Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
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 this 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, handing Israel over to an oppressor. This time He “sold (Israel) into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor” where they were “cruelly oppressed” for twenty years before they cry to the Lord for help. We’re told that the army was commanded by “Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim”.
We read where Israel is now under new rule as Deborah the prophetess is now judge over Israel, holding court “under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim” where “the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided”. In order to deliver Israel from the hands of King Jabin, Deborah sends for “Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali” and gives 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. Surely, Barak was aware of how many times the Lord had done this in the history of Israel and had no reason to doubt the Lord would do what He said He would do. And yet Barak, for whatever reason, didn’t show faith in God and in return 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 God’s promises are abundant and as we have seen prior in the scriptures, God never fails to keep His promises.
His promise in our passage was to deliver Sisera and all of Jabin’s army into the hands of Barak. This would include the army commander, Sisera. But God’s promise of His power presence and deliverance isn’t enough for Barak. Somehow, he thinks that having Deborah along will somehow seal the assurance of victory. We know this because of Barak’s words as he tells Deborah, “"If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go." Deborah agrees to go with Barak but informs him that there is a consequence attached to his choice to not fully trust 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." With that, they depart…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 approach, 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, Barak takes his army and fights as the Lord routed “Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword”. Thus, the Lord delivered all of Sisera’s men into the hands of Israel with not one man remaining. Typically, the leader of Israel would get the honor of executing the leader of the enemy troops but not in this case. The Lord’s promise that Barak would not get to kill Sisera with that honor going to a woman was about to come to fruition.
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 in safety. He thought wrong.
Sure, everything seemed fine at first. For we read where Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my Lord , come right in. Don't be afraid." And “he entered her tent, allowing Jael to “put a covering over him”. After getting a drink, Sisera asked Jael to, “Stand in the doorway of the tent (and) if someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.' " Sisera obviously was concerned that either Barak or one of his men might come seeking to kill him.
Trusting Jael, an exhausted Sisera drifts off to sleep and it was at that moment that Jael took a hammer and drove a tent peg “through his temple into the ground”, killing him instantly. This was just ahead of Barak who “came by in pursuit of Sisera”. Scripture tells us that “Jael went out to meet him” and tells him that she would show him the man he was looking for, taking Barak into the tent and showing him Sisera laying dead with the tent peg through his temple. Imagine what must have been going through Barak’s mind. The Lord’s words had come to pass and his unwillingness to trust God had cost him the honor of finishing off his adversary.
The chapter closes with the Lord subduing “Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites” now that his army and commander were all dead. The Lord helped the Israelites grow “stronger and stronger against Jabin…until they destroyed him”. Ultimately, God did what He had done prior and delivered Israel from the hands of their oppressor, something He could do with or without Barak.
Question: How often are you like Barak? How often do you doubt God’s word? How often do you doubt that God will hold true to His promises? How often do you decide you know what’s better in a given situation than God does?
Barak makes all of these mistakes and pays the price for them. We will pay the price likewise anytime we decide to trust in God to deliver us through whatever our circumstances might be. We are all just ordinary people when it comes down to it but through God, we can be used in extraordinary ways to make a difference in His kingdom and ultimately bring Him glory. Never doubt what God might be able to do in and through you…but also never doubt that He can equally choose to not do anything through you if you decide to not trust in Him faithfully. Like in the case of Barak, God can always choose someone else to do His will.
Friends, why would we ever choose to not trust the God who made everything we know? How can we not respect His awesome power and ability to do all things? And how can we profess to be His followers and believers and then fail to have faith in His abundant promises? The time is now for all of us to give God our unconditional trust and surrender ourselves fully to anything extraordinary He wants to do in and through us.
In Christ,
Mark
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