Lesson 1 June 3 rd, Deborah and Barak. Study Scripture Judges 4:1-10 Background Scripture Judges 3-4

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1 Lesson 1 June 3 rd, 2017 Deborah and Barak Study Scripture Judges 4:1-10 Background Scripture Judges 3-4 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. 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. INTRODUCTION The Book of Judges records what is regarded as one of the darkest periods in the storied history of the nation Israel. The years between the death of Joshua and the coming to authority of the prophet Samuel was a horrible time for the nation. It was a situation that only God could salvage. Politically there was no central government or authority. There was no strong, permanent leadership like that which Joshua had provided. The judges came up, and they died. And everything bad started all over again. Spiritually idolatry lurked around every corner and was often the order of the day. It was a time of great instability, the tribes had not completely settled in their allotted areas and in some places disregarded the command of God to eradicate the pagan Gentile nation whose iniquity had overflowed the cup, but had chosen to have them live among them. Thus, as God had warned when there was disobedience to His instructions there would be continuing trouble and so there was a steady cycle of war and peace with different Canaanite nations. There was a recurring problem with idolatry as the people tried to serve Yahweh and the local Canaanite gods at the same time. Sometimes they completely forgot their God except in times of trouble. The constant refrain in Judges is that: there was no King in Israel: everyone did what was right in his own eyes. The book of Judges relates cycles of sin, judgment and relief in an increasingly downward spiral into apostasy. Typically, there was national sin, then judgment and oppression by their enemies. This led to their suffering, weeping and pleading to God for help over an extended period. Deliverance from the results of their deliberate sinning often took some time, for they had to be taught a lesson. 49 Brydon Drive Toronto ON M9W 4N3 (416) Pastor H. Condison Toronto SDB

2 Then God in His mercy and mindful of His covenant would raise up a deliver to liberate them from their enemies. They would be immediately grateful but as soon as that deliverer passed from the scene, there would be a rapid slide into apostasy, each cycle more degenerate than the previous one. They quickly reverted to the worship of Baals, participated in the degraded forms of Canaanite idolatry and ignored the Covenant with their God. Thus the cycle would start all over again. It was so easy for them to forget that God had promised them blessings, and that there were cursing s if they did not live up to what they had promised. At that time in Israel, a judge was almost never a person who passed judgment on certain cases, or who acted in the most common sense of the word. They might have exercised some judicial function, but their primary task was to be a military leader. Usually, the Israelites were free from oppression as long as the judge lived. Note that these leaders were called by God, sustained by God, and helped by God. They always faced insurmountable obstacles, but God worked everything out. We are told about Israel being delivered by more than a dozen people, the prominent ones being Othniel (3:7-11), Ehud (3:12-31), Deborah (chapter 4-5), Gideon (chapters 6-8), Jephthah (10:6-12:7), and Samson (chapters 13-16). But there were others we know little about such as Shamgar (4:31), Tola (10:1-2), Jair (10:3-5), Ibzan (12:8-10), Elon (12:11-12), and Abdon (12:13-15). In today s lesson, we study the deliverance brought through Deborah, but before her the painful pattern of sin, judgment, and relief, was already well established. We are told of Othniel and Ehud who delivered Israel from their tormentors but the people returned to their evil ways as soon as those judges died. The raising-up of a woman to be a judge was a commentary on the times, for women were not normally judges. To show the dreadful situation of the nation in even more stark reality, the woman actually went to war with the troops. In this situation God called on a woman to be involved in waging war. Everything was flipped around. How bad can things get! Women are not supposed to go to war, they are supposed to be calling on men to defend them and their children, men are supposed to be brave and protect their families. These were not normal times. This Chapter in our Study Text is crucial to modern arguments as to the place, role, and function of women in marriage, the church, and in society and in leadership. Note people have used Judges 4 & 5 to prove ideas which are in conflict such as women should be prophetesses today in the Church First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

3 A woman s place is to be submissive and be beside her husband for in this case this prophetess was identified by her husband s name Deborah...the wife of Lapidoth. (some of course argue that the words wife of Lappidoth do not necessarily mean she was married and Lapidoth might be the place where she came from, and/or Lappidoth could mean torch or lightening indicating she was a fiery woman) A woman can he happily married, carry out her family role, and be a leader at the same time. It must be considered whether Deborah s role was prescriptive indicating how we should act today and setting the norm for behaviour today, or descriptive simply describing what Scripture she did and not going further than that. Clearly, we are told she was a prophetess as was Miriam, Aaron s sister (Exodus 15:20-21), Huldah (2 kings 22:14), Isaiah s wife (Isaiah 8:3), Anna (Luke 2:36). God used prophets simply to reveal His will to the people in different situations but they did not have a worship function. Note that though it might be considered that Deborah was an unlikely choice for a Judge all the major Judges in the Book were unlikely and unexpected choices for a Judge. This was more so in the case of the minor Judges of which we know little. In the case of Othniel, he is described as a younger brother, obviously a less privileged position. (Judges 3:9) Ehud is described as a lefthanded man (3:15) an unusual disadvantage in that society but one which God used to His advantage. It is stressed Deborah was a woman normally unlikely to be in a position of leadership. Gideon (6:15) claimed his clan was the weakest in Manesseh and that he was the least in his father s house. Jephthah was states as the son of a prostitute, and that in addition even his brothers had rejected him. (11:2) He was an unlikely candidate to be a Judge. Samson was a social odd-ball with strange taste. In addition he was a Nazarite and lived under many restrictions. Clearly God chose those who we would never think of choosing as deliverers. They were out of the norm and were all weak, and unlikely candidates for leading to victory. But God chose Deborah to be mother in Israel to give advice to those that came to her. She therefore is called a Judge for she had a judicial function, and not a military function. The other major Judges all had military functions with only some having judicial functions. Note they generally were local Judges. Deborah s role was trans- tribal for many came from all over to hear from her. Remember now that we are dealing with people in the Covenant who have disregarded God and disregarded their oath. The Commandments of God and the desires of God meant little. They were attracted by the freedom and liberty offered by the pagan gods, and they drank deeply. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

4 Now it is easy to rally around and do right when there is strong leadership. Godly, visible leadership always helps and when older, mature believers are in control, things generally would go better. So the weakness and absence of godly leadership resulted in Israel going through three to four centuries of decline, disunity and moral compromise. The New Testament warns against false teachers, false leaders, leadership without integrity and leadership that does not follow the truths and principles of God When necessary God allowed and deliberately brought very painful oppression to those in the Covenant, in order to force the people to come back to him, not to rely on the flesh and on those outside of God for security. Of course, these lessons are very important for us, for we like Israel are dealing with a God who loves those in the Covenant and will not allow them to go their own way. He will allow oppression and bondage, often for a long time, so that people would experience life without His constant guidance and then cry out to Him. Note that God used different oppressors at different times, showing that he can use a multitude of people and things to get our attention and get us back into line. Those whom He loves He chastens and this chastening produces the peaceable fruits of righteousness, for those who are his children. We should note carefully that the history lesson we study in chapter four is told in prose and then repeated in poetry with additional details in chapter five. When we compare the two accounts, we see that the battle fought at the foot of Mount Tabor was not just an ordinary battle, but was one fourth by spiritual forces involving the Lord God himself. We can learn from this that seemingly ordinary events are not necessarily ordinary, for they are really spiritual realities behind everything that happens. We should be mindful that every wicked thing done to the people of God, behind every institution or organization which has destructive purposes, is the hand of our enemy Satan. So taken together chapters four and five gives us an insight as to what is really happening around us. THE TEXT Verse 1-3. These verses provide the setting for the story of Deborah and Barak. The Israelites were once again in rebellion against God, indulging in idol worship and other disgusting Canaanite practices. This followed the death of their latest deliverer Ehud, whom God had mercifully raised up to rescue them from Canaanite oppression. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

5 Eighty years of peace was not enough to anchor their minds on God. As long as the leaders lived they managed to restrain every move toward idolatry and they kept the people close to God, but as soon as they were gone, they slid downward. It appears that they were more afraid of the godly leaders that they were afraid of God. On this occasion, their tormentors were King Jabin of Canaan and his general Sisera. Here Israel was under the direct discipline of God, as we read that God had sold them into the hands of King Jabin. The turning away from God by the people is directly connected to the death of Ehud on the one hand and the deliverance of Israel into the power of Jabin on the other and clearly shows that when Ehud was alive, he kept the people from idolatry and defended them against their enemies. Note that under Joshua, Israel triumphed over all armies. The current army leader, Sisera, with his nine hundred chariots of iron notwithstanding, would have been defeated by Israel, had they been faithful to the Covenant. Previously God delivered the enemies of Israel into their hands, under His judgment, they are delivered into the hands of their enemies. Note that this enemy Jabin king of Hazor, (the name was apparently a title of the king) had been previously destroyed. Joshua 11 records that Joshua had defeated the grandfather of the current Jabin though he and his allies had military power; even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots many. Israel then had no need to fear their enemies. All they had to do was to obey God and remain under his protection but they did not. The cycle began: first apostasy, then painful bondage, then supplication to God. We know what the pain of Israel was when they were dominated by Jabin, the current king of Canaan and Sisera, his general. In chapter 5, verses 6-8, we are told of the utter defeat of the people of God, and the degrading situation in which Israel lived. Open farming had been destroyed. The villages were abandoned. The peasantry did not exist anymore. There was no commerce, no trading, and normal travel, for the highways were almost completely deserted. The people had to travel by hidden by-ways and through the forests in order to get from one place to the other. The military situation was so bad, that the judge mentioned in chapter three named Shamgar, had to use an ox goad, which is just a sharp stick, to kill six hundred Philistines; he had no better weapon. We are then told that Israel had no weapons at all, just a few wooden clubs, (Chapter 5:8). This is explained by the fact that though iron working had been introduced from some distant Greek areas of the Mediterranean, apparently, Israel had been so weakened that they were forbidden First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

6 to develop an iron working industry. The Philistines had a monopoly on the making of iron. So Israel had to go up to Harosheth, the name means smiths of the Gentiles (4: 13) to get their plowshares or other such implements made or sharpened, but they certainly could not turn these into weapons, and hence Deborah s chilling statement in 5:8. Armies without iron weapons were at a great disadvantage. So these were dark days, days of immense pain and suffering and the leaders and people of Israel were fearful of their future. The people were overwhelmed. Commerce was dead, farming was dead, travel was severely limited and there were no weapons that one could use to defend oneself against the superior armaments of the Canaanites. Verse 4. That was the setting in Israel and there was no one to deliver them from their terrible oppression. Note also that one of the deliverers of Israel does not even appear to be an Israelite but a stranger, for his name Shamgar, was not a Jewish name. He is called a deliverer but not a judge. Then Jael, who figures prominently in our story also had a non- Israelite name, and on top of that was a woman, certainly not a military figure. A clear sign of the times, there was now an amazing woman, Deborah, a prophetess, who is named as the judge in Israel See Isaiah 3:12. A Prophetess means one on whom the Spirit of God descended, and who was the instrument of conveying to the Israelites the knowledge of the divine will, in things sacred and civil. These are not normal times, but in all the shifting circumstances and changes, God remains the same, ever faithful and true to His promises. God responds to the cries of the Israelites and will do His work of liberation through Deborah the prophetess. Deborah means bee and she busily employed herself in the service of God and her countrymen, as prophetess and judge. She did not judge as a sovereign or under civil authority but as a prophetess, as God s mouth to the people, particularly in those matters pertaining to God. Note that she had four different functions. She is described as first a prophetess, telling people what God thinks, then second, a judge, calling the people back to truth and justice. Third, she is a mother in Israel (chapter 5), which means that she is one who nourished children and fourth, she was a wife, so she knew about relationships and how this had to be managed between men and women. Some translate the term wife of Lapidoth as a woman of Lapidoth. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

7 Verse 5. she dwelt means her house was shaded by a palm tree or she sat to judge the people under a palm tree, which became known as the palm tree of Deborah. In deference to her modesty or given the climate of the times, she did not sit in the usual place, "the gate". (See Ruth 4:1-2; Prov. 22:22). These were, you remember, very unusual and dangerous times. The expression "came up" is not merely a reference to the higher elevation of Mount Ephraim but gives eminence to the place of justice as a spiritual height as in Deut. 17:8. Apparently, the Israelites came up to her for judgment from all over and this speaks to the high regard she held among the people. It is important to note though what was happening. Bethel was quite some distance away from the land of Naphtali and Zebulun which is at the center of our story. Ephraim is fifty miles to the south of this area, and to get from there to Bethel where Deborah was, the people had to pass Shiloh, the spiritual center of Israel where the Ark, the Tabernacle and the priest were. There was no help in that spiritual center, no leadership, no righteous priesthood and so the people found out about Deborah as a woman of the Word of God, and they came to her. Some might very well ask at this stage, what is a woman doing leading? Things were really bad and there were apparently very few men willing to listen to the instructions of God. But beyond that we know from the New Testament that God grants the gift of prophecy to women so and they are instructed to practice it appropriately. See 1 Corinthians 11: 5. There are several other prophetesses mention in the Bible such as Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Anna (Luke 2:36), and Phillip s four daughters (Acts 21:8-9). 1 Corinthians 11:5 tells us that a woman who is prophesying must do so with her head covered, so as not to bring dishonor on the head. The covering of the head by women was a sign of obvious submission to male leadership in the church, as also evidenced by the wearing of a veil. It is clear that a woman was to use her gift and be guided by the established order, just like anyone else, including the leaders in the church. Deborah would not usurp the leadership of Barak, but would certainly rebuke him for his fears, and prophesy that his impressive military actions would count for less than he would expect. Note also that the Bible does not hesitate to praise women for their heroic actions and their leadership, taking the initiative when required. We only have to read the story in 9:53-57, when a woman acted at Thebez, throwing a millstone on Abimelech s head when he was terrorizing the place. We also read about the wise woman of Tekoa. There is no doubt that women can be and are greatly used by God. The issue is not one of male superiority or female inferiority but one of God ordained headship, final accountability. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

8 Remember that Jesus was under the headship and authority of His Father, according to John 5:19, without being inferior in any way, according to John 1:1 and 10:30. In this regard we can look at this issue in light of God's ordained order (1 Corinthians 11:3), Gods order of creation (1 Corinthians 11:8-9) the presence of the watching angels (1 Corinthians 11:10), and considering the nature of the fall. (1Timothy 2:14) Verse 6-7. We are told that Deborah the prophetess, sent and called for Barak, who lived in Kadesh, some eight miles from Hazor, the power center where the enemies of Israel were. He certainly seems to have been living in the center of the oppression. It is suggested that the name of the place in which he lived was a holy site. In that case though he was living in the center of oppression he knew, the Lord but was either powerless, or simply afraid to act. This was not where the armies hostile to Israel were stationed however. They were at the foot of Mount Carmel thirty miles southwest of Hazor, near the banks of the Kishon River, and sitting on the flat rich farmland of Israel, ideally suited for chariot operations. The name Barak means lightning and he might already have had a reputation as a warrior. Deborah speaks of God as Yahweh, the covenant keeping God of Israel, to remind the Israelites in the time of their calamity, that God would be faithful regarding the mercies he had promised to their fathers in His covenant. This title would also call to mind His past acts of mercy toward them in Egypt, at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, and in the conquest of Canaan. It was a title of hope and comfort. Deborah s question which is sometimes translated as a statement, suggests that Barak might had already received some indication, that he should engage Sisera and his forces or that God had already commanded him to do as Deborah was now instructing. One writer notes: If so, the spirit of prophesy in Deborah confirms the spirit of a soldier in Barak Deborah must have wielded some authority in God s name, to summon Barak and then commission him to raise an army. But note that she was summoning a man who every day saw the power of the enemy king, his large army, his allies and his chariots of iron and he was probably trying to forget the difficult situation. But he had to be challenged to obey what God had been telling him. Note this comment by one writer: Remember what God said. You like Barak, would probably say, I m trying to forget it! Some situations are so difficult we are not sure what is going to happen, we don t want to test God with them. So Barak s response probably went like this. We don t have an army; we don t have any weapons, and they won t let us have any. We don t have any experience, in fact, we have First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

9 never even tasted victory in my generation. We re not sure we want to try it. We don t want to be Exhibit A. We don t want to end up in a museum and have people say, Well, this man tried and he didn t make it, but look, here s his uniform: here s his bronze knife. See how it s bent? It didn t go in, But then here are the Philistines. See their iron, their spears, their shields, their chariots? I ll tell you what I ll do, Deborah, because it seems that you know more than me; If you ll go, I ll go. And Deborah doesn t put him down. A righteous woman, walking in the Lord, she encourages him and says, I ll go with you, but there s a penalty for that; you don t get the victory; it will go into the hands of another woman. God must have given Deborah a dream or a vision that if Barak didn t obey, another woman who didn t know she was to play a part in this prophecy would take the victory away from him because he was fearful. Barak s army hadn t left for the battle yet but God has already given the victory. Note that even in the worst of times God has His people who are looking to Him and waiting on Him to fulfill His promises. (See Simeon and Anna). The lesson is, do not let circumstances that seem to be overwhelming and cannot be solved be a measure of the situation you are in. Do not let fear take you over. Trust the Word and promises of God Barak finally shows up however and Deborah gives him marching instructions. He was told by Deborah, a prophetess, a woman who was certainly not a military genius, that he was to position himself and his army, drawn from specific tribal areas, in a particular way. Note that the maneuver she instructed that he go up to Mount Tabor with ten thousand men, while another party would go down to the river Kishon and draw Jabin and his nine hundred chariot plus foot soldiers army to the river, does not appear to be sound military strategy. Barak is really to provoke Sisera to attack this thirty-thousand-man Israelite army foolishly assembling on the flat lands, making it easy for him to destroy them with his mobile iron chariots. It seems that when Sisera attacks one group, Barak would sweep down from the mountain and hit his army unexpectedly. (Read chapter 5). The trek to Mount Tabor would bring Barak and his forces close to the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim and we learn in chapter five that other tribes, though not all, joined in the battle against Sisera and his forces. Mount Tabor rose out of a plain (Esdraelon) and the movement of such a large force of men across the plain would not go un-noticed and would be sure to reach the ear of King Jabin and his general Sisera. Barak knew that to obey Deborah would certainly lead to armed conflict with Sisera. Note that this proposal of Deborah was not sound military strategy. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

10 Here were two armies about to fight, one with forty thousand men, with no shields all weapons, dominated for twenty years, no ability or experience in fighting, led by a commander who only had twenty years of defeat behind him, probably to be accompanied by a female judge with no military experience. On the other side, Sisera with nine hundred iron chariots, lots of well-armed soldiers with iron weapons, military strategists and the confidence of ruling over a dispirited people. The chariots would have an advantage on the plains, and when the Israelite army was there, and Barak s men joined them it would be a bloodbath, Sisera felt. So Deborah confidently affirmed to Barak that God would deliver his enemies into his hands. This was certainly a woman of God, who knew the mind of God, and who was dedicated to following his instruction without fear or favour. It is to be noted that the brook or stream Kishon meanders lazily through the plain of Esdraelon on its way to the Sea of Galilee; but near its source it can suddenly become a dangerous torrent and overflow its banks in early spring, after rain or the melting of snow. The ground on the banks of the Kishon would then become an impassable morass, and severely limit the mobility of chariots. Sisera must have known this and if it was the rainy season, he would not have deployed his chariots in such a dangerous location. This indicates that it was an unexpected and untimely rain that turned the battle into the advantage of the Israelites. It was through her gift of prophecy that Deborah knew this and set in motion the events that led to the great victory. Deborah delivered the full message from God to Barak. God will draw Sisera out to battle and He, God would deliver Sisera and his army into the hands of Barak. She gave him an express promise of success. In fixing the place of battle where Sisera would move his army, Deborah gave Barak something he could check off, which when it happened would strengthen his faith that the rest of her prophecy would also be fulfilled. Verse 8. In one sense, Barak was rightly concerned about King Jabin s army under the command of Sisera, for it was indeed a formidable force. They had nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, a mechanized division as it were. But on the other hand, there was the assurance from God through Deborah. Barak s faith wavered and he would only go if Deborah consented to go along with him. Some excuse Barak saying he knew the presence of the prophetess would embolden his soldiers, in the face of such a strong enemy. Then again other leaders have also expressed a reluctance to deliver Israel from trouble. Moses was at first unwilling to lead Israel out of Egypt, and Gideon also conveniently considered himself to be the least worthy to undertake the assignment. Barak as a good soldier recognized the great difficulty and danger of the mission and needed the assurance that the presence of Deborah would provide. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

11 Barak was clearly very impressed with Deborah, whom he must have perceived as a true prophetess and thus one through whom God spoke. If Deborah was with him, he would literally have God s voice in his ear, advising and directing the battle. Nevertheless, we can see fear and lack of trust in the power of God in this man. The fact that based on reason his apprehension makes sense doesn't make it right. This man, like many other men since his day, and living nowadays, should rightly be rebuked. Verse Deborah, a remarkable person in every respect, agreed to go with Barak, but as a rebuke for his lack of faith, her going would possibly damage his reputation as a soldier. Still everyone knew that Barak was courageous and that this situation was an impossible one. He certainly was willing to fight the war, but he was uncertain of the role that God had obviously wanted of him. If men say they are in leadership and that God wants them to be leaders, they have no right to behave like Barak. The defeat of Sisera would be taken out of his hand; for God was going to deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. All military leaders wanted the honour to slay the opposing leader and in this battle this would not happen. This was one battle Barak would not be talking about. Still Barak preferred the peace of mind that came with Deborah than his reputation or any medal. Women soldiers were not yet invented in Israel but these were not normal times and Deborah s courage and willingness is a sharp contrast to Barak s timidity. Barak probably thought the woman must be Deborah. The prophecy was only explained by its fulfillment. Her presence as a prophetess would give a divine sanction to Barak's attempt to rally the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. To Barak himself it would be a pledge of her truth and sincerity Barak raised the army from Naphtali and Benjamin as Deborah had commanded, though chapter five indicates he had volunteers from some of the other tribes. at his feet means his army was strictly infantry for he had no chariots or the soldiers were willingly at his command. Sure enough Sisera was informed by some confederates of the movement of Barak s forces and immediately mobilized his troops. He had nine hundred chariots and a multitude of Philistines and other soldiers. He deployed his forces at the river Kishon, where he no doubt imagined that his superior force of nine hundred chariots and support troops would make short work of the Israelites. Sisera advanced up the valley, moving his troops along the dry river bed First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

12 Assured that God was in the lead, Barak and his forces swept down from Mount Tabor to attack Sisera s forces. In every undertaking, it is good to be satisfied that God is in the lead and that we are rightly about our duty under his direction. God himself is said to have discomfited the enemy forces. We would not know the details of how God defeated this enemy except for the details of chapter 5.They were by some demoralising and crippling dread that put them in an unaccountable confusion and so they were destroyed to a man, except for Sisera. Chapter 5:19-21 suggests that some divine intervention with the River Kishon played a part in the destruction of Sisera s army. Ironically, Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot to escape the slaughter. His chariots were supposed to have given him an unassailable advantage over the Israelite foot soldiers but instead seemed to have facilitated their defeat. The chariots of iron were not merely useless, bogged down in the mud; but the charioteers, trapped in their mired vehicles were an easy prey to Barak's men. No weapon formed against the people of God can prevail, when God leads the charge. CONCLUSION God did it. He planned the battle, he gave the instructions through his agent, he controlled the forces of nature, and he decided who would get the honor because of weakness in the male leadership. Note that the prophetess Deborah encouraged Barak, and she encouraged all of Israel. She stands out as a woman of the Word, and she called the men to knowledge and obedience to the Word of God. Her important role was as a mother in Israel. God gave her the opportunity and as a mother she had a tremendous impact on her times and on her people. This role was as important as everything else that she ever did. It is interesting to note too that when the book of Hebrews tells us of the roll call of heroes of faith several judges are mentioned and included there is Barak. So we know that his faith, though not as it should be, was very strong, and was commendable. He was prepared, despite any weakness, to put his life on the line. The fact that Deborah had told him he would not get the honor of killing Sisera did not stop him from doing his work, destroying the armies of Jabin, and pursuing Sisera make sure that he was finished off. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

13 It is noteworthy that Hebrews 11 does not mention Deborah. She certainly had great faith, but her role and place in history was not only to be a leader, but more importantly to have, in her own words the role to be a mother in Israel. She saw herself as not only helping her people with wisdom and truth, but standing behind Barak, calling on him to stand up like a man, encouraging him, telling him about the ministry that God had given him, and standing behind him, letting him take the credit. So we point out to the women of the faith that they must be like Deborah, a mother in Israel. That is their role. That is a great ministry, one that people of God can never ever do without. The congregation of God would collapse and suffer great, irreparable loss if this great ministry that women have is not carried out in our lives. The woman of God must understand that they are needed, and they must not resist the example of Deborah. So their job is often to tell the men Arise! For this is the day in which the Lord has given your enemies into your hands. The Lord has gone on before you. This was the turning point in Israel. It will be the turning point in our lives if the women do what they ought to do. All of God s promises will be fulfilled, both those of blessings and those of cursing s. God can and will get his people s attention with stiff discipline. The consequences of sin are far reaching, unpredictable and attack all that God has constituted. Though not in our text but related to the battle, in chapter five we read that some of the tribes did not care to help their brothers fight their common enemy. Christians can be comforted in the knowledge that all circumstances can be made to serve God s purposes, if He so desires. We can then live in obedience, seeking the Kingdom first and leaving all else in the hands of Yahweh, our covenant keeping God. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)