[Deuteronomy 20]: The Battle that Precedes Breakthrough. In this chapter, rules of war are established from Moses to the people. Warfare is part of the believer’s experience. Pressure precedes promise. We must be ready for battle and accept battle as part of the legitimate path that leads to the things God has spoken over your life.
[Deu 20:1-20 KJV] 1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, 3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; 4 For the LORD your God [is] he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. 5 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. 6 And what man [is he] that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not [yet] eaten of it? let him [also] go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it. 7 And what man [is there] that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. 8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man [is there that is] fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart. 9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. 10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, [that] all the people [that is] found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. 12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: 14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, [even] all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities [which are] very far off from thee, which [are] not of the cities of these nations. 16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee [for] an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: 17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; [namely], the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: 18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God. 19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field [is] man’s [life]) to employ [them] in the siege: 20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they [be] not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.
In this chapter, the people are instructed regarding the warfare they will encounter when crossing the Jordan to go into the Promised Land. God gave the people Canaan as their inheritance, but it was their responsibility to possess it by warfare. Warfare is part and parcel of the believer’s experience. Acts 14:22 says that it is through much tribulation (read manifold pressure) you enter the kingdom. If you shrink from pressure, you are being directed and driven by the enemy. You must learn to press into the stress in your life and not away from it. That pressure most often originates with other people. Pressure from people is what the bible calls witchcraft, and Ex. 22:18 says, “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live…” When a person in your life begins to pressure you and to encroach by a spirit of control on the Lordship of Jesus in your life – then you have entered a battle that you cannot run from.
God knew the Israelites would see the war chest of the enemy and their resources to resist them. His exhortation in fact, His command is “be not afraid of them.” The same God that brought Israel out of Egypt and Jesus out of the grave is with us. Delivering this message was the specific job of the priests at this point. The priests in this passage represent the leadership of the church as well. What is the job of the 5-fold ministry? To brace you for the battle in front of you. To keep you moving forward. To keep you from being in fear or becoming faint of heart. To remind you that God goes with you in every challenge.
In v. 5 Moses commands that any man who has built a new house and not dedicated it will not go to battle. If you haven’t dedicated your house, you aren’t ready to go to battle. What does this mean to us? Your body is your spiritual house. 1 Co. 6:19 says your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. We sometimes wonder why we are in a stuck place, and things are stagnate in our lives. Remember that between you and breakthrough is battle and warfare. Many times, when the prophetic word comes over your life, exactly the opposite will begin to happen. I know people who will not submit themselves for a prophetic word because they know from experience it leads to battle. Because of this, they rejected the prophetic word because they were not willing to go to battle or face warfare. Their house was not dedicated. You must settle your commitment to Christ, or you can never move into the battle that ends in your breakthrough. To this end, Paul wrote the following:
[2Ti 1:12 KJV] 12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
In v. 6 we see likewise if a man has planted a vineyard and not eaten of it is not allowed to go to battle. You cannot go to battle unless you know something experientially about the vintage of the Spirit in your life. The first miracle Jesus ever did was to turn water into wine. Water represents the word of God. God wants you to internalize the word of God until it becomes a sweet influence in your life, filling you with the Spirit of God. It isn’t enough just to have the scriptures – you must be filled with the Spirit or you are not ready for battle.
In v. 7, we see that a newlywed cannot go to battle. Intimacy precedes battle. Battle precedes breakthrough. I have heard many say they are so busy working for God they don’t have time to spend in His presence. God will never take you into battle until intimacy with your bridegroom is established. You wonder why breakthrough doesn’t come, but you must understand battle is part of the process. God will never take you into the battle that brings breakthrough until a level of intimacy is established with Him. If you go into battle without intimacy, then your bride (your soul) will be taken by another. How many times have we seen believers get under pressure and go into battle only to backslide and lose out with God? There must be an established intimacy between you and God before battle before breakthrough.
In v. 8, we see that a fearful person is not allowed to go to battle. How many of us are trying to take people with us into God’s destiny for us? If these people are not of common faith, you are not allowed to do this. Why? Fear has to be dealt with. Rev. 21:8 says that the fearful precede adulterers and murderers into hell. Fear is a form of emotional atheism. Fear denies God. Fear rejects the power of the cross. Men’s hearts fail them for fear. Fear arises in the life of a person who has something to lose – therefore, something that has not been relinquished to Christ in their life. Fear is infectious. Never establish a peer relationship with a fearful person because they will injure you long before you are a help to them. What does the fearful person do – GO BACK TO YOUR HOUSE. Why? Because Jesus is there. You need to work on 1.) Dedicating your house. 2.) Drinking of the vintage of the Spirit, and 3.) Consummating your intimacy with God. Then fear will be dealt with. If you have fear in your life, this is the process indicated. If you have fear, these are the deficits in your life. There is no condemnation, but it must be dealt with before the battle that precedes breakthrough.
In v. 9, after giving these instructions, Moses commands the leadership to appoint captains among the host of the people. There are captains in the things of God. There are captains of prayer, captains of doctrine, captains of guidance and strategy and administration in the things of God. You don’t just grab your sword and go screaming toward the enemy. In Eph. 4:11-12, Jesus appointed captains over the church called apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Where are your captains? If you don’t know, you don’t have them, and you are not ready for the battle that precedes breakthrough. Ask the Father to lead you to your captains.
In vs. 10-15 Moses instructs how to take a city and what to do when the city falls to them in the battlel. There are cities to be taken in your promised land. Your promised land, your breakthrough, has a geographical component to it that includes particular places. We cannot get so focused on the individual level of things that we don’t think in terms of taking our cities for God. Our first responsibility is to proclaim peace. Proclaim the peace of God, the goodness of God, the blessing of God, and the love of God. Jesus directed His disciples in precisely this way:
[Mat 10:11-15 KJV] 11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 12 And when ye come into an house, salute it. 13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
You proclaim peace to a city in the spirit by prayer. Jesus prayed over Jerusalem before entering Jerusalem. Then He presented Himself to the city, and some accepted Him, and some did not. In your city, you should pray over your city and then ask the Father how to make your presence known for the sake of the gospel. This can be in many ways, but it is always about bearing witness. This is not just the leader’s responsibility. This is often where the battle commences. When you announce the intention of the gospel in your circle or your place of assignment, battle will come, but it is necessary because battle precedes breakthrough.
In vs. 16-20, Moses instructs how the armies of God are to deal with their enemies after the battle is successful. There are enemies that must be utterly destroyed in the battle that precedes breakthrough. Notice they were to save alive “nothing that breathes…” The word there is the same word for “spirit.” There are spiritual influences mainly operating through people that you will have to deal with decisively, or your battle will falter. These nations all represented delay and distraction in the battle. They threaten and intimidate, and failing that; they want to negotiate and delay you. You must NOT yield to these influences even when they arise from those closest to you.
Hittites: (Fear)
Amorites: (Sayer – [Fast Talkers])
Canaanites: (Zealous Merchants – [compromisers])
Perizzites: (Village Dwellers – [following the crowd, don’t rock the boat])
Hivites: (Village – [Comes from the same word as Eve’s name. “Us four no more”])
Jebusites: (Down trodden – [discouragement, discourager])
The things these six nations teach you are abominations before the Lord. You must take care not to be at ease around these influences. You must go at them in a full-frontal assault and refuse to allow these things to take root in your life. You cannot have a peer relationship with people that think like this or live like this. These influences stand in the way of your blessing and are part of the battle the precedes breakthrough.
Lastly, when you go into battle, you are not to cut down fruit bearing trees. Sometimes in battle you can lose your discernment. The bible says that people are like trees. There are good trees with good fruit and evil trees with evil fruit. You must take time to determine if a tree is a fruit-bearing tree or not. There are people who plow right over innocent, developing believers, all in the name of audacious faith. They fail to walk in love, and they do much damage to the body of Christ. This was the one area of failure in the word of faith movement in its early days. The message was harsh and denunciatory and ran roughshod over people who didn’t get the message. Many were turned off and there came a stigma upon the word of faith movement that lingers to this day. Men like Charles Capps and Kenneth Hagin, Sr., came out strongly and corrected this. In the battle, you must remember to walk in love and humility, or you will have nothing left to rejoice over after the battle is won. Remember to walk in love.
