When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. – Deuteronomy 20:2

Today's Scripture Reading (January 21, 2022): Deuteronomy 20

Theologians have long sought after a theology of a just war. Some of the concepts have included ideas like a just cause, which would include a massive violation of human rights, and having the right intention of correcting that enormous wrong. A just war has to be called by a competent authority, someone who has earned the right to commit the nation to war, an expectation that would exclude most dictators and authoritarian regimes. A just war should be a last resort after many other alternatives have been tried and failed, and it must be proportional to the wrong that has been committed. There are other concepts of a just war, but in the end, many experts doubt that a truly just war, or a war that did not advance any selfish interests, has ever been fought. For me, maybe the closest thing to a just war might have been the Allied position in World War II. But even that is seen by some as problematic.

Moses instructed Israel on going to war. And the first step was to bring forward the priest to address the army. Israel's priests never fought a war. When a census was carried out to determine the fighting strength of Israel, the priests were often omitted from the census. [The Lord had said to Moses: "You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites (Numbers 1:48-49)] There were they were not part of Israel's fighting force. But as the war began, a priest was instructed to come before the army and speak to them. Strictly speaking, the priest was to go before the military and remind them that God went before them and that the battle belonged to him. But it was also an opportunity for the priesthood to speak into the impending violence, a time when they could speak into whether the war about to be fought was truly something that God wanted them to fight.

It was a great responsibility. And there is no doubt that often the priestly blessing had more to do with the will of King than with the intention of God. But, if the priest took his job seriously in this one act, he would have the opportunity to act as the conscience for the nation. He could speak the will of God and bring the concept of a just war to the people.

Spiritual leaders still have the same responsibility in our contemporary world. Pastors are no longer invited to address the troops before they go into battle. But we must be willing to carry the concepts of a just war into our culture, a message that we have hopefully received right from the throne of God. We need to be willing to oppose unjust manifestations of war, just as we are eager to fight against the injustice that has often ruined this world in which we live.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 21