Deuteronomy 20:19 KJV
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:
I was drawn to consider the phrase, "...for the tree of the field is man's life..."
To be honest, I was not able to find any spiritual application to this except to see that God in mercy and in wisdom teaches that the destruction of the fruit-bearing trees is cruelty too great even in battle circumstances. If the enemy is conquered, the goal will in most cases not be the total annihilation of the people, but their subjugation. If these trees are destroyed there will be no food for the survivors. In those cases where the land might be completely overrun and occupied in the future by the victor's nation, still, the produce of the land would be needed for their prosperity into the future.
This world is corrupted and even good men often do not consider the consequences of their decisions. God is teaching that victory at any price is not true victory.
The God who would be merciful to future generations, and the God who teaches a degree of mercy even to the conquered, is a God we may rest assured will be merciful to all those who rest in Him.
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:
I was drawn to consider the phrase, "...for the tree of the field is man's life..."
To be honest, I was not able to find any spiritual application to this except to see that God in mercy and in wisdom teaches that the destruction of the fruit-bearing trees is cruelty too great even in battle circumstances. If the enemy is conquered, the goal will in most cases not be the total annihilation of the people, but their subjugation. If these trees are destroyed there will be no food for the survivors. In those cases where the land might be completely overrun and occupied in the future by the victor's nation, still, the produce of the land would be needed for their prosperity into the future.
This world is corrupted and even good men often do not consider the consequences of their decisions. God is teaching that victory at any price is not true victory.
The God who would be merciful to future generations, and the God who teaches a degree of mercy even to the conquered, is a God we may rest assured will be merciful to all those who rest in Him.
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