Date: 6.8.17
Text: Judges 4-5 (Judges 4:1-15)
Place: Rhema
Title: Deborah – Don’t trust in chariots
File:Judges 4
Preacher: Stephen Taylor
They say a watched pot never boils. But I reckon a watched washing machine never finishes.I don’t know how many times I have been waiting to put out the washing and the machine says the wash will finish in two minutes but the clothes just seem to go around and around for what seems like hours. The spin cycle never seems to end.
And that is the picture that we are seeing in the book of Judges. Not the spin cycle but the sin cycle never seems to end. Time and time again the people of God are seen to forget their God. And so God allows their enemies to take them over, for years, even decades. Until… until they cry out to Him and then he sends them a Saviour.We may only be up to chapter 4 of the book but this has already happened at least 3 times. And so we are not totally surprised when like de ju vu the cycle repeats itself in chapter 4.
1. Failure Verse 1. “After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” What! Have they no memories! Are they silly? Why go down that path again?Guys, you know where it is going to lead, don’t you?
Well isn’t that what we do almost every day of our lives? We know that we should go God’s way. We can easily remember what God has done for us in the past. We know that there are blessings for righteousness and curses for godlessness but don’t we wake up most days and just forget about God? Don’t we go with the flow and blend in with everyone else? Aren’t you and I like these Israelites?
So they sin and what happens next? Verse 2 “So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.” Well that was predictable. Sin has its consequences and its never good. Solet’s continue “because (Jabin) has 900 iron chariots he cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.” Twenty years! Gee they are slow learners. Until the penny dropped, verse 3 and “they cried out to the Lord for help.” And so he raises up a Judge, Deborah.
2. FemaleDeborah? A female judge? That’s unexpected isn’t it? The previous three judges Othniel, Ehud &Shamgar were all men. The leaders before them were Joshua, Caleb, Moses were all men. So why does God raise up a woman, in a male dominated society?
But what’s more she is not just a judge, holding court at the Palm of Deborah and deciding the Israelites cases on a person by person basis, she is also a prophetess, one who speaks God’s word to the nation. Who warns them to come back to the God that they have walked away from. In fact you have to say is that Deborah is one very impressive lady. A wife, the mother of Israel, a prophetess, a judge. Someone strong and fearless. Who speaks God’s word boldly. Who leads God’s people incredibly well.In fact I will go out on a limb here and say no other judge in the book of judges is anywhere never as good as Deborah.
She is a godly leader but in this case she will not be the nation’s rescuer. All the other judges lead and rescue but she calls on Barak to lead the armies of Israel. She will certainly go with him but this judge is different from all the others.
Now does this mean God is endorsing women in leadership? Many have taken that point and have seen in Deborah, in Miriam, in Huldah the prophetess, in the women disciples and in Priscilla in the book of Acts that God does raise up women for leadership and the teachings of Paul are just reflections of his time not something that is binding for all time.
Others have pointed to Barak’s reluctance to lead the people of Israel without Deborah’s presence as a sign that Deborah is only the leader because the men weren’t willing to step up. If they had taken their rightful role, if they had been on fire for God, then women like Deborah wouldn’t need to take on such a role. But because there was a vacuum of good men, it meant this godly women had to take the reigns of leadership!
So who is right and who is wrong? Now whichever way I go, I will end up disappointing people won’t I? So can I say that we need to be careful in making narrative, what the Bible writer describes, as prescriptive. Because there is a woman leader in Judges, there should be women leaders today. That can be dangerous, very dangerous. For example in this passage because Jael killed Sisera with a tent peg, does that then mean we are able to kill our enemies with a tent peg also? This passage is descriptive, it describes what happens not prescriptive, prescribing what should be happening.
Each Bible passage needs to be taken within the context of its book as well as the whole Bible. And the more difficult passages need to be read in the light of the easier passages. So we can’t answer this question just from Judges chapter 4. The issue is further complicated by the fact that Israel at the time was both a civil state, a nation and a people of God, a worshipping community. So even if we take the view, which I do, that women can take the leadership in civil roles, in business, in politics, for example, does that also mean that she can take the lead in religious roles, eldership and ministry?
I don’t ultimately think so. For in the OT there are three leadership functions – that of prophet, priest and leader (normally king or judge). As we survey the OT, some women, like Deborah, were prophets. Some again like Deborah were leaders, both judges and queens, but none were priests. Which is why when we come to the NT, we see women take many, many roles within both secular life and within the Church. But the teaching of Paul is that there is only one role that they are not able to fulfil and that is the role of elder. Pauls says in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 that women are not able “to teach or have authority” which he says also in 1 Timothy is the role of the elder, or spiritual leader within the Church.
So the NT agrees with the OT. Women are free to use their gifts in every role except the one reserved for some men. Being a priest in the OT and those who teach with authority (or elders) in the NT. This does not mean to say that women are less valuable than men because value is not based on what we do but in us having the status of being a child of God. It also means that we don’t say that women can’t be bosses at work or that they can’t lead a prayer in Church or that they can’t run a small group. It just means that they can do everything that a man who is not an elder can do.
But can I say to conclude that throughout my ministry I have greatly valued the work of women in the Church. I have employed a women’s worker, I have been part of steering committees in the Church where women out numbered men, I have always seen that the elders of the Church need to talk about many of the big issues with their wives so that they get a wider perspective and so avoid making poor decisions. Because godly women are incredible valuable to the Church. Now you might agree with me on this or disagree but this is not the heart of the gospel. So let us not break fellowship over a non gospel issue.
3. Four.But enough on Deborah because she is not the only character in this amazing story, there are actually four main players. Deborah who calls the people of Israel to rise up and fight against the Canaanites. Then there is Barak who is called specifically by the Word of God through Deborah to take 10,000 men with him from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mt Tabor.
But it seems from the passage that Barak hesitates. In verse 8, Barak says to Deborah “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” And so Deborah says in response, “Very well, I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honour will not be yours.”
On first reading that seems overly negative. Barak, you are not willing to follow God’s word. So a woman will get all the glory instead of you getting the glory.
But I don’t think this is a rebuke to Barak, I think it is a statement of fact of what will happen. And I think Barak is a bit like Moses in Exodus 32. There God tells him to ‘bring out his people’ and Moses replies ‘If your presence will not go with me, don’t not carry us away from here.’ Meaning without you God I can do nothing. So go with me. Be with me. Don’t leave me or forsake me. And so when Barak is saying this to Deborah he is not saying he needs someone to hold his hand, he is saying he needs God’s word, God’s presence with him if he is ever going to beat someone like Sisera.
Now Sisera is another one of the main players here as well. He is the commander of the Caananite armies. He sees that Israel has amassed an army of 10,000 troops and so he raises his full army to teach them a lesson once & for all. He assembles his troops & his 900 chariots at the bottom of Mt Tabor near the Kidron stream. Ready to defeat Barak’s army.
But the Lord goes ahead of Barak and gives Sisera into his hands. Now it is not very clear how that happens in chapter 4. It just says in verse 15, “at Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword.” But it is chapter 5 that makes things a bit clearer. Verse 20,”from the heavens the stars fought”. That is the rain and lightning came down from above. And then verse 21, ‘the river Kishonswept them away.” That is the chariots got stuck in the mud as the river rose unexpectedly. They couldn’t move. They were like sitting ducks and so Barak and his men were able to win an unexpected victory.
It wasn’t too dissimilar to what happened to the Germans when they took on the Russians in WW2. You see the power of the Germans was wrapped up primarily in its tanks. These tanks were the best military machines of their time. They had been the key to Hitler's annihilation of the Allied forces in France. But these tanks were designed for war on the Eastern front… not the Western one.So when the tanks advanced toward the east and it got really muddy, the German tanks got bogged down in that mud & were unable to move and were at the mercy of the Russian forces.That’s essentially what happened to Sisera’s forces. The rain came down… and the Iron chariots got stuck in the mud. They had always relied on their chariots but God nullified them and won a decisive victory.
And that is where the last character comes into play Jael. Her husband Heber the Kenite is allied the Canaanite armies. So when Sisera escapes from the battle, bloodied and bruised, she provided him with protection and with curdled goat’s milk, mmmmm, my favourite; and with a place to rest in peace and safety. Her own tent. No one would dare looking for a man in a tent of a nomadic woman.
So Sisera was lulled into a false sense of security by Jael’s disarming “generosity”.But while he was sleeping from fatigue and grief, she takes a tent peg and a hammer and drives it through Sisera’s temple. Ouch! So Deborah’s prophesy comes true, the honour would not be given to Barak because the Lord would hand over Sisera to a woman. Jael.
It was a brutal act. Jael kills an ally, a guest, someone who is weary & tired and while she does that she breaks at least two of the Lord’s commandments, thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not give false testimony, let alone breaking a number of near eastern conventions.
Yet somehow these four people, Deborah, Barak, Sisera and Jael all bring about God’s will. And show that God is in complete control. He controls the weather and the war, the righteous and the sinner. He is able to work all things out toward his good purposes. Chap 4 tells us that God wins. If you defy the way and the will of the Lord God you will in the end get what you deserve. But if you obey his word, if you courageously do what he says, if you serve him no matter what, God will fight for you & that is why chapter 5 follows chapter 4.
4. Five Because in chapter 5 we find the story repeated again this time not as a story but as poem. Not as a ball by ball description but as a song of praise. So in chapter 4 we see the main characters do their bit, Deborah, Barak, Sisera and Jael but in chapter 5 there is really only one main actor on the stage that is God Himself.V4 “O Lord when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured... The mountains quaked before the Lord, the one of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.”
Chapter 5 then goes through the events of chapter 4 and puts the Lord front and centre in it all. You know friends so often we look at history & we see the famous leaders, the generals, even the brave soldiers but we don’t see God in it. But history is his story. It is all about him.
And God wants us to have a Judges 5 view of life rather than a Judges 4 view of life. Where we see God’s hand behind all things, even if it is hidden for others. Where we want to praise God for all that he is doing around us. Where we realise that we are not alone but God works through all things for good for those who love him.
That sort of thing will keep us humble when we succeed because we know it was God who gave us that success. It will enable us not to despair when things don’t work out for us. God has not abandoned us, he will be with me in the good the bad and the ugly. A Judges 5 view of life will mean that we will want to talk to him all the time, praise him for who he is and what he has done and include him in the big and small things of life. Part of us growing as a Christian is to realise that life is not all about me. It is about Him. And that gives us a peace, a patience, a trust, no matter what dish life serves up to me.
5. Faith But there is one more lesson to be learnt from this passage. And that is found in the New Testament. For Judges 4 and 5 are mentioned only once in the rest of the Bible that is in Hebrews 11, the great passage of faith. And whose name do you think is mentioned there as an example of faith? Jael’s? No. Deborah? No. It is Barak. Listen to what it says“I do not have time to tell about Gideon,Barak,Samsonand Jephthah,about Davidand Samueland the prophets,33who through faith conquered kingdoms &whose weakness was turned to strengthand who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.”
Barak is seen in the New Testament as an example of faith. So before we end why don’t we look back at our passage and see how he was a man of faith. Firstly he is a man of faith because he listens and obeys the Word of God that Deborah spoke. He does take 10,000 men to Mt Tabor. He does fight against Sisera. And he does ask Deborah to stay close because he wants Gods word to always be near him. Isn’t that a smart move? I’m not going to win without God’s help so let me take God’s mouthpiece, Deborah, with me into battle.
Secondly Barak shows faith by courageously facing the task ahead of him even againsthuge odds. Even though 10,000 men against 900 chariots is like 10,000 infantrymen against a 900 tanks. Even when the odds are stacked against him, he will hear and then courageously charge the opposition in order to win the victory.And lastly Barak shows faith by being humble & not seeking honour for himself. He knows that the glory for the victory will not go to him & that after the victory he will not rule but a women will also rule.
Now isn’t that the sort of faith that Jesus displayed also? He was willing to obey God even went it meantleaving heaven and come to earth & he set his face toward Jerusalem with faith & courage even though it meant rejection, pain and death. And he did that so that the honour would not go to himself but to his heavenly father. Thus Barak’s faith in Judges 4 and 5 points to the faith of Jesus. The faith that won us our salvation.