Day 45: October 27, 2025 – Deuteronomy 16-20 and Mark 10

We continue along our journey with Deuteronomy. This section identifies are number of housekeeping responsibilities that those governing Israel had to think about. It lays out the religious festivals and reminds the people of God that they are the people of God. It also lays out the protocol in conquering the lands that the Lord has given to Israel to inhabit. Interestingly, if they come across a nation that is not willing to cede to them but it is not part of the land that is given to Israel, they are to conquer the land but spare the women and children and the livestock, not the men. But if it is part of the land that they are going to inherit, it is a handful of nations that are mentioned that fall in this category, then they are not to spare anything when they conquer that nation: not children, not women, but fruit trees you can spare. Seems harsh, but necessary.

The reason given for this harshness is that the author states that if you keep those alive, then they will over time convince you to worship the gods that they worshipped and the people of Israel will fall away from worship YHWH. Sure enough, over time we see this happening, but at least here on paper there is a strategy to prevent this from happening. Kill everyone.