Untitled Sermon (2)

Judges 4 Sermon:

Chiastic structure:

The sons of Israel (oppressed), 1-3

Deborah, the prophetess, 4-9

Barak and Sisera "call out" (za 'aq), 10-12/13

Yahweh the Warrior, 14a

Barak and Sisera"go down" (yarad), 14b/15-16

Jael, wife of Heber, 17-22

Jabin, king of Canaan (subdued), 23-24

God is the great deliverer:

The book of judges reminds us much about the church today. The time period of the book of judges is a unique one where Israel had the two separate institution of the church and the state. It was only when the monarchy began in the book of Samuel from Saul and then the line of David. Israel came under theocratic rule of the monarchy. A king reined over both the spiritual and civil duties of the nation. In the book of the judges, God was the ultimate king of Israel. The elders from the 12 tribes of Israel were to preside over the civil duties of the people and the Levite priests were called to shepherd the people of Israel.

In the book of Judges God is Israel’s King. Israel didn’t have an army. A kingdom usually has a king and the king commands an army. But Israel didn’t have an earthly king and God was their sole protector.

Comparing the NT, the church and the state are separate. In the church we have the elders who are called to matters of spiritual discipline and the state (the government) deals with matters of judicial and civil matters.

So, the book of Judges is a unique book in the OT which shows us what the people of God did and what they should have done. Judges gives us a unique opportunity to teach the NT church how they functioned and how they should have functioned. All scriptures are breathed by God and is profitable for teaching.

1. The sovereignty of God:

God in His sovereign plan for humanity uses two principles to help his people to stay away from evil. One, God requires his people to remember his good deeds and remain faithful to His work. Two, God uses people of His own choice to bring about deliverance.

First, remember and follow:

Israel again sinned when Ehud died. Last week’s sermon.

4:1. And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.

Israel did not fully capture Canaan. The problem arose when the majority culture seeped into the small nation tribes. It took over their spiritual lives and set them to rebel against God.

The verse here does not mention idol worship. But Israel’s pattern of sin is always for idol worship. Although the text does not mention the worship of Baal. We will see throughout our text, Yahweh our God, will be seen challenging the rule of Baal. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of God by worshipped the Canaanite gods. Baal was not necessarily one name of a particular god. But the name of Baal was associated with people in different forms in various locations where Baal was worshipped. Like in India Hindus add Pala or Indra or Eswar (Lord) with all local Gods, the Canaanite people added Baal with all their local gods. Baal Hadad was the most popular one.

Baal – all mean Ruler, Chief, Lord and one who maintains and Hadad most prominently known as the gods of fertility. As a Canaanite deity of weather and fertility, he was linked with the annual return of vegetation. First fruits of agriculture and livestock. As fertility god, Baal represented a sort of Father or husband. This led Israel into a path of sexual immorality. The people of God sold all their minds, hearts and souls to the Canaanite gods.

Israel sinned against God by choosing the gods of the Canaanites directly usurping Yahweh as God of the land. The result that led to their worship of idols. There was complete chaos in the land. The Israelites under the Lordship of Yahweh had a thriving society of agriculture and building villages and towns. They were to become a nation. Now, because they had disobeyed God. 5:7. The villagers ceased in Israel. An utter collapse of society, family life and national interests.

4:3 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron, and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.

The people couldn’t walk on the roads because their oppressor was cruel. Their oppressor under the army general named Sisera held 900 chariots of Iron. These chariots were like War Tanks of our modern era. They were swift, powerful and effective in neutralizing its targets. One commentator says, if you were to walk on the road and if a chariot chased, you. You could get cut like butter on a hot knife. Remember Israel lands were like wilderness and desert unlike Bandipur forest with thick trees and you can run and escape. It was open land and the Israelites lived in terror.

God heard the cries of Israel and he set motion several events that would lead to the redemption of Israel.

Firstly, God wanted them to remember who He is and His holiness. God wanted Israel to repent of their sins and retore their covenant blessings. God wanted to restore His people’s villages and town lives. This would mean getting the families of Israel back to living in order. To bring the civil life of Israel back to a thriving life.

So, God raised a “Mother” for Israel to deliver Israel from their oppression.

5:6. in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,

and travelers kept to the byways.

7. The villagers ceased in Israel.

they ceased to be until I arose.

I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.

God called Deborah as the mother of Israel at a time when societal life of Israel was at complete collapse. Like I mentioned in the beginning. Israel at this time was state and church ruled under the direct Kingship of God. Deborah was called as a judge to settle matters of the public life. To bring back order to havoc and destruction.

Deborah’s call is a unique one in the history of Israel. Israel needed a counselor who will help see her own folly. Israel needed a judge who will sort out the mess. She was called to make peace among the people and bring unity among the tribes of Israel. To help the people of Israel remember who they are and where they came from. They were people chosen by God and He rescued them from slavery in Egypt. God is their redeemer, and they were His people. Deborah was to remind Israel their calling as a nation to serve God and be light to all the nations.

The mission of the Israelites were to invite the nations. And bring God’s word to them. But sin made them rebel by adopting the pagan gods.

By this they angered the living God of Israel. The worship of Baal was no small matter. Baal is considered someone who would pour rain for harvest of crops. Baal would provide greenery for livestock so that the cattle will multiply and bring prosperity. The Israelites lusted after the promises of prosperity.

The rejection of Yahweh as their God displays the lack of trust in the Israelites. You may remember.

God knew the people will betray him if they forgot who He was.

9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:9

A simple formula where the Israelites were to remember God in every single aspect of their lives.

The Israelites were to give their first fruits of their agriculture and livestock to Yahweh as sacrifices. The meaning behind the sacrifices is that God himself will provide for Israel with rain and vegetation. God himself will play a hand in the multiplication of people to fill the land.

These laws can be read from the previous book before the book of Judges. God instituted a big festival to celebrate his blessing on his people. Previously in Exodus 32. Moses instructs the people to celebrate the harvest festival of agriculture by the name of Pentecost. This was a celebration where God will help his people to plant seeds, grow and sustain the crop, mature, and then bring first fruits of the land. Pentecost was a festival of celebration that God himself provided for Israel. But this celebration was not all about the harvest of the crops. But also, the spiritual life of the Israelite. The external evidence of God providing for his people will motivate the Israelites to enter serving God. By worshiping God alone and maturing in their faith. The Israelites fell short of it. They did not want to be dependent on God for their needs. The Baals promised a healthy life for its believers which eventually led to the destruction of Israel.

God in Jesus Christ who is called the “perfect Israelite” fulfills the meaning of a good harvest by planting the seed, growing, maturing and brings in first fruits of the spiritual life. In Acts 2 we see the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost. A day of the harvest festival. Christ is the actual God of harvest and first fruit of His own labor. The life of Israelites was not just building a nation. But a nation to serve God and make him known. To expel the darkness of sin and give hope to all the nations. God entered the world in Jesus to bring about this spiritual harvest of rejoicing. Jesus destroys the powers of evil in his battle with death on the cross.

The time of the judges is a teaching moment for us the church. God is sovereign in his rule that he watches all evil and he plans to redeem the world through His son Jesus.

“The context in which Israelites made ethical decisions, and carried on ethical reflection or critique, was the belief that there was both a past to which they had to respond (God's redemption of Israel from Egypt) and a future for which they were in part preparing (God's blessing to the nations) - and all of it under the sovereign purpose of the LORD as God.”

Christ Wright. Ethics of the Old Testament.

In the sovereign purpose of God. We are to remember the saving work of God in our life and that should lead us to live godly lives.

We are invited and called with the same task as the Israelites. To become saints in the kingdom of God and bring His kingdom in our city, our neighborhood, our families and friends. When Israel disobeyed there was utter destruction of their social life and their neighborhoods. They had to live in fear.

God in his sovereign purpose requires us to remember his work on the cross as our reminder of God’s mercy in our lives. One helpful suggestion that we could cultivate in our spiritual walk is meditating on God’s word. Psalm 1 says a Happy or blessed man meditates on God’s word day and night. As you sit empty in the long hours of Bangalore traffic or idle in your home you can read or hear God’s word and on it. Think deeply of the gospel story and the promises in your life. Let it satiate in you and permeate to all parts of your body.

In God’s sovereign purposes He elects certain people as agents to bring about redemption.

Let’s dive deep into our text to see how God calls and uses his people for the glory of his name.

2. The Mercy of God:

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in ethe hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun.

Deborah- the wife of Lappidoth was filled with the Spirit of God and she obeyed the commands of God. The only woman in the distinguished company of the book of Judges. She was specifically called to the task of a prophetess of Israel. She used her giftings in the administration work in her region of the land. But God called another man to the task of delivering Israel from the oppression of Israel. His name is Barak. You can see an early structure of how God called his representatives among the people to deliver Israel from their oppression. Deborah the prophetess was called to bring peace among the people and Barak was called to command the armies of Israel. A leader of the army must be a man to whom the people will show their loyalty and he hold the authority to discipline anyone under his leadership. The outworking of these two judges of Israel points to us of a complementary style of leadership. God calls both men and women for public ministry. The book of judges is a clear indication that God equips women for ministry through the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament is a patriarchal culture in verse 4 we read that Deborah is mentioned along with the name of her husband. But the OT also reminds us that women are equal in value, dignity, and ability, created as they are in God’s image and given dominion over God’s creation. But God is particular with his method of redemption for mankind. A patriarchal culture means, “the rule of the father.” God calls himself as a father to his people. In God’s sovereign plan for humanity. He calls both Men and Women to witness his name.

Now Barak was called to become the military leader, but he is shown to have weak faith.

Having a weak faith does not mean it’s bad. But a sign that God is working in that person’s life.

Westminster chapter 14 talks about it. God uses our faith to bring to complete faith.

14.3. This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong; may be often and many ways assailed, and weakened, but gets the victory: growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance, through Christ, who is both the author and finisher of our faith.

Deborah the mother of Israel was called to encourage Barak in his faith.

6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?”

God raised Deborah as a prophetess to encourage Barak who was uncertain of his calling.

It was God’s sovereign plan to elect Barak as a leader. A man with weak faith. This war is not between Barak and Sisera. But it was a fight between Yahweh and the Canaanite gods.

Barak is commanded to bring the armies of God to Kishon river. This river has another significance. In later books of the OT during the reign of Kings, the prophet Elijah would later come to this same river Kishon and fight against the prophets of Baal.

14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.

God begins the battle by calling Deborah to tell Barak to rise to the occasion and go to battle.

God himself will draw the enemy to this spot for battle. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?”

Practically God is bringing the enemy into the hands of Israel. For twenty years they lived under fear and oppression.

And now,

15 And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot.

Sometimes the word routed could mean thunderstorm.

As the people of God gathered at Mount Tabor as God instructed. Sisera and his army of chariots stood at the bottom in the valley. When the battle began, God sent rain into the region, and it filled the valley. The Israelites went down the mountain to attack Sisera and his army of chariots. But as the rains came down, the chariots got stuck in the mud. They could not move, and they were immobilized. Practically God handed the oppressors of Israel into their hands for defeat. God defeated Baal by bringing down rain.

5:20 From heaven the stars fought,

from their courses they fought against Sisera.

21 The torrent Kishon swept them away,

the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.

March on, my soul, with might!

God brought down the heavens to prove who he really is. God is above all the gods of man.

This battle shows us the real hero and honor of victory against sin and oppression belongs only to God. In God’s redemptive plan he calls his people to participate in leadership. God works out his plans through people of his choosing.

Deborah is called the mother. Barak is called to become the leader of the armies of Israel. They are both called to lead the people. The complementary roles of both men and women are needed in God’s kingdom and in the church. We need both fathers and mothers in the church. Both men and women are called to honor the calling of the Lord to show leadership in our community and lead the way for the next generation!

Note: The Levite Preists were the only ones admitted to serve God in the Temple. God has maintained Patriarchal structure in the Temple and NT Church for His sovereign purposes for redemption. In the State of Isael Deborah became a Judge.

The Judges had different roles. The combined exultation of Deborah, the judicial judge and Barak the military leader, after the great victory at Megiddo, J 5:10.

Don’t let your responsibilities pass by you. Barak was called to lead the army to victory, but the honor does not go to him.

4:8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”

The honor does not belong to Deborah as well. We will see in the next point of the sermon about a women named Jaer who will defeat Sisera the enemy.

Teaching: The honor of serving in God’s kingdom does not belong to us.

5:2. “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,

that the people offered themselves willingly,

bless the LORD!

God caused the leaders of Israel to stand up and fight.

We misunderstand and we dispute who can lead in the church. God is the only one who is able and truly lead us. The scriptures call men and women to dependency on each other for their mutual growth. This dependency is a sign of our dependency on Jesus for our spiritual growth and maturation. God has blessed us with gifts and knowledge of His word. We use that power to protect and serve one another. We use these gifts that God has bestowed on us generously to shatter the yoke and weight of sin. Serving in the church both as Elders and as members of the church we do the work to honor God and not ourselves. John the Baptist in John 3:30. He must increase, I must decrease. A mark where you truly accept Jesus as the Lord of the church and our individual life.

When life was dead in Israel. Deborah the mother comes into action to give life! The streets of the villages were abandoned. Israel suffered and she needed a comforter who would counsel their needs.

Deb can’t do all on her own. Barak was called as the general of Israel’s armies. A man who had the favor of men and spoke with authority. These two gifted people of God playing the roles that God had called them. In the background, God ultimately is the ruler of all things who in His holiness dictates what is best for his children.

Israel mission was to become light to the nations. In the NT, we the church are called to become light to the nations. The glory of Christ reaching every dark corner of this world and we are called as witnesses to this light. Blessed are those feet who bring the good news. Disciples in Greek literally means witnesses. God not only calls us to faith but also to live out his calling for us. Paul in the book of Titus shows us this.

Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.

A life of a Christian is not only to find the truth in God, but that truth should lead us to godliness. We are called to display godliness in our everyday ordinary lives. Israel destroyed their nation through ungodliness. It is a teachable moment for us. We need to honor God in our individual lives, family life and in our community beginning in the church. To this end, we are torchbearers of God’s word in our neighborhood. The name Barak means torchbearer. Barak brought an end to the enemy by rising from his weak faith when called upon and led the people of God to victory.

We are called to love godly lives and build communities in our regular pace that is centered around the atoning work of Jesus. God assists us in this work by the Holy Spirit that he generously gifts us. Bringing light to the nations is not only witnessing of Jesus but showing his evidentiary work in us. Our greatest fear is to reveal who we really are. But the HS convicts us of our sin. Our greatest freedom begins when we confess our sins and feel the forgiving work of Jesus in our hearts. The world is looking for a savior who does the work of saving. Jesus invites us to his humble kingdom and helps us lead godly lives. So that we can display the light of Jesus in our hearts to those who are seeking.

3. The Grace of God:

God shows grace (the cycle of sin).

Heber was a distant relative of Israel. He was from Moses’s in-laws’ family from the wilderness of Egypt. God used an unlikely member of Israel to rescue the nation. You see Heber was from a nomadic tribe. In this instant they moved from Judah to the place where Sisera the enemy would be killed.

Verse 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

In the middle of the story account of Judges 4. We are given this part. The narrator could have simply introduced about Heber and Jael living in that place in Kedesh. But the narrator mentions this part because he wants to direct the attention towards God. God uses all our moves and actions for His glory. God places the right people at the right places at the right time. So that His glory can be revealed. Here in this case, God uses Heber’s family move to Kedesh to deliver Israel from the tyranny of Evil.

Now, Sisera ran away from the battle, and he sees the house of Heber. He reaches the house for shelter.

19.And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”

21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

This is a gory end to this tale. Here in this chapter, the Israelites invited evil into their land, their houses and worship places. Evil in the name of King Jabin who sent his cruel servant Sisera. Sisera wreaked havoc in the land of Israel for 20 years. In the end, this evil reign of Sisera comes to an end by a woman. In ancient near eastern cultures. Setting up the tent was a women’s job. Sisera did not see Jael was a threat because she held tools of her regular part of life. It is fitting that Sisera died by a women’s hand rather than the hand of a warrior man like Barak.

9. And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Sisera was an evil man. And God uses Jael to bring about justice.

The song in chapter 5, sings a song about Sisera’s mother. It reveals the heart of the Canaanite Kingdom who oppressed Israel.

28 “Out of the window she peered,

the mother of Sisera wailed through ethe lattice:

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’

29 Her wisest princesses answer,

indeed, she answers herself,

30 ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—

A womb or two for every man;

spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,

spoil of dyed materials embroidered,

two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’

30 ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—

A womb or two for every man;

Sisera came from the land where the wisest princess comforted their queen, their mother. That Sisera was late because he wasn’t done with violating and raping women in Israel.

In our story in Judges 4: 17. There was peace in the house of Heber and the Caananite King Jabin. If Sisera is an evil man, then this partnership with Heber would not have been in fair terms. God delivers Jael from Sisera’s hand. Sisera was tired after fighting and Jael in a compromising situation took action by driving the nail into the head of Sisera.

23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

So what does this story tell us about God’s deliverance of Israel. The story is bloody and outright violent.

God is a righteous judge:

Hosea 6:6, tell us that God desires Mercy.

Let us not mistake the events of the book of judges to draw directives for our lives. God used a terrible tragedy in the lives of the Israelites to bring deliverance.

Jaer used the Hammer to bring justice to Israel.

Man is stuck in this cycle of sin. But God in his mercy delivers all of humanity by using the Hammer of justice to nail the sin of humanity on Jesus Christ. Jesus willingly became a sacrificial lamb for humanity. The war between death and life was played on the cross. Jesus lived a life of righteousness and died an innocent life. So that we are given mercy against the wrath of God towards sinners. The justification of our corrupted hearts is nailed on the body of Jesus on the cross.

Grace: The victory on the cross leads us to live life under the rule of a triumphant shepherd King.

God saw this cycle of sin in the book of judges, and he worked for a plan where God will rule and lead his people in straight paths. God was using this tragedy in the lives of Israel to one day bring an end to the cycle of sin in our lives. God in His grace raises up leaders of his own choice and election to lead the God’s people in godliness. Like Barak, we are all subject to have weak faith in the spectrum of life. We are called to share our strengths with those who are weak in places. We are called to live a life of unity in the church where we are encouraging one another in the gospel. Our church’s fellowship groups, and discipleship groups are meant to be a place where we care for another. Confessing our sins and repenting of it. The gospel when we preach it to one another awakes passion in our hearts.

"If there's anything in life that we should be passionate about, it's the gospel. And I don't mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world.

Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be."

C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 20-21

This passion for the gospel changes our hearts to regenerate in newness of life. The gospel temperature is soothing to our soul to bring it into perfection. Like making a Sunny side egg. I remember my first-time making eggs. I tripped the fire alarm off and the kitchen was filled with smoke. I had made the pan too hot for the eggs. It took me a while to understand the right temperatures for the pan. The egg needed a perfect, tender, and mild temperature for it to become a delicious meal.

The gospel provides the right temperature to not burn out or to remain numb towards life never-ending tragedies. The Holy Spirit throughout our journey in the Christian faith fills us with wisdom to make the right choices. To heal of our wounds. Remember and savor the tender care of the Holy Spirit as it tries to explain in the best way, we would understand God’s purposes for us. Let it color your life and the things that you work on.

4:23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

God helped Israel destroy their oppressive enemies. They pressed harder and harder against the Jabin the King.

God’s grace in delivering us from evil. He will press sin in our hearts harder and harder until we overcome our sin and break the cycle in our hearts.

May this message be an encouragement for you.

Amen.