Go home, soldier!

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don't know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it "really" means.. Let's see where this takes us! 

Deuteronomy 20

I'm reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

What's striking at the beginning is that soldiers are commanded to go home and take care of business or personal affairs before they go off to war. Also, anyone who is "afraid or disheartened."

Why? Because it is "the Lord your God who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies."

The "Lord your God '' is you, your highest consciousness, who doesn't judge by appearances and, therefore, isn't frightened by the odds or distracted by circumstances. You can't go out and fight successfully if you're worried about things.

Moses is saying this across the Jordan, among nations that, like Israel, were descended from Abraham, himself descended from Shem or Spirit. They are to be enslaved. The people across the Jordan: Canaanites, Jebusites, etc., are descended from Ham, or the Flesh. They are to be exterminated "so that they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods and you thus sin against the Lord your God."

This is brutal, but allegorical. Our carnal tendencies are to be "enslaved" to the Spirit so that they're directed to good things. But habits of thought and behavior that reflect living only for the body, only for materiality as did Ham, must be completely eliminated from your own life.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)