Judges 4-5
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Continuing the history between Joshua leading in the taking of Canaan and the joining of the Northern kingdom (Israel) and Southern kingdom (Judah) that we see in the books of Samuel into a unified nation of Israel.
Judges 4-5 Show us the same story 1st in prose (regular writing) to inform, then in poetry to celebrate and inspire. Exodus 14-15 does this same thing telling us the story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea in 14 then celebrating in 15.
Word of warning: Not to go too deep into water over my head, but these chapters are a good example of us needing to be careful when we read our Bible to not bring baggage from the world into the Bible but always applying the Bible to the world. It’s our authority and it tells us how to see the world and matters not just of faith and worship but also how we see culture and how the world should be and act. Not the other way around.
Easy to read the story and all kinds of thoughts and questions spring to mind about Deborah as a leader or murder being celebrated.
There are some out there who would use this story to advance their own agenda or try to take away from the truth and authority of scripture.
I’ll hit those two subjects very, very, briefly as we go through them.
The Need for Salvation
The Need for Salvation
1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
The cycle continues.
Ehud killed the fat Eglon and after 80 years of peace Israel did what it, us, and every other person does when we’re not restrained by customs, laws, or the Holy Spirit:
Judges 2:19 “19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.”
So Yahweh judges them
King is Jabin, the general is Sisera
The pressure of 20 years of military oppression finally led to the people crying out to Yahweh to save them
When a nation is judged and turned over to it’s “gods” the pressure grows and grows until enough of God’s people are crying out. The judgement on the land and the wicked can bring the church to the point we see in the example of Israel in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
As bad as things have felt, I am growing in optimism this could be happening now. We see the foolishness and wickedness of the world and even lost people are seeing the need for truth. If Jesus comes back in the next few seconds awesome! But if it’s going to be any longer than that, we as the church ought to be living, working, building, and worshiping in ways that the lost see the truth of God in us. To the point that if this nation completely collapses in judgement before Jesus comes back, they believe we have the answers of how to live and help put it back together again!
The Source of Salvation
The Source of Salvation
4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. 8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. 9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
Truth in love and trigger warning! “Women can be pastors because Deborah was a judge.”
We hear the logic and do we question the Bible? No, There are places in the Bible women are clearly spoken of as leaders in politics and even some places in the church.
Esther is another political leader as wife of King Ahasuerus of Persia.
Miriam was a prophetess (Exodus 15:20 “20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.” )
Paul even commends Phoebe as a deaconess (Romans 16:1–2 “1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.” )
Clearly with the Bible as our authority I have problems saying “a woman should never be [fill in the blank]”
But the Bible isn’t saying anything about Deborah being a pastor or elder.
1 Timothy 3:1–13 and Titus 1:6–9 give the qualifications for those offices.
I always try to be very careful about blanket statements i make covering every situation the same and I always leave room for God to be sovereign in all situations, but both of those passages say “husband of one wife” for pastors and elders. So unless you think a woman can be a husband, you have issues with scripture to work out before women can be pastors and elders.
But back to our lesson, Deborah herself tells us the real focus of the story God shows us in his word:
Judges 4:6 “6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?”
Judges 4:9 “9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.”
Yahweh commanded them to go and Yahweh goes before them!
But we also see an example of men being cowards: Judges 4:8 “8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.”
Isaiah 3:12 “12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Women being allowed or even encouraged to fight in wars and lead because there are no men to do it well is a sign of God’s judgement on a nation!
11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. 12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. 15 And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. 17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet 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.
God commanded them to go and went before them and it’s only God that delivers them
Judges 4:14 “14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.”
It took Deborah reminding him as a prophetess that God had given him the victory for him to have the courage to go to battle. I think that’s only a shame because he was afraid to go to battle without her going.
fact of the matter we as men can learn two other things here:
We better listen to the wives God gave us because there’s plenty of times, the Lord will use their sensitivity to the Spirit to remind us of the things our flesh can cause us to forget
We should never want to go to fight unless we know God has indeed commanded us to go and has gone before us!
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. 20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. 21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
Heber and Jabin had a kind of an agreement of peace
So what about the moral and ethical issues of Jael deceiving Sisera to make him comfortable and sleep and ultimately committing murder when she killed him:
At the surface level the Bible doesn’t say “God told Jael to hammer a spike through Sisera’s scull”. It tells the story of what happened. It doesn’t say “God told Deborah and Barak
On a deeper level even if it did (God commanding the killing of many by Israel in the Old Testament, We don’t get to climb on our moral high horse and act like somehow we’ve been elevated above God himself! We don’t get to “God in the dock” as C.S. Lewis points out where the roles are reversed people become the judge and God is the one questioned!
God’s will is accomplished through HIS means and ends: Isaiah 46:9–11 “9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
Judges 4:22 “22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.”
I don’t doubt for a minute Barak immediately thought of what Deborah had told him earlier Judges 4:9 “9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.”
I don’t want to lose my honour because I won’t do the hard and scary things
23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
When we fight where, when, and how God leads, we get the victory God gives!
Judges 5
Judges 5
The poetic retelling. there are some things highlighted in the song but the main takeaway is this:
Conclusion
Conclusion
The judgement of God is on our nation right now. The only hope we have is the Lord!
Individually as men we better not be afraid to fight the battles the Lord has commanded us to fight: culture, evil, the flesh.
He has promised to go with us: Hebrews 13:5–6 “5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
In our families we will be judged on if we have taught our sons what it means to be a BIBLICAL man and our daughters to look for one!
It’s Good to Be a Man: A Handbook for Godly Masculinity – January 4, 2022 by Michael Foster (Author), Dominic Bnonn Tennant (Author)
As a church we need to follow the model Yahweh gave to Israel: 2 Chronicles 7:14 “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
