Deuteronomy 20:5-9 And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there that has built a new house, and has not dedicated it?… Soldiers must be as free from care and cowardice as possible. Wellington declared "that the power of the greatest armies depends upon what the individual soldier is capable of doing and bearing." Four classes are here exempted: — I. THOSE INVOLVED IN BUSINESS. The soldier leaves his private business when he enlists to serve his country. The farmer leaves his plough, the mechanic his shop, and the merchant his store. In Israel those were not called to serve who, from circumstances and prospects, would feel most keenly the hardship. 1. Those engaged in dedicating a house. They must return to their house lest another dedicate it. 2. Those engaged in planting a vineyard must enjoy the fruit of it. Building and planting are good and needful for the community, but encumber the soldier. II. THOSE HINDERED BY SOCIAL TIES. "What man hath betrothed a wife and not taken her" (ver. 7, 24:5). "It was deemed a great hardship to leave a house unfinished, a new property half-cultivated, and a recently contracted marriage unconsummated, and the exemptions allowed in these cases were founded on the principle that a man's heart being deeply engrossed with something at a distance, he would not be very enthusiastic in the public service." In an army there should be one heart, one purpose, and one desire to please the commander. In the corps of Christian soldiers there is entire obedience to the will of the Captain of our Salvation. III. THOSE DEFICIENT IN PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS. The fearful and faint-hearted were not permitted to war. 1. In moral qualifications. Some think that the fear named arose from an evil conscience, which makes a man afraid of danger and death. Men of loose and profligate lives are often cowards and curses to an army. Hence those conscious of guilt were to be sent away. "A guilty conscience needs no accuser." "Conscience makes cowards of us all." 2. In natural qualification. The allusion seems to be natural cowardice. Men reverence bravery, but cowards are objects of scorn. Wellington said of some foreigners who ran away from the field of Waterloo, "Let them go; we are better without them." There must be no fear in officers or men. No cowards in the ranks lest the army flee before the enemy. (J. Wolfendale.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. |
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