Deborah & Barak

Good evening. It's a pleasure to be with you tonight. This is the first time I've been in Brunsfield Evangelical Church, so thank you very much for your welcome this evening.

I also find it a little bit daunting being here. Jonathan Gemmell came on several occasions to speak at ETS, where I teach.

I know Graham Shanks fairly well from ETS as well, so I know the standard of preaching that you're used to, so it's daunting for me to be here.

Also, Judges isn't an easy book, is it? We've already heard about J.L. and her tent peg, so it is daunting coming here.

But I trust that, as God's Word has preached to us, that He'll bless us through it.

The account of Deborah and Barak is unique in Judges in that we get it two times.

There's a story and then a song, so the first part of it in Chapter 4 has already been read to us.

As I begin tonight, I'd like to read the second part, which is the song. I'm not going to attempt to sing it. You'll be relieved.

It's Chapter 5. So as we begin, we'll read God's Word again.

On that day, Deborah and Barak, son of Abinahim, 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 Zer, 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 Anat, 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 as a mother in Israel.

When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates.

Not a shield or spear was seen among the 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 saddled 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 Makar, 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.

Gillian 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 Tanakh by the waters of Megiddo.

But they carried off no silver and 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' hooves.

Galloping, galloping, go his mighty steeds.

Curse Meroz, says 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 noble, 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 answered her.

Indeed, she keeps saying to herself,

Are they not finding and dividing the spoils?

A girl or two for each man.

Colorful garments is plunder for Sisera.

Colorful garments embroidered.

Highly embroidered garments for my neck.

All this is 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 for forty years.

May God bless his word.

As we begin tonight, I'd like to begin with a question.

And it's a rhetorical question.

I'm telling you that so you know that you're not expecting you to answer.

It's quite a personal question.

In the free church I don't need to explain that

because if I ask a question nobody's going to answer.

But just in case you might feel that I'm expecting you to answer, I'm not.

What's the biggest problem that you face?

What's the biggest issue in your life?

To put it slightly differently, what's most important to you?

To help us answer that kind of question,

when you get up in the morning, what's the first thing that you think about?

Maybe when you're going to bed at night, is you lying there in your bed?

What is it that turns round and round in your mind?

For each of us, that's quite a personal question.

If we were to make it slightly less personal,

if we keep that question in the back of our mind,

but if we make it slightly less personal,

in this passage, in Judges chapter 4,

Judges 4 · chapter mention

what's the biggest problem that the Israelites faced?

The narrator has an opinion about that as he tells the story, doesn't he?

But if you were to actually ask the Israelites,

what's your biggest problem?

We get a sense of that in verse 3, don't we?

It's talking there about Sisera,

this man who was the commander of their enemy's army,

and tells us that because Sisera had 900 iron chariots

and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years,

they cried to the Lord for help.

There's a bit of irony in that, isn't there?

It took 20 years for them to cry out to the Lord.

But if you were to ask the Israelites,

what's your biggest problem?

What would they answer?

Sisera.

Sisera and his 900 chariots and his 20 years of oppression.

That's, I think, what they would say was their biggest problem.

But as we look at the way this story is recorded for us in the Bible,

we see that the author of it is wanting us to recognize

that that's not their biggest problem.

What's a problem?

There's actually only a symptom.

Their bigger problem was different than that, wasn't it?

In verse 1,

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.

Their problem was not Jabin,

or his commander Sisera.

Their problem was themselves.

Their problem was the fact that they had rejected God.

Now, often,

in our day,

if you saw people who were being oppressed like that,

we would view them rightly as being innocent victims.

But in the narrative,

we discovered that the Israelites were not innocent victims.

The troubles that they were going through

were troubles that they had made for themselves

because of their rejection of God.

Their biggest problem was one of allegiance,

or loyalty.

Their biggest problem was a lack of allegiance to God,

a lack of loyalty to God.

Now, it's not just at the beginning of this account

that that issue of allegiance arises, is it?

We look at verse 11.

The first time you read through the story,

verse 11 stands out as being rather strange, doesn't it?

It's as if the story is interrupted

and we're given this seemingly superfluous detail.

Now, Haber, the Kenite,

had left the other Kenites,

the descendants of Hobab,

Moses' father-in-law,

and pitched his tent near the great tree

in Za'ananim,

near Kadesh.

What's the point of that?

Why does the author bother telling us about Haber?

Well, it's partly because of his wife, Jael,

who becomes significant later on in the story.

But if you look at verse 17,

we read what it meant that Haber

had decided to leave his family and move.

In verse 17, we're told that Cisera, however,

fled on foot to the tent of jail,

the wife of Heber the Kenite.

This is why we're told about him now.

Because there were friendly relations

between Jabin, king of Hazor,

and the clan of Heber the Kenite.

Do you see what Heber was doing?

Back in verse 11,

when it says he left his relatives and he moved.

Heber moved because he was changing sides.

To be very simplistic,

in the Old Testament,

you could divide people into two groups.

There were those people who were for God

and those people who were against God.

And in the middle,

we have the Kenites,

Hobab and his descendants.

Now, Hobab,

he was connected to Moses by marriage.

He and his people had seen

what God had done for the Israelites.

And they had said to themselves,

the God of the Israelites is the true God.

And so they had cast their lot with the Israelites.

They had recognized that the God of Israel

was the true God.

And so in chapter 1 of the book of Judges,

in verse 16,

we're told that the descendants of Moses' father-in-law,

the Kenites went up from the city of Palms

with the men of Judah

to live among the people

of the desert of Judah in the Negev.

They had made the right choice.

They had sided with God.

Now, if Heber is moving,

if he's leaving his family

and he's siding with Jabin

and his wicked, violent regime,

it's not merely that Heber is leaving his family,

He's forsaking God.

He's going in the wrong direction.

And this issue of allegiance,

we see it not just in the beginning,

not just in the middle.

If you look at the very end of the account,

in chapter 5,

if you want to know what a passage in the Bible is about,

often it's instructive to look at the end of it.

And at the end of this account,

in verse 31, chapter 5, 31,

we read,

So may all your enemies perish, O Lord,

but may those who love you

be like the sun when it rises in its strength.

There's two groups of people there, aren't there?

There are those who are God's enemies

and those who have sided with God,

those who love God.

Two different groups of people.

And this issue of allegiance comes up,

this issue of loyalty.

So, if we can become personal again,

I began by asking you,

what's your greatest problem?

Perhaps it's not a problem,

we could think more generally,

what's the greatest issue in your life?

Well, through this passage,

God is calling each one of us to recognize

that He ought to be the most important,

the most significant thing in our lives.

And so the question for us is to ask ourselves,

how important is God to me?

Or if we think of Heber,

which direction are you going?

Do you find that you're going towards God?

Or do you find that you're going away from Him?

Now, many of you here tonight,

maybe you have taken a decision about that.

Maybe for some of you,

these things are new to you,

and you're still wrestling with that.

But this is the point this passage is driving home.

There is nothing more important for us to know

than the God who created us.

Now, if this passage is seeking to convince us,

if God is telling us through this passage,

that He is the most important thing,

or that He ought to be the most important thing in our lives,

that allegiance to Him is the most important thing,

we might ask, why?

Why?

Why should Deborah and Barak and Jael,

why should all of these people,

on what grounds did God have to expect them to side with Him?

Couldn't have been an easy decision for Jael

to take a side with the God of Israel, could it?

Why should they take this decision?

I would suggest that as we look at this passage,

that there are at least two reasons that are given here

as to why they should have sided with the God of Israel.

Two reasons why you ought to side with God,

why you ought to follow the Lord Jesus.

First of all, God has made Himself known,

and secondly, God is victorious.

So first of all, God makes Himself known.

Now, if God were difficult to know,

if God were hidden,

it would have been unfair to expect Barak to side with Him,

wouldn't it?

It would be unfair to expect Jael to side with the God of Israel.

But the fact is that God isn't unknown to them.

If you look with me at verse 6,

in the NIV, now this is talking about Deborah,

the Israelites are being oppressed.

In chapter 4, verse 6, Deborah sends for Barak,

who's going to be their military leader.

He's going to be their champion.

In verse 6,

Deborah sent for Barak, son of Abinuam,

from Kadesh and Naphtali,

and said to him,

The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you,

go, take with you 10,000 men.

Now, as we read that in the NIV,

we would get the impression

that this is the first time that Barak has heard anything about this.

I don't know if any of you have different translations.

In the ESV, it translates it rather differently.

She sent and summoned Barak, son of Abinuam,

from Kadesh and Naphtali,

and said to him,

Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you,

go and gather your men?

Now, in the language that it's originally written in,

that is a more direct translation,

Deborah does, in fact, present him with a question.

Hasn't God commanded you to do that?

Now, some people suggest

that that was just a way of emphasizing the truthfulness

that the surely God has commanded you,

and that's why the NIV translates it this way.

I think it's more natural to take it as an actual question.

Now, a question like that is implying something.

If you say,

Hasn't God told you this?

Well, that implies you're going to answer yes.

But if Barak has to answer yes to this question,

it implies that God had already told him to do this,

and he hadn't done it.

That means that Barak's problems start not in verse 7,

sorry, in verse 8.

As we read through the account,

we get to verse 8,

and Barak says to her,

If you go with me, I'll go.

But if you don't go with me, I won't go.

Barak's name in Hebrew actually means lightning.

Barak doesn't respond with very lightning-like speed

to God's directions to him, does he?

But if this is true,

it means that his problems didn't start in verse 8,

when he says that he won't go unless Deborah goes with him.

Actually, his problems had already started before this,

when God had told him to go,

and he did nothing.

But for just now,

our point in looking at this

is that God had made himself known to Barak.

Now, the good news for us

is that God isn't hidden from us.

If God were hidden,

if he were distant,

if it were difficult to know God,

we might think it was unfair of him

to expect us to know him.

But the fact is that God has spoken to us.

God speaks to us in lots of different ways.

Most clearly,

God has spoken to us through Jesus.

So, for example, in Hebrews,

in the New Testament,

we read that in the past,

God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets

at many times and in various ways.

But in these last days,

he has spoken to us by his Son.

That's Jesus.

If you want to know God,

you can.

Because God is speaking to you.

God spoke to Barak

in various different ways,

not least through Deborah.

God is speaking to us

through his Son,

through Jesus.

And that's why the Bible is so important to us,

isn't it?

Because it is pre-eminently this book

that tells us about Jesus.

So this book is about, isn't it,

what God has done for us

through the Lord Jesus.

So first of all,

the reason that we should side with God

is because he is a God

who has made himself known to us.

He speaks to us.

Secondly, as we look at this passage,

we're confronted with the fact

that the God of Israel

is victorious.

It's important that we know him.

It's important that we side with him

because he wins.

Now, as we look at this passage,

we see God's victory in two different ways.

We see that God is victorious in judgment.

And then secondly,

we see that God is victorious in salvation.

So first of all,

God is victorious in judgment.

Now, this takes us to Jael.

In verse 22 of chapter 4,

at the very end of that,

we read that

Barak went in with Jael,

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.

And then if we turn over

to chapter 5,

having repeated again

what Jael did,

we read in verse 31,

So may all your enemies perish,

O Lord.

What Jael did

is presented to us

as being God's victory

over his enemies.

Now,

this is a troubling passage

for us, isn't it?

I used to live in Skye.

In Skye,

there are lots of B&Bs

and things like that.

People talk all the time

about Highland hospitality.

People talk similarly

about Middle Eastern hospitality

or ancient Near Eastern hospitality.

you're talking about the Bible.

Well, this is the opposite

of that, isn't it?

What was Jael doing?

She went out and met him

and tricked him

and lured him in.

Cicero is presented

as an almost pathetic figure.

Isn't he?

Almost like a baby

being put to bed

and tucked up

with a blanket

and given milk

until she takes a tent peg

and drives it

through his temple

and nails him

to the ground.

We think,

my goodness,

what do we do with this?

We find this very troubling.

It's important for us,

I think,

understanding this passage

and what the Bible

is doing with it.

First of all,

to consider

what kind of man

Cicero was.

We're not told

a lot about him,

but if you look

at chapter 5,

do you notice

at the end of that,

Cicero hasn't come home

and his mother

is worried.

His household

is worried.

Where is Cicero?

Why is he taking

so long

in coming back?

And do you see

what they tell themselves

to try to comfort themselves?

Well, he's only taking

so long

because he's so busy

gathering plunder.

And in verse 30,

are they not finding

and dividing the spoils

a girl or two

for each man?

The words that Cicero's mother

there uses for a girl,

it's literally womb.

Now,

this isn't Cicero speaking.

You understand,

this is his mother

speaking about him.

Tells us something

about Canaanite culture,

doesn't it?

This is what she hoped

her son was doing.

He was someone

who dehumanized

other people,

who dehumanized women,

who treated them

as nothing more

than sexual objects.

And this was the nature,

this and other things.

This was the nature

of his 20-year oppression

of the Israelites.

Cicero was a wicked man.

To try to think of it

in modern terms

in our own day,

a different

but similar example,

in 2011,

when U.S. Special Forces

finally found

where Osama bin Laden was.

And they engaged him

and Osama bin Laden

in the end of that

encounter.

He died.

We didn't feel sorry

for him,

did we?

Because he was

a wicked person

who was bent

on destruction

and created

an organization

that specialized

in killing

innocent people.

And when he died,

we thought,

well,

he got what he deserved.

When we read

through this account,

we need to recognize

that we are not

to feel sorry

for Cicero.

he got what

he deserved.

I think there are

two further considerations

when we encounter

this kind of thing

in the Old Testament.

First of all,

we need to keep in mind

that at this time,

for God's people,

there was the church,

if you will,

as an organization,

and there was the state,

and they were

the same thing.

For Israel,

there was no distinction

between the church

and the state.

So very often

in the Old Testament,

you see that those

people who were

leaders of God's people

ended up being

military leaders.

The Bible itself

is quite clear

that that is no longer

the case for us.

There is a distinction

between the church

and the state.

Those who are leaders

in the church

are not military leaders.

God's kingdom

is not to be

advanced

through military might.

There is a difference

in that sense.

We also need

to keep in mind

that as we read

these kind of accounts

in the Old Testament,

very often,

these pictures

of judgment,

the flood,

Sodom and Gomorrah,

what happened

to the Canaanites,

for example,

what happened

to Sisera,

typically,

these are presented

to us

as foreshadows

of a greater event.

One day,

every single person

will stand

before God.

we will give

an account

of our lives.

We have consciences,

that's testimony

to the fact

that we know

that that's true.

And God

will defeat

his enemies.

One day,

God will be victorious.

He will put to right

all the wrongs

of this world.

And these things

that we read,

for example,

with jail,

they aren't examples

for us

of what we are

to go out and do.

The Bible isn't here

teaching us

that we should go

and do something

like what jail

has done.

But this is

a picture to us

of God's

final judgment

over his enemies.

Even though

we are not

to do these things

ourselves,

it doesn't mean

that it has

nothing to teach us.

So,

God

will be victorious

in judgment.

Now,

that was true

in Judges chapters

Judges 4 · chapter mention

4 and 5.

God could expect

these people

to side with him.

He could expect

Barak to side with him

and Deborah

and jail

and the rest

because he was

victorious.

And if that was

true now,

it's still true

today.

There's,

I think it's

a striking passage

in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul

has arrived

in Greece

and he is there

making known

his gospel,

this message

that he presents.

And he's speaking

about what happened

in the life

of Jesus.

Jesus came,

he taught,

he performed

various miracles,

he was betrayed

by his enemies,

he was handed over

and crucified.

But then Paul

goes on to say

that God

has set a day

when he will

judge the world

with justice

by the man

he has appointed.

Now,

in the context,

that man is Jesus.

Now,

do you see

what Paul

is saying?

Paul is saying

that there will

be a day

of judgment.

There will be

a day when

God will be

victorious

over all

of his enemies.

Now,

that's a big

claim.

He says

that this

will happen

when Jesus

comes in judgment.

That's the man

that God

has appointed.

Now,

as Paul

proclaims this

message,

notice why

he expects

people to

believe this.

He doesn't

say,

well,

just take

my word

for it.

He has

given proof

of this

to all

men

by raising

him from

the dead.

Jesus

did truly

die,

but three

days later

Jesus was

raised from

the dead.

And one

of the points

that the Bible

makes with

regards to

that is

that Jesus'

resurrection

is proof

that he

is judge.

It's proof

that he

wins.

He will

come victorious.

Now,

that's good

news,

isn't it?

The hymn

that we

began with

tonight

is rather

striking

hymn,

isn't it,

the way

I've never

heard it

before,

speaking about

the darkness

and the way

the darkness

is heavy

upon this

world.

But that's

true,

isn't it?

We're told,

for example,

that there's

more slavery

and people

trafficking

now than

there has

ever been.

There is

much darkness

in this

world,

and sometimes

we experience

that in

our own

lives.

if God

will one

day come,

if he

will be

victorious

over his

enemies,

that's good

news,

isn't it?

But perhaps

not by

itself.

Because if

God were

only victorious

in judgment,

we might

wonder,

well,

what about

us?

Who among

us could

stand in

the presence

of this

God?

God.

But the

good news

is that

not only

does God

call you

to turn

to him

in light

of his

victory

in judgment,

he also

emphasizes in

his passage

that he

is victorious

in salvation.

If you

turn with me

back to

chapter 4.

After

Ehud died,

the Israelites

once again

did evil

in the eyes

of the

Lord.

Again,

if we

render that

slightly more

literally,

the passage

says,

the Israelites

once again

did evil

in the eyes

of the

Lord,

and Ehud

was dead.

Chapter 4

is echoing a

statement which

you will have

seen over and

over again,

haunt you.

Back in

chapter 3,

verse 7,

the Israelites

did what was

evil in the

eyes of the

Lord.

In chapter 3,

verse 12,

once again

the Israelites

did what was

evil in the

eyes of the

Lord.

And in

chapter 4,

we read the

Israelites once

again did

evil in the

eyes of the

Lord.

But Ehud

was dead.

They had

messed up

before,

but God

had sent

Ehud.

God had

sent this

man who

delivered them

from the

mess that

they had

created.

And as a

result of

that,

back in

verse 30,

we see that

the land had

peace for

80 years.

Such was the

impact of what

God did through

Ehud that it

lasted for 80

years,

more than one

person's lifetime.

But he's dead,

and they've

messed up

again.

hope for

hope.

And he might be

tempted to

think,

well,

what hope

is there

now,

honestly?

Maybe you've

gotten to that

point in your

own life.

Maybe you've

messed up again

and again

and again,

and you start

to think,

well,

what hope

is there for

me?

Well,

that's what we

get to at the

point of this

passage.

And in

verse 4,

in verse 3,

we see that

the Israelites

cried to the

Lord for help.

It's at this

point,

in the pattern

that's been

established in

the book of

Judges,

it's at this

point that you

expect to be

told that God

raised up a

deliverer for

them.

And what,

in fact,

we read is

that of

Deborah,

a prophetess,

the wife of

Lapidoth,

was judging

Israel at that

time.

Now,

at the risk

of sounding

sexist,

in their

culture,

if you're

facing military

oppression,

and you want

a military

leader,

what you

want is

not a

woman.

And yet,

that's who

we read

about.

And so,

you're still

left wondering,

what's going

to happen?

How are

these people

going to be

delivered?

Well,

then we

encounter

Barak,

but Barak

is less

than impressive,

isn't he?

And still

you're wondering,

is there

really any

hope for

them?

These people

really don't

seem to

measure up.

Barak doesn't

measure up to

the standard

of Othniel,

or Ehud,

for example,

the judges

that we read

about earlier

in the book,

and yet,

the point is

that God

responded to

his people,

and even

though the

situation

seemed hopeless,

and even

though at

first you

couldn't even

see how God

was going to

do anything,

there's a

lesson there,

isn't there,

in terms of

how we interpret

providence.

Often we're

perplexed by the

situation that we

find ourselves in,

and we think

it's somehow

wrong,

and we

forget what

God is able

to do,

and he can

do beyond

what we

would ever

imagine.

But through

these people,

as unlikely

as they

seemed,

through Deborah,

and through

Barak,

and through

Jael,

God did

save his

people.

God was not

only victorious

over his

enemies,

he also

saved his

people.

And that

is so

important for

us,

because it

is not

merely true

that God

is a God

of judgment.

It is not

merely the

case that

every person

will give

an account

of their

lives to

God,

to Jesus.

That is

true,

but if I

could quote

again from

the Apostle

Paul,

in another

passage,

Paul is

again speaking

about the

resurrection of

Jesus,

he says,

the one

whom God

raised from

the dead

did not

see decay.

That is

a reference

to the

fact of

Jesus'

resurrection.

And notice

the result

of that

in Paul's

thinking.

Therefore,

my brothers,

that is

because Jesus

has been

raised from

the dead,

I want

you to

know that

through

Jesus,

the forgiveness

of sins

is proclaimed

to you.

Through

him,

everyone who

believes is

justified from

everything you

could not be

justified from

by the

law of

Moses.

There is

hope for

us because

God is

victorious in

salvation.

Jesus was

raised from

the dead,

and that's

proof not

merely that

he will

come in

judgment,

but it

is also

proof that

Jesus is

the one who

is able to

forgive you,

even when

you have

once again

done evil

in the eyes

of the

Lord.

Again and

again and

again,

we find

that in

the book

of Judges,

these people

messed up

over and

over again,

but God

didn't write

them off.

And you

can know

that God

won't write

you off,

that you

can turn

to him

through

Jesus,

and he

will forgive

you all

of your

sins.

So,

God calls

you to

allegiance to

himself.

Through

his word,

he's telling

you tonight

that he

should be

the most

important

thing in

your life.

He's calling

you to

know him.

He's given

you reason

to do that

because he

is victorious.

In the

death and

resurrection of

Jesus,

God has

demonstrated that

he will be

victorious in

judgment and

also victorious

in salvation.

And so he

calls you to

know him.

Now,

my time

has gone,

I think,

really.

I would

like to

say very

briefly that

as we

look at

this passage,

that it

is a very

challenging

passage,

because going

beyond that,

it's not

merely enough

to profess to

be on God's

side,

is it?

That's a

point that's

repeatedly made

in this

passage.

We look

at Barak.

Barak isn't

really held up

as a positive

role model for

us,

is he?

We read

of Deborah

and Jael,

they're profoundly

different.

They are.

They respond

immediately to

God.

They take the

initiative.

This theme

carries on

into chapter

five.

Do you

notice that

on the one

hand,

there is praise

for those

who follow

God.

In chapter

five,

verse two,

note how it

speaks about

those who

willingly offer

themselves.

In verse

nine,

my heart is

with Israel's

princes,

with the

willing

volunteers,

among the

people of

God.

In verses

13 to

15,

it wasn't

actually just

those two

tribes.

We read in

chapter five

that there

were other

tribes that

went out

with Barak,

with Deborah.

Then the

men who were

left came

down to the

nobles,

people of

God.

Some came

from Ephraim,

Benjamin was

with the

people who

followed you,

and so

forth.

even in

verse 20,

even the

elements

sided with

God.

The heavens,

from the

heavens the

stars fought.

So you have

that on the

one hand.

On the

other hand,

notice in

verse 15,

partway through

the verse,

in the

districts of

Reuben,

there's much

searching of

heart.

Why did

you stay

among the

campfires to

hear the

whistling for

the flocks?

Gilead stayed

beyond the

Jordan, and

Dan, why

did he linger

by the

ships?

The tribe

of Dan had

their allotment

by the sea,

this telling

passage of

people frittering

away with

their boats,

other people

out literally

whistling after

sheep, trying to

ignore the fact

that anything was

going on.

Afterwards,

there was much

searching of

heart as

they realized

that they

hadn't done

anything.

Do you see

that there's a

challenge here,

not merely to

side with God,

but to live a

life that's

consistent with

that?

The passage is

teaching us that

it's not enough

merely to say

that we're

Christians,

it's not merely

enough to go to

church, that's

important, it's

not enough

merely to know

the Bible.

God calls us

to live a life

that's consistent

with that.

Now, I want

to conclude

very briefly

with one

practical point

as to how

we do that.

We all know

it's very

difficult to

do that.

It's easy

to be like

Barak.

It's easy to

know what God

wants us to

do and not

to do it.

We need to

remember that

Jesus has

come in

forgiveness.

We experience

forgiveness not

merely when we

first become

Christians.

We constantly

need to be

reminded that

Jesus is our

Savior.

But if we

take the

example of

Barak to

conclude with,

Barak wasn't

everything he

ought to have

been, was

he?

But at the

same time, he

wasn't a

complete disaster,

to be fair to

Barak.

He did

ultimately do

what he was

meant to do.

In chapter

five, he's

commended.

Verse one,

on that day,

Deborah and

Barak, son of

Abinuam, sang

this song.

Why is it

that Barak

turned out

better than

he might

have done?

That's because

of Deborah.

I think there's

a profound

point here.

We are not

to lead the

Christian life

on our own.

Because on

our own, we

would typically,

I would typically

make a mess of

my life.

But God

hasn't left us

on her own.

He has made

you part of a

congregation here

in Brunsfield.

And as

Christians, if

you are

Christians, if

you have

decided to

follow Jesus,

you have

responsibilities not

merely towards

God, but you

have responsibilities

towards one

another.

To challenge

one another, to

comfort one

another, to

encourage one

another.

So what is it

that you think

about when you

wake up in the

morning?

And what is it

that you think

about as you're

lying there on

your bed at

night?

God.

This passage is

telling us that

that thing, that

person, ought to

be our creator.

The God who has

revealed himself to

us through Jesus.

The God who is

victorious in

judgment, but also

the God who is

victorious in

salvation.

You bow your

heads with me as

we close in

prayer.

Our Father in

heaven, we thank

you that you

have given us

your word.

We pray that as

we leave here

that we would do

so knowing that

you have spoken

to us and we

ask that your

word would remain

with us.

We pray that we

would not be

people who merely

know your

word, but we

pray that your

word would touch

our hearts, be

at work within

us by your

Holy Spirit.

God, we ask

that you would

make Jesus to

be precious to

us.

May we marvel

that not only

did he die and

give his life in

our place, but

that on the

third day he was

raised from the

dead and that

because of his

resurrection we

have hope.

And so we pray,

Father, that

through him you

would be at work

within us by your

Holy Spirit.

We ask that you

would bless us as

your people, bless

this congregation

here in Brunsfield.

We ask that you

would be with

those whom you

have raised up as

leaders in this

congregation and

bless everyone

here connected

with it in all

of their various

different roles.

We pray that you

would enable them

individually and

as a people to

live a life that

honors you, to

live a life that

is a witness to

you and that

through this

congregation that

many more people

would come to

know you.

We ask, Father,

that you would

watch over us,

that you would

forgive us all

our sins, for

we pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.