Untitled Sermon (11)

Judges 5

Writing songs/poems commemorating victories was an important tool insuring that the following generations would remember the LORD God of Israel’s past provision for His people.

Desperate Times

After the death of Othniel and Ehud, Israel once again found themselves at the mercy of another outside power.

Judges 4 clearly states that the distress of God’s people was a result of God’s activity:

Judges 4:2 (HCSB)

So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera who lived in Harosheth of the Nations.

We know that Israel consistently followed after other gods whenever their leaders passed away.

We also know that God always keeps His promises, the promises He made to Abraham and his family.

In the midst of the oppression of Jabin and his army under Sisera’s control, God had not given up on His people.

Deborah refers to the desperate times in which she and God’s people were living:

Judges 5:6–8 (HCSB)

In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the main ways were deserted because travelers kept to the side roads. Villages were deserted, they were deserted in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel. Israel chose new gods, then war was in the gates. Not a shield or spear was seen among 40,000 in Israel.

Desperate Times Demand Divinely Anointed Leaders

Unlike some other other judges and deliverers we don’t have details regarding Deborah’s call by God.

We know that she was a prophetess, just like Miriam before her time, and women like Huldah and even Anna (mentioned in Luke 2).

It was God speaking through her to Barak that he stepped into the role of commander of the armies (see Judges 4:6-8).

Desperate Times are Sometimes Defined by an Absence of Leaders.

Judges 5:12-18 identify which tribes of Israel responded and which tribes that did not.

The song Deborah and Barak sang did not ignore the failure of some leaders.

The tribes of Isssachar, Zebulun, Naphtali ,and Ephraim responded to the desperate times.

The tribes of Reuben, the tribes across the Jordan in Gilead, Dan and Asher all either ignored the call to arms or were blissfully ignorant of the desperation.

Desperate Times Call for Divine Intervention

Deborah recognized that when God shows up even the terrain under our feet may shift -

Judges 5:4–5 (HCSB)

Lord, when You came from Seir, when You marched from the fields of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured rain, and the clouds poured water. The mountains melted before the Lord, even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.

Barak led his men into battle against Sisera, 900 iron chariots, and 10,000 men.

Judges 5:20-21

Judges 5:20–21 (HCSB)

The stars fought from the heavens; the stars fought with Sisera from their courses. The river Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul, in strength!

God created a rainstorm that caused the River Kidron to flood, catching Sisera’s army unable to function.

The fact that Jael was located in the north, instead of in the midst of her husband’s family in the southern part of the Promised Land can only be explained by divine intervention.

Judges 4:11 (HCSB)

Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law, and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.

As we saw in Judges 4 the real hero of the story is not Deborah, nor is it Barak. Rather the hero is Jael -

Judges 5:26–27 (HCSB)

She reached for a tent peg, her right hand, for a workman’s mallet. Then she hammered Sisera— she crushed his head; she shattered and pierced his temple. He collapsed, he fell, he lay down at her feet; he collapsed, he fell at her feet; where he collapsed, there he fell—dead.

Divine Intervention Creates Change

Judges 5:31 (HCSB)

Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did. But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its strength. And the land was peaceful 40 years.

Most obviously, God’s deliverance calls for praise!

Don’t ignore the second part of that statement:

But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its strength.

Deborah ends this song with a call for God’s people to be like the sun - brightly shining with strength and stability in the midst of a dark and often dangerous world.

REFLECT AND RESPOND

Our general level of prosperity may very well mask the desperation of our days.

We can honestly say, unlike folks in Deborah’s day, that we can safely travel the roads and that we are able to navigate the towns and villages where we live.

-we no longer seem able to have civil discussions about politics or religion w/i families or communities;

-we see increasing evidence of family breakdown and family dysfunction all around us;

-we see and hear a degradation of language used publicly;

-we see and hear leaders resorting to insults and derogatory comments rather than discussing differences in a reasonable manner;

-we see churches that once were significant forces for social good becoming more and more insignificant.

The number of churches without pastors continues to grow and the decline of many churches means that supporting a full time pastor is nearly impossible.

We do live in desperate times.

The number of people dying without Jesus is increasing even as mission agencies seek to send more and more people to the lost.

The account of Deborah, Barak, and Jael have some important truths for us to carry with us as we move into our future:

Desperate Times call for Prayers of Desperation

Simply put: we must pray, seeking God earnestly. No more half-hearted prayer meetings, no more never finding time to pray.

Desperate times demand people who will obey God’s Call

Deborah - even though she was a woman she responded to God’s call…

People like Barak - even with his limitations and fears, he did respond…

People like Jael - who are willing to break social protocols and take messy and challenging actions…

Desperate Times Require People who have nothing to lose and everything to gain

Are there Deborah’s in our midst?

Are there Barak’s in our midst?

Are there Jael’s here among us?

I believe there are. I believe God has provided all the resources He needs to accomplish His purpose for this body of believers at this time in this place.

So, it is up to us -