Deborah, the out of the box judge

Judges 4:1-9

It has been said, that history has a way of repeating itself, and that can definitely be seen in the book of judges.

In fact, seven times the phrase “Israel did evil” appears throughout this book. Sinful living became a cycle for them.

There would be a period of faithfulness to God, followed by a period where the Israelites lived worldly lives and as the scripture states, did evil. Meaning that they turned their hearts away from God and focused on the lust of the eyes and flesh, and the pride of life.

And it was during these times when the Israelites took their eyes off of God, that God would allow foreign nations and people to come and afflict the Israelites. Often putting them under harsh rule and slavery.

As time would go on, the people would then see the error of their way, and call out to God and plea for deliverance. And God was always faithful to hear their cries. And he would raise up a judge to come and lead the people back into a righteous walk with the Lord.

Here in chapter 4, we find the fourth judge of this book mentioned. And this judge has a very unique quality, in the fact that this judge is a woman.

Deborah, the wife, judge, prophetess, warrior, and singer, was instrumental in leading Israel during a low point of the nation’s history.

Things had gotten bad, tensions between the Israelite and the Caananite were at an all time high. The Jewish people were oppressed by people who denied the one true God and instead worshipped the false god called Baal.

And as the cry of the Children of Israel reached into the heavens, in regards to the armies of the king of Canaan named Jabin and his commander named Sisera, God sends Deborah the judge to help lead them during this tumultuous time.

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What a tremendous woman we find here in this passage. A woman that was truly led by God and willing to stand up for the nation. Deborah’s account in the scripture definitely shows that God can use anyone. That it is not just men that can be bold for God, but women can as well.

Now this passage gives us some great applications that we should pay attention too, and apply to our life. And the first thing I want you to see is found…

Verses 1-3 Sinful living will lead to oppression

· The lifestyle of Israel had become very laxed. Life was not about God, it was about self.

· It was about pleasures, and personal happiness rather than serving God with a joyful heart.

· The choices that people were making were often rooted in sinful behavior. Sexual perversions, materialism, and entertainment became the focus of society.

· And these led Israel to take their eyes off of God and as the scripture says, do evil in the sight of the Lord.

· The society was living off the faithfulness of previous generations, it had been sometime since they were threatened by outsiders.

· And with such a length of time that had passed, and nothing had happened. The people felt no need to depend on God. And so they begin to give into sinful living.

· Now what the people weren’t aware of, was there was a king in Canaan named Jabin, who was planning and building his armies, and Jabin invades the land, and he puts the people in service to him.

· Along with Jabin, there is this particularly cruel individual that the scripture calls Sisera, and what we learn, is that this commander oppresses Israel with the army of Canaan for twenty years.

· Now this oppression and servitude came about for one main reason. Because Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.

· Because these people put sinful living as their priority, they were overcome by the Canaanites.

· They were now oppressed.

· Jabin and Sisera, they were bad guys. Sisera was a strong commander with 900 chariots of iron. This was the fiercest weapon of the day. And no one had the guts to stand up to him.

· But God allow these men to come in and subject the Children of Israel to slavery.

· And what we see happening is that the sins of Israel brought oppression into their lives.

· Today, we find many people who in like manner are oppressed by the powers of Jabin and Sisera.

· These powerful foes come into lives and take captive a soul. And those who are oppressed by it don’t have the strength or courage to stand up against the enemy.

· Now don’t misunderstand what is happening here. These foes don’t just sneak up on us. In the same way they came and oppressed Israel, they come into our lives when we take our eyes off of God and begin to live in sinful lifestyles.

· That is what sin does, it brings oppression. Sin is a prison, that locks you up on death row.

· And while you are in this prison, you are tormented, you are harassed, and repressed by the devil.

· Because friend that is where he wants you to be. He wants to see you suffer, and that is what these people found themselves in, suffering.

· Sin leads to oppression.

· Now this leads us to the next application that we find…

Verses 4-5 God works outside of the box

· Now in verse 4, we are introduced to this woman named Deborah. And she is not like the rest of the judges that we find in this book. She is a woman.

· This is quite extraordinary. In the sense, that women typically did not lead or have authority over men.

· The role of the woman was reserved mainly for domestic care. Rarely do you find women operating outside of the home, but here God has chosen a woman to be his representative in several ways.

· The scripture identifies her as a prophetess. Meaning that she would share messages to the people from the Torah.

· God would give her a sermon and she would deliver it to the people.

· She was a wife. Her husband, Lapidoth is named. Now we don’t hear much about this man, but he has an amazing wife.

· And I believe that is why he is even known. Echoing what we find in Proverbs 31:23 “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.”

· Here is a woman, that even though she is among a sinful society, she has made up her mind that she is going to serve the Lord.

· And so the Lord uses her, and she is a judge among the people. God has anointed her to serve as a leader and liaison for God.

· Now verse 5 goes on to tell us, that she dwelt under the palm tree. And evidently she had this spot under a particular palm tree, where people just knew where to go.

· And this spot became synonymous with Deborah that it was called her palm tree.

· And the people of Israel would come to her for judgment. They would come to her for matters against one another, contracts, and other judicial matters, and she would give them God’s word on the matter.

· Now to be a judge, meant you stood on the word of God. You did not compromise its message or its commandments.

· So, what she was doing was of the utmost importance. And had to be taken very seriously. And so, she became a respected judge not just among the people, but with those who served in Israel’s army.

· Understand, Deborah isn’t your typical judge. She’s a woman, she’s a wife. And so, she isn’t what a person would think a judge should look like.

· What God has done here, is taken someone who from the world’s view is unqualified and qualified them for the job.

· God called this woman to this job, and God calls people, that maybe in our eyes or in others eyes, aren’t really qualified to the job.

· We think a person must be a certain gender, or have certain talents or skills or strengths to do a job for God. But that is so far from the truth.

· If God has moved on a person, God will give them everything they need to do the job. And that is what he did here for Deborah.

· Now Israel needed a deliverer. It needed someone to lead them out of this captivity. And God places this woman in that position.

· Now just think how some in that society must have felt. Some of those men may have thought that she shouldn’t have been a judge.

· That she was not what they were used to looking too. Don’t get the idea that this was some progressive society. It was far from that.

· But God puts her in this role. Now why would God do that? Because God is not defined to a certain type of person to be used by him. God can use anyone why will serve him.

· When it comes to God, he thinks outside of the box.

· Remember when God said Isaiah 55:8-9 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

· God operates outside of human reasoning, traditions, and ways.

· God saw this woman and he uses her to be a leader in that nation, to show to them and to us here tonight, that God will use us all, if we will follow him.

· Don’t think that God is defined to a certain mold when it comes to godly leaders.

· Have you ever noticed that the Highway Patrol has a certain look about their officers. They all have a similar build, height, and manner about them? They have a mold that they follow.

· That is not the case when it comes to God. God can use a man, woman, boy, or girl as long as they are following Him.

· God is not confined to molds, types, or genders when it comes to his handiwork.

· Now there is one more application that I want to draw your attention too…

Verses 6-9 We must be willing to fight for the Lord

· Now in these last verses of our text, we find a conversation that takes place between Deborah and Barak.

· Barak is the leader of the Israelite army, and Deborah calls for him in regards to the plan that God has delivered to her regarding the battle with Sisera.

· And she shares the preparation that God wants followed.

· Now there an important detail that we should paid attention to here, Israel doesn’t go to war with Canaan until the Lord has given the instructions.

· Perhaps the biggest reason why many are struggling in situations, is because they have moved before the Lord has instructed.

· It is easy to get impatient in this world, but the Bible tells us to wait upon the Lord.

· Now what would have happen if Barak had moved on Canaan before hearing what the Lord has said? Well, Israel would have lost the battle.

· But they waited until they heard from the Lord. And that is what you and I must do as well.

· Now Deborah tells Barak the Lord’s command, and his response seems lacking. He has a reluctance about battling Sisera, and he wants Deborah to be there leading the army with him.

· God had already given the instructions, but for Barak, he needed a little more encouragement to go into battle. And so he asks for Deborah to join them in the fight.

· Now this again is unheard of. A woman going into battle? This was not the role society says she should do.

· But how does she respond? She responds with a yes. She is willing to fight.

· I believe we find a motherly nature coming out in Deborah here. Now we don’t know if she was a mother. But you can get the sense that she looked at Israel with a motherly love.

· She cared about them, and she was willing to fight for that nation.

· I have seen some women who can fight fiercer than men. You see it in nature, think about a mother bear.

· She will go against that boar of a bear who is much larger to protect her cubs.

· Well, I think that is how Deborah feels about Israel. She wants to protect, and so, when she is asked to join in the fight. She is willing to go.

· Now this wonderful to see in Deborah, but on the flip side of that, it is also sad to see this in Barak.

· Here is a man who is unwilling to go and fight unless she comes. In fact, the scripture says that Barak wasn’t going to fight unless she came with them.

· Now Barak should have trusted God more faithfully, and because he didn’t she tells him that if she goes the battle will not belong to him but to a woman.

· And that is what happen, it was Deborah but Ja’el the wife of Heber who ended up killing Sisera.

· Barak wasn’t willing to fight unless Deborah went. And this is the mindset of many as well today.

· Barak looked at Deborah as the Spiritual leader of the people. And instead of going out there and fighting the battle that God wanted him to fight. He wants Deborah to go.

· And just like that, there are some battles or scenarios that people face, and they don’t want to go in faith and face it, and so what do they do?

· They call the pastor, they call the deacon, they call someone else to go instead of them.

· I think about people who ask me to go and talk with a person about Jesus. And maybe in that conversation that I have with that person they accept the Lord.

· Do you think when that one who asked me to go and witness to that one they know stands before the Lord, that the Lord is going to look at them and say good job on doing that?

· No, they aren’t going to get the credit for that one coming to know the Lord. Because they were untrusting in what God could do through them.

· Now there was an enemy to face, and when Deborah was asked if she would go and fight, we don’t find her with hesitation.

· She is not there saying let me think about it. No, she responds with faithfulness. Knowing that the Lord was going to fight the battle and give the victory.

Conclusion

· Deborah’s life serves as an example to us in many ways. And what we must realize is this. If God can use her and deliver Israel, God can use you to help deliver someone else from the clutches of sin and Satan.

· We just need to understand that God is not defined to the norms of society. He works outside of the box.

· And when the time comes, and God has shown us what must be done, that we are willing to go without hesitation.

· Deborah’s story continues on with celebration and song, because God did what he said he was going to do.

· And friend if you want to leave with celebration and joyful song in your heart, all you need to do is follow God’s call on your life here tonight.

· Trust in him to be your savior, don’t look to people in this room to save you, look to Jesus and he will bring about the victory. Just like he did for Deborah.