Judges 5
“A Song”
Scripture: Judges 5:1-31
Memory Verse: “O my soul, march on in strength.” Judges 5:21b
Lesson Focus: To praise God when He works in our lives.
Activities and Crafts: Coloring page, Worksheet,
Hidden Message Puzzle
Introduction:
√ Ask the kids have they ever gotten a big award?
√ Where they proud of their award?
√ How did they talk to others about their award?
√ Why do we like “praise” so much?
Today we are going to see that Deborah has a great victory of her country (Israel) and for herself. We are going to see how she responds to this victory.
Bible Lesson:
Review: The last time we were in Judges, Deborah, the judge over Israel led her commander Barak into battle and they defeated their enemy.
√ Do you remember that Barak would not go into battle unless Deborah went with him.
√ Do you remember how many iron chariots the enemy had? (900)
√ What did Deborah tell Barak? (That she would go into battle, but a woman would get the victory.)
√ Did they win the battle?
They had a great victory and now Deborah gives her response to that victory.
God gave Deborah and the nation of Israel a great victory over a very tough enemy. Deborah was seen as a hero. But instead of having a victory parade in her honor or getting up on a platform and letting the people applaud her she gave the victory back to God. She will give all of the praise to God. She takes none of the praise for herself.
Deborah’s Song:
Judges 5:1-2:
√ Who does Deborah acknowledge in verse 2?
1. The leaders of Israel that lead the way against the enemy
2. They leaders that offered themselves willingly
3. She blesses the Lord for these leaders
Judges 5:3:
√ Who does Deborah sing this song to?
Judges 5:4-5:
√ How does Deborah describe the victory that the Lord has given them?
*the earth trembled
*the heaven’s dropped
* the mountains quaked
The world responded in fear before the Lord. We think what probably happened was that God caused a great rainstorm. The 900 chariots got stuck in the mud!
Judges 5:6-8:
Verses 6-8, talk about the sin of the people when they chose other “gods”. When they did not follow God they lived in fear because God gave them over to their enemies.
Judges 5:9
Deborah blesses the commanders that gave of themselves willingly to fight the enemy of God.
Judges 5:12
Deborah tells of how her soul “awakes”. Many times our souls are asleep. We do not see what God wants us to do….but Deborah is awake and following God’s leading.
Judges 5:13-30
Deborah praises those tribes of Israel that followed her into the Lord’s battle and she does not give any credit for those tribes that chose not to fight.
Benjamin, Ephriam, Manasseh, Zebulum and Issachar were commended.
Reuben, Dan, Asher, Gilead, chose not to fight for the Lord.
Deborah praises Jael, who killed the king by herself in her tent.
Judges 5:31:
√ How does Deborah end her song?
1. That God’s enemies would not survive.
2. That God’s friends would fill the sky like the sun as it arises. In other words that the friends of God would out shine everyone around them.
Deborah wanted God to win. She gave Him all the praise for the victory that He gave to her. She knew that the Lord had won the battle.
Judges 5 ends with the fact that Israel was at rest for 40 years. God gave them peace under Deborah. For 40 years there was no war and they lived for God.
Conclusion: What can we learn from Judges 5?
Two things:
1. God wants to fight for us and give us the victory in our lives.
Ephesians 6:12-13, tells us that we war against things that we cannot see. We war against wickedness and the rulers of this world. But then we are told to take up the whole Armor of God. We are to walk in this life prepared for battle, because God gives us the battle gear to fight the devil and his evil schemes.
Gird up our waist with truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
Feet with the Gospel of peace
Shield of faith
Helmet of Salvation
Sword of the Spirit
2 Corinthians 10:4-6, also tells us that we cannot fight our war on our own. In our own flesh we do not have the right tools for battle. Our weapons are from God and He will fight with us to pull down strongholds, arguments that fight against God, and all evil thoughts that God will help us control.
Strongholds are things that we think over take our lives. Sins that we give into and we think they control us. God is the only one who will give us victory over these things in our lives.
2. We should live a life of praise and thanksgiving to God for what He does in our lives. Deborah broke out in song when God gave her the victory. Her praise went directly to her God.
So we need to ask ourselves these questions:
1. When God does something good in my life do I take credit for it or do I immediately thank God for what he has done?
2. Do I praise God enough?
3. Is praise important to the heart of God? Why?
4. Why is singing important to God?
5. Is singing the only way to praise God?
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