As in every story, there are characters. The first character is Deborah, the judge of Israel. Even though judges in these times were more like spiritual leaders whom God used than Judge Judy. Deborah was a mix of both, we will see that God uses her to lead the country, but in the start of this story, she is already consider a wise, Godly woman who people are coming to in order to settle their disputes.
Chris talked about the cycle Israel would continually be in, where they would praise God, fall into sin, suffer/be in pain, cry for God, God would send a judge to save them, and they would go back to praising. This cycle happened at least 12 times in Judges.
In Judges 4:6-9, we see that Deborah sent for Barak and tells him to go gather 10,000 mean to fight Jabin’s army [an army led by Sisera that’s already trained to fight, oh and happens to have 900 chariots!!! (think of them as tanks)]
We see Barak’s response in verse 8, 9. “Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” “Very Well,” Deborah said, “I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.”
We have a new character, Barak. He gathers 10,000 men from the towns all around. They’re regular Joes, up against the big dogs! You could say he’s the underdog. Maybe he’s not feeling good about his chances.
So why do you think he wants Deborah to go with him? We don’t know why. But we know in some way Deborah was going to be helpful to him. She could easily be his plan B. Hey, I’ll do this, but in case it doesn’t work out, we’ll have you (the one that surely God wouldn’t kill possibly).
A lot of times, we approach things the same way he does… “I hear what you’re saying, BUT…”, “That sounds great, BUT…”, “I’ll do this, IF…”
So Barak is the man with a plan!
In verses 12-15, we see that God does just as Deborah told Barak, He gives Barak victory. In some way, God confusing the great army of Sisera, and Sisera fled on foot.
We see all kinds of battles in movies and books. A lot of times we see the underdogs about to lose and suddenly trees or werewolves come and save the day. We expect this to happen in movies, but not our own lives. This battle is not like the movies, IT IS REAL! God really does this in the Bible AND in our lives!
We see that Sisera fled to the tent of Jael (where he was on friendly terms with Jael’s husband) in verses 17-21. “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 put a covered him up. ‘Stand in the doorway of the tent,’ he told her. ‘If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say ‘No.’” 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.”
So Deborah was right, God gives Sisera over in the hands of a woman. This is no coincidence, it was a lot harder than we think for this to happen. First of all, men didn’t go into a woman’s tent unless invited, 2nd of all, she is supposed to be on his side! 3rd this was a crime, because if you invite someone, it was law that you show hospitality, good hospitality, not the kind where you kill people. So we see that Jael had some guts for this to happen. And God chooses to use her!
So we see God using these characters, Deborah, Barak, and Jael, in big ways although they may have not been ideal leader type. This gives us big hope that God can use us! even when our faith is small like Barak or big like these women in this story.
In chapter 5, we see that there is a song sung to praise God in delivering them.
Are we living in a way that would sing praises to God!?!
How are you having trusting God in your life? There are opportunities to show big faith in your life. God wants to use your faith, little or big!
