As we look at Judges 4 and 5, we see a cycle that is repeated in the history of the nation of Israel again and again. Israel’s disobedience leads to God’s discipline, which leads to God sending a deliverer. The author of the book of Judges calls the people idolaters and sinners. Their disobedience had become more than their actions; it had become their identity.
For example, we see Judges 4 starts with Israel falling into sin after Ehud died. They were free from the tyranny of King Eglon for 80 years, while he, as the judge, was constantly reminding them about the dangers of sin and how to avoid it. But the moment Ehud died, they entered into sin again. The question is why? It’s because their identity was connected with the sin and not the savior.
Desire to change
For us as believers today, following Christ must be an internal desire of the heart. Not just a responsibility of your mind. You must make a decision for Christ because you know that you have sinned against a holy God. Not just that the world’s in danger, but you are in danger as an individual of an eternal separation from the God of the universe in a place called Hell. You. Not your grandmother who feels sorry for you, not your mother, who’s worried about you and prays for you. You must feel convicted by the Holy Spirit and you must have a desire to repent.
Israel did not have this internal desire to change, at least not as a nation. Not only do we see Israel’s need for real repentance but also throughout this passage of Scripture, God has shown not only His sovereign over salvation, but as the source of salvation. That’s important for us because he’s the only one that can save us.
Deborah the judge of Israel
Women are key in this passage. Any way you look at it front or back, beginning or end, Deborah with her leadership is God’s instrument of deliverance.
She’s a wonderful, fantastic judge, strong, capable, faithful and serves as a great example for women in leadership today. But not just women – I think for everyone.
Judges 4:4 says, “Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging
at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men.’”
The story goes on that Deborah reminds Barak that God will deliver Jabin’s army to him by the hand of a woman.
The leader of the opposing army, Sisera, ran from the battle. He ran to the tent of Jael and asked her for refuge. That was a mistake! While Sisera slept, Judges 4:21 says, “Then Hael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.”
I love this story. We need repentance. We need to see God as the source of our salvation, as our mighty warrior. But we also need to see God in charge of the whole process. His providential hand, his sovereign hand is over all of our salvation.
The rest of the story
You almost expect the story to end in verse 15. Sisera is going into battle. His army gets defeated, his chariots are rendered useless. It tells us that he literally got off his horse. You want to talk about a coward! He starts running away from the battle. And you think, okay, the story can end there. God wins the victory. No, Sisera is still alive to fight another day. So God says, I’ve got to do something about that. And it just happens to be as he’s running off the back of his horse in a cowardly way, the opposite direction of the battle that he comes towards a tent.
There’s a woman named Jael standing outside the tent. She is the wife of a man named Heber. I don’t believe this was a coincidence. Sisera didn’t go to Jael’s tent by mistake or coincidence. God led him there to fulfill his promise to Deborah, Barak, and the people of Israel.
God is sovereign over Israel’s salvation. God chose to use Deborah. God chose to use Barak and God chose to use Jael to accomplish his mighty will in salvation for his people. He is the victor. He is the source of salvation.
What’s the call? Trust him. He is sovereign, meaning he is providentially controlling this whole scene. So what should we do? Worship him. Despite knowing and guiding all things, there’s something God still expects. He still expects a response from you and a response from me. Maybe today your response is repentance.
Next steps
Do you see God as your mighty warrior? When people are mocking you and they’re attacking you and you have some major life altering family or work struggle, who is your warrior? Is it you, fighting your own battles? Are you the one that is trying to seek revenge? Or are you the one trying to stand up for yourself? God is more powerful than you. God is the mighty warrior. The greatest battle that you can do for yourself is to fall on your knees and ask him to fight your battles for you. As we look at Judges 4 and 5, we see a cycle that is repeated in the history of the nation of Israel again and again. Israel’s disobedience leads to God’s discipline, which leads to God sending a deliverer. The author of the book of Judges calls the people idolaters and sinners. Their disobedience had become more than their actions; it had become their identity.
For example, we see Judges 4 starts with Israel falling into sin after Ehud died. They were free from the tyranny of King Eglon for 80 years, while he, as the judge, was constantly reminding them about the dangers of sin and how to avoid it. But the moment Ehud died, they entered into sin again. The question is why? It’s because their identity was connected with the sin and not the savior.
Desire to change
For us as believers today, following Christ must be an internal desire of the heart. Not just a responsibility of your mind. You must make a decision for Christ because you know that you have sinned against a holy God. Not just that the world’s in danger, but you are in danger as an individual of an eternal separation from the God of the universe in a place called Hell. You. Not your grandmother who feels sorry for you, not your mother, who’s worried about you and prays for you. You must feel convicted by the Holy Spirit and you must have a desire to repent.
Israel did not have this internal desire to change, at least not as a nation. Not only do we see Israel’s need for real repentance but also throughout this passage of Scripture, God has shown not only His sovereign over salvation, but as the source of salvation. That’s important for us because he’s the only one that can save us.
Deborah the judge of Israel
Women are key in this passage. Any way you look at it front or back, beginning or end, Deborah with her leadership is God’s instrument of deliverance.
She’s a wonderful, fantastic judge, strong, capable, faithful and serves as a great example for women in leadership today. But not just women – I think for everyone.
Judges 4:4 says, “Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging
at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men.’”
The story goes on that Deborah reminds Barak that God will deliver Jabin’s army to him by the hand of a woman.
The leader of the opposing army, Sisera, ran from the battle. He ran to the tent of Jael and asked her for refuge. That was a mistake! While Sisera slept, Judges 4:21 says, “Then Hael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.”
I love this story. We need repentance. We need to see God as the source of our salvation, as our mighty warrior. But we also need to see God in charge of the whole process. His providential hand, his sovereign hand is over all of our salvation.
The rest of the story
You almost expect the story to end in verse 15. Sisera is going into battle. His army gets defeated, his chariots are rendered useless. It tells us that he literally got off his horse. You want to talk about a coward! He starts running away from the battle. And you think, okay, the story can end there. God wins the victory. No, Sisera is still alive to fight another day. So God says, I’ve got to do something about that. And it just happens to be as he’s running off the back of his horse in a cowardly way, the opposite direction of the battle that he comes towards a tent.
There’s a woman named Jael standing outside the tent. She is the wife of a man named Heber. I don’t believe this was a coincidence. Sisera didn’t go to Jael’s tent by mistake or coincidence. God led him there to fulfill his promise to Deborah, Barak, and the people of Israel.
God is sovereign over Israel’s salvation. God chose to use Deborah. God chose to use Barak and God chose to use Jael to accomplish his mighty will in salvation for his people. He is the victor. He is the source of salvation.
What’s the call? Trust him. He is sovereign, meaning he is providentially controlling this whole scene. So what should we do? Worship him. Despite knowing and guiding all things, there’s something God still expects. He still expects a response from you and a response from me. Maybe today your response is repentance.
Next steps
Do you see God as your mighty warrior? When people are mocking you and they’re attacking you and you have some major life altering family or work struggle, who is your warrior? Is it you, fighting your own battles? Are you the one that is trying to seek revenge? Or are you the one trying to stand up for yourself? God is more powerful than you. God is the mighty warrior. The greatest battle that you can do for yourself is to fall on your knees and ask him to fight your battles for you.
