Confessions of a Church: Total War

The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received.   This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.  

Deuteronomy 3:1-17 “Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og, king of Bashan, with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ So the Lord our God delivered Og also, king of Bashan, with all his people into our hand, and we smote them until no survivor was left. We captured all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates and bars, besides a great many unwalled towns. We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women and children of every city. But all the animals and the spoil of the cities we took as our booty.

“Thus we took the land at that time from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of Arnon to Mount Hermon (Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir): all the cities of the plateau and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. (For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits and its width four cubits by ordinary cubit.)

“So we took possession of this land at that time. From Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead and its cities I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites. The rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, all the region of Argob (concerning all Bashan, it is called the land of Rephaim. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called it, that is, Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) To Machir I gave Gilead. To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even as far as the valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley as a border and as far as the river Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon; the Arabah also, with the Jordan as a border, from Chinnereth even as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

This is the word of the LORD.

The term "total war" has been defined as:

"A war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded."(1)

When an attacking army employs a strategy of total war, no distinction is made between the professional soldier and the average citizen. Private homes, storefronts, livestock, schools, hospitals, and churches all become legitimate targets for military planners.

A well known example of total war in recent history is General William Sherman's famous "March to the Sea". Speaking on this military exercise, Sherman is quoted as saying they needed to “make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.” (2)

One of the driving premises behind the use of total war is the idea that war is inherently horrible, therefore "There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over." (3)

We see this practice enacted in our text today, as Israel moves to destroy their enemies, God's enemies, from before them with no quarter given to the enemy:

"we smote them until no survivor was left"

"utterly destroying the men, women and children of every city."

This is a favorite passage of God hating reprobates when seeking to attack God's character, attempting to justify their rejection of Christ.

"Your God is so angry and barbaric".

"Your God is bloodthirsty."

"Your God is so petty, killing people who simply disagree with Him."

"I thought your God was love. Murdering innocent women and children doesn't seem very loving."

If we are being honest, most Christians cringe when an unbeliever or curious conversant asks about these passages, because frankly, we are uncomfortable with them as well.

The reason we are uncomfortable with them, is that deep down we cling to the false notion that people have a kernel of goodness within. We wrongly believe that people are inherently good, so that when people die, whether through sickness, old age, accident, or total war, it leads us to question God's character.

We ask silly questions like "Why do the good die young?",

"Why do bad things happen to good people?", or

"Why did God allow that to happen? They don't deserve it."

We ask these things, forgetting the long list of scriptural proofs which paint a very different picture of man's heart, and his spiritual condition apart from the grace of God. We say "People are good, no one deserves that", God says:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

— Genesis 6:5

“The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick;

Who can understand it?

— Jeremiah 17:9

as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one;

There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”

“Their throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,”

“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;

“Their feet are swift to shed blood,

Destruction and misery are in their paths,

And the path of peace they have not known.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

— Romans 3:10-18

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

— Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

— Romans 6:23

Q. What do our sins deserve?

A. The punishment and wrath of God.

With this in mind, as we see God's people fulfilling God's commands here in Scripture, the total destruction of God's enemies, or as we observe  calamity unfolding in the world around us, understand that these are not random, meaningless, gratuitous, killings of "innocent" people. This is God, according to his own wise counsel, establishing the end of things from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). A part of this includes the utter destruction of ALL His enemies.

You believe Doug Wilson's NQN leaves no stone unturned? God lays waste all His enemies, giving no quarter, taking no prisoners. We see the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, and we cringe because we think ourselves to be a little nicer than God.

And therein lies the problem. We forget that as God destroys His enemies, we too have enemies which God has called us to destroy through the power of the Holy Spirit, namely the world, flesh, and devil. Rather than waging total war on our sins, like Israel did against Og king of Bashan, we deal gently with our sin. We take our temptations lightly. We allow one little Hittite or Philistine, I mean, sin, to remain, because, well, it's my precious. I can harbor this sin and no one will know the better. I can allow this little sin to stay, because I am able to control it. I can take one more glance, one more sip.

If I scramble after just one more dollar, then I'll have peace.

If I smile for just a few more minutes the Pastor and Elders won't be the wiser, and I can slip back into the darkness for a few more days.

John Owen remarked that we must be killing our sin, or our sin will be killing us.

I want to correct his statement. Be killing your sin, putting to death the deeds of your flesh (Romans 8:13), or GOD will be killing you.

GOD will be killing you.

GOD will be killing you like all the nations He drove out before Israel. Every last reprobate man, woman, and child among you.

It is appointed once for man to die, and then comes the judgement (Hebrews 9:27). There is coming a day when each one of us will have to give an account for every careless word (Matthew 12:36), thought, and deed. There will be an unveiling of all our hidden faults, all our unconfessed, unrepentant sin. Everything will be laid bare before Jesus, whose eyes are like a flame of fire (Revelation 1:14). All the enemies which have been permitted to remain will be revealed.

Be killing your sin by the power of the Holy Spirit in this life, or God will be killing you for eternity in the next.

You do not have to die in your trespasses and sins. You can repent of your sins today, turning from them to Jesus, and put all of your hope and trust in the risen Saviour, who knew no sin, but became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

At this time if you are able, please kneel as we confess our sins to God who hates workers of iniquity (Psalm 5:5), but is full of compassion and mercy (James 5:11).

ETERNAL FATHER,

Thou art good beyond all thought,

      But we are vile, wretched, miserable, blind;

Our lips are ready to confess,

  but our hearts are slow to feel,

  and our ways reluctant to amend.

We bring our souls to thee;

  break it, wound it, bend it, mould it.

Unmask to us sin’s deformity,

  that we may hate it, abhor it, flee from it.

Our faculties have been a weapon of revolt

    against thee;

  as a rebel we have misused our strength,

  and served the foul adversary of thy kingdom.

Give us grace to bewail our insensate folly,

Grant us to know that the way of transgressors

    is hard,

  that evil paths are wretched paths,

  that to depart from thee is to lose all good.

We have seen the purity and beauty of thy perfect law,

  the happiness of those in whose heart it reigns,

  the calm dignity of the walk to which it calls,

    yet we daily violate and contemn its precepts.

Thy loving Spirit strives within us,

  brings us Scripture warnings,

  speaks in startling providences,

  allures by secret whispers,

    yet we choose devices and desires to our own hurt,

  impiously resent, grieve,

  and provoke him to abandon us.

All these sins we mourn, lament, and for them

  cry pardon.

Work in us more profound and abiding repentance;

Give us the fullness of a godly grief

  that trembles and fears,

  yet ever trusts and loves,

  which is ever powerful, and ever confident;

Grant that through the tears of repentance

  We may see more clearly the brightness

  and glories of the saving cross.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

(Prayer adapted from the Valley of Vision prayer titled "Yet I sin")

Please stand and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church: 

Zephaniah 3:14-20  Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. “The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts— They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them. “Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors, I will save the lame And gather the outcast, And I will turn their shame into praise and renown In all the earth. “At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the Lord.

  To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!

(1)                             Wikipedia

(2)                             Sherman’s March to the Sea, History.com

(3)                             General Sherman

 (From the 12/12/2021 liturgy of Sovereign King Church by Aaron Sabie.)