JUDGES 4-5 - Deborah

OVERVIEW

• The account of Deborah and Barak is found when the Israelites had been under the control of the Canaanite king Jabin and the commander of his army Sisera

• A prophetess named Deborah judged or made rulings for the people of Israel

• Deborah and Barak then gathered 10,000 troops, then attacked and won over Sisera’s army

• Lessons from the lives of Deborah and Barak include the following:  

1. God often calls people to step out in faith to attempt the unexpected
2. God often uses unlikely people and sources to accomplish His plans
3. God sometimes requires great risk and effort on our behalf as part of His divine plan  <G72>
4. God reveals who are the wheat and tares in this Laodicean culture, revealing who will stand with Him and who is apathetically or knowingly against Him  <H86>

NOTES BY VERSE

Note: each ** comment in this document is listed in numerical order according to the verse(s) from this chapter

CHAPTER 4

** The Israelites repeated the cycle of returning to doing evil when their leader-judge died and the Lord then punished them for it

Judges 4:1-3 NIV

[1] Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. [2] So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. [3] Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.

** Barak’s mistake was to trust God to act only through Deborah, rather than trust God directly  <R1795>

• Barak was hesitant and fearful, unwilling to face the enemy unless Deborah accompanied his army

• Dependence on God is desirable, while dependence on human beings – even those who represent God – is not

Note: Deborah was an unusual woman of wisdom and influence who did the tasks of a judge, except military leadership.  God can use women mightily for civil, religious and other tasks.  Deborah's rise to such a role was the exception because of the failure of Barak to courageously lead and God rebuked his cowardice by having a woman slay Sisera.  <M130>

Judges 4:4-5 NIV

[4] Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. [5] She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.

Judges 4:9 NIV

[9] “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.

Judges 4:8,14-15 NIV

[8] Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” [14] Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. [15] At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.

Judges 4:17-18,21 NIV

[17] Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. [18] Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. [21] But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

** There are two overarching (90%+) reasons why women are pastors — besides the belief in co-pastoring like a husband-wife team in Pentecostal churches:

• The vast majority are fulfilling some anti-Biblical feminist role

• The small portion of them realize the men aren’t stepping to the plate, so they do it instead; like Debra who told Barak he was going to be dishonored because she needed to step in the gap  <D40>

Judges 4:4,7-9 NIV

[4] Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. [7] I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands. ' ” [8] Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go.” [9] “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.

** Some Christians believe that turning to Jesus solves all problems automatically; the victory over the Canaanites reminds us that the first battle that defeats an enemy may well be a prelude to years of struggle  <R1795>

Judges 4:24 NIV

[24] And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.

CHAPTER 5

** The song of Deborah was written to rejoice in God’s victory over the Canaanites, highlighting God's mighty intercession

Judges 5:17-19ff NIV

[17] Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. [18] The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the terraced fields. [19] “Kings came , they fought, the kings of Canaan fought. At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo, they took no plunder of silver.

Judges 5:4-5,20-21 NIV

[4] “When you, Lord, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. [5] The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel. [20] From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. [21] The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong!

** Woe to those who turn their back on God and do not rely on Him when needing His strength in battle

• This is the warning for western nations today, conforming to evil while the churches sit idly by and condone  <F61> (Feb 2023)

• God is revealing who are the wheat and tares in this Laodicean culture, revealing who will stand with Him and who is apathetically or knowingly against Him  <H86>

Judges 5:23 NIV

[23] 'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the Lord. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.'

• In contrast, Asa called on his people to rely on the Lord

• Asa’s active trust in God was well founded, as the Lord gave Judah a decisive military victory  <R1795>

2 Chronicles 15:2 NIV

[2] He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.