Judges 4

Well, good morning. I invite you to take your copy of God's Word and turn to Judges chapter 4.

Judges 4 · chapter mention

In The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, Christian, the primary character, tells his companion the story of another allegorical character by the name of Little Faith.

Little Faith, on his journey to the celestial city, falls asleep for a time and upon waking is assaulted by three rogues who are called faint heart, guilt, and mistrust.

Allegorically, these all exist within this character, Little Faith.

They rob him and they leave him barely enough to finish his journey.

In Mark chapter 9, the father of a boy with an unclean spirit comes to Jesus and says,

Mark 9 · chapter mention

If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

And Jesus replies to him,

If you can, all things are possible.

For one who believes, immediately the father of the child cried out and said,

I believe, help my unbelief.

Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

Jesus subsequently heals the boy.

Little Faith's faith was small.

He was troubled by a lack of courage and trust, yet he reached the celestial city and was welcomed there.

The boy's father expressed a mixture of belief and doubt, yet the Lord of healing healed his boy.

Faltering faith.

Faltering faith.

Small faith, but sufficient faith.

Do you ever identify with these characters?

Feel like you are just barely hanging on?

I do at times.

In fact, you may notice in your bulletin that it says Judges chapters 13 through 16, which was the story of Samson.

Judges 13 · chapter mention

And I decided in this week I would rather study and consider the story we're going to see in Judges chapter 4 for my own sake.

Judges 4 · chapter mention

And so, in today's text, there's another character, little faith kind of character.

And I hope that our consideration of him, as it served my soul, will also be of great encouragement to your soul today.

So, Judges chapter 4, before I lead us in reading it, beloved, this is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good.

Judges 4 · chapter mention

And so, we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.

Judges chapter 4, beginning in verse 1.

Judges 4 · chapter mention

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died.

And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.

The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Heresheth Hagoyim.

Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron, and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for 20 years.

Now, Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim,

and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.

She sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kadesh Naphtali, and said to him,

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

Go gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun?

And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon,

with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand.

Barak said to her, If you go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.

And she said, I will surely go with you.

Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory,

for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.

Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh.

Excuse me, Barak.

I'm trying to say it differently than the president's name.

Barak.

And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kadesh,

and 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.

Now Heber, the Kenite, had separated from the Kenites the descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses,

and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Za'ananim, which is near Kadesh.

When Sisera was told that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up from Mount Tabor,

Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him,

from Heresheth, Hogoyim, to the river Kishon.

And Deborah said to Barak,

For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hands.

Does not the Lord go out before you?

So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.

And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword.

And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot.

And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Heresheth, Hogoyim,

and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword.

Not a man was left.

But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,

for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him,

Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me, do not be afraid.

So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.

And he said to her,

Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.

So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him.

And he said to her, Stand at the opening of the tent,

and if any man comes and asks you, is anyone here, say no.

But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand.

Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple

until it went down to the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness.

So cool.

So he died.

And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera,

Jael went out to meet him and said to him,

Come and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.

So he went into her tent, and there lay Sisera dead with a tent peg in his temple.

So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel.

And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan

until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Now I shared with you last week as we overviewed the book of Judges

that a pattern is presented in the text,

which is seen in today's chapter very clearly.

Number one, the people rebel.

There's the death of one of the judges,

and some time passes,

and the people rebel.

We see this in verse one.

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died.

So that's the first step in the pattern that we see.

Secondly, we see that God hands them over to the people of the land.

In this case, it's into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan,

who reigned in Hazor.

So there's this regional thing going on in the land at this time.

So it's likely this area that's under the command of Jabin the king.

And we see that he has a commander, a general by the name of Sisera,

and a mighty army.

And that's what's being communicated to us in verse three.

And the reason that people cry out for help

is there's this insurmountable army of 900 chariots of iron.

It was like the tanks of their day.

And we see that Jabin oppresses the people of Israel cruelly for a time of 20 years.

So that's the second step.

God in judgment hands them over to the people of the land.

Thirdly, we see that God shows them mercy by raising up a judge.

And in this case, most commentators agree two judges in the form of Deborah and Barak.

So you'll see them often in lists, Deborah slash Barak,

that they together were judging at this time

and delivering Israel from their oppressors.

Now in Hebrew, the name Deborah means to pronounce.

And we will see why that's such a fitting name for her in just a moment.

At this point, we're not going to focus most of our attention on Deborah today,

but rather on Barak.

But I want to address the egalitarian argument

that Deborah serving as a judge in the book of Judges

justifies women serving in the office of pastor.

We believe that the office of pastor or elder, same word, congruous,

is reserved for qualified men.

And both of these stipulations are important.

Men, but not just men, but qualified men, are to hold the office.

And today is not for a sermon on that in particular,

but this is what we believe the office is meant to who it is meant to be held by.

Deborah is undoubtedly used of God in this instance in Israel's history.

Women generally have been and are most certainly used by God in the life of His church.

We have every reason to be incredibly thankful for the beautiful ways

that the women of our church are vital to the function of our church.

Very important to be sure.

Ladies, we are extremely grateful for you.

But it is reckless hermeneutics that want to draw parallels

between the office that Deborah holds here and the church office of pastor.

So I just want to take that off the table for us.

Deborah, in this episode, is the person of greater faith.

She is more to be emulated in this chapter.

We're going to focus, as I said, much of our attention on Barak today,

but not for his superior faith, but rather his weakness of faith.

Of interest and perhaps in clever juxtaposition,

the Hebrew name Barak means lightning.

So this general of Israel's army, General Lightning,

will need the prompting of Deborah to carry out God's purpose for him.

I think that's meant to be striking, especially to readers of Hebrew,

that this guy, General Lightning,

Deborah has to approach and remind him of what God had said to him.

So that was the third step.

God shows mercy to his people by raising up a judge.

Fourthly, the judge, by God's help, delivers the Israelites,

and they have rest.

And so we see that in verse 23 and 24.

On that day, God subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the people of Israel.

Earlier in the chapter, we see that the people are routed,

and I wish we had more storyline there to understand how it is that those people were conquered.

But I think the point where our fixation is supposed to be is that God accomplished it.

The details of exactly how they fought that battle are not terribly important.

What is important is that God did that work,

these 10,000 men against this mighty army with these 900 chariots of metal.

So on that day, God subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the people of Israel.

And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin, the king of Canaan,

until they destroyed Jabin, king of Canaan.

And then, at the end of chapter 5, which records a song sung by Deborah and Barak,

we read,

And the land had rest for 40 years.

So we see that cycle once again.

The judge, by God's help, delivers the Israelites,

and they have rest.

But then, the last step, the judge dies,

and the people return to their wickedness.

Remember, I read to you in verse 1, right?

It was Israel again being wicked because Ehud had died.

And then we see in Judges chapter 6 and verse 1,

Judges 6 · chapter mention

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

And the Lord then gives them into the hand of Midian,

and the cycle goes round and round.

So there is this framework re-presented to you and seen clearly in chapter 4.

I also want you to remember the repeated stanza toward the end of the book.

In those days, there was no king in Israel.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

You see this in places like Judges 21 and verse 25.

Israel needed a king.

This reality is temporally fulfilled in the ascension and reign of King David.

We talked about this a little bit last week.

Saul was given to them as the king that they deserved,

and he did not serve them well.

They were meant to wait on the Lord

and have the king that he intended for them to have,

which we see temporal fulfillment in King David.

But ultimately,

we see this fulfillment in the ascension and present reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

David was always meant to show God's people

a greater king that would come

and have an imperishing reign.

The totality of the Old Testament speaks of promises made.

The totality of the New Testament speaks of promises kept.

Let's not forget this morning,

as we look at this story with minds toward Barak,

that this book speaks loudly to us of Christ.

The failings of the people are meant to show us

we need a savior and a king who will reign forever.

At the beginning of this chapter,

after the introduction of the oppression that Israel is experiencing,

we are introduced to Deborah,

who is working at the task that we more readily associate

with the title of judge.

We see most of the judges are just coming in there slaying the enemy,

but here we see her,

this prophetess,

this wife of Lapidoth.

Lapidoth,

the Hebrew actually means of Lapidoth,

so maybe a city,

but here it's translated the wife of Lapidoth,

was judging Israel at that time.

And we get some clarification on that in verse 5

as she sits under a palm that's named after her,

her palm tree,

the palm of Deborah,

between Ramah and Bethel

in the hill country of Ephraim.

And the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.

They were coming to her and bringing her questions.

Help us to settle this matter between us,

and this is what she is doing.

I mentioned a moment ago that in Hebrew,

the name Deborah means to pronounce.

Additionally,

we see her called a prophetess.

And I think the significance of the name

and the role are made evident to us

in the next two verses.

Notice what she does at the beginning of verse 6.

She sent and summoned Barak,

the son of Abinoam from Kadesh Naphtali.

She brings him to her and says to him,

Has not the Lord,

the God of Israel,

commanded you,

go gather your men at Mount Tabor,

taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali

and the people of Zebulun,

and I will draw out Sisera,

the general of Jabin's army,

to meet you by the river Kashan

with his chariots and his troops,

and I will give him into your hand.

Deborah brings Barak before her

and does not tell him something new.

She's not received a word from the Lord

that she's now passing along to him.

She's asking him a question.

Didn't God say,

Do such and such,

and I will accomplish?

Hasn't God commanded you to do something,

promised your success in the carrying out of the task,

and yet you have not done it?

That's the implied question that hangs there at the end.

Barak,

General Lightning,

has failed to believe God's word.

God himself has spoken this word to him,

and nothing has happened.

And this is why Deborah summons him

and asks him this question.

We have no indication of how much time has passed

between God speaking to Barak

and Deborah speaking to Barak.

But it has been enough time

that God is using Deborah

to prompt Barak to action.

Why has Barak failed to believe God's word?

I suggest to you that he is being driven by fear.

He's observing the state of the enemy.

He is saying,

How could it be possible

that God would do this thing for us?

Because look,

they have 900 chariots of iron.

There's this cruel oppression going on

we see in verse 3.

And Barak doesn't believe

that God will,

in spite of that,

deliver his people.

At this point,

we want to think Barak

so ridiculous.

God has made a promise.

Why are you afraid, Barak?

I want to wag my head at him

for the shame of his weak faith.

But you and I,

we are just like Barak.

I really desire to identify more readily

with Deborah or with JL.

But in this story,

in this chapter,

I am most like Barak.

You are most like Barak.

We have a record of promises made

and promises kept.

We have clear commandments given to us

and yet we fail to believe God's Word.

We are prompted by others.

The reading of the Bible

or a good book explaining the Bible.

The counsel of a dear, wise friend.

The hearing of a sermon.

Barak's faith was small.

He expressed this further

in his response to Deborah.

Barak said to her,

this is a striking verse,

if you will go with me,

I will go.

But if you will not go with me,

I will not go.

So just on the very surface, right,

Barak has been given a commission,

a charge by God,

and a guarantee of success.

There's no doubt about God's Word there.

He will accomplish this task.

I will give him into your hand,

is what God says there in verse 7.

And the response in verse 8

is if you will go with me, Deborah,

I will go.

But if you will not go with me,

I will not go.

It's an astounding little faith response.

But it's even more so that

if this phrase draws your mind

to another time

that a similar thing was said.

Back in Exodus chapter 33

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

in verse 15,

this is after the golden calf incident,

and there's some interaction

between Moses and God

and some reissuing of promise.

And then Moses says to God

in verse 15,

if your presence will not go with me,

do not bring us up from here.

Moses' request there

is a good and legitimate one.

It has as the proper object of faith

God Himself.

And I think this record of Barak's response

is meant to draw out that juxtaposition.

Little things are supposed to fire off

in our brain and go,

whoa, whoa, whoa.

This is not an act of faith at all.

In whom is Barak trusting?

He seems to be placing his faith in Deborah

rather than the God

who issued the command

and who made the promise.

His request is even more shameful

when you consider that Deborah is a woman.

If you were to read

the biblical narrative through,

you would remember in Joshua chapter 1,

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

and verse 14,

the following command.

Your wives,

your little ones,

and your livestock

shall remain in the land

that Moses gave you

beyond the Jordan.

But all the men of valor among you

shall pass over

armed before your brothers

and shall help them.

It's an aside,

but it's the shame of a nation

when it sends its women

to fight its wars.

If you're reading this narrative through,

right,

if you're seeing this very command given,

the men were meant to go

and conquer the land

back in Joshua 1 and verse 14.

They failed to do that task,

and now we see

this general,

Barak,

general lightning,

requesting that Deborah

go with him

to the war.

And astute readers

should see both Barak's

lack of faith

and his subsequent request

as so shameful.

But beloved,

we do the very same thing.

We fail to believe God's word,

and we look to alternative means

to see his promises fulfilled,

rather than just trusting

that our God,

who has spoken,

will do exactly

what he said

he will do.

Now,

in spite of all that,

in spite of that small faith

of Barak,

he goes up.

He goes.

And God is faithful

to his word.

We see in verse 15,

And the Lord routed Sisera

and all his chariots

and all his army

before Barak

by the edge

of the sword.

So they fight.

We see the evidence of that,

right?

The sword itself

is taking place,

but the emphasis is placed

on the Lord

doing this work.

How is it possible

if they defeated him?

I don't know.

Again,

I wish we had the details,

but we're meant to see

that it's God himself

who accomplished it.

God uses Barak's

small,

but sufficient faith

and accomplishes his purpose

on behalf

of his people.

However,

this is not without

its temporal judgment

on Barak.

Remember,

back in verse 9,

Deborah says,

I will go with you,

nevertheless.

The road on which

you are going

will not lead

to your glory.

This small faithness

for the Lord

will sell Sisera

into the hand

of a woman.

And we see that

to be the case

in just a few

short verses.

Barak is denied

the praise

of defeating Sisera

because,

as we read,

it is J.L.

who deals

the final blow.

It's an incredible account

and it's just one

of my favorites.

The Bible is full

of stories

that eclipse

the fiction

of our days.

We have

limitless resource

to make great movies

from the Scripture.

But I want to leave off

this account

at this point.

There's much that can be said

about it.

But I want to leave it off

with this

weak,

sufficient faith

of Barak

in mind

and take you

elsewhere

in the Bible.

So if you will,

please join me

in Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

I just want to pick up

the last verse

of Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

So verse 39

and then we're going

to read a little bit

into chapter 11.

The book of Hebrews

is being written

to encourage

those Christians,

this little church

we believe

is meeting out

on the outskirts

of Rome,

largely made up of,

perhaps not exclusively,

but largely made up of

Jewish converts

to Christ.

They had suffered much.

We see the evidence

of that throughout

the pages of the book

of Hebrews.

Hebrews.

And it's meant

to press them on.

And so in verse 39,

the author of Hebrews

says,

we are not of those

who shrink back

and are destroyed,

but of those who have

faith

and preserve

their souls.

And then he defines

faith in chapter 11

and verse 1.

Now,

faith

is the assurance

of things

and the conviction

of things

not seen.

It's a confidence.

What we hope

will come to pass,

what God has said

will come to pass,

will in fact

come to pass.

For by it,

verse 2 says,

the people of old

received their commendation

or you could think

approval.

They were accepted

by that faith

in the promises

of God.

And the author

of Hebrews

then runs

a litany

of examples

of faith.

You may have

heard this called

the hall of faith.

Like you would picture

walking down it

and there's pictures

of these individuals

hung on the walls

as you walk down it.

Again,

meant to strengthen

this poor,

beleaguered

little church.

People with a

small faith.

They're being encouraged

throughout this

chapter.

And he lists off

a bunch of

different people

but then in

Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

and verse 32,

read with me

what he says,

and what more

shall I say?

For time

would fail me

to tell

of Gideon,

Barak,

Samson,

Jephthah,

of David and Samuel

and the prophets.

The author lists

four judges

from the book of Judges.

He lists

four of them.

He could have selected

any of the judges

or any other characters

for that matter.

There's a bunch of

characters of faith

in the scripture.

But as he's saying,

I don't have time

to talk in total

about these people.

In all of this,

this great list

of faith,

Barak.

Not Deborah.

Not J.L.

But Barak.

Of all people

makes this list.

And I am convinced

that his name

sits there

in Hebrews 11

to encourage

our small

but sufficient

faith.

I need Barak

to sit in

Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

and go to this story

and see this man

who just seems

to barely pull it off.

The power of the army

at his fingertips.

The promise of God

that Cicero

would be delivered

into his hands

and yet he waits

for Deborah

to prompt him

to promise

to go with him

and then

he finally

acts.

And we see

that God does

exactly what

he said

that he would do.

and then we find

him in Hebrews 11

being mentioned

as a man

meant to spur

us on

to further

faith.

I am so glad

this connection

was made

in my mind

as I was

reading through

the judges

and preparing

for this.

I know that name.

Somewhere else

in the Bible.

Somewhere else

I've seen the name

Barak.

Where?

And here it was

sitting right here

in verse 32

of Hebrews 11.

Beloved,

the life of Barak

ought to be

of great encouragement

to our souls.

Not because he's

some massive hero

of the faith.

Let's all be

like Barak.

No,

but rather

because God

is so gracious

to his people

even in his

people's

weakness.

Barak should

encourage our souls

and the author

of Hebrews

agrees.

He goes on

in chapter 12

verse 1.

Therefore,

since we are

surrounded by

so great

a cloud

of witnesses

including

this Barak,

let us lay

aside every

weight and sin

which clings

so closely

and let us

run

with endurance

the race

that is set

before us.

Let us

be encouraged

by the little

faith of Barak

who acted

all the same

in all of

his weakness

and God

accomplished

his task

through him.

The author of

Hebrews doesn't

leave us off

there.

He takes us

on to verse 2.

Not looking

to Barak,

I think we

could read here,

but rather

looking to

Jesus.

The man

of perfect

faith,

the founder,

the establisher,

and the

perfecter

of our faith.

Who for the

joy that was

set before

him endured

the cross

despising the

shame and

is seated

at the right

hand of the

throne of God.

And so if we

have for us

this Jesus

that's gone

before us,

who lived

the perfect

life that we

needed,

died the

death that

we deserved

and is

seated at

God's right

hand now.

And we

are being

cheered on

by all

of them.

And so

there's a

single application

for today.

Often I start

out sermons

by telling you

what the

points are

going to be.

You notice

I did not

do that.

There's one

single point.

All of us

at times are

going to

struggle with

our faith.

Do we

believe that

the things

that God

has said

to be

true are

in fact

true?

And do we

orient our

lives in

accordance

with it?

And we

should be

greatly

encouraged

by the

life of

Barak,

mentioned in

this great

list of

people of

faith.

That work

that God

has begun

in us,

he will

bring to

a close

at the

day of

Christ.

Press on,

dear

Christian.

The celestial

city is

closer than

you think.

Let's pray

together.