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Awesome Hands - part 152 Discussion

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Awesome Hands – part 152

Marriage with captive women

March 31, 2019

As we saw in the previous study, laws concerning war were given to Israel to raise the bar on how Israel was to act and react as it pertains to various scenarios in war.

In this study, we are going to continue to look at another aspect of warfare which is often overlooked.

This aspect of warfare is how we, as the representative people of God, are to treat women when they are captured during the wartime periods Israel partook in.

In Awesome hands 151, we saw that were to approach some cities and nations and offer them peace. If they accepted this peace, then we were to treat them as tributaries to us. If a city or nation did not accept our offer of peace, but wanted war, then we were to go to war with them and utterly destroy all males.

For those nations whom we were going to war with, we were to slay all males, but we were to keep the women, children and cattle alive for the benefit of Israel.

Deu 20:12  And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
Deu 20:13  And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
Deu 20:14  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.

In this study, we are going to examine how it is we treat the women who we take captive AND also want to have certain relations with.

The Lord has given these “spoils of war” to the nation of Israel, so what do we (as men) do with those spoils of war which we also lust after?

The verse that we will cover today is found in Deuteronomy 21:10.

First, we will read some of the context:

Deu 21:10  When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
Deu 21:11  And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
Deu 21:12  Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
Deu 21:13  And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
Deu 21:14  And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

On the surface, this seems straight forward, but there is always much more lingering just under the surface which shows us how to apply what we read from the Word of God in a spiritual way for the new man to be nourished by.

The first thing that jumps out to me is that this is a very hard situation for the captive woman. She is now having her entire live upended, and now one of her captors wants to take her as his own wife.

Traditionally, a Hebrew man would need to go through certain motions to wed a woman, but in the case of a captive woman, these rules simply did not apply.

However, the Lord is establishing a law for Israel to follow which ups the bar on the behavior of Israelite men who wanted to wed and bed a captive woman.

The first thing to recognize in this newly established law of the Lord for the Israelites is that this would not be the most natural actions for men taking women captive in war.

In fact, the way some men have treated women during wartime is downright evil. I will not go into further detail than that in this study, but you all can imagine what men do to women who have no one to protect them. The evil in humanities deceitful heart truly knows no bounds.

With this new law, the Lord is establishing that it is not okay for the tendency of “powerful” men to make women a “tool of passion”.

This forms the groundwork for men to recognize nobility in women, especially a completely defenseless woman. These women were to be dealt with honorably.

Ultimately, this would welcome a “foreign” woman to part with the idea of being a slave due to war, partake in the covenant God had made with Israel (she is now a Jew once married), and she is now able to worship and love the God of Israel as a Jewish woman.

These women are not to be confused with the captives taken from Canaan. Indeed, there was no such thing as a “captive Canaanite woman” because you were to have no relationship at all with the enemies of the nations of whom you were promised as an inheritance.

Deu 20:15  Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
Deu 20:16  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:
Deu 20:17  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:
Deu 20:18  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.

Deu 7:1  When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

Num 21:1  And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
Num 21:2  And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
Num 21:3  And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

Jos 11:18  Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
Jos 11:19  There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.
Jos 11:20  For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.

The reason why I have taken the time to include these verses is to show that the Lord makes a difference between those nations whom are “a far off from thee” and those nations whom “are near to thee and would teach you to do after all their abominations”.

You may be asking yourself about right now why any of these old testament rules and laws have any bearing on how you are to be today as a Christian?

Being that we know all scripture can be used for edification, exhortation and comfort, how exactly do we apply this understanding to our Christian walk today?

Well, up until now we have concentrated on the physical aspects of these men and women. However, we know that in Christ there is neither male or female.

Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

So, how do we reconcile these concepts?

We know that women “are to be in subjection to their own husbands”.

1Pe 3:1  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
1Pe 3:5  For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

These deals with physical wives and husbands, but how are we to consider spiritual husbands and wives?

We know there is only ONE Husbandman.

Heb 2:8  Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

“Now we see not all things put under him,” tells us that there is still a lot of work to be done. Just as I emphasized in my last study, we are at war NOW.

In that previous study, I pointed out several ways we are at war and how to deal with the war we are in. This war is happening in my heavens and it is happening in your heavens. It is also happening in the heavens of others.

In Deuteronomy 21, we are reading about the law of how to treat women taken captive in war. Well, let’s extend that concept to those “women” who are NOT physical woman but SPIRITUAL WOMEN.

We all know there is a bride of Christ, the free woman and a harlot, the bondwoman.

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Gen 21:10  Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
Gen 21:13  And also of the son of the bondwoman WILL I MAKE A NATION, because he is thy seed.

Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Notice that we are all born after the flesh. Wow, Steven what a revelation! Ha!

Also, notice that we are the children of promise, but we are also aware that not all things are YET SUBJECTED to our HUSBAND Jesus Christ.

Heb 2:8  Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

When we read in Deuteronomy 21:10 that we are to deal with CAPTIVE women a certain way, because they are of a certain TYPE of nation, then we need to take heed to what we are reading.

One type of nation is to be UTTERLY DESTROYED. However, the woman/women (also children and cattle) of another type of nation are to be “the spoil of war”.

How do we spiritual apply this to our heavens and the kingdom of heaven specifically?

As a mentioned in my previous study, there are always many details and variations to the encounters we have with people in our lives.

For some people, we know instantly that the Lord is not working with them yet because we do not hear the voice of the true shepherd AND they are combative i.e. we do not WANT your peace.

For others, they may simply not understand what we are talking about. They may not be able to chew the meat we are feeding them. They may only be able to handle milk. Heck, they may not even be able to handle the milk of the Word, but they are NOT combative and going to TEACH us the ERROR of our ways. When someone is combative and insists on teaching you the error of your doctrine, then you know they have another Jesus at that time.

Why and how can I know this is true?

Act 8:29  Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

Act 8:30  And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

Act 8:31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

The word used as guide in Acts 8:31 is also translated as “lead” other places.

G3594

hodēgeō

Total KJV Occurrences: 5

lead, 3

Mat_15:14, Luk_6:39, Rev_7:17

guide, 2

Joh_16:13, Act_8:31

Mat 15:14  Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Luk 6:39  And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?

Rev 7:13  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Rev 7:17  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Indeed, there are those that lead the blind as blind leaders into the ditch which is OUTSIDE OF THE NARROW WAY, and there is the Lamb of God, our True Husband, who leads those arrayed in white robes to the fountains of living waters.

1Ti 6:3  If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

1Ti 6:4  He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,

1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

Why then is this all important to the context of Deuteronomy 21 that we have covered today?

Captive women are to be brought into your home and given a period of time to GRIEVE their losses. They CANNOT not simply just be taken and married as a wife and thrown into the full expectancies of a wife.

We are the BRIDE of Christ, the church of the living God. When we are used to CONQUER the NATIONS “afar off” IN OTHERS, via Jesus Christ in US, we are to do so in a respectable, honorable way which is befitting of the BRIDE OF CHRIST.

This applies both to how we, as members of the body already act, as well as how we WELCOME to members to the church of the living God.

Notice this is the spiritual concept we see here:

Deu 21:13  And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

Deu 21:14  And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

When your life is altered in such a way that you are on the WAY to TRUTH and LIFE, by way of DEATH, then you are going to need time to adjust.

The month mentioned here is a symbolic time period and is NOT literal in the physical sense. IT was certainly literal in the physical for the Israelites, but in the Spirit it is a type and shadow how the time we are to allow for those new members who have just been in a war in their heavens and are now come to the kingdom of God WITHIN THEMSELVES.

Lastly, if we find now delight in our newly married “captive wife”, we were not permitted to sell her as a slave or as merchandise. She was to be made free. This tells us that when are you are part of the body of Christ you truly are “of the free woman”.

I hope this study is beneficial to help us remember that war is a horrible thing, but there are also ways to deal with the results of war. For us, spiritual war is devastating to our old man and also to the old man in others.

However, when we are welcoming new members into this glorious kingdom of God, we are welcoming another child of God into the flock fold, and we must be diligent in making sure we treat others with respect while also giving them space to adjust to their new existence of Life via death.

We die daily, Amen.