Judges - Chapters 4-5

The host, Julie Callio, discusses the story of Deborah, a judge and prophetess, in chapters 4 and 5 of Judges. The Israelites turned away from the Lord and were oppressed by the people of the land. When they cried out for deliverance, the Lord raised up judges. Deborah, as a prophetess, called upon Barak to lead an army against the oppressors. With the Lord's help, they were victorious. Sisera, the enemy commander, was killed by Jael, a woman who showed great strength. The chapter ends with peace for forty years. The story of Deborah and Jael inspires faithfulness and emphasizes the importance of obedience and unity among women. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at dab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering chapters 4 and 5 of Judges, which tells the story of one of my heroes of the faith, Deborah, the judge and the prophetess. Chapter 4 tells the story of Deborah and Barak, and chapter 5 is their song of praise unto the Lord. In the book of Judges, the children of Israel have taken most of the promised land, but there were still lands and people that they did not conquer. Joshua is now dead, and Aaron's son Eliezer the high priest is now dead. Judges 2.10 says, After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. This sets the stage for the cycle that we see in Judges. The Israelites began to serve the gods of the other people that lived in the land. They turned from the Lord, which brought his anger. He allowed the Jews to be oppressed by the people of the land. Yet, when they cried out to the Lord for deliverance, the Lord would raise up a judge. Chapter 2.18 says, Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived. For the Lord had compassion on them, as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. Once the judge died, the cycle of sin, oppression, supplication, and deliverance happened all over again. The various judges were in different tribes of the land, and with this story we see tribes joining together to fight. We have read three short stories about judges, Othniel, Ehud, and Shemgar, but Deborah's is the first longer version which takes two full chapters. Verses 1-3 set up the stage in chapter 4. The people again did evil in the eyes of the Lord, which led to the oppressor Jabin, a king of Canaan in the north region in the city of Hazor. His commander of the army was Sisera. They had nine hundred iron chariots, and the Jews had zero. He was cruel in his oppression for twenty years. Verses 4-7 say, Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lippadoth, was judging Israel at that time. She held court under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kadesh in Naphtali, and said to him, Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded you, saying, Go take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun, and lead the way to Mount Tabor? I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, and his chariots, and his troops, to the Kishon river, and give him into your hands. We see that Deborah was first a prophetess, then a wife, then she judged. It seems her gift of hearing from the Lord is what made her an effective judge for the people. She even had a place for the people to come, and it was called the Palm of Deborah, but she was in the central part of Israel. The passage said, She sent for Barak, and said, Has not the Lord called you to go and be the deliverer? This was the first time I thought about the fact that it seems that God had called Barak to be the one who was to free the people, but he was ignoring it, so the Lord spoke to Deborah and told her to remind him what the Lord had called him to do. He came to Deborah, and verse 8 gives us Barak's response, Only if you go with me. Deborah said she'd go, but since he did not have the courage to go by himself, the glory would go to a woman. She went with Barak up north, and he summoned the neighboring tribes Zebulun and Naphtali. There was a total of 10,000 men who followed Barak. Verse 11 explained that Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, which was the tribe of Moses' father-in-law. We read about them in chapter 1 verse 16, and learned that they came and chose to live with the men of Judah. Heber decided to part companies with them and came to live in the Kenite country, and he was friends with Sisera, the commander of the enemy. He told them the Jews were coming. The Kenites gathered their troops and their 900 iron chariots. In verse 14, 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? Now the Israelites lived on hills and mountain area in the north, and they came down to fight. Verse 15 tells us, And the Lord discomfited Sisera and all his chariots and all his hosts with the edge of the sword before Barak, so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot and fled away on his feet. Now the definition of discomfited means to put in commotion, to disturb, to drive, to destroy, to consume, to crush, to trouble. Who did the discomfited? It was the Lord. He fought the battle. The Lord was their deliverer, as he said he would be, yet the Lord also used the Jewish fighting men as well. All of Sisera's troops were killed by the sword. Sisera fled on foot to his friend's house, Heber the Kenite, but it was not Heber that was home, but his wife Jael. She told him to come in and not be afraid. He came in, she gave him milk instead of water to drink, and then covered this exhausted man with a blanket. Once he was fast asleep, Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and drove the peg through his temple all the way into the ground, and he died. She must have been a very strong woman. When Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and showed him that he was dead. Verses 23 and 24 say in the King James Version, So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel, and the hand of the children of Israel prospered and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. Here we see Jabin the king of Canaan mentioned three times. The first is when God subdued him, then the children of Israel prevailed against him, and then they destroyed him. God fought for them, but it was also a team effort. Chapter 5 is Hebrew poetry, and it is a song of praise. Verse 1, On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song. Verses 2 and 3 emphasize the leaders of Israel stood up and offered themselves freely to the Lord, and that is worth praising the Lord, singing to the Lord, and making music to the Lord. So they did. Verses 4 and 5 talk about how the Lord used natural disaster, like the earth shaking and the heavens pouring down rain, which was what caused the iron chariots to get stuck. This brought about victory. Verses 8 and 9 talk about how Deborah, a mother in Israel, arose and brought relief, and yet she also said that her heart was with Israel's princes, and among the people who volunteered to fight. Then again she said, Praise the Lord. Verses 10 through 12 tell us that people from all classes of society should listen to the news of the singers, for there is good reason for Deborah and Barak to sing. Verses 13 and 18 tell us the tribes that helped in the fight were Ephraim, Benjamin, Western Manasseh, also called Makar, Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali. Four tribes did not respond to the summons to help, and they were Reuben, Gad, and the eastern side of Manasseh, Dan, and Asher. Judah and Simeon were not mentioned in the song. Verses 19 through 23 reaffirm that it was nature at the Lord's hand who fought for them, and then there was a curse to the people who did not help the Lord, who did not help the Lord against the mighty. Then we see partnership with the Lord. Verses 24 through 27 bless the woman Jael who killed Sisera and how she did it, and verses 28 through 30 reflect on Sisera's mother as she is looking out her window waiting for her son to come home. She's asking why the delay, and the wisest of her lady friends are telling her what she wants to hear, but their wisdom is incorrect. They tell her he's delayed because they're gathering the spoils. They will bring women for their men and special embroidered garments, but the truth is he is dead. Then the last verse of Deborah's song is verse 31, so may all your enemies perish, O Lord, but may those who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength. Then the chapter ends with, Then the land had peace forty years. In Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla's commentary on Judges, he said, Perhaps that goes with the ending. These two, the two women, Deborah and Jael, are like the rising of the sun in its might, and so they continue to rise mightily and inspire the rest of God's people to follow their example of faithfulness to Yahweh. In other words, those who bless Yahweh and participate in his endeavors with him, chapter 5, verse 9, will themselves be blessed like Jael, chapter 5, verse 24, forever. Ladies, I know that these two women inspire me to faithfulness. Their presence in the Bible has so empowered me to do what he has called me to do, and I hope their story has done the same for you. If you have heard the Lord's voice today, please don't harden your heart. Let's obey immediately, unlike Barak. Yet, I want to encourage you that in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11, when the writer talks about this time in Israel's history, he wrote in verses 32 and 33a, And what more shall I say, for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises. The writer mentioned Barak instead of Deborah, which, by the way, affirms to me that the unknown writer of Hebrews was a man and not a woman, that even though Barak was not faithful at first, when Deborah went with him, he had the courage to go, and God was with him too. This also shows we need each other. So ladies, let's be women who hear from the Lord and obey him together. Until next time, and thank you so much for listening.