Deuteronomy 1:42
“And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.”
But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.
And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
Counter-Arguments
The strongest case that this verse does not belong in this theme.
Cross-References
“Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.”
“And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.”
“O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!”
“And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper.”
“Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?”