Judges 4 – Part 2

QUESTION: Wimps and Feminism - 2

ANSWER:

Judges 4 – Part 2

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

“Now, back to the woman leader of Israel. Her name was Deborah and for whatever reason, the people of Israel listened to her. She sat under a palm tree in the mountains between Ramah and Bethel and the people of Israel came to get her judgments. Now, imagine that, a lady, who we’ll see was a housewife in Israel -- just sits under a palm tree in the mountains all day and people come to her and obey what she decrees. Hmmm. That’s kind of fuzzy. How did she get authority? What was the reason? I’ll submit to you that it was the power of God, resting on a woman. It says in the text that she was a prophetess. The definition of a prophet in the Bible… do you guys remember what it is? You are a prophet if what you prophesy comes true. So, it would appear that Deborah gained her position of influence due to the fact that the Lord gave her prophecy that came to pass.

“The nation of Israel had been under oppression for twenty years from a king named Jabin. But the king let his army commander, a guy named Sisera, do the dirty work. This was a bad guy who had incredible weapons, including 900 iron chariots, which were like mobile and powerful tanks in today’s warfare.

“He oppressed the Israelites to the point that it says in chapter 5 that the roads of Israel were deserted at any time of day, everyday. The nation lived in fear, not of Yahweh, the Great God Almighty, but in fear of this army general of Canaan.

“Now Deborah hears from the Lord and sends for a dude named Barak. This guy is hanging out in a town called Kedeshnaphtali. It makes us wonder what the mascot for that high school would have been called.

“Barak comes to Deborah and she says, ‘It’s time. God is with us and He wants you to take 10,000 men and go toward Mount Tabor.’ Deborah has been told by God that He will draw Sisera’s army out and the Lord will bring victory. But Barak is a whiner, a chicken. He trembles in his boots and says, ‘I can’t do it alone. If Deborah won’t go with me, I’m not going to do it.’ As I said, beware when men act like wimps and idiots.

“So Deborah says she’ll go, but that Barak will not get the glory of defeating Sisera. The Lord decrees that a woman will defeat this hated military leader. So they go raise this huge army and march to Mount Tabor.

“Sisera and his army come charging out in their super rockin’ tanks – iron chariots in those days – thinking they are going to wipe out these upstart Israelites. The army, and we’ll use that term loosely, of Israel doesn’t even have iron weapons. It’s likely all they had in their hands were sticks and rocks. But they had something much, much more powerful than the mightiest tanks of that or any other day. They had the power and purpose of the LORD God Almighty.

Judges 4 – Read Part 3!