Driving the Point Home
Judges: In Need of a King • Sermon • Submitted
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It’s been said that the definition of insanity is what? Trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
While that definition has become a bit of a cliche, we could argue that there is a certain insanity at trying the same thing over and over again, thinking “hey, maybe this time it will work” despite never going anywhere with the plan.
I remember doing team building exercises as I was coming into college where we were given a challenge and we had to figure out a solution. The team continually tried to do essentially the same thing in an attempt to solve the problem, but never got any closer to the solution. Someone tried to offer different ideas, but those ideas were rejected twice before the group facilitator stepped in and said maybe the group ought to try those ideas.
But they were sure they had it right, they just had to try it a few more times. Even though there was someone in their midst who had a better idea, it took someone from the outside to nudge them to listen to those ideas.
It’s one thing to try the same thing over and over again in a team building exercise. It’s another thing altogether when a society does it. It’s a common joke among conservative that whenever socialism is attempted, it fails, and the latest attempt at is “well, they just didn’t do socialism the right way, and we will do it right”
“Maybe if we reject God and his word this other way it will work”
Societies that abandon God and his ways always crumble. Some crumble faster than others, but they always crumble.
Such is the danger and pattern that we see unfolding before us in the book of judges.
The people seem to fail to learn their lesson. They abandon their God and expect to see something different result. And yet the result are the same.
From security, to sin, to suffering, to supplication, to salvation, to security again, the cycle goes round, and the people continue their decline.
We have seen the first few cycles the last two weeks. This week we will example the Barak Cycle.
Look with me at Judges 4:
1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. 2 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. 3 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.
Right off the bat, the author swings us back around: the people again did what was evil. The author already seems incredulous, he wants us to be shocked. As if the first few go-rounds weren’t enough, here we are again.
Sold into the hand of Jabin. Jabin is mentioned here, but he doesn’t play a role in their story. The focus is on Sisera, who is basically his five-star general, super-star commander. He’s got 900 chariots of Iron at his disposal, and it that time, that’s like having tanks while everyone else is on horseback. Bronze-age weapons are of little use against such advancements.
Except. We know that God’s people aren’t confined to whatever technological advancement they may or may not have made, right? We’ve talked about this before. Chariots of Iron mean nothing when God is on your side! If our God is for us, who can be against??
But what if our God is against us? How long can you expect to survive the the hand of almighty God is against you for harm?
Notice it is the Lord who sold them into the hand of Jabin. Because of their wickedness, God brings the punishment that he promised would happen.
And so the people cry out to the Lord once again. How does the Lord answer their plea?
Let’s read on.
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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’?” 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.” 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. 10 And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.
Deborah, a prophetess was judging Israel at that time.
This is an interesting statement. First, notice how it says she judges Israel. She sat under the tree and people came for judgment.
Is there anything wrong with this picture? The law made provisions for how people could have their case adjudicated: it was through the priesthood.
How were the Israelites to hear from God? the priesthood.
Without making a judgment on Deborah as a prophetess, we can make the observation that the people have either lost confidence in the priesthood, or else were disregarding God’s provision in seeking out judgments through other means, in either case, this is an signal that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Now, how should we think about Deborah. Don’t we believe that men are supposed to be the leaders? Yes. All the rest of the Bible points to God’s design for the roles of men and women. Men are supposed to be the leaders in the church and in their homes, and women are designed to be responsive to that leadership, an order that God built into the very fabric of society by how he created male and female. If that is how God created things to be, then what give here? Why is Deborah functioning in a role that we only see a handful of other women functioning in, a role that seems like it ought to have been filled by a man?
This is where I’m going to give you an unsatisfactory answer. I don’t know.
I know what God has said about gender roles. I also know that God used Deborah, and Miriam, and Isaiah’s wife, and a handful of others to be prophetesses.
The text before us doesn’t seem too concerned about this detail. It’s concerned about the role of the woman later in the chapter, but it’s not concerned about Deborah. So I’m going to set that issue aside, because the text seems to set it aside. I don’t want to get distracted by the women in the ministry question, because that’s not the point of the text. I’ll save that sermon for another time. We want our focus to be on what the text is focused on.
What is the text focused on?
Notice what Deborah says:
“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’?”
God delivered Israel into Jabin’s hand. Now God is going to deliver Sisera/Jabin and give him into Barak’s hand.
But Barak lacks faith.
He will only going out if Deborah goes with him.
Why? This was the surest way to ensure that God was indeed with him in the camp. If the one who speaks for God is there, then God is with them. Deborah was the prophetess. She spoke for God. Barak essentially viewed her like his good luck charm. I can’t go to the game without my lucky baseball cap.
So Deborah says fine, but because of this, you won’t get the glory. It’s going to a woman.
Now we get into gender issues. The glory of battle was highly sought after for warriors. Later in this chapter we will find Barak hunting down Sisera to put him to and end for the glory. He will not get it.
Deborah was not referring to herself. In fact, the text indicates that though she went with Barak to Kadesh, she did not ride into battle herself. She was a prophetess, not a warrior. The glory of victory will go to another.
Let’s read on.
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.
Now this might seem like an insignificant detail just thrown in here. Why do we care about Heber?
God is at work even in the seemingly meaningless details. The Kenites were descendants of Moses’s Father in Law and were allies to Israel. Though they were not Jewish, many embraced Yahweh as the one true God, including Othniel from chapters 1 and 3.
Heber the Kenite breaks away from the rest of his clan and moves close to Kadesh. Take that information, put it in your back pocket and hold on to it because we’ll need that later to see how God was working behind the scenes.
Verse 12
12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 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. 14 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. 15 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. 16 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.
This initially seems like the climax of the story! Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into you hand! They rush into battle and the day is won! Those chariots of iron mean nothing when the God of Israel is on your side!
Verse 15 is the key to this whole chapter:
15 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.
Who routed Sisera? Who routed Sisera? WHO ROUTED SISERA?
THE LORD!
Deborah’s song in chapter 5 also testifies that this victory belongs to the Lord!
Not a man was left! Complete and total victory!
But that’s not the end of the story is it? You might expect there to be a conclusion right then and there “and so God delivered Israel and the land had rest for 40 years” But that’s not what we find.
Deborah has made a prophecy. The glory won’t go to Barak. How will that prophecy be fulfilled?
17 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.
aha! remember that piece of information I told you to keep in your back pocket? You can pull that out now. That seemingly meaningless detail is all of the sudden super relevant. Listen to what happens
18 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. 19 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. 20 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.’ ” 21 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. 22 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.
Our story takes a shocking turn. Sisera seeks refuge in the tent of his ally, Heber the Kenite. Jael seems to offer him over the top hospitality. She covers him. The ESV says rug…a better translation might just be “a covering” as we don’t know exactly what it was. He ask or water she gives him milk.
The Hebrew is interesting in verse 20. He says to stand at the opening of the tent and if anyone asks if there is someone in the tent say no....literally the Hebrew could read “Is there a man inside?” to which she is supposed to reply “there is no one”.
I liked how Daniel Block put it as he commented on this verse. He writes
“[as he says this] he is passing judgment on himself, for in the end this mighty general of Jabin turns out to be a nobody.”
Then look at verse 21:
Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she wen 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.
Notice it repeats “Jael the wife of Heber.” This is detail brings attention to who this woman was. Again, Daniel block writes
“The insertion of “the wife of Heber” after Jael highlights the treachery of the woman’s actions. Sisera may be a nobody, but she is not. She is the wife of the ally of Jabin.”
Makes you wonder what Heber thought when he came home from work that day.
That meaningless detail about Heber’s move away from the Kenites... God was putting Jael in place to accomplish his purposes. The author draws our attention to that detail, right as she sneaks up on Sisera and literally nails him to the floor.
And then suddenly, Barak re-enters the scene. He’s chasing after Sisera. He’s had a massive victory, but he needs the to get the general for the day to be complete.
Jael calls him in and there lay Sisera. Dead.
And suddenly, the story is over.
No glory for Barak. Though he was the instrument of routing the Canaanite army, it was Jael’s hand who crushed the skull of the general. Deborah’s prophecy came true.
Deborah was the judge. Barak was the savior. But Jael gets the warrior’s glory.
Who is the hero of the story?
Who?
We are so quick to try to make heroes or villains out of these stories, in the process missing what the author is driving at. There is much in Israel that ought not to be. Deborah is a prophetess, but the people should have been going to the priest for judgment. Barak was a man of little faith, as he refused to obey the Word of the Lord without the Prophetess going with him as a lucky charm. Jael is certainly a women many admire, but her actions were that of treachery and betrayal.
And yet the text doesn’t comment on any of that. The author presents the details matter of factly without comment. He gives us the history. This is what happened. I think there are clues to show us that Israelite society is not what it ought to be, but the main focus is on their mighty God.
Look at verse 23
23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 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.
Who subdued Jabin? God did! Who did it? God id it!
God used Deborah to rally the troops. Barak was God’s tool to route the Canaanites. God had Jael already in place by virtue of Heber moving near Kadesh, and Jael showed great clarity of thought and shrewdness to accomplish her assassination.
But it is God who gives the victory.
Again, one last quote from Daniel Block
“The author would be disappointed if our analysis ended with these intriguing characters of the dynamic of power and control between them. This is a story about God, who is the real hero, and his people Israel, and their enemies the Canaanites, represented by Jabin the King…the conflict in the book of judges is not between patriarchy and egalitarianism, between men and women, or even between Israelite leaders and the rulers of the nations. The conflict is between the divine King and the kingdom of Light on the one hand and the forces of the kingdom of darkness on the other”
and then I’ll add my comment....for far too much of the book, the Israelites are walking in the wrong kingdom.
Even as the Israelites wax worse and worse, their God rescues yet again.
Next week we get to look at this story again, only this time it will be through the lens of a victory song. A few more interesting detail emerge that further highlight the greatness of our God in the midst of the depraved society.
Because guess what? Things don’t get any better for the Israelites. They keep getting worse. And yet, God remains faithful.
It’s worth noting that it is from this passage that we find our first entry from the book of Judges in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. The whole chapter is name after name of men and women who displayed great faith in their God. and then we find verse 32:
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
Barak. The guy who wouldn’t go to battle unless Deborah was with him? This guy gets listed in the hall of faith??
In many ways, I don’t know what to make of that. When I read Judges 4, I don’t see a man of great faith. But let me tell you something, I’m glad he is in Heb 11. If God can use a man like Barak and identify him as a man of faith, then surely there is hope for me.
Ultimately, the men in Heb 11, and all the great “heroes of the faith” so to speak....their stories aren’t about them. They are about their great God who worked powerfully in and through them.
And that’s the point.
God accomplished his purposes according to his perfect wisdom
Romans 11:33–36 (ESV)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.