（申20）结果子的树木 (Deuteronomy 20) Fruit-bearing Trees

(ChatGPT translation from Chinese, edited by Mijiale, 中文在后面）

When I first got to know my wife, I noticed her habit of eating watermelon, leaving a thin layer of red flesh on the rind. She explained that leaving too much would be wasteful, but eating down to the white-green part of the rind would seem greedy and undignified. I also believed that as long as you ate most of the food, it wasn’t wasteful. Later, when I visited a Jewish family, I realized I could do better. The three members of that Jewish family had their plates so completely clean after eating that I felt embarrassed about how much was left on my plate in comparison. We all used the same utensils, but somehow they ate up every bit of food, cleanly and effortlessly. I later learned that Jewish people follow a biblical commandment called “Do Not Waste” (Bal Tashchit, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal_tashchit), which comes from this passage:

Deuteronomy 20:19-20: “If in war a town is shut in by your armies for a long time, do not let its trees be cut down and made waste; for their fruit will be your food; are the trees of the countryside men for you to take up arms against them? Only those trees which you are certain are not used for food may be cut down and put to destruction: and you are to make walls of attack against the town till it is taken.”

The context of this passage is that the Israelites needed wood for their siege, and the Bible teaches them to cut down trees that do not bear fruit, and not to cut down fruit-bearing trees, because if a tree can bear fruit, it shouldn’t be wasted as it can provide food in the future.

Therefore, the principle of not wasting, has now a deeper meaning. Both fruit-bearing trees and non-fruit-bearing trees can be cut down for siege materials, but using the non-fruit-bearing trees for wood allows the fruit-bearing trees to continue fulfilling their unique purpose of providing food. This wisdom is often applied in everyday life, even in matters seemingly unrelated to faith. For example, in household chores, both parents and children can do the tasks, but many parents prefer to do the work themselves, allowing the children to use their time to focus on learning, which is their unique role. Similarly, an aging scholar who finds research increasingly difficult might reduce their own research efforts to mentor younger students who have more energy and time to produce significant results. In a tragic example, during an on-campus shooting, a 76 year-old teacher sacrificed his old ages to protect the young students. (https://www.weremember.vt.edu/biographies/librescu.html)

From a certain perspective, both fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing trees are used by those laying siege, just in different ways—one provides wood, the other provides food. Different trees have their optimal use according to their nature. In the spiritual life of Christians, those without the gift of preaching can serve in other ways or offer financial support, thereby reducing the preacher’s other burdens and allowing them to better fulfill their role in bearing fruit. In this way, those without the gift of preaching indirectly share in the fruit of the ministry. From the perspective of those laying siege, if there were no non-fruit-bearing trees for wood, the fruit trees would have to be used for wood and would not be able to bear fruit. Therefore, the non-fruit-bearing trees and the fruit-bearing trees work together, providing both wood and food. Thus, the non-fruit-bearing trees, in a way, also participate in the process of bearing fruit.

（申20）结果子的树木

我刚认识我太太时，观察到她吃西瓜的习惯，是吃到留着薄薄一层红色的瓜瓤。她向我解释说，留得太多就太浪费，吃到漏出青白色的瓜皮又会让人觉得太贪吃没有风度。我自己也觉得吃东西大部分吃掉就算不浪费了。后来有一次到一个犹太家庭去作客，才发现自己还可以做得更好。那家犹太人一家三口，吃完后三个盘子都吃得干干净净的，让我留下的盘子相比之下觉得很不好意思，大家都用一样的刀叉，不知他们怎么吃得那么干净的。后来我知道犹太人有个“不要浪费”（Bal Tashchit， https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal_tashchit）的圣经诫命，来自这段经文：

申命记20:19-20: “你若许久围困，攻打所要取的一座城，就不可举斧子砍坏树木。因为你可以吃那树上的果子，不可砍伐。田间的树木岂是人，叫你糟蹋吗？惟独你所知道不是结果子的树木可以毁坏，砍伐，用以修筑营垒，攻击那与你打仗的城，直到攻塌了。”

这段经文的背景是犹太人攻城需要木材，圣经教导他们砍不结果子的树，不要砍结果子的树，因为树如果会结果子，就不要浪费它将来可以结果子提供食物的功能。

不要浪费这句话，于是有了更深一层的含义。不结果子的树与结果子的树都可以砍下来作围城工程的木料，这时候，让不结果子的树代替结果子的树去作木材，就可以让结果子的树发挥它所特有的作用，提供食物。就连很多与信仰看似无关的生活常识里，也常常使用这种智慧。比如家务，家长和孩子都可以做，但很多家长会更想自己做，让孩子省下的时间发挥它所特有的学习作用。又比如说年长的学者自己做科研越来越吃力了，他可能会减少自己做科研的时间，用来辅导帮助后辈学生们更好地成长，因为他们还年青，有更多的精力和更长的时间可以做出更多的成果。又比如说在一个校园枪击事件里，一个76岁的教师为了保护年轻的学生们而牺牲了自己的老年。https://www.weremember.vt.edu/biographies/librescu.html

从某个角度来看，结果子的树和不结果子的树，都是为攻城的人所使用的，只是方式不同而已，一个是用来做木材，一个是做食物。不同的树按不同的方式有最佳的使用。在基督徒的属灵生活中也是如此，没有讲道恩赐的基督徒，做一些其他的侍奉或金钱上的支持，就可以减少传道人的其他负担，让他们发挥他们特有的作用，更好地结果子。这样没有讲道恩赐的人，其实在传道的果子上也间接地有份了。从那围城的人的角度来看，若没有那不结果的树作木材，那果树就得作木材，无法结果子。所以那不结果子的树和那结果子的树其实是一起配合，既提供了木材，也提供了食物，所以原本不结果子的树，却参与了结果子。