09/03/2008
Judges 4:4 - 9 (HCSB) 4Deborah, a woman who was a prophet£ and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5It was her custom to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her for judgment.£
6She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the LORD, the God of Israel,£ commanded ëyouû: ‘Go, deploy ëthe troopsû on Mount Tabor,£ and take with you 10,000 men from the Naphtalites£ and Zebulunites?£ 7Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s forces, his chariots, and his army at the £Wadi Kishon£ ëto fightû against you, and I will hand him over to you.£’”
8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
9“I will go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the LORD will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
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Again, the Israelites had fallen away from God and had been conquered by a foreign king. King Jabin of Canaan had a commander of his army, Sisera, with 900 iron chariots. The people cried out to God and he spoke through Deborah the Prophetess to Barak to deploy an army against Sisera.
Barak hesitated, asking Deborah to accompany him. She agrees but states that the fame for winning this battle (which included executing the commander) would go to a woman. This would have been shameful for Barak as women never served in military roles.
Nonetheless, Barak deploys the Israelite army. God throws Sisera and his charioteers into confusion and things become co chaotic that Sisera, himself, abandons his chariot and flees on foot. He came to a tent of a family with which his king had a treaty. He hid in the tent, but while he was sleeping, the matron of the family drove a tent-peg through his temple killing him.
When Barak arrived, he found the dead commander, his victory had been given to a woman.
This is yet another interesting story from the Old Testament (found in Judges 4), but not one to be taken lightly or simply passed off as “just another battle.”
What we learn here is that God may call us to special tasks and when we are quick to answer, he may reward us with victories and fame. But if we hesitate or question Him, we miss out on the benefits.
Although Barak was called through Deborah, God, Himself, would be with Barak. But Barak did not have faith that God would be with him. Barak believed that God would be with Deborah, and so he reasoned that she should accompany him into the battle.
When God calls us to a task, He will surely be there with us. We must have faith that He will do what He has promised.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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