Judges 4-5

Introduction:

In recent years, there have been various attacks on the doctrine of God’s Sovereignty

-God’s sovereignty is the doctrine that God knows the end from the beginning and He is in control of all that happens

-But this doctrine has been under attack at times in recent years

-One particular attack on God’s sovereignty in the past few decades has come in the form of what is called “open theism”

-Open theism states that God isn’t really in control of the future

-As a matter of fact, He doesn’t even know all the things that will happen in the future

-He knows the things that could happen because He’s very smart

-But sometimes, He’s just as surprised as we are when things happen

-And He isn’t really the One who controls all the will happen

-I find that a great tragedy, not just because a view like that is unbiblical

-But also because God’s sovereignty over all of human history is something that we as Christians can greatly delight in

-It gives us a reason to worship God and to trust Him, knowing He’s in complete control of all that happens

-Our text this evening, the story of Deborah, Barak, and Jael, highlights God’s complete sovereignty over all things that happen

-And my hope and prayer is that this evening, you’ll be encouraged to trust God and worship Him, since He knows all things and is in complete control of everything that happens, including what goes on in your life

As we return to the book of Judges this evening to study God’s compassionate rescue of ruined sinners

-And as we look specifically at Judges 4 and 5

-I think we’ll see God’s sovereignty demonstrated in 4 specific ways:

**pray**

Now, Judges 4 and 5 go together

-Judges 4 is the story of Barak and Deborah

-And Judges 5 is the victory song that Barak and Deborah sing afterwards

-So we’ll mainly be focusing on Judges 4 this evening, but we’ll use Judges 5 to help supplement our understanding of the story found in Judges 4

1. God’s Sovereignty in Chastisement (vs. 1-3)

-We see that Israel once again does evil in God’s sight, despite the fact that he raised up Ehud and raised up another savior in Shamgar who delivered Israel

-Despite God’s manifold goodness over and over again to Israel, the once again choose to be unfaithful to God, probably going back to their sins of idolatry and intermarriage

Judges 5:8 “Israel chose new gods.”

-Isn’t the story of sin so boring?

-It’s the same thing, over and over again

-And somehow, we deceive ourselves into thinking things will be better this time around

-That this time we’ll get away with it

-Or we’ll really be happy this time

-And yet sin always leads to destruction and misery in our walk with God and others

-And so God once again, in His holiness and in His love for His people, chastises them

-He hands them over to a king named Jabin and his commander named Sisera

-And they come in with their iron chariots and they oppress Israel for the next 20 years

-Part of the story of Judges is the repetitive nature of the Israelites falling into sin and God caring enough about them to not leave them in their sin

-And so I know we discussed this last week, but let me encourage you before we move on to take a moment and appreciate the persistent nature of God’s loving chastisement of His people

-Over and over again they sin, and yet over and over again, He sovereignly chastises them so He can bring them back to Himself

-As persistent as their desire to sin is, God’s desire to pursue them is even more persistent

*A man named Brian Kelly wrote a book entitled “Best Little Stories from WWII” and there’s a fascinating story that he tells in it

-A man named Bill Miller, in 1940, decided to drive his car home on a cold, snowy night

-and for some reason, he decided it would be a good idea to see how fast his car would go, not accounting for the fact that the moisture on the ground was refreezing

-He hit a curve going around 110 miles per hour and flew through his windshield into a snowbank

-miraculously, a passing motorist, a friend of his named Warren Felty came along and found Miller, got him to the hospital

-And after 4 days in a coma, Miller eventually revived and recovered

-5 years later, Miller, who had become a pilot in WWII was shot down over Germany and captured by the Nazis

-He and countless other Allied POW’s were forced to march 75 miles by the Germans in the freezing cold

-Each man was exhausted, and eventually, Miller decided to give up and die

-He collapsed in the snow and began to drift away, which certainly would have resulted in his death

-When suddenly, he was being shaken and yelled at and grabbed by someone who was dragging him along

-It was Warren Felty, the same man who had found him in the snow 5 years earlier and saved his life

-Felty was now also a POW and was saving him once again

-A few years later, after the War, Miller sat at a roadside restaurant having breakfast

-Miller was trying to find a distributor for his company’s products, and because he couldn’t find anyone, he was about to lose his job

-A motorist happened to stop at that same restaurant for breakfast that morning, ran into Miller, and within the span of their breakfast together, had agreed for his company to be the distributor that Miller needed

-the name of the man who had breakfast that morning with Miller was Warren Felty

-It seemed that for whatever reason, Felty seemed to be there right when Miller needed him, dragging him out of the snow or dragging him out of impending unemployment

-It seemed Miller just couldn’t stop this guy from coming to his aid**

-And brothers and sisters, our God is a God who we just can’t stop from coming to our aid over and over again

-And that ought to give you great opportunity to praise the Lord and worship Him this evening

-He is the God who just will not let His people go

-No matter your discouragement, trials, or sin struggles this evening, you can rest in the fact that God will not let you go if you are His child

-He will continue to pursue you in love.

-He will continue to sanctify you

-He will continue to bring you back to Himself when you sin

-And that is a wonderful reason for worshipping our Sovereign God this evening

That brings us to . . .

2. God’s Sovereignty in Unusual Choices (vs. 4-10)

Judges 4:4 “Deborah, a woman who was a prophetess and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.”

We see that a woman named Deborah was serving as prophetess and judge for Israel at this time

-And this certainly would have been unusual for woman to serve in these leadership roles

-We have very few prophetesses in Scripture, and Deborah is the only female judge in this book

-and it’s not exactly clear why she has assumed these leadership roles

-It could be that the men in Israel were failing in their leadership due to their sin

-But we’re not exactly sure

-Either way, God sovereignly uses Deborah in these unusual roles to fulfill His purpose

-And so Deborah calls a man named Barak and tells him:

The New King James Version Chapter 4

6 Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?”

-So Deborah gives the Word of the Lord to this man named Barak and tells him that God has chosen him to lead the Israelites against Sisera, and the God will hand Sisera over to him

-But look how Barak responds:

The New King James Version Chapter 4

8 “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”

-Now, it’s not exactly clear the reasons that Barak made this demand

-Perhaps he was afraid

-Perhaps he wanted to ensure that they would win by bringing along the prophetess of the Lord

-Whatever the specific reasoning was, he apparently wasn’t fully trusting God’s Word

-So Deborah says,

The New King James Version Chapter 4

9“I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”

-Now, this is quite a prophecy!

-Women typically didn’t fight in battle back in these days

-So for a woman to even get the chance at fighting someone like Sisera, much less killing him, would seem like a pretty wild prediction

-But this is a sure Word from the Lord, and God will fulfill His Word

-And so we see here the unusual choices God makes

-He has raised up a woman as His prophetess, which would have been unconventional

-And He promised to deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman, which would have been even more unusual

-But brothers and sisters, this is who God is: He delights to overturn our expectations and show His glory and sovereignty

-God can use people and circumstances we might not expect in order to bring His name glory!

**back in 1985, a TV show aired for the first time that quickly became a fan favorite

-The TV show starred an actor named Richard Dean Anderson, who sported a blonde mullet

-And his character was a secret agent who specialized in using his quick wits and scientific mind in order to create all kinds of inventions and weapons to accomplish his missions

-The name of the show was MacGyver

-He once created a defibrillator from two candlestick holders and a microphone cord to save his friend

-He built a telescope out of a newspaper, a magnifying glass, and a watch crystal to be able to read secret codes that were far away

-And he even built a small airplane out a lawnmower engine and bamboo to fly himself and a friend to safety

-And the main point of the show was that MacGyver would somehow create something important out of whatever happened to be at hand in order to wow the audience**

-And brothers and sisters, our God is a God who consistently uses unusual circumstances and unusual people to accomplish His purposes

-So please don’t ever think that God can’t use you because you’re not as smart, or talented, or wealthy as someone else

-It’s these kinds of people that God often delights to use in order to show off His glory

1 Corinthians 1:26–27 “Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

-God can absolutely use you to bring your neighbor or family member to salvation

-God can absolutely use you to help you be a blessing to this church

-God can absolutely use you in the life of your spouse, or children, or grandchildren to help them get saved or grow in Christ

-Perhaps some of you here today are discouraged and thinking that God can’t use you

-Please understand that if you’re willing to submit to God, He can use you in any way He wants

-There is nothing about you that is limiting to God if He desires to use you!

-God used old Daniel to be a testimony to King Darius by facing the lions

-And hee used young Samuel to bring the Word of the Lord to Eli

-He used men like Joseph or David

-And He used women like Mary and Hannah

-He can use poor public speakers like Moses

-Or people who aren’t very popular like Jeremiah

-Brothers and sisters, please be encouraged this evening that God is capable of using you in any way He wants to because He’s sovereign

-You just need to submit to Him and trust Him

So we’ve seen God’s sovereignty in chastisement and His sovereignty in unusual choices.

-Next we see . . .

3. God’s sovereignty in victory (vs. 12-16)

-Before we jump into this point, I want you to notice a seemingly random verse:

-Look at verse 11

Judges 4:11 “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.”

-Now, this verse seems really out of place here

-We’re right in the middle of a this story of Barak going to fight against Sisera, and we get this random report about a random guy, who’s moved his tent down the road

-We’re going to come back to this verse, but for now, just note the placement of it and how it leaves the reader a little confused at the moment

-It’s going to become clear later why this verse is important, but we’ll leave it there for now

-Now, in verses 12-13, Sisera gathers up his troops and heads to meet Barak near the river Kishon

Look at Judges 4:14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Move on, for this is the day the Lord has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the Lord gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.

-The text puts the reason for confidence squarely on God

-Deborah mentions nothing about military strength or strategy

-She simply tells Barak that God has handed over Sisera to him

Look at what happens next:

Judges 4:15–16 “The Lord threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into confusion with the sword before Barak. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot. Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.”

-God is the one who throws Sisera and his mighty chariot army into confusion, and Barak’s men kill every last one of Sisera’s men

Now, from the next chapter, it seems that part of the way that God did this was to send a sudden storm right as the battle was about to start, which also caused the River Kishon to over flows (5:4-5; 5:21)

-But regardless of how it happened, God is the One who gives Barak the victory

-If you look at chapter 5, we also see that the circumstances were less than ideal for the Israelites

-5:15-17, 23 tell us that some of the tribes and cities of Israel stayed home and didn’t come join the battle

-And yet even with these failures of some of the Israelites, God still brought about victory

-Brothers and sisters, you can recognize this evening that God alone is the One who is able to give victory and deliverance to His people

-As Christians, we’re not dependent on getting the perfect president in office

-We’re not dependent on getting the perfect job

-we’re not dependent on the right self-help tips to make life better

-Perhaps God can use means like these to help us

-But we understand that God alone is the One who grants us help and relief

-In whatever trials or circumstances you may be facing right now, let me encourage you to seek the Lord in prayer

-Turn to Him first in whatever is going on in your life

-He is sovereign in His ability to grant deliverance and relief to His people

-If you’re struggling with wisdom in a relationship, seek God’s wisdom and grace

-If you’re struggling financially, turn to the Lord for help

-If you’re struggling spiritually, call out to God

-He is sovereign, and He can grant victory in areas that may seem impossible to us

-Please be encouraged this evening to trust God as your help this evening

-And even if He allows hardships in your life, He is the One who is sovereign to sustain you in those hardships

-So we’ve seen God’s sovereignty in chastisement, in His unusual choices, in victory,

-And finally we see . . .

4. God’s Sovereignty in Fulfilling His Word (vs. 17-24)

-Now, back to verse 11

-Why does it matter that some guy named Heber pitched his tent somewhere else?

-Well, this is significant because God is positioning Heber’s wife Jael exactly where she needs to be

-We see in verse 17 that Sisera escapes on foot

-And in his haste to get away, he ends up at Heber’s new campsite

-According to verse 17, Jabin the king is friends with Heber

-So when Jael ends up here, he expects to find safety and refuge

Judges 4:18

Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a rug.

So Jael, the wife of Heber welcomes Jael and essentially says that she’ll hide him

-in verse 19, she brings him something to drink because he’s so thirsty

Then, he tells her:

The New King James Version Chapter 4

20 “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”

-So he sets her to guard the tent entrance

-However, Jael has her own plans

Judges 4:21 “While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.”

-Just like that, the great commander of Jabin’s army is dead, having had his head nailed to the ground by a woman

-Barak comes running over, perhaps preparing himself to face Sisera in 1-on-1 combat

-when he arrives, Jael tells him that Sisera is indeed in the camp

-Perhaps Barak gets his sword ready, preparing for this epic showdown

-But as he follows Jael into the tent, he finds that the battle is over and that God’s Word has come true

-Sisera is lying dead in Jael’s tent

The story ends with:

Judges 4:23–24 “That day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. The power of the Israelites continued to increase against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.”

Now, some people take issue with Jael’s actions

-She led this men into her tent, pretending to be on his side then killed him in her sleep

-That’s not right, is it?

-Well, God certainly doesn’t seem to take issue with her actions

Judges 5:24–27 “Jael is most blessed of women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women. He asked for water; she gave him milk. She brought him curdled milk in a majestic bowl. 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.”

Instead of being upset at Jael’s methods, we should instead worship God for His sovereignty in always fulfilling His Word

-He promised the Sisera would be killed by a woman

-And He orchestrated the seeming random fact of Heber moving his tent to a different location to make sure that His Word came to pass

-Brother and sisters, I know we talked about this a couple Sundays ago, but let me encourage you that God always watches over His Word to fulfill it

-He always makes sure that His promises come to pass

-You can go to the Scriptures and find the promises of God to anchor yourself to

-Let me give you 3 promises you can cling to, and then perhaps you can think of others from the Scriptures

-Romans 8:1 “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,”

-As a Christian, you will never come under condemnation because of Chrsi’s finished work

-1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

-So often, we fall into sin and get discouraged and stuck in guilt

-God promises that He will forgive us when we confess, and we can rest in that promise

-James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

-When we are desiring to draw close to God in fellowship, that desire is always reciprocated

-And brothers and sisters, there are a myriad of other promises from God that you can cling to

-You can rest in God and trust in His Sovereignty that He can fulfill these promises

-He sent His Son to die for you

-There’s no promise that He’s made that He will withhold from you

-So you can worship God for His sovereignty this evening

-He’s sovereign in His chastisement of His children — He constantly pursues us

-He’s sovereign in His unusual choices to bring His name glory — He’s constantly using surprising people and circumstances

-He’s sovereign in the victory that He grants — He’s constantly sustaining His people and causing them to walk in victory through Christ

-And He’s sovereign in His ability to fulfill His Word — He’s constantly able to bring His promises to pass for His people

-He truly is a Sovereign God who compassionately rescues ruined sinners