Deuteronomy 20:1 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
Are you ever afraid? I think the answer is yes for all of us. When are you afraid? I don’t need to tell you when you are afraid. That is pretty obvious, isn’t it? In Deuteronomy 20 you have a “when” chapter, when you are afraid and when you should not be afraid. God is speaking to His people Israel as they are encountering the land of Canaan. Verse 1 says, “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies…” That is a problem, and all of us face problems every day. We might call them enemies. You may have people who treat you as an enemy or things that are problems, but all of us have problems.
Then, you have problems that are also fears. For instance, if a shark is swimming through the water and has a little sucker fish attached to him, that is a problem, but it is not a fear. If the little sucker fish is swimming alone and encounters a big shark, that is not just a problem, it may well be a fear. Now, I don’t really know about fish so maybe I have not gotten that quite right, but you get the point. There is a difference between merely having a problem, which we all have, and the kind of problem that results in a fear.
The verse says, “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots, and a people more than thou.” That is more than a problem; that is a fear. It is not just a problem. It is a problem that is greater than you. You would expect the verse to say, “Run away screaming,” but that is not what it says. He says “Be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” All of us know that we have irritations and fears, so I don’t need to tell you when you are afraid. What we need to know is when we should be unafraid.
First, be unafraid when God has led you. The Bible says, “Be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” So, God led these people. They weren’t grabbing Canaan and Canaan wasn’t surrendering Canaan. God had led them to Canaan. Think about Moses, the human leader of these people for many years. Moses didn’t want to touch these people with a ten-foot pole. A lot of these people didn’t even want to go up to Canaan, but what they were doing was in submission to God, following God. What Moses did in leading, he was doing in following God. Joshua, when you are first introduced to him, is referred to as Moses’ minister. He was the servant of Moses. Here in this chapter the Bible speaks of the priests and the officers who addressed the people who went into battle. All these people were doing what they did ultimately at the behest of God. So, God has led you.
The question this morning is not, “Are your problems greater than you and cause fear?” The question is, “Are you where you are because you are following God’s leading?” If you are by yourself, you are an orphan. If you are following God, that is a different story. So, be unafraid when God has led you.
Second, be unafraid when God is with you. The Bible says, “Be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee.” Verse 4 says, “For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you.” An evangelist named Bob Jones used to say, “Back of God’s commands He puts omnipotence.” That means God is all powerful, and when I obey Him, God uses that power on my behalf. If I am resisting God, God is all-powerful but I am not. Bob Jones also said, “You and God make a majority.” So, I don’t need to count the numbers and dollars and do figuring in my head to decide if I am going to follow God or not. Now, it does make sense that I should prepare well. Israel sent spies into the land to scout out what was to be done. That is not wrong. Jesus said that if a man is going to build a tower, he should decide whether he has what he needs to make that happen. That is all true. But if God has led, then God is with you.
Finally, be unafraid when God is for you. Verse 4 says, “For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” So, He is for you. It is interesting that this command to be unafraid was prefaced by a reminder that God brought them out of Egypt, then the Bible continues by talking about what God will do. This is a “when” chapter. You find when twice, “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies,” and verse 13 says, “And when the LORD thy God hath delivered into thine hands.” What were they to anticipate when they followed God? They could expect God’s presence and power.
God is for you. Because that is true, God will see it through. Again, verse 19 says that when you conquer these cities, don’t chop down the fruit trees because you will need the fruit of those to eat. This entire chapter is predicated on assumed victory, not because they were great but because God is great. God gave a number of scenarios for when they came into the land, all of which anticipated not a lack of enemies but the presence of God and victory as God’s people.
Are you ever afraid? Of course! When? It is when a problem is greater than you are that you fear. When should you be unafraid? You should be unafraid when God has led you, is with you, and is for you because those who follow God are designed and destined for victory.