HEROES OF THE
FAITH SERMON SERIES
Deborah
Judges
Chapters 4-5
Pastor
One of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, claims that “When God is going to do something wonderful, God always starts with a hardship; when God is going to do something amazing, God starts with an impossibility.” Hardship and impossibility are present in today’s reading from the book of Judges. The people were experiencing a crisis, a time of great stress thinking doom was all but inevitable. The situation appeared hopeless and impossible until God raised up the right person to meet the challenge head on.
Time and time again, the ancient Israelites failed when they turned their backs against God. We see this pattern repeated throughout the books of Joshua and Judges. The people of old just did not seem to “get it” succumbing to the same mistakes over and over again. As our scripture reading opens we find that, “The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”
The natural tendency for us is to frown upon the ancient Israelites who kept falling into the same old trap. It is easy to see this pattern when we look back, however it is more difficult to realize the problem when we are in the midst of a troubling situation. While we may not want to admit it, there are times when we, too, fail the Lord, and do what is evil in God’s sight. We may have the best intentions but for some reason we sometimes fall short of what God requires from us.
Let’s review the scriptural account of Deborah:
Sisera, a Canaanite leader, was the man responsible for bringing stress and uncertainty. He had assembled quite an army including a seemingly invincible, “nine hundred chariots of iron.” Sisera had oppressed the Israelites cruelly for twenty years. It was a time of crisis and uncertainty. Imagine for a moment what it must have felt like, waking up every morning knowing that a large army was waiting to attack you.
The people cried out for divine help. And God in turn responded. Have you ever noticed that God has a way of choosing people that we might never pick? God knew exactly what or in this case who was needed at any given moment.
Deborah was a judge in this time before the monarchy was established. She is the only woman judge. Her task was to settle disputes for the people. On most days, Deborah could be found under a palm tree “in the hill country” and it was there that “the Israelites came to her for judgment.” The cultural mores of the time prohibited women from meeting with men indoors so Deborah had to move her office out under a palm tree to conduct business. Deborah was also a prophet transmitting the word of God. She held a unique position as prophet, judge and military leader.
In the midst of the violent and turbulent aftermath of
Joshua’s conquest of
Judges 4-5 famously recounts Deborah’s successful
military campaign against Sisera. With the help of Deborah’s military
commander, Barak, and another very gutsy woman named Jael (who exhibited her
“gentle and quiet spirit” by driving a tent peg through Sisera’s skull!),
the Canaanite armies are defeated.
Out of her great love for God, Deborah was open to do what was pleasing in God’s sight. There is no telling how God might use our lives when we open ourselves to God. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “Thy will be done.” The problem is that frequently we insist on doing things our own way, and when we do, we close ourselves off to God. Deborah’s desire was to please God and allow God to use her in a mighty way. People respected this spirit-filled woman who spoke the word of the Lord.
The ranking military commander of the time was a man named
Barak. Barak did not have a problem with a woman judge or taking orders from
one, for he went immediately to see Deborah after she sent for him. Deborah
instructed him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position
at
With such clear direction and promise of victory, one might think that Barak would have set out without hesitation. However, he had one request for Deborah. He asked that she accompany him and the troops. This was an unusual request. Some have suggested that maybe Barak was weak or unsure of himself. Others have maintained that Deborah’s charismatic personality would inspire the soldiers in battle or maybe Barak was simply testing her commitment. Regardless of his reason, without faltering Deborah agreed to go with him, assuring him of the victory, but noting that it would come at the hand of a woman. So much for Barak’s male ego!
Deborah was not afraid to lead by example. Her love and trust of God was so great that she was willing to place her life on the line when needed.
Deborah’s presence inspired the soldiers and the victory played out exactly as she had foretold. The menacing enemy was soundly defeated. Deborah composed and sang a song telling of this significant victory that is found in the next chapter, Judges 5. It is a poetic song of celebration commemorating this victory in rather graphic detail. Deborah, the Israelites’ first woman judge, remained in her position for forty years and according to scripture, “The land had rest forty years.” Deborah had accomplished the seemingly impossible.
Let’s take a more in-depth look at Deborah:
Deborah was a woman of great character.
Read Judges 4:4-5; Biblical scholars help
us to see that between Moses and Samuel, the only person to fill all three
roles of prophet, judge, and military leader, was Deborah. In addition to these
duties, Deborah was a wife and mother. Judges 5:7, “Village life ceased, it
ceased in
Parents and grandparents, this is a call to
remember to live our faiths. Take time to be with your kids. Build that
relationship with them. Never forget your assignment from the Lord is to raise
up children who know Jesus and build their lives based on bearing His good news
in their circles of influence. When
people looked at Deborah, they saw a person standing firm in the Lord. Is that
what people see when they look at you?
Having character doesn’t mean we are
perfect. It does mean when we sin, when we don’t keep our promise, when we blow
our temper, we confess it to God, we apologize to the ones we hurt…then by
faith we move on with the Holy Spirit and go in God’s direction! Deborah was a woman of great character.
Deborah was
a woman of great confidence.
Read Judges 4:6-10; Barak, the leader of
Imagine the scene – Sisera had 900 iron
chariots, multiplied by thousands of skilled soldiers greatly outnumbering
What impossible situation are you facing this
morning? Financial? Family? Friendship? I urge you to commit this verse to
memory, Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will
remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we
have risen and stand upright!” Deborah was a woman of great
character. Deborah was a woman of great confidence.
Deborah
was a woman of great conquering.
News began to spread to Sisera’s side that
King Jabin’s army and Sisera were humiliated and
demolished! Sisera took off and thought he found relief at Jael’s tent. Jael
was the wife of Heber the Kenite, a friend of King Jabin. Sisera felt secure
enough in the care of Jael that he fell asleep in her tent. Read Judges 4:17-24.
Deborah started the victory and Jael sealed it!
God has an uncanny way of choosing the right person at the right time to bring about God’s desires. When we surrender ourselves to God, we will find both meaning and purpose.
Henrietta Mears was one of the great Bible teachers of the 20th century. She was born in 1890, accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior at the age of seven and taught her first Sunday School class five years later. She taught at all levels of public education and as a Christian Educator she taught college-age, singles and young adults for decades at Hollywood Presbyterian Church. She became increasingly frustrated at not being able to give her students first-rate material, so she began a small publishing enterprise out of a garage. “The lessons were to be bold, challenging, and captivating as they underscored the principles of God’s Word,” Henrietta explained. Soon her venture grew into Gospel Light Publishers.
She searched for a retreat area where she could take her high
school and college-aged students. “If you place people in an atmosphere where
they feel close to God and then challenge them with His Word,” she said, then
“they will make decisions.” She founded
Frustrated at not having a good, single volume introduction to the Bible, Henrietta wrote one that sold hundreds of thousands of copies and continues to sell today seventy years after her death. Her words are still timely today, “God doesn’t call us to sit on the sidelines and watch. He calls us to be on the field, playing the games.” This remarkable, God-filled woman accomplished these things at a time when many people thought a woman had no business doing such things.
God is at work in our lives and in our world, working with ordinary people to accomplish the seemingly impossible. God has a surprising way of calling people we would never expect, and through these people, God’s plan is accomplished. The book of Judges challenges our stereotypes and reverses our expectations. Our Lord Jesus calls us to follow Him. At times we may not have a clear sense of where we are going, but we follow trusting the Lord to show us the right way. We follow knowing that there are times when we have to step out in faith into the unknown. We do so as people of character, as people of confidence and as people of a great conquering, knowing that we do not go alone.