Judges 4

QUESTION: Wimps and Feminism - 1

ANSWER:

Judges 4 – Part 1

by Pastor Nathan Shepherd (Dive Chapel, Candle Key, Florida)

The band played “Awesome God” with an arrangement that bent toward classic rock. A young man named Charles Guy rapped the lyrics to the delight of the crowd. Four minutes into the song, the musical meter changed from guitar solo to a worshipful, slow, a cappella singing of the chorus. Charles handled the vocal transition masterfully.

Throughout the worship singing this Sunday morning, a rear screen projector showed huge, multi-colored images of underwater reef systems, courtesy of Reef Restoration Ministries. The effect was an amazing chronicle of what an awesome, cool, loving Creator we serve.

As the standing ovation for the band died down and people sat, Nathan Shepherd made his way to the floor in front of the stage. He laid his open Bible on the carpeted stage and walked across the concrete floor, adjusting his wireless mike.

“Wow, band, all I can say is awesome.” This brought another raucous ovation peppered with “Praise God” and “Thank You, Jesus”.

“Okay folks, this is women’s lib Sunday in Candle Key, right? Be honest, now, how many of you have read the text this week? Judges 4?” Through the chuckling, about seventy percent of the 200 or so people in attendance raised their hands.

“Very nice. That’s one thing we stand by here at the Dive Chapel, we read our Bibles! Let’s turn to Judges, chapter 4. If you’re new to our fellowship, it is a book of 21 chapters in the Old Testament. It’s the seventh book in the Bible, right after Joshua. So if you open up in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy, take a right turn.”

The turning pages sounded like a rushing wind. Nathan prayed that the LORD would bless their time of study and keep everyone’s eyes constantly upon Jesus.

“Before we get started, I always like to mention that we get together right here on Sunday nights at 6:30. We’ve got free pizza and cokes and water bottles. So come on out, sit on the floor and we’ll eat and discuss this mornings’ study. It’s a lot of fun.

“Okay. Let’s dive into the Word at Judges 4. As I mentioned earlier, God has raised up a woman to lead Israel. Why? In my opinion, it’s because the men were acting like wimps and idiots, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

“The theme we are tracking through Judges is that the children of Israel continue in cycles of sin. From joyfully serving God, to being tempted, to giving in to sin, to enslavement to sin, to going ‘hark!’ things used to be…, to full, all out, on your knees in sackcloth and ashes repentance and that leads back to joyfully serving God. Remember at the end of chapter 3, Ehud led the nation through 80 years of peace, joy and purpose. Chapter 4, verse 1 says that after Ehud died, ‘the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD.’ The key word there is A-G-A-I-N. I think we’ve established in the last few weeks that we, trying to live in the Promised Land of our salvation, are just like these Israelites. And if I’m reading this correctly, they did a swan dive into sin after their authority figure was gone. Our authority figure is Jesus and the way we hear from Him is by studying the Scriptures. If you are not in the Word, you are heading for a James 1:14 and 15 fall – just like the Israelites. I’ll let you guys look up James 1 on your own.

Judges 4 – Read Part 2!