in the presence of unholiness. When we behave in any unholy way, verse 14 says, He may well "turn away from" us. Have you ever thought about that? God may not 'stay' away because He loves us too much, but He certainly isn't going to hang around while we are sinning. If you haven't proven that in your life yet, then I will assume you are still very young. The good news is He is waiting to come back and help you beat your Enemy. And that's Good News.

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