Judges 4-A woman, Deborah (Judges 4 and 5 only), is presented as a prophetess who is, as I see it, given the title of Judge by default (the absence of male leadership). This brings great controversy, not because I believe women are to be barefoot and pregnant but because God mandated men to lead. She knows it is not her position to lead the armies. She calls Barak (1 Samuel 12 and Hebrews 11) and informs him that God called him to fight the Canaanite army of King Jabin. His response is a disclosure on the character of the men in that area of that era. He doesn’t ask for God’s presence but asks for Deborah’s presence instead. She grants him that favor but insists, I believe, that his victory will not have glory because he insisted on her and not God to go with him. Yet, he is listed in the men of faith listing of Hebrews 11. These battles were in the north by the Sea of Galilee dealing with Naphtali and Zebulun, even though she was from the central region of Ephraim, think Samaria.
The battle ensues. God uses Barak to panic Sisera who flees. He runs to a tent of a descendant of Moses. A woman, as predicted in verse 9, becomes Sisera’s downfall. Jael invites him in for protection then slays him with a tent peg through the temple. Jabin and his arm of the Canaanite armies are done.
Judges 5 is a poetic rendering of Judges 4 with greater detail of who was and was not involved in the battle along with the angst of those involved. It mentions Shamgar who was given a sentence in Judges 3. Poetry is another genre that I enjoy, but not at this point; maybe later I will attempt a study on the poems of the Old Testament.
Looking at the pattern we see,
- Relapse: After Ehud died, the people did evil in the sight of God
- Retribution: Cruel oppression by the king of Canaan (Jabin) for 20 years.
- Repentance: The people cried to God to deliver them
- Rescue: Deborah, Barak and Jael defeated Sisera and his army
- Rest: 40 years of peace
God will get His work accomplished despite what we do but He chooses us to bring us blessings as we choose to obey Him. Whatever the cost of obedience, the blessing of doing His work will always go beyond it.
What is God calling you to do that you are wanting someone else to do for or with you? Should you be calling on Him to give you the power to do it yourself? Sometimes we use the excuse that we are not good enough, don’t know enough, or others in an attempt to switch the responsibility to others. If God calls us, He empowers and enables us to do His work.
Tomorrow we look at Judges 6-8 and the judge called Gideon.