"Be Prepared to Willingly Serve God - Deborah"

 Scripture:   Judges 4:1-16, Judges 5:1-3, 31  

Today’s lesson #3 from the Book of Judges is focused on the faithfulness of Deborah.  One of the  lessons that come from her dispels the myth that God doesn’t want women to exercise authority over men.  As a judge, she would have the unquestioned authority and responsibility to settle all matters of disagreement and legal action, including personal disputes, conflicts and questions over the law, and within it all, she would be the intermediary between Israel and their Jehovah God. 

 We read that as long as each judge lived, the nation knew peace, so it was a vitally important position for both the people individually, as well as the nation in general.  The presence of a judge brought the truth of God into the communities, and the divine word would guide them in faithful and fruitful living.  It would seem that a faithful leader is what every nation desperately needs to prosper – both then, and now, and throughout all time.

 Deborah was that kind of judge – strong, faithful, spirit filled, and God led.                                                                                                            

 Read Judges 4:1-3

 This is a fairly typical turn of events, isn’t it!  A Judge comes, he or she serves, Israel listens, peace reigns, the Judge’s life ends, and Israel returns to the old ways of sin, with another nation oppressing them until the next Judge appears on the scene!

 But in this instance, why would the LORD “sell” the nation to the Canaanite king?  Well, the word may not truly reflect the condition that Israel had found themselves in.  In Judges 2:20-22, we discover that Jehovah had allowed several nations in Canaan to survive, to be used to test Israel’s faith and obedience to the divine will.  This issue is repeated in Judges 3:1-6, and this text tells us that Israel failed the test.  Specifically, the men married Canaanite women, and the women married Canaanite men, both of which violated God’s call not to marry outside of the faith, and to never set up alliances with foreign kings.

 And here, cruel oppression became Israel’s plight once again.  The reference to “chariots fitted with iron” means that the enemy had the most modern of military weapons for that day, and knew how to use them effectively.  Israel would have suffered greatly under the heel of Jabin and his army, and this is the implication of being “sold” to your enemy.  You no longer have any control or influence over your own life.

 And after 20 years of struggle, they finally began crying out to their Jehovah God for the only help that could make a difference for them.

 Read Judges 4:4-7

 Deborah – a woman, a wife, a prophet, and one who also would command the leaders of Israel’s army through the word of God.  And before anyone thinks that it may be Barak who will be the judge, that he may be the one being called to serve through the LORD, remember that God speaks through Deborah, not anyone else!

 And the entire engagement is all laid out by Judge Deborah – gather an army from two specific tribes, go to Mount Tabor and wait, for Jehovah would be leading the enemy general, Sisera, to a specific place, where he, his chariots, and his troops would all go down to defeat.

 Now, it’s important to understand that this isn’t Deborah’s plan for victory – it is the LORD God Jehovah’s!  But our question may be this - why does God always seem to work through unusual and unexpected people, instead of through recognized leaders?  God could certainly have spoken directly to the general, but how many times do leaders want to take the credit for what God actually does?  But if the LORD works through a person who can never take the credit, then credit for the victory goes to the one who deserves it!

 That’s how God works!  He wants to include the faithful in His great plans, but He also wants us to give Him the honor for whatever may come our way.  And Deborah would.

 Read Judges 4:8-10

 Barak realizes that God isn’t speaking to and through him - that Deborah is God’s choice.  Deborah will be the field commander for the battle, and it will be God’s plan that will win the day.  And she tells the general that he will not be the one who will capture or kill the enemy leader, that it will be a woman.  But here’s a spoiler alert – it won’t be Deborah either! (Judges 4:16-22)

 Deborah agrees to Barak’s request, that she would accompany him and the army of Israel to the battle.  By the words of his request, Barak is acknowledging that he is certain that Deborah is God’s person, and he wants the LORD’s guidance to be their hope and power for this day. 

 There is a major degree of faith at work here.  Barak is confident that God is at work through Deborah, and Deborah is trusting that all that comes to her is divine will and word, and that nothing can happen to upset that will.

 How trusting are we when the LORD begins working through our lives, when the way seems uncertain to us, and the outcome is in doubt?  Do we move ahead, confidently and certain that God’s way can and will always succeed?  Do we completely trust in His way, even though it seems out of the norm and out of reach?  Barak and Deborah trusted completely.  Why don’t we?

 Read Judges 4:13-16

 Sisera would be considered the favorite of the day by any standard – he had the chariots, he had a large army, he had the upper hand.  But again, God speaks words of encouragement through His chosen Judge Deborah, Barak steps out against the odds, and when they do, they win the day.

 And God’s word continues to play out – the entire army is cut down, except for Sisera!  He escapes on foot, heading for his obvious encounter with the woman who was prophesized to be his downfall.  When we trust in the LORD, even the oddest turn of events will be our certain blessing.

 When I was originally invited to be part of a Kairos prison ministry team, I didn’t just hesitate – I actually asked God to let me out of this.  I didn’t want to go to the prison, because I didn’t have a clue as to how I could possibly be of any benefit to those men, and because I couldn’t think of any way I could relate to their situation.  But the LORD never gives up on us, and the only way out of His way is to deny His authority and call, which I wasn’t prepared to do.  He reinforced His desire that I join the ministry one morning during our prayer group meeting, and then later on my way to work, and I grudgingly consented.  It was a decision that would bless me over and over again for 10 years.

 Deborah and Barak would also know God’s blessing that day – not for what they did, but for what the LORD did through them.

 Read Judges 5:1-3

 These verses are the opening phrase of a passage known as the “Song of Deborah”, in which they remember all of the events that led up to Sisera’s demise at the hand of a woman, and every word was offered as a praise to the one, and only, and Almighty God.  And the last verse of Deborah’s reign as God’s Judge for Israel is this:

³¹ “So may all your enemies perish, Lord!   But may all who love you be like the sun  when it rises in its strength.”

 

Then the land had peace forty years.

 

This is all we know about Deborah, but there are some things that we can surmise about her and her life.

First, she lived another 40 years after this victory, so she must have been a young woman when the LORD called her to be a judge.

Second, we hear nothing about her private life, except that she was married.  But we can be fairly certain that she had several children, and grandchildren, and even more.

Third, since peace reigned for 40 years, this would probably have been her first and last major military involvement, so the remainder of her term as Judge would have consisted of more routine matters, nearly all of which required the obedience of the men who came to her for advice and decisions.

 

Deborah was a pretty normal woman, who God chose for a very important purpose.  But then, isn’t that what He does for each of our lives?

 

May the blessing and victory be so for all who love Him today!

 

(You can read the entire story of the victory for Israel, and the death of Sisera, at Judges 4:1-5:31)

 

Visit by Missionaries

There will be no sermon today as we have a visit from a missionary family who both churches support, and they will be presenting their experiences in Japan.

Many Blessings.

Pastor Bill

“Courage and Obedience – Ehud”

Scripture:   Judges 3:12-30 (selected)

Lessons from Judges, #2

 I believe that Courage and Obedience are two of the most important attributes that every Christian needs.  You might think that I would put faith at the top of every believer’s “to-do” list, but the truth is that faith must be immersed in our entire life, not just positioned as the first of many essentials. 

 But why “courage”?  Why “obedience”?  Why are these so important in our Christian life?  Can’t faith survive without them?  The truth is that the world is totally committed to their brand of life, and advocates for it with unrelenting tenacity!  So, if God’s way is to not only endure within us, but is to grow and flourish in our life, we had better be just as committed and just as strong in the way of heaven as they are in the ways of earth!

 Today, we consider the courage and obedience that one of the earliest judges exhibited, and how it led him to be exactly who the LORD needed him to be, in benefit to the children of Israel.

 Read Judges 3:12-14

 “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD…”  We aren’t told what this evil is, but it might very well be the worship of foreign and false gods, but at the very least, it could never be God’s way if Israel was being handed over to the power of a king who did not worship the LORD God Jehovah!  Talk about the appropriateness of the LORD’s justice!  And this is not some isolated and distant issue that we don’t have to worry about today.  In 1 John 2:15-17, we read ”Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”  It’s that age old issue of trying to be in the world and in the LORD at the same time, and it will never work out to our benefit!  Straddling the fence of faith is a losing effort, and this passage from 1 John 2 also tells us that this attempt “comes not from the Father but from the world.”.  And that is exactly where Israel was – looking to the ways of the world.

 When we try to set the world’s ways up as equivalent, or even compatible, with God’s, He will step back, and let us discover just how ridiculous our decision really is.  For Israel, the power and oppression of Moab drove home the point, and was reenforced even further through Moab’s alliance with the Ammonites and Amalekites.  And we also have to understand that when the LORD steps back from us, it doesn’t last for only a day of two – in Israel’s case, we read that subjugation and persecution lasted for 18 years! 

 Does it sound like enough time to really get a sense of what choosing the alternative to God’s way will do to you?

 Read Judges 3:15-19

 Apparently, it was enough time for Israel to come to their senses and to want to come back to their God!  So a new Judge is raised up for them – one who was left-handed.  It might be interesting to note that the Hebrew word Benjamin can be translated as “son of the right hand”, which might imply that Ehud was an unusual man who would soon be led to do unexpected things.  And since he was left-handed, he carried his sword on the right side of his body – an unusual place when compared to most warriors of that day, and he made an unusual weapon – short, about a foot and a half in length, and double edged.  And on top of that, it was hidden underneath his clothing.

 He had been chosen to carry an offering, or sacrifice, to the king, which gave him the perfect opportunity to also present God’s message to the one who had been carrying out the hateful vendetta against the LORD’s people.  We also read that after Ehud had delivered the tribute to Eglon, he passed by the stone idols that had been set up to honor the king’s gods.  But in opposition to the required custom, he never stopped to pay homage to them – he just sent his traveling companions on home, and returned to the court on the pretext of carrying a “secret message” for the king. 

 The “secret” nature of the message meant that it was for the king’s eyes and ears only, so all of the court’s attendants and advisors were dismissed from the throne room.  Ehud was now alone with the king, and God’s desire was about to be revealed.  The time for an end to Israel’s separation from the will of God was about to arrive.  The LORD God Jehovah had heard the people’s cry for help and was about to provide it through his chosen man Ehud.

 Israel had experienced their Jehovah Jireh’s provision throughout the years since Egypt, and should have known that He was always there for them.  Do we remember the nurturing He has provided for each of us?  Do we remember the loving kindness that led us to His side and way?  Do we remember His divine majesty that is ever before us, working for our good?  If we should ever forget, we may find ourselves in the same mess that Israel was in.  But if we don’t, if we always remember, we will never have a reason to feel that God has turned away from us!

 Read Judges 3:20-23

 And the “secret message” that God had for the Moabite king?  It apparently was “Here is My tribute to you – the sword of My justice.”  And the LORD’s judgment was upon him!  Courage?  I should say so!  For an Israelite to kill a foreign king in his own throne room was an act beyond all expectation, and to escape judgment from that nation was a slap in the face of Moab’s guards and military.

 We don’t read much about Ehud before his selection as God’s judge, but the courage and obedience that he showed toward the calling that Jehovah had placed upon this servant was certainly exceptional, to say the least.  There was no deviation from the assignment, no hesitation, no questioning of how it would be carried out – just following the mission as it was presented to him.

 If Ehud had asked for an explanation on how this plan was going to play out, it would certainly have been reasonable (from our point of view at least!), but there is no indication whatsoever that there was any doubt as to what was to happen on the part of God’s judge.  I don’t know about you, but there have been several times in the past when I seriously doubted God’s plan for my life, and how he intended to bring it all together!  But He always did, and in following His call, I was always blessed beyond measure.

 That is the way of our glorious King – never erring, never mixing anything up, always knowing the perfect way to include us in His will and way.

 Read Judges 3:26-30

 But the story doesn’t end with the death of Eglon – the nation of Moab would also discover that Jehovah God had a “message” for them, too!  The dominance that they had exerted over Israel would be reversed, and they would now be the ones to suffer.  And the point that those Moabite solders who Israel defeated were all “vigorous and strong”, can not be ignored.  The power of God, the power that He sends to us to carry out His plan in the world, is mighty beyond anything that the people of earth can ever develop, ever imagine, ever contrive, and their way will be nothing when compared to what the LORD can, and will, send down. 

 So it would seem that the courage that we are called to show doesn’t necessarily have to be our own, but simply to be what God provides to those who obey His unexpected and unimaginable call on our lives.  Obedience and trust are the key words for our lesson today.  We’ve all heard those 7 last words of the Church – “We’ve never done it that way before!” – they are devoid of faith and trust in God, and can never be the word for committed Christians!

 When we obey and follow, regardless of whether we understand or not, is all that will ever be asked of us, unlike the way that the people of this world act.  They need assurance, they need certainty, they need confidence, that their leaders will do things exactly in the way that we want them to.  But that will never be our Almighty God’s way – He is the LORD of the unexpected, the unimaginable, the unexplainable, and always, LORD of the perfect victory!

 Be part of His victory today by giving Him your trust, and obedience, and love, and everything else that you will ever need will be provided. 

Isn’t that a far better way than anything that we could ever come up with?