God's Presence with You

Prayer

Cycle of Judges - Our next judge, Deborah

So, the basic story of Judges - the Israelites are in the land God had promised to give them, and while God has been faithful to his part of the covenant, the Israelites continually show their unfaithfulness.

Here’s where we’ve been talking about rinse & repeat cycle that we see repeated over and over again in the book of Judges: sin to oppression to repentance to deliverance to peace (for as long as the judge lives)

As we’ve mentioned before, sin of Israelites gets worse and worse, as does its leadership. But not yet, we’re still in the eras of judges who are good, and Deborah is a prime example of it. She is a good, godly judge.

Story of Deborah & Barak. One unique aspect of this story is that it’s told in two forms - in Judges 4 we see the story told in prose form, a narrative. But in Judges 5, the story is told in the form of a song sung by Deborah and Barak. We’re going to make our way through Judges 4, beginning with first part, verses 1-10.

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help. 4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’” 8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” 9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 There Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.

Per our usual arrangement, we see the rinse and repeat cycle play out here. Again the Israelites do evil in the eyes of the Lord because the judge, Ehud, God had raised up to deliver them, was dead. So God oppresses them through a king of the Canaanites, Jabin. Jabin has a commander by the name of Sisera, and they have a large and imposing army - outfitted with the most modern technological military weaponry of the time, iron chariots, 900 of them.

The Israelites cry out to God, so God speaks a word to Deborah. Now Deborah is impressively unique in the Old Testament, really, the entire Bible. First, she is a prophet, chosen and anointed by God to speak forth his word. Not only is she a prophet, but she is the leader of the Israelites, a judge. And she is only judge we see described in terms of not only leading, but as a judge in terms of settling disputes between people. So we have here a clear-cut example of a female leader, one chosen by God.

But the one thing she is not is a military leader. So God tells her to summon Barak, a member of the Naphtali tribe, and he is to gather up 10,000 men from the neighboring Israelite tribes and take them to Mount Tabor. From there they are to attack Jabin’s army at nearby Kishon River. Just a little note here, but it’s interesting that God tells them they’re going to attack at the river, where the land is flat. Strategically speaking, they’d be much better off fighting on the mountain, where the chariots would be useless.

So here’s an essential part of the story, we’ll come back to this later, is Barak’s response. Barak is willing to go, but makes a demand, that Deborah go as well. He will only go if she will. Consider this request, because Deborah would not be of any help when it comes to the battle. She’s not a fighter, doesn’t know military strategy. Why is he so insistent on her coming along?

Deborah agrees to go - but because of Barak’s demand, he will lose the honor of defeating Sisera himself - instead it will go to a woman. So Barak does as God commands - he gathers 10,000 Israelite men and leads them to Mount Tabor. Deborah goes with him.

Story continues in Judges 4:12-24 - When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left. 17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. 20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’” 21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. 22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead. 23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.

So, the news gets to Sisera about Barak, so he and his 900 iron chariots head to the Kishon River, where he has the advantage. Deborah, speaking on God’s behalf, gives the go-ahead to Barak. So Barak and the Israelites - because of the Lord - route Sisera and his troops. We get a hint of why God let them face Sisera on the plains by the river in the song that Deborah & Barak sing, Judges 5:20-21, From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. 21 The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong! Apparently the Kishon river had swelled and the surrounding land was muddy - a perfect trap for the iron chariots.

So Sisera flees, goes to seek refuge in the area where the Kenites, a Canaanite ally, are encamped. He goes to the wife of Heber the Kenite, Jael, who offers him hospitality - come in, no need to fear, what can I get you? Notice what happens here - Sisera is thirsty and asks for water. But Jael brings him milk, warm milk (there was no cold milk in those days), then she covers him with a blanket. She knows he’s exhausted - he’s been in fierce battle, he’s had to flee on foot - she wants to make sure he falls into a deep sleep, warm milk and a warm blanket will do exactly that.

Sure enough, he falls fast asleep. By the way, nomadic women like Jael, they were responsible for setting up the tents, she knows how to drive a tent peg. And she certainly does that, killing Sisera just before Barak arrives to see how indeed how he lost the honor of killing the leader of the Israelites’ enemy.

Israel goes on to defeat Jabin, the King of the Canaanites, and then we see the rest of the cycle play out, Judges 5:31b-6:1, Then the land had peace forty years. 6 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.

Presence of God with you

I want to go a little different direction with this story this morning - we’ve been focusing on obedience to God, why that’s so important. We’ll come back to that, talk about different ways that we can grow in obedience to Jesus Christ, to following him fully. But today I want us to take a look at Barak, and see what his response to God’s call can teach us.

As we mentioned before, God gave a clear command to Barak through Deborah - and not just a command, but a promise. You get the troops, take them to Mount Tabor - and I will lead Sisera and his army to the Kishon River where I will give him into your hands. God is promising him - you are going to win this battle, you will defeat Sisera.

It’s all right there, God is making clear to Barak that he has chosen Barak for this work, and that He will be with Barak as he goes to fight, this is not something he has to face on his own. In fact, he can know he will succeed because the Lord God will be with him, he will ensure the victory. In doing this, God is seeking Barak’s trust, that God will be faithful to him, to his promises, as he always is - and Barak is to act on the basis on those promises.

This is where Barak falls short. He doesn’t trust God will be with him. He thinks he needs someone more spiritual, someone who in his mind is closer to God. Someone who knows God’s will.

That’s why he makes the demand, I’ll only go if you (that is, Deborah), go with me. And if you don’t, I won’t go. Remember, Deborah is of no military advantage. Barak wants spiritual reassurance. It’s as if he sees Deborah as a spiritual good-luck charm.

And because Barak takes this course, makes this demand - the honor God wanted to give him for acting in faith goes to a woman instead. God wanted to give him the honor of a great military victory - instead it goes to someone who’s not even part of the army, Jael, a Kenite woman with a hammer and a tent peg.

One of the most beautiful things about the church - not the building, but the people, the gathered believers - the church that Jesus established, is that there are no spiritual hierarchies. In spite of the fact that we often assume there are. This is not to say that there are not those who are not those who are called to leadership positions, who hold authority, that’s absolutely the case. But that does not mean those in leadership position are spiritually superior, more important, on a tier closer to God.

This was Barak’s failing - he did not think he was enough, spiritually speaking. That God could - and would - be with him as he took on the role God had for him. Barak wrongly thought he needed Deborah, she’s the real spiritual one. If I want to be sure that God is with me, I need Deborah with me.

We find place after place in New Testament that tells us clearly that God is with all of us - that each of us have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. That all of us have Jesus Christ living in us. Every single one of us have been gifted in some way by the Holy Spirit to serve - together we make up the body, all of the various parts, each one necessary - there are no extraneous parts in the body of Christ. And do you want to know the spiritual hierarchy? It’s Jesus Christ. He alone is the head of the body of believers. That’s it.

Problem is, if you fall into Barak’s trap, that mindset, you will live your spiritual life vicariously, thinking that you have to have someone else - it has to be the pastor who prays, I can’t do that. I could never talk to someone about Jesus - only really spiritual people can do that. You rely on someone else to tell you what Scripture teaches. By the way, flip side of this is true - woe is me if I don’t allow space for others and their gifts. If I, as the pastor, try to take on all the spiritual responsibility. If I don’t take seriously the priesthood of ALL believers.

There’s two big problems with the mindset of Barak - one is simply that you lose the blessing, the honor. Barak lost the blessing because he didn’t trust God would be with him. We lose it, too - lose the experience of taking steps of faith, of being stretched, having to truly rely on God. And as a result, we lose the experience of God’s faithfulness, his goodness, knowing how trustworthy he is. You can’t learn those things without depending on God. We lose the blessing of sharing in his work, seeing lives impacted because we were willing to step out in faith. Of using the gifts he gave us for his glory.

Second big problem is that we deny the body of Christ, the community of faith, the experience of our gifts, of our contributions. The community of faith is lessened as a result. The body of Christ doesn’t function in the fullness Jesus intends for it to.

So many passages in New Testament writings that paint the picture of God’s presence and power with all of us, with every single believer. Believers empowered and gifted by the Holy Spirit, coming together, sharing what they have.

This is what Pentecost is all about!! Acts 2:3-4, speaking of that first group of believers gathered together - They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Again, in Acts 2:17-18, In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Note what it doesn’t say - I will pour out my Spirit on the pastor. Or I will pour out my Spirit on only a select few. Only truly special people will prophesy. Only the spiritually privileged will see visions. No, I will pour out my Spirit on whom? All people.

In my experience, vast majority of believers feel spiritually inadequate. In many ways, that’s actually a good place to start, because pride is a killer, it’s the great spiritual inhibitor. But be wary here, because there can be a hidden pride in false modesty - that you trust your own assessment over what God declares - I could never, I’m not spiritual enough to do that. Should be careful of saying “no” rather than looking to see the “yes” God has for us. And he does have something, for each of us. That’s what the we see promised over and over again in the New Testament.

Romans 12:3-8 - For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Notice that Paul is talking to every one of you. All of us - you and me. First of all, have a sober judgment. A straightforward, serious judgment. Not too highly - but not too lowly, either. But according to faith, trusting God that he has distributed to his Spirit, and that Spirit has gifted you. His power and presence. Don’t be a Barak!

Spiritual Disciplines: Growing as followers of Jesus - embrace the narratives of Jesus, to see life / Father as Jesus does (what is true!). Wrong narrative to think that we do not have power and presence of the Holy Spirit in us. What would it take to grow in that mindset?

Trusting God’s power and presence with you - Spiritual Discipline of what Doug Rumford calls “discipline of review.” Idea is that you begin your day in quiet before God, time in Scriptures, prayer and in reviewing your day. Praying through your schedule, bringing it before God, asking him to be with you, guide you. Each part of the day - your time with family, work, getting together with someone, task you have to get done...

Second is to do exactly what Paul writes here in Romans 12 - We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us, if your gift is prophesying, then prophesy. If it is serving, then serve, and so on. Trust you have a gift and then put that gift into action, as an act of faith.