Judges 4A. Let s meet our third judge in the book of Judges. This next judge is far better known than the first two we ve studied

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1 Judges 4A Let s meet ur third judge in the bk f Judges This next judge is far better knwn than the first tw we ve studied And perhaps the mst interesting f all, this judge is a wman, Debrah Given the patriarchal culture f Israel and scriptures teaching n male headship, Gd s chice t raise up Debrah is quire remarkable S as we study her accunt, we ll take pprtunity t cnsider the significance f Gd s chice f a wman t judge Israel Furthermre, the stry f Debrah is lnger than the first tw judges put tgether, spanning tw chapters Nevertheless, the stry will still fllw the familiar pattern we ve learned The pattern is sin, discipline, repentance, redemptin And then cycle repeats Judg. 4:1 Then the sns f Israel again did evil in the sight f the LORD, after Ehud died. Judg. 4:2 And the LORD sld them int the hand f Jabin king f Canaan, wh reigned in Hazr; and the cmmander f his army was Sisera, wh lived in Harsheth-hagyim. Judg. 4:3 The sns f Israel cried t the LORD; fr he had nine hundred irn charits, and he ppressed the sns f Israel severely fr twenty years. Chapter 4 finishes the life f ur secnd judge, Ehud and intrduces the start f the next cycle Ehud lived a lng life and accrding t chapter 3 he versaw a perid f eighty years f relative bedience and peace in the land In 3:30 Samuel says that the land was undisturbed He means that the Lrd didn t bring a disturbance int the land And f curse, that peace was a result f bedience t the cvenant under the leadership f Ehud 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 Judges 4A 2 f 12 Obedience = Peace When we set ur minds n beying the Lrd, He brings us peace He wn t disturb us in the sense that He wuld be at wrk chastising us This desn t mean that there wn t be trials The Apstle Paul was very much in the Lrd s will thrughut his ministry, and yet he faced many trials Trials are a sign we are invading darkness and disturbing the enemy But when we disbey, the Lrd visits that disturbance upn us And if yu re wndering hw yu will knw the difference, let me assure there is a wrld f difference Every every child f Gd knws when they are suffering fr disbedience, even when we dn t like t cnfess it And we will als knw when we are facing persecutin fr the sake f Christ s name In the first case, we will feel cnvictin and the weight f ur mistakes bearing dwn n us And in the secnd case, we will feel a peace that passes all understanding Israel has knwn that peace fr 80 years, and then Ehud dies, and we see that sad refrain: Israel did evil in the sight f the Lrd We remember this means the natin went back t idl wrship Apparently Jewish Histry was nt a required curse in Israelite schls Because they easily frget the pattern f their frefathers As sn as the judge is gne, the peple return t fllwing their flesh Which leads t step 2, the Lrd bringing discipline t the peple by means f an ppressr This time the Lrd raises up a man named Jabin, but this is prbably nt his actual name 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 Judges 4A 3 f 12 Anther king f the same name ruled in this same area in Jshua s time S it s prbably a title, like Pharah Jabin is a Canaanite king ruling ver the Canaanites frm Hazr, a twn in the nrth f Israel We are als intrduced t the cmmander f Jabin s army, Sisera, wh lives a few miles away in the twn Harsheth-hagyim The surce f the Canaanites strength in the nrth was there numerus charits The regin they cntrlled was the relatively flat lands f the Jezreel Valley, where charits were unbeatable war weapns Tw men shting arrws while riding a charit behind a fast hrse culd inflict tremendus damage n ppsing trps And Jsephus reprts that Jabin had 300,000 ft sldiers, 10,000 hrsemen and 3,000 charits The Biblical text cunts 900 irn charits amng all that Jabin had Interestingly, the number 9 is the number fr judgment S the charits were a representatin f Gd s judgment against the peple f Israel With these charits, Jabin ppressed the peple f Israel fr twenty years We ntice the perid f ppressin has risen again frm 18 t 20 years S in v.3 the natin has begun t repent and cry ut fr the Lrd t rescue them And nce again the endless faithfulness and mercy f the Lrd is evident He respnds by raising up anther judge t fight the enemy and free the peple 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 Judges 4A 4 f 12 Judg. 4:4 Nw Debrah, a prphetess, the wife f Lappidth, was judging Israel at that time. Judg. 4:5 She used t sit under the palm tree f Debrah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill cuntry f Ephraim; and the sns f Israel came up t her fr judgment. Judg. 4:6 Nw she sent and summned Barak the sn f Abinam frm Kedesh-naphtali, and said t him, Behld, the LORD, the Gd f Israel, has cmmanded, G and march t Munt Tabr, and take with yu ten thusand men frm the sns f Naphtali and frm the sns f Zebulun. Judg. 4:7 I will draw ut t yu Sisera, the cmmander f Jabin s army, with his charits and his many trps t the river Kishn, and I will give him int yur hand. And nw we re intrduced t Debrah, a prphetess In the Bible, we find a number f wmen called prphetesses Besides Debrah, we have Mses wife, Miriam Isaiah s wife Huldah, the prphetess t King Jsiah In the NT, we hear f Anna and Philip s fur daughters Besides being female, Debrah is different than the first tw judges in that she is nt a military leader She is ruling as judge even as the peple f Israel are being ppressed in the nrth Apparently, the peple f Israel did nt pssess the military might r cnfidence t rise up against Jabin s frces But in the suth, Debrah was already at wrk judging the peple in a civic capacity Her name means bee which is a reflectin f her sting and sweet victry Her name is similar in Hebrew t the wrd fr speak and wrd That suggests her rle in speaking truth and cnfidence t the peple f Israel, inspiring the peple n t victry What can we say abut Gd using a wman t judge the peple f Israel? First, remember that a judge wasn t the king r leader f all peple 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 Judges 4A 5 f 12 Primarily, they acted as a prphet r spkespersn fr the Lrd They didn t supplant leadership in the tribes r hmes Secndly, they enfrced the Law by calling the peple t fllw the Lrd bediently, nt by frcing that utcme They weren t always military leaders, as we see with Debrah They didn t depended n the leaders in hmes and within the tribes t heed the wrd f the Lrd Finally, this is a perid f thecracy in Israel, when Gd ruled directly ver the peple Since Gd had the reigns f pwer, n human leader pssessed authrity ver all the peple n man, n wman That awaits fr the time f kings Nevertheless, the stry f Debrah will feature wmen ding the right thing while men are either AWOL, reluctant t act r dwnright ungdly It s a cmmentary n the state f Israel culture that the wmen are stepping up t cmpel righteusness amng the peple While the men are rarely seen t take charge in that same way Certainly bth men and wmen have a rle in prmting and enfrcing gdliness amng Gd s peple But when that burden fall disprprtinately upn wmen, it s a sign that things aren t ging well in the culture Isaiah insults Israel s enemies by calling them children and saying wmen rule ver them Fr a patriarchal culture, thugh, it was strng indictment that wmen were the nly nes assuming the reigns f leadership And there is a similar cmmentary present in this chapter Meanwhile, Debrah is nw a prphetess living in the hill cuntry f Ephraim, speaking Gd s instructins t the peple And when the time came t rescue Israel, the Lrd spke thrugh Debrah Debrah calls a military man t lead Israel int battle 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 Judges 4A 6 f 12 His name is Barak His family cmes frm the far nrth, the territry f Naphtali S he had a knwledge f Canaanite territry where the battle will be fught Barak means lightening, which is a prphetic indicatin f his perfrmance in battle When Barak meets Debrah, he s tld the time has cme fr the Lrd t deliver Israel Barak must enlist 10,000 men frm Zebulun and Naphtali t fight the cmmander f the army t the Kishn river These were the tw nrthern tribes that ccupied the lands under the cntrl f King Jaban The Lrd was insisting that these tribes d their duty t defeat the frces in the land Yu remember that when the Israelites entered the land under Jshua, they were cmmanded t drive ut the Canaanites in the land Under Jshua s leadership, the peple were successful at establishing a beach head And then at Jshua s death, the tribes were tld t g ut t their assigned territries and cmplete the cnquest But as we read, the tribes failed t fllw the Lrd s cmmand And instead, they settled in next t the Canaanites Then the Lrd declared He wuld nt drive the Canaanites ut quickly Instead, He declared that the Canaanites wuld be a thrn in Israel s side Nevertheless, the cmmand t drive ut the Canaanites still stands S each time the Lrd intervenes t rescue the peple, He calls anther tribe t d its duty in battle This time He calls Zebulun and Naphtali t d what they shuld have dne in the beginning 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 Judges 4A 7 f 12 - T drive ut the Canaanites Take nte that the Lrd is prmising t win the battle fr Barak Barak has received assurances frm the prphetess f the Lrd that he will win a victry Debrah says g because the Lrd cmmanded And then the Lrd says I will draw ut the enemy and I will give him int yur hands Yu can t get mre assurance than that Barak knws he will win the battle because the Lrd has declared it will happen Nw yu wuld think that wuld be enugh fr Barak Judg. 4:8 Then Barak said t her, If yu will g with me, then I will g; but if yu will nt g with me, I will nt g. Judg. 4:9 She said, I will surely g with yu; nevertheless, the hnr shall nt be yurs n the jurney that yu are abut t take, fr the LORD will sell Sisera int the hands f a wman. Then Debrah arse and went with Barak t Kedesh. But he turns t Debrah and says he wn t d what he s tld unless she accmpanies him If we want t be generus, we culd give Barak the benefit f the dubt and assume he just wanted Debrah s prphetic gift t accmpany him If the Lrd had mre t say t him, he wuld be able t receive it But that s nt the reasn Barak desn t need t hear mre frm the Lrd And even if mre infrmatin was required, he culd be sure the Lrd wuld find a way t get a message t him with r withut Debrah The real reasn Barak insists n Debrah is because he lacks the faith in the pwer f Gd s wrd He say Debrah as his insurance plicy in case the wrd f the Lrd failed 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 Judges 4A 8 f 12 Barak knws that Debrah is a prphetess And he assumes that Gd wuld nt fail Debrah r allw her t becme a victim f the enemy S that if Debrah is present at his side, the Lrd wuld be frced t bring victry lest Debrah be harmed This is a serius lack f trust in the Lrd Barak fears the Lrd will thrw him under a bus during battle But he believes the Lrd will cme thrugh fr Debrah In a very real sense, Debrah is Barak s idl And in this accunt, Barak becmes a pster child fr what was wrng in Jewish sciety as a whle during this time Wmen were exhibiting curage and fllwing the Lrd s wrd, as they shuld While the men were spiritual wimps The men f Israel weren t listen, they weren t beying, nt even the nes aninted by Gd and given persnal assurances They were t timid They dubted in the wrd f the Lrd This is the third cycle f ur Judges pattern Like befre, Israel sinned, they were punished, they cried ut, and nw it s time t restre them But can yu see the deterirating cnditin f Israel? Unlike the first tw cycles, Jewish sciety has becme s weak spiritually that it s hard t find smene t answer Gd s call t free the peple With Ehud, Israel had an unlikely her taking great risks But nw we have the ppsite situatin A mighty warrir with ten thusand men at his dispsal needs cnvincing t g t battle 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 Judges 4A 9 f 12 In fact, unless a wman accmpanies him int battle, he refuses t g Fr a patriarchal culture, there can be few greater indictments than this When thse appinted by Gd t lead abdicate that respnsibility, the peple are in truble Men and wman have rles in Gd s ecnmy, and neither rle is dispensable But when men g AWOL, bad things happen The men f Israel have frgtten what it means t fllw the Lrd and lead His peple They aren t willing t trust in His wrd And they can t find the strength bey And this is nt t say that wmen can t be leaders r shuldn t be a surce f spiritual strength amng Gd s peple On the cntrary, spiritually strng wmen are a great blessing t Gd s peple We certainly dn t want the wmen f Gd t be weaker We want the men f Gd t match and exceed spiritual strength f the wmen while perfrming their duties as spiritual leaders When men shrink back frm this respnsibility, frcing wmen t step frward t fill that gap, it s an indictment n the culture as a whle Besides being a litmus test fr a spiritual cmmunity, this pattern is als a barmeter fr ur persnal sanctificatin What saint hasn t hesitated t bey the wrd f the Lrd because f fear r dubt r selfishness? Like Barak, wh amng us hasn t made excuses fr why we can t bey the wrd we knw? We read the wrd, r at least we shuld, s we knw what the Lrd has cmmanded 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 Judges 4A 10 f 12 And even if we re nt the wrld s best Bible student, we understand the basics well enugh - Keep yurself frm sin, lve the Lrd, discipline the bdy, make disciples, etc. And yet hw ften d we still act cntrary t what it says? Hw many times have we refused t rise up and change smething in ur life Hw ften t we just say n Maybe we ve even ffered Barak s excuse? We say yes but we put cnditins n ur bedience We tell the Lrd we need guarantees r crutches We tell urselves that we are weak r that we need t be given mre time t cmply I knw I need t break that habit r frgive that persn, but I can t be expected t d this n my wn... Or I ll make that change, Lrd, but yu have t give me time... Or I knw what the wrd says, but my situatin is different... Or even, I m ging t d it my way and wh cares what the Lrd thinks Hw did the Lrd respnd t Barak s excuses? He said g meaning dn t hesitate And He said tday because He decided the timing S ur excuses cunt fr nthing; they are simply disbedience This is the Lrd s standard fr bedience The wrd f Gd tells us what t d and it calls us t d it tday Obedience isn t saying maybe, r later r yes, but nly my way Obedience is living accrding t Gd s wrd 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 Judges 4A 11 f 12 It s trusting that the Lrd s cmmands are better than ur wn ideas because He knws the future and we dn t Ask yurself where in yur life are yu ffering excuses r delays instead f simply beying what the Lrd has said Perhaps yu re saying I want t bey but I m weak in the flesh? - Well, jin the club Barak culdn t win his battle in his wn strength either That s why Gd didn t send Barak t the fight expecting him t win the battle n his wn The Lrd said I will give yu enemy int yu hand And the same is true fr yu and me The Lrd knws ur weaknesses He knws it s hard t say n t urselves, t frgive anther persn, t discipline ur flesh, t make sacrifices T face persecutin, t frg the wrld s pleasures These things are hard...in fact, they are impssible, but as Jesus said Luke 18:27 But He said, The things that are impssible with peple are pssible with Gd. Cmmit t bedience and watch the Lrd shw up when yu need Him t deliver yu Yur walk wn t necessarily be easy...but if the Lrd cmmanded it, then success is assured S lk hw the Debrah respnds Debrah agrees t g up, prbably just t ensure Barak fllws thrugh But she isn t happy t d it She s nt pleased by Barak s unwillingness t trust the wrd f the Lrd which she has spken S she gives him anther wrd, a rebuke as a result f his failure t act in faith 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 Judges 4A 12 f 12 Debrah says that when Israel des win this victry, it wn t cme at his hands but at the hands f a wman At first, it may seem as if Debrah is referring t herself But as we ll see later in the chapter, she s speaking f anther wman The Lrd will use a unlikely wman t deliver the victry because Barak was unwilling t trust in His wrd Cnsider what we re witnessing Gd used a wman t call a man t serve in battle And that man, an accmplished warfighter, wn t prceed unless a wman ges with him And s t mck his lack f faith, Gd prclaims that the victry will be wn by a wman Barak wn t get any hnr fr the end result The next time yu re cntemplating whether t bey the Lrd s call, give sme thught t this The Lrd is ging t see His purpses met And s either we can jin with Him, receiving hnr and blessing fr that bedience Or we can watch as thers serve Him in ur place, receiving that hnr instead And this truth applies even in struggles f persnal sin When we dn t say n t urselves and yes t the Lrd s cmmands, we ptentially disqualify urselves frm His service And in ur place, the Lrd will raise up thers Let s be peple wh lve the Lrd s much that we make bedience ur greatest gal Let s nt be a generatin where ur men are afraid t lead And let s nt be s shrtsighted that we believe the lie that getting ur way nw is better than earning the Lrd s pleasure in eternity 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.