War and the 6th Commandment

"Do not be afraid" is the underlying exhortation for Israel as they go to war against those who dwell in the land, whose worship and lives are an utter offense to the Lord. When you go to war you are to carry in your chest courage that God is with you, and you are to engage as those who bear the name of the Lord, who does not wish for the force that Israel uses to become needless violence. It is for this reason that the Lord gives boundaries for just war and for how to engage righteously the nations around them. Even in war, we must be tied to the Word of God.

As Israel will one day move into the Promised Land, there must be instruction given to the people as to how they were to prepare themselves, that is dress themselves for battle. First, they were to be inwardly prepared, second, they were to get their houses in order before they left, third, they were conduct themselves according to the primary moral principle "though shalt not kill…" and that those who seek peace might find it, that those who worship through violence might be removed from off the face of the earth, and that in all things you plan for how to uphold life. What we find at the marrow of it all is this principle, that God desires for His people to show force in order to promote righteousness and life.