Many of us have probably heard of the Geneva Conventions of War. These are a series of international treaties that seek to impose rules and limits on warfare. These rules are meant to reduce the brutality and inhumanity of war. All the countries signing on to the Geneva Conventions were supposed to abide by these rules.

The idea of limited warfare is far older than the Geneva Conventions. Moses gives Israel a series of rules or limits to the warfare Israel was about begin in the PL. Deut 20 pertains to rules of war. But these rules have far wider implications.

These were rules for Israel 3500 years ago. Are there any timeless principles here that apply to us?

We have to admit that most of the material here has primary application to a particular part of Israel’s history. This whole section pertains to Israel, not directly to us. However, I think if we are careful, we can find some general principles that we can apply to ourselves in the midst of these exhortations that Moses gave to Israel.

[  One thing we want to avoid is spiritualization or allegorization of the text. We don’t want to spiritualize this chapter and make it talk about spiritual battles that we face today. This is not a set of guidelines for spiritual warfare. These are not primarily spiritual principles. These regulations pertained to Israel in its conquest of the PL. We should not seek to allegorize or spiritualize this text.  ]

We are not preparing for war like Israel was, but we are living in a hostile world. And the principles we find here help us live a godly life as we face our daily challenges.

Let’s then consider some of the timeless principles in view in this chapter.