God Wins!
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)
One thing you may not know about me is that I’ve had quite the acting career! As a kid my friends and I would use my dad’s camcorder to record skits we made up. And in high school I took some video production classes.
My junior year, I got a role my high school’s production of the Sound of Music! — I was in exactly ONE scene. I was way in the background of the party scene. BUT…they actually let me sing!…along with all the other party guests! It happened at the end of the party when the Von Trap children sang…
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye Then came my big moment, as I echoed in reply with all the other party guests — Goodbye!
But the pinnacle of my illustrious acting career came my senior year when I got a role in Oklahoma. I was so good in The Sound of Music that they doubled my stage time! I was now in TWO scenes! One was a fight scene where I added a splash of my own creativity. And the other was the auction scene where I was given an actual speaking line! — I bid on a pie by saying, “Two bits!”
Now absolutely no one came to those plays to see me…except for my parents — Thanks mom & dad!
People came to see the leads. Students with actual acting and singing talent. I was not the star of the the show. I had very small roles that contributed to shining the spotlight on the leads and making them look good.
This is how it is with us in the grand epic that God is writing across history. No matter how big we may think our roles are at times, in reality we are all background players against which glory and goodness of God shines so brightly at center stage!
This is what we’ll see in our text today. How it is that we cooperate and participate with God in the story He is telling and in which He is the main attraction and Hero! — And we should be so thrilled to even have a part no matter how big or small.
Let’s look to the scriptures now to see this…
Scripture
Please turn with me to Judges 4. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s text on page 239. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died.
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.
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.
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.
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.
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’?”
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.”
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.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.
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.
When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,
Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.
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.
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.
And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
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.
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.’ ”
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.
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.
So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel.
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.
This God’s Word!
Prayer
Faithful Father, the prophet Isaiah reminds us that the grass withers and the flowers fade but Your Word will stand forever! Reveal Yourself to us in Your Word this morning that our hearts would grow in their delight and enjoyment of who you are! Holy Spirit, open our eyes to see Jesus even here in Judges 4-5 and may our worship be unhindered as we see His great love for us on these pages! — We ask this in Jesus’ name — AMEN!
Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)
Chapter 4 is a pretty straight forward narrative it get’s all the historical facts out there. We again encounter something unexpected — Deborah, a female Judge and prophetess.
But it’s also a little complex because unlike the warrior Judges we’ve seen who deliver God’s people: Othniel, the faithful warrior, Ehud the left-handed assassin, and Shamgar, the oxgoad wielding farmer — Unlike these guys, Deborah is a woman and does no fighting at all! Instead, she calls on Barak to do the fighting. But even Barak is overshadowed by the fact that another seemingly random woman, Jael steps onto the scene at the end to deliver the death blow.
So, what are we to do with all of this? Is this a commentary on female leadership? Or a justification for the use of violence in the Bible? — No, and it’s tempting to go down these roads but that is not what this text is about.
It’s often when you look at the literary structure of a text that you discover what the main idea or point is. This no exception. The easiest way for me to show this to you is visually on a [slide] I made that shows the structure of this narrative. Notice how the two halves of the narrative mirror each other. But there is one piece in the middle that stands alone. This is what the author wants to draw our attention to.
It’s the words of Deborah in Judges 4:14, when Deborah tells Barak, that the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. And that it’s the Lord who goes out before him into battle!!!!
This is the author’s way of saying, “this is the main idea here!”
Now we didn’t read chapter 5 but we’ll be looking at it extensively because chapter 5 tells the same story but through poetry. It’s a song of Deborah and Barak — It’s like the victory parade after the victory! And it’s central theme, just like chapter 4 is God who wins the victory!
Chapter 5 can be broken down into 3 sections that each compare and contrast two ideas. These are going to be my points today as we lay the poetry of chapter 5, like a lens, over the narrative of chapter 4. And as we do this, I hope you will truly delight in how awesome our God is today!
I’m not going to give you all my points ahead of time like I often do. So, here’s the first of the 3 contrasts in ch. 5
Humiliated People, Hero God
Humiliated People, Hero God
This is now my 4th sermon in Judges, so you should be getting used to this by now — Chapter 4 begins with what else…the people of Israel doing evil after Ehud dies. Remember the teacher is out of the classroom — the outside restraining influence is removed but their hearts are unchanged. So, they again do evil in the eyes of the Lord.
So, v. 2 tells us the Lord sells the people into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, and Sisera, the commander of his army. And with his 900 iron plated chariots, Sisera cruelly oppresses the people for 20 years.
Chapter 5:6-8 colors in what this oppression was like…
“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned, and travelers kept to the byways.
The villagers ceased in Israel; they ceased to be until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?
V. 5 tells us that things are so bad in Israel that travel was very dangerous. Every city has “THAT” street that you don’t walk down at night if you value your life. It’s usually some poorly lit back road.
Well things were so bad in Israel, that it was the main roads that were filled with thieves and thugs so they had to take the back roads!
Village life had screeched to a halt. There we no kids playing out side. The people were defenseless against Sisera — no shield or spear.
Now here’s the contrast — This picture of the humiliated people is placed side by side with with the Hero God!
Ordinarily 10,000 men would be no match for 900 chariots of iron but this was no ordinary battle! “Does not the Lord go before you?”, Deborah tells Barak in v. 14. And in v. 15 we’re told that the LORD “routed” Sisera and all his chariots by the edge of the sword.
This doesn’t make sense. Chariots of iron were the hi-tech weapons of the day and could easily mow down 10,000 soldiers with swords. So, there’s more going on here.
The clue is in the word “routed” in v. 15. Other translations render this as the Lord “threw them into confusion or panic.” And whenever the Lord throws an army into confusion using this phrasing it’s usually caused by a massive rain and thunder storm.
And this is what we see in chapter 5. Look at vv. 4-5…
“Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water.
The mountains quaked before the Lord, even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.
Things become even more clear in v. 21…
The torrent Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might!
So, what likely happened was that the rain flooded the river Kishon and took out all those fancy iron chariots while Barak with 10,000 men at his back and the Lord going before him charged down on them from Mt. Tabor.
What’s interesting is that in Psalm 104:3, it says that the Lord makes the clouds His chariot! — So while Barak’s 10,000 were no match for Sisera’s iron chariots — It was Sisera who was no match for the chariot of the LORD!
And notice that the finger prints of the Lord all over this battle — nothing was left to chance. 4:7 says that the Lord drew Sisera out to the river Kishon, where He knew He would give him into the hands of Barak through this storm!
Now marvel with me at this contrast: The humiliated people of vv. 6-8 are placed right up against the victorious God in vv. 4-5. It’s a picture of a desperate people and a sufficient God.
Sometimes God’s people need to see how hopeless they really are so that they are driven to depend on God.
This is what the Apostle Paul experienced in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
How about you? What misery or suffering might you be going through right now?
Maybe you’ve got the wind knocked out of you by a devastating health diagnosis.
Maybe your marriage is failing
Or your relationship with your kids is broken
Maybe you lost your job and you’re worried you might lose your house.
Whatever it is — hear me carefully — DON’T WASTE IT!
Your suffering may even be self-inflicted by your own sinful choices but don’t miss the opportunity God is giving you
To depend on Him
To rest in Him when you are weak
To trust Him when all else feels lost
This the first contrast: Humiliated People who need to rest in their Hero God!
Now let’s look at the next contrast…
Passive Wimps, Willing Participants
Passive Wimps, Willing Participants
Here is where the poetry of ch. 5 shows us a dynamic that wasn’t explicit in the ch. 4 narrative. This comparison is between two different groups of people.
The first played it safe when Sisera’s chariots rolled into town. Look at the 2nd half of v. 15 through 17…
The tribe of Ruben thought a great deal about what they would do. But instead of taking action, they played it safe and decided it wasn’t a good time to leave their sheep.
Gilead couldn’t be bothered by crossing the Jordan. And Asher and Dan were preoccupied by their lucrative maritime trade positions.
But it’s Meroz who recieved a curse from the angel of the Lord in v. 23 because they did not come to the help of the LORD! Why the curse on Meroz when the others were only chastised?
We ultimately don’t know but here’s a theory that some commentators put forward. No one knows really where Meroz was located but perhaps they lived so near by the the battle that it was nearly in their very back yard and still they refused to help even when it was expected that they would.
Now contrast this with the second group of people here. Look at 5:2, 9…
“That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the Lord!
My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord.
Can we talk about my man Barak for a minute?! Some read the narrative in chapter 4 and give him a bad wrap.
Some say Deborah was a judge because no man would step up. And especially after Deborah reminds Barak of the command of the Lord, to go in to battle and he replies in v. 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.”
Some read this and accuse him of being a reluctant coward. But I don’t think this is fair. Remember that Hebrews 11 tells us that Barak was faithful. And even here in 5:9 Barak is surely included in the commanders who offered themselves willingly.
So how are we to understand Barak’s words in 4:8? Could it be that Barak wanted Deborah to go with him because she was a recognized prophetess and he wanted one who spoke the words of God to be with him?
Read this way, it’s not a punishment when Deborah tells Barak in v. 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.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Could it be that God has another purpose for giving Sisera into the hands of a woman? We’ll come back to this…
Could it be that God is telling Barak through Deborah that the role God has for him simply will not include glory for himself?
Now consider the fact that Barak knew ahead of time that…
The odds were overwhelmingly stacked against him as he faced Sisera’s 900 iron chariots.
And that he know ahead of time that his victory would be humble and wouldn’t get any of the glory.
And he knew ahead of time that if he survived this suicide mission, he wouldn’t even be the one to Israel moving forward.
I think we should see Barak as a willing, courageous, and humble commander!
And we would do well to follow his example knowing that following Christ today still requires courage in the face of a culture that wants to cancel us.
And following Christ still requires humility because it’s not about us and our glory — Just like no one bought tickets to those plays I was in to see me — In the life of a Christian it’s always Jesus who get’s the glory — not us!
Now in vv. 14-15. We’re told how other tribes were faithful to come and help as well. But then look at v. 18…
Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
And here’s the message here — While ultimate victory belongs only to the LORD and He is sovereign and mighty to save, His people are not to sit passively by!
When it comes to the work of God today — He expects His people to be active participants with Him in His mighty work! Even in situations that may not be safe by our standards. We have it pretty cushy here in the West — in the U.S. — Remember faithful Zebulun and Naphtali who risked their lives to death and consider the NT parallel — the saints in Revelation 12:11
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Will you follow Jesus even where it’s not safe?! Or will you sit it out with the sheep like Ruben? Or will you let the fear of man, the fear of ridicule, the fear of being marginalized by our world…will you let these things make you passive?!
Here’s another NT example… Jesus commands us to make disciples — this is a work that only God can do because only He can open a person’s heart to believe. BUT He calls us to be active participants with Him in this work.
First, take a moment to marvel at this privilege that God would invite us to participate WITH HIM in the mighty work of seeing the spiritually dead made alive by the power of the Gospel!
Second, you need to ask yourself,…
Am I engaged in some way in the work of making disciples?
Is there someone you’re actively in an ongoing Gospel conversation with?
Are you helping a newer believer find their footing and learn what it means to follow Jesus?
Or at the very least but still vitally important, who are you praying for to come to know Jesus as their savior?
How are you participating WITH God in the work of making disciples?
This is the second contrast Passive Wimps and Willing Participants. Now let’s look at the final comparison…
Victorious Woman, Defeated Mother
Victorious Woman, Defeated Mother
In vv. 28-30 Deborah sings about a hypothetical scenario where the mother of Sisera is wailing in agony because her son is delayed in returning home. And she’s comforted by princesses who assure her that…
He’s probably taking his time dividing up the spoils of victory.
He’s sorting through the fine linens
And the irony is that he’s lying dead covered by Jael’s blanket.
This sad scene is contrasted by the victorious woman Jael.
We’re first introduced to Jael indirectly in 4:11 through her husband Heber. Right in the middle of Barak and Sisera gathering for battle there’s this seemingly odd insertion at 4:11…
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.
This does seem like an odd “change of address” notice inserted here. But knowing how this story ends we can look back and marvel that every detail is in God’s sovereign control. Even Heber’s U-Haul is part of God’s plan!
Now as we consider Jael, we’re confronted with the brutal killing of Sisera in her tent as she drove a tent peg through his temple and into the ground. By the way in this culture women had the task of pitching the tents so a tent peg and hammer were tools of homemakers (more on this in a minute).
But this violence is a bit jarring even for us Americans who’ve been desensitized by countless acts of violence on TV.
How are we to make sense of this? First, understand that this is mostly a problem for Western people who’ve never been subject to brutal oppression by a tyrant on any significant scale.
I didn’t mention this earlier but 5:30 tells us that it was a practice of Sisera to capture, enslave, and rape Israelite women and girls.
Furthermore, Jael’s actions are not condemned in the text. To the contrary, Deborah celebrates it in her song! Look at 5:24-27…
“Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
He asked for water and she gave him milk; she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.
She sent her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet; she struck Sisera; she crushed his head; she shattered and pierced his temple.
Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; between her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell—dead.
Those are some song lyrics — maybe we should sing this as our closing song today :-)
Don’t miss the fact that this is a song of celebration of the Lord’s victory over their enemies and their freedom from brutal oppression.
It’s as if Deborah is purposefully slowing the action down to really savor it. Like when you have a truly great meal at a nice restaurant. You don’t just eat your steak… you take your time with each bite and you savor it.
But why Jael? Why a woman? Was this to teach Barak a lesson for being reluctant to go into battle — I don’t think so.
The role of women IS very notable in this story beginning with Deborah and ending with Jael. But I think that God used these women not to teach Barak a lesson but to teach Sisera a lesson.
I can’t say this any better than Tim Keller here who says, “There is great irony that the man who used women as objects is killed by a womanly object.”
Isn’t that just like our God to win victory in unexpected ways and with such poetic justice!
Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)
Let’s conclude by looking at 5:31
“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” And the land had rest for forty years.
MAY ALL YOUR ENEMIES PERISH O LORD — This is like praying “Thy Kingdom Come!” Because it takes these events and shrinks them down like a scale model and uses them to point forward to a day to come when ALL of God’s enemies will be defeated and God’s people will not just enter 40 years of rest — They will enter unending rest in His eternal Kingdom!
Sisera’s head being crushed should remind us of how this ultimate cosmic victory is won! God says to Satan in Gen. 3:15…
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
And that fatal blow to the head has been delivered to Satan — but not pierced by a tent peg — but by Jesus, who’s hands and feet were pierced when He was nailed to the cross and died for the sins of the world! And was raised back to life on the 3rd day!
Look at Judges 5:31 again…
“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” And the land had rest for forty years.
You need to understand that like the Israelites who did evil in the sight of the Lord — we are no better. The Apostle Paul describes us in our sin as being enemies of God — And like v. 31 says, we too will perish along with ALL God’s enemies unless we become His friends.
Here’s the good news
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
As His enemies, we deserve the just wrath of God BUT Jesus in His mercy took our place dying our death on the cross! Now by faith alone in Jesus you can be reconciled to God and no longer be His enemies but His friends — friends who will rise like the sun one day just as Jesus rose from the grave to everlasting life!
Verse 31 is clear — Judgement is coming and all men are either an enemy or a friend. The most important question you can ever ask yourself is ARE YOU CHRIST’s FRIEND? If not, make peace with Him today — by faith, believing that Jesus died and rose again for your sins — receive His forgiveness and be welcomed as His friend.
Prayer
Closing Song: Great is Thy Faithfulness (#43)
Benediction
There are so many who live as enemies of God and their doom is sure unless they make peace with God through His Son and become His friends by faith in Jesus.
Church, you work with them, you go to school with them, you live next to them. Will you tell them about their need to be a friend of Jesus’?
May we be faithful participants with God in this vital work. Pray for opportunities this week to share this good news with someone.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14