THE SIGNS OF GOD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in Your eyes, give me a sign that it is really You talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before You."

And the Lord said, "I will wait until you return."

Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak.

The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in His hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

But the Lord said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

That same night the Lord said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it." The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it."

But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar.

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as You have promised - look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew."

That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Judges 6:17-40

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Judges, chapter 6 opened, we saw in yesterday’s message how the nation of Israel had done evil before God and found themselves under the oppressive rule of the Midianites for seven years as punishment for their actions. This brought on deep poverty, so much so that the Israelites did what they had done in the past after getting themselves in trouble…they cried out to the Lord. And as in the past, God did what he had done before…selected a deliverer to free His people and this time that deliverer was a man named Gideon.

Now, you’ll recall that Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress under an oak tree when an angel of the Lord came and told him he was to go and free Israel from Midian. You’ll recall that this was received with great surprise as Gideon couldn’t believe he was the one being chosen due to the low status of his clan and his low estate within his own family. Speaking into these concerns, the Lord assured Gideon that He would be with him throughout the conquest of Midian.

Well, as we look at the reminder of this chapter today, we see where Gideon has difficulty believing he is actually talking to the Lord and so he asks God to give him a sign to validate He was really there. Gracefully, the Lord obliges Gideon.

First, we read where Gideon went and “prepared a young goat” and “bread without yeast”, putting the “meat in a basket and its broth in a pot” before offering it to the Lord under the oak. And after Gideon placed the meat and bread on a rock and poured the broth out on the ground as commanded, the scriptures tell us that the angel of the Lord touched the “tip of the staff…in His hand” to the “the meat and the unleavened bread” and immediately “fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread”.

And with that, we read where the “angel of the Lord disappeared”.

At that moment, Gideon “realized that it was the angel of the Lord” that he had been talking to and this led him to exclaim:

"Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

And being it was common knowledge that anyone who looked in the face of God would die, Gideon was naturally afraid for his life but note how the Lord put him at ease saying:

“Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

With that blessed assurance, “Gideon built an altar to the Lord at the place where the meat and bread were consumed by fire and called it The Lord is Peace”.

This was God’s first sign to Gideon.

Next, we find God giving Gideon a task…one that involved his own family. For we read where Gideon’s father, Joash, had constructed an “altar to Baal” with an “Asherah pole beside it” and so the Lord commanded Gideon to tear down the altar and cut down the pole. He was then to “build a proper kind of altar to the Lord”, using the “wood of the Asherah pole” to use “the second bull from (his) father's herd, the one seven years old” as a burnt offering. And so “Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him”, carrying out the Lord’s orders at night “because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town”.

Well, what a surprise the town woke up to in the morning for “when the men of the town got up”, they saw “Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!” Needless to say, they weren’t happy about it and wondered amongst themselves who would have done such a thing.

And so an investigation was launched and the men of the town discovered that it was Gideon who had carried out the act, leading to the “men of the town” giving this demand to Joash:

“Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

Now, you might think that Joash would have done as they asked. After all, it was his altar that had been destroyed and he could have viewed it as a blatant act of disrespect. But as we see, Joash actually comes to the defense of Gideon telling the hostile crowd:

“Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar."

Joash’s points were valid. For indeed, why did the men have to defend Baal? After all, if Baal was truly a powerful god, couldn’t he defend himself?

Well, as we see, nothing did happen to Gideon. Not one thing.

No lightning strike from the heavens to take his life.

No terrible affliction struck and killed him.

In fact, there was no indication that Baal existed anywhere beyond the minds of those who worshipped him and we know this is because Baal didn’t exist at all and this was God’s second sign to Gideon.

While all this was transpiring, the Midianites began to grow even stronger, joining forces with the “Amalekites and other eastern peoples” before crossing over the Jordan and camping in the Valley of Jezreel. And while the Midianites and their partner forces were gathering, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him”. He also “sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them”.

A battle was brewing between the Midianites and Israelites but going back to our passage for today, we find that Gideon had one more request for God…a request for just one more sign.

For we read where Gideon says to the Lord:

"If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised - look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said."

Now, in my opinion, God shows incredible patience with Gideon. For He could have very well chastised him for asking for yet another sign. I mean…how many signs does God have to show His people before they will know He is alive and well and able to do anything needed to protect and save them? Was not fire from a rock to consume the meat and bread enough?

Indeed, the Lord could have rebuked and challenged Gideon with questions like these but He didn’t. Instead, He accepted Gideon’s request and did as he asked, placing dew on the fleece and leaving the ground dry. And when “Gideon rose early the next day”, he squeezed the fleece wet with dew and ended up with a bowlful of water.

That was enough then, right?

Not exactly, for we find Gideon then say this to God:

“Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew."

And the scriptures tell us that “God did so” that night as “only the fleece was dry” while “all the ground was covered with dew”.

The miracles around the fleece and dew became God’s third and fourth signs to Gideon.

Friends, the Lord who was with Gideon is the same Lord with us today and despite all He has done and continues to do, working miracles every single day, we still overlook His signs that are all around us. Like Gideon, we continue to ask God to reveal Himself when He has already done so over and over and over again.

It’s time for everyone to come to the reality that God never stops His work. He never stops showing us signs to remind us of this. There is never a time when He isn’t moving in the lives of His people…24/7…365 days a year. And so it’s high time that we just come to the place where we trust Him with a sure faith, giving thanks that He is ever present while praying for His will to be done in our lives and then patiently waiting for that will to be carried out as we seek to serve Him obediently each and every day.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GOD IS WITH YOU

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years He gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

When the Israelites cried to the Lord because of Midian, He sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to Me."

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

"But sir," Gideon replied, "if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

"But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

The Lord answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

Judges 6:1-16

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Judges, chapter 6 opens, we see a familiar story unfold for we read where the people of Israel do evil in the sight of the Lord and so He penalizes them, sending them back under an oppressive rule for an extended time. And as we have seen in the past, this oppression brought the Israelites great suffering, to the point where they cry out to the Lord for deliverance. This results in Him sending them a deliverer who defeats the oppressors and frees His people, returning them to a period of peaceful living.

Now, you would think that the Israelites would figure things out sooner or later. After all, how many times did they have to test their God when they know what the outcome would be every time? And yet in this chapter, we find them going back to the well again, repeating the same errors of the past. In response, the Lord once again sends His punishment.

You know, I can’t help but think that we’re a lot like the ancient people of Israel. For how many times have we too failed to learn from our past sinful behavior, finding ourselves right back into the difficult consequences the Lord had once delivered us from. It’s in the midst of those hard places that we find ourselves turning to the Lord yet once again for a deliverance and relief that only He can bring.

Getting back to the scriptures, the evil acts of Israel led God to hand them over to the Midianites who were so hard on them that Israel “prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds” so to try and hide from their oppression. Meanwhile, we read where “the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern peoples invaded the country…camped on the land…and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza”. In this conquest, the scriptures tell us that they didn’t “spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys”. Indeed, Midian ravaged Israel’s land to the point where the Israelites became severely impoverished and it was then that they “cried out to the Lord for help”.

How did God respond?

We see in our passage where He sends a prophet who brings a message to them from Him. This prophet reminds Israel of how God delivered their ancestors from their own oppression in Egypt, bringing them eventually to the land He had promised…a land where God commanded them not to adopt the pagan worship practices of the Amorites who followed false gods. Unfortunately, the Israelites didn’t listen and this is why they were in the state they were in.

So who would God raise up this time to deliver Israel?

Enter a man who we find threshing wheat in a winepress under the cover of an oak tree so he might have some food for himself and family free from the Midianites. We see where this man, Gideon, is visited by an angel of the Lord who speaks to him saying:

“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

To which Gideon replies:

"…if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

Gideon’s response might seem surprising at first but we need to remember all the difficulty that Israel had gone through over the past seven years that had brought them a lot of suffering and trial. So when we find Gideon questioning whether God had really been with His people, it’s because he’s tired and worn out from all that he and his fellow Israelites had to endure, even though they had brought God’s trouble on themselves through their sinful behavior.

Well, I think we can maybe relate to Gideon as well. For there are times in our own lives when we sin and then experience God’s disciple. This often places us in difficult circumstances of our own doing which can endure for a significant amount of time and in the midst of those difficult circumstances we can find ourselves possibly questioning the Lord as well.

“Why is this happening to me Lord?”

“Why don’t you work a miracle in my life like I know you have worked in the lives of others?”

“How much longer so I have to go through this hardship?”

or

“Have you abandoned me Lord?”

Well, going back to our passage for today, we see the Lord responding to Gideon’s questions and state of mind, saying:

“Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

Notice that the God doesn’t take time to explain Himself to Gideon. After all, He had already sent a prophet to do just that. No…the Lord’s words to Gideon were forward looking with “go” and “save” being commands of action. God was essentially telling Gideon, “Yes, I will deliver Israel from their oppressors and you are going to be the one who is going to make it happen.” It was a demand that obviously surprised Gideon because he replies:

"But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

In other words, Gideon was essentially saying in response, “You have to be kidding! You want ME to save Israel. Don’t you know who I am Lord and where I rank amongst the people of Israel? I don’t even rank at the top of my family let alone rank at the top of a nation.”

He wasn’t wrong, you know. For if there had been a poll taken of all the Israelites, asking them who they would pick to lead them against the mighty Midianites, they definitely wouldn’t have picked Gideon. Rather, they would have selected some mighty warrior who had proven himself to be brave and proven on the battlefield.

And yet, God had other things in mind and His man was Gideon who He assures saying:

“I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

The key words here from the Lord to Gideon were “I will be with you.”

Yes, Gideon might have been lowly when compared to the rest of the Israelites but through God, he would become mighty…the one who would deliver the Israelite nation from Midian.

The good news today is that God is ready to do great things through believers like you and me today and so we should never underestimate ourselves when it is the Lord who is calling us to do something. We might doubt our ability and feel totally inadequate to carry out what He wants us to do but it’s in those moments that we need to realize we’re fulfilling His will by way of His power and not our own.

Before I close, there’s one more important point to make from this scripture passage. For through it, we’re reminded that our God can and will deliver us from hardship at His perfect time, often requiring us to take action in order to get past our troubling circumstances.

Israel had been under the oppressive rule of the Midianites and this impacted every single Israelite to include Gideon. In delivering His people, the Lord could have just snapped His fingers and immediately wiped out Midian without using anyone to do it but He didn’t. Instead, He selected Gideon and in essence was saying:

“You can get through this difficulty and escape your oppression but you’re going to fight your way through it with My help.”

Well, as we will see, God will use Gideon to deliver His people from their bondage and poverty but do so in a way that will show He and He alone was the One behind the victory as He helps and leads Gideon every step of the way.

Friends, if you are currently enduring some difficulty or trial in your life, maybe even wondering if God is absent or not interested in the midst of your hardship, you can relate to how Gideon was feeling in these first sixteen verses of Judges, chapter 6. My prayer is that you remember that God is with you and continue to call on Him, maintaining trust that He can and will take action when the time is right. This will most likely involve showing you what needs done to move on from the oppression of your situation so to find freedom and peace, just as He did in our passage today. Stay encouraged and keep the faith.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A BLESSED SONG OF PRAISE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

On that day Deborah and Barak, son of Abinoam, sang this song:

“When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves - praise the Lord!”

“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the Lord, I will sing; I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

“O Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.”

“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel. When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the Lord!”

“You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the Lord, the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel.”

“Then the people of the Lord went down to the city gates. 'Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'”

"Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of the Lord came to me with the mighty. Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir, captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander's staff.”

“The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben, there was much searching of heart. Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben, there was much searching of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.”

“Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver, no plunder. From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong! Then thundered the horses' hoofs; galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.”

“'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the Lord. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.'”

“Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles, she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead.”

“Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?' The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself, 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck — all this as plunder?'”

“So may all Your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love You be like the sun when it rises in its strength.”

Then the land had peace forty years.

Judges 5

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the fourth chapter of the Book of Judges, the Lord delivered Israel from the oppressive King Jabin and his army commander, Sisera, using Deborah, the ruling judge of the time, Barak who commanded the Israelite forces, and Jael, the woman who killed Sisera as he sought refuge in her tent from the pursuing Barak. You’ll remember that Jael’s actions fulfilled God’s promise that a woman would kill Sisera, not Barak.

So as chapter 5 begins, Israel has a great deal to celebrate and we see Deborah and Barak singing a special song commemorating the victory, a song that chronicled all the important aspects of the event, beginning with Israel being under such terrible oppression that “the roads were abandoned” and “travelers took to winding paths” because of their fear of attack. We read where “village life in Israel ceased” because it wasn’t safe to live outside of the walled cities. Additionally, “war came to the city gates” and Israel was helpless to defend itself as “not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand”. Indeed, Israel was in dire straits.

But things changed when Deborah was appointed as judge. She selected Barak to lead the Israelite forces who came from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. These troops were given victory over Sisera’s army and Sisera himself was killed by Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite after she drove a tent peg through Sisera’s temple as he slept. Her actions led to being labeled the “most blessed of tent-dwelling women” within the song.

Finally, we see in the song’s last stanza where Sisera’s mother is looking for her son’s return and wondering what might be taking him so long from returning with the spoils, unaware that he would never return again.

All and all, the song is a powerful account of God’s power and providence as He led His people from oppression to victory and I would like to focus in on two specific points that God’s Word makes, one at the beginning and one at the end.

First, note the initial words at the very start as Deborah and Barak begin singing:

“When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves — praise the Lord! Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the Lord, I will sing; I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

You know, when people willingly offer themselves to the Lord’s service and then He uses them to do great things in His name, then believers should always feel ready to praise Him, giving thanks for all he has done through them. One of the ways this can be done is through lifting up His name in song.

Personally, I love to sing whether it’s one of the classic hymns of the church (How Great Thou Art and Holy, Holy, Holy are two of my all time favorites) or a contemporary Christian song that speaks to God’s greatness (Chris Tomlin’s Holy Forever or Rich Mullins’ classic Awesome God are just two of many songs I love). Regardless the song that is sung, there’s something awesome about lifting our voices to Heaven while proclaiming our honor, respect, and adoration for the One who so richly blesses us in all things. I hope you agree.

The second point comes at the very end of this song before we learn that Israel would have peace for forty years. Revisiting those words, we see this:

“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.”

These are words that celebrate victory against the enemy, those who would oppose and even seek to do harm to God’s people. They also serve as words of condemnation for those who choose to reject believing in and serving the one and only true God.

So do the people of God have enemies today?

You better believe it and there’s a passage from the New Testament Book of James that helps define who that enemy might be…and you may be surprised about the qualifier:

“You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4

You may have been thinking that the enemy is Satan and Satan alone but here we find it’s much broader than that. For we read where anyone who chooses to befriend the world instead of the Lord becomes His enemy.

You see when we get right down to it, the ways of the world are always counter to God’s ways because the world is the devil’s domain…the place where he leads the world astray (Revelation 12:9). And so adopting the world’s ways over God’s is akin to partnering with Satan devil…and this will always make someone an enemy of God.

Conversely, those who love the Lord, those who are fully dedicated and devoted to Him, have a power within them that will always allow them to gain victory over the enemy and the world...both in life and in death. For by simply believing in Christ Jesus, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within our hearts and minds, This allows us to shine the Lord’s holy light into the darkness of the world, illuminating it with the penetrating brilliance of God’s goodness, grace, mercy, and love (Matthew 5:14-16).

Friends, the song found in Judges, chapter 5 proclaims, using the sweetest refrains, that our God is good…awesome, powerful, and mighty in every way. My prayer is that we, like Deborah and Barak, will bring the Lord our own songs of praise, raising our voices in admiration for all He is doing, has done, and is yet to do in our lives. For He and He alone is the One worthy of all the glory, honor, and praise we can give.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A PENALTY FOR UNTRUSTWORTHINESS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.

Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading 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 Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: '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, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'"

Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."

"Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

When they told Sisera that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River.

Then 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?" So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men. At Barak's advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.

Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the clan of Heber the Kenite.

Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my Lord, come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him.

"I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.

"Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.'"

But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple-dead.

On that day, God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him.

Judges 4

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Judges, chapter 4 opens, Ehud has passed away and scripture tells us that Israel “once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord” and so the Lord did what He had done prior…He handed them over to an oppressor as punishment. This time, we read where He “sold (Israel) into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor”, and in his custody, they were “cruelly oppressed” for twenty years before crying out to the Lord for help. We’re told that Jabin’s army was commanded by “Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim”.

The scriptures also tell us that Israel was under a new ruler, a prophetess named Deborah who God had appointed as their new judge. She was holding court “under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim” and it was there that “the Israelites came…to have their disputes decided”.

Well, in regard to their captivity and oppression of King Jabin, we see where Deborah sends for “Barak, son of Abinoam, from Kedesh in Naphtali”, giving him the following guidance:

“The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: '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, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'"

The command was simple enough. All Barak had to do is take his ten thousand men to Mount Tabor and wait for the Lord to deliver Sisera and his troops into his hands for victory.

Now, surely Barak was aware of how many times the Lord had done this in the history of Israel and so he had no reason to doubt that He (the Lord) would do what He said He would do. And yet, for whatever reason, he didn’t show faith in God and as a result, forfeited his chance to be used by God for an important act.

You see, God fully expects His followers to have faith in Him…to show that they trust Him unconditionally to carry out everything He says he will do. For He made many promises to His people and as we see in the scriptures (and still today), He never fails to keep His word.

Well, the promise in our passage for today was that He would deliver Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, and all his fighting forces into the hands of Barak but this assurance of God’s powerful presence and subsequent deliverance wasn’t enough. For we see that Barak feels that is Deborah, Israel’s judge, cam along with him that he would guaranteed victory. We know this because of Barak’s own words as he says this to Deborah:

"If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."

In other words, Barak would choose to be disobedient to what God wanted him to do unless Deborah was with him. Wow!

Well, we read where Deborah agrees to go but makes it clear to Barak that there would be a consequence attached to it for not trusting the Lord, saying:

“…because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman."

And with that, they departed…Barak, Deborah, and the ten thousand men from “Zebulun and Naphtali”.

Meanwhile, Sisera received word that Barak was at Mount Tabor and so he “gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River” to enter into battle. As they approached the Israelite forces, we see where Deborah tells Barak:

“Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?"

With this, we read where Barak takes his army and fights with the Lord alongside him, routing “Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword”. With this, the Lord delivered all of Sisera’s men into the hands of Israel with not one man remaining and typically the leader of the Israelite army would get the honor of executing the leader of the enemy troops but not in this case. For the Lord had promised that it would be a woman, not Barak, who would get to kill Sisera and that promise was about to be fulfilled.  

For as Sisera “abandoned his chariot and fled on foot”, he ran to the “tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the clan of Heber the Kenite”. Surely, Sisera thought he would be harbored there safely but he couldn’t be more wrong.

We see where everything seemed fine to him at first. There was no hint of any danger as Jael went out to meet him saying:

"Come, my Lord , come right in. Don't be afraid."

And with that, he accepted her offer and “entered her tent, allowing Jael to “put a covering over him” and giving him a drink of milk. Then, we read where Sisera asked Jael to do this:

“Stand in the doorway of the tent (and) if someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.'"

Through his words, we know Sisera was obviously concerned that either Barak or one of his men might come seeking to kill him. He never thought for a moment that his life would end at the hand of a woman and so he trusted Jael, drifting off to sleep in the midst of his exhaustion. It was at that moment that he met his end for we read where Jael took a hammer and drove a tent peg “through his temple into the ground”, killing him instantly. This was just ahead of Barak arriving who had been “in pursuit of Sisera”.

The scriptures tell us that “Jael went out to meet” Barak, telling him that she would show him the man he was looking for. And so she took him into the tent and there was Sisera, dead with a tent peg through his temple. Imagine what must have been going through Barak’s mind in that moment as the Lord’s words to him had come to pass. His unwillingness to trust God had cost him the honor of finishing off his adversary.

Well, the chapter closes with God subduing “Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites” after he had lost his army and commander. On the other hand, the Israelites grew “stronger and stronger against Jabin” with the Lord’s help “until they destroyed him”. And so God ultimately did what He had done prior, delivering His people from the hands of their oppressor. It was something He could easily do without the help of anyone.

All this got me to wondering if we aren’t like Barak sometimes. Maybe we choose to doubt God and take Him at His Word. Perhaps we fail to trust the promises He has made, as if He would ever break them. Worse yet, we might have decided that we know better than the Lord in our life circumstances more than a time or two.

Indeed, Barak made all of these mistakes and paid the price for them. Likewise, we too will be held accountable anytime we fail to trust in God’s ability to deliver us through the challenges we face in life. Those challenges might seem beyond the work of our ordinary selves but we need to remember that when the Lord is with us, He is capable of using us in extraordinary ways so to make a difference in His kingdom and ultimately bring Him glory and honor.

In the end translation, we should never doubt what God can do in and through us. Equally, we shouldn’t underestimate how the Lord can do anything on His own without us or even choose to use someone else to accomplish His ultimate purposes if we display a lack of belief, like He did in raising up Jael over Barak.

Friends, why would we ever choose to not fully believe in the God who made everything we know, the God through which nothing is impossible?

How could we ever fail to accept and show faith in His awesome power and ability to do all things?

And how can we profess to be His followers and believers and then fail to trust in His abundant promises, especially when He has never broken a single one?

The time is now for all of us to give God our unconditional confidence, submitting ourselves to Him so to do anything He asks, no matter how extraordinary His calling may be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.