It really is. We will never be a mega church. We're not near I-94 and we don't have a parking lot.
So, you have to make yourself available so that people can get to you.
Where is that in the Old Testament? The city gate.
The city gate is where everybody went in and out.
That was the busiest place. That's where the markets are.
That's where people sat to gossip. That's where people visited.
And yet, if she wants business, she should be in the city gate or near the city gate.
But where did she pitch her tent? Where did she minister from?
Verse 5. She held court under the palm of Deborah between Wama and Bethel.
She was in the middle of nowhere.
Not easily accessible. There isn't a lot of traffic.
There isn't roads that would go there.
She was in the middle of nowhere.
And yet, that's where she held her court.
And I would have thought the business will die in no time.
But now, people came and wanted to have her settle their disputes.
She was going to decide their disputes.
The next thing you should notice is this.
I'm trying to show you how odd a woman she is.
The next thing that you should notice is that of the judge, Othniel, it says the spirit came upon him.
Of Gideon, it says the spirit of the Lord came upon him.
Of Samson, the spirit of the Lord came upon him.
Jephthah, the spirit of the Lord came upon him.
Interestingly enough, nothing is said about the spirit of the Lord coming on either Ehud or on Deborah.
I would have seen that pattern that judge after judge after judge after judge.
Their ministry began with the spirit of the Lord coming upon them.
But here, nothing is said.
On the other hand, she's the only prophetess.
And you assume that the spirit of the Lord came upon her because she's a prophetess.
But perhaps in a different way.
Not to be a military leader.
Not to lead the army.
This is not John Dark, you know, leading the French, you know, the woman of Orleans.
That's not that.
This is a woman.
And nothing is said about military might, skills, being ambidextrous, you know, one of the knights of the round tables.
None of that.
So what was her power?
Why would anybody come to her and seek her?
Let me ask you a related question.
One of the things that saddened me this week is this.
I felt sad this week.
Maybe you'll sympathize with me.
I have been a naturalized citizen in this country for almost 50 years.
Not quite.
I was a naturalized citizen for almost 50 years.
45 to be exact.
The Congress has never invited me to speak in Washington, D.C.
I am waiting for Boehner.
Well, now he's gone.
I'm waiting for somebody else to say,
Massouh, would you like to address the Congress?
They obviously don't think worth anything of my opinions.
So the Pope comes from Italy and guess what?
First visit.
He hasn't been here 50 years, has he?
And he gets a visit?
And I've been living here 50 years and I get nothing?
Why would they invite him and not invite me?
What is it that the Pope has?
It can't be military might.
We're not worried about him the same way we are thinking about Iran
or perhaps North Korea.
If you go to the Vatican, you see soldiers with archaic weapons,
dressing uniforms that were presumably designed by Michelangelo.
And all the soldiers look like,
I mean, they're great for photography and postcards,
but they couldn't find Mickey Mouse.
You know?
So we're not exactly afraid of the Vatican army.
They're not going to invade us.
What are we worried about?
Their economy?
Well, most of their economy is tourism.
This is not China.
You know, the president of China shows up in Seattle
and all the company chairmen go visit him.
So it's not the economy.
What is it?
Is it great universities?
There are great, good universities in Rome,
but not in the Vatican.
So what is the power that he has?
Why is he an important person?
Why is it that when he speaks,
the cathedral fills completely?
And you have to assign tickets for people to sit?
It's his moral character.
He is seen as an honest man,
as a godly man,
as a spokesman for God.
He certainly is seen like that by the Catholic Church.
Why is Deborah sought after?
Because she is a prophetess.
She is a prophetess.
Not because her high IQ,
not because she graduated summa cum laude from Harvard,
not because she speaks 12 languages,
but because she is a prophetess.
But prophetism is a tricky business.
I became a Christian in California during the 60s.
60s was a tumultuous decade.
It really was wonderful.
I wish it would come back.
You know, I really do.
But, you know, there was the war in Vietnam.
There was the Equal Rights Amendment.
Kennedy was assassinated.
Then his brother Robert was assassinated.
Martin Luther King, Malcolm X.
It was a tumultuous decade.
And in the middle of all of that chaos,
there was a huge Jesus movement.
There was a huge Jesus movement.
And I met, after I became a Christian,
I met several people who were in this Jesus movement.
And some were charismatic and some were not.
And so some of my friends who were charismatic
wanted me to come and worship with them.
And I was more than happy to do that.
And so I was a young believer.
I couldn't tell what was going on.
I certainly couldn't pass judgment about anything.
So somebody would stand up and give a word of prophecy.
And somebody else would get up and give a word of prophecy.
And somebody else would get up.
And some of them sounded just like verses.
You know, somebody is quoting a passage
and saying it's a prophecy from God.
Others were saying silly things like,
let's have dinner with McDonald's.
You know, you don't need to give a prophecy to go to McDonald's.
And some of them were, you know,
as a young believer, I couldn't really tell
whether was that really God or not.
Hopefully I can now.
But it is something to think about.
So, this woman, who is a prophetess,
goes to a leader by the name of Barak
and look at verse 6.
She sent for Barak, son of Avinuam,
from Qadesh in Naphtali and said to him,
the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you,
go take with you 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulon
and lead the way to Mount Tabor.
I was trying to make a decision when I was in my 20s.
Do I stay with philosophy and get a PhD in philosophy
and teach philosophy,
or do I go into Christian ministry?
What made that decision easy is that I was single.
And so I thought to myself,
if I made the wrong decision,
it doesn't matter.
You know.
I only have to feed my own mouth.
But if I had a family, for example,
with four children,
I would look at it in a totally different way.
I have to feed my wife,
I have to take care of my children,
I have to take care of myself.
So, to make a decision for a family
is harder than making a decision
for a single person.
Barak now has to make a decision
for 10,000 people,
10,000 soldiers.
What if he's wrong?
Is he willing to accept
the massacre of 10,000 persons on himself?
How can you tell
whether she's telling the truth or not?
Maybe she's just being patriotic.
Maybe she's moved by hate for the Canaanites.
Or maybe she is bringing a word from God.
But things like that are difficult
to know how to deal with.
I remember this.
I mean, this is one of the turning points in my life.
I came to Trinity for one year
because I had studied philosophy
and was going to finish my doctoral dissertation
and knew a whole lot about philosophy.
And I was a very young believer
and knew practically nothing about Christianity.
So one of my professors says,
take a sabbatical, go to Trinity,
learn as much as you can,
and then come back.
And this way, at least,
you will satisfy both desires,
both academic desires,
philosophy and scriptures.
So here I am at Trinity
and the dean, Dr. Kenneth Konser,
says to me,
I really, really believe
God wants you to teach Old Testament
rather than philosophy.
And I said,
yes, but I've spent seven years,
I've paid seven years of tuition
for philosophy
and now you want me to go into Old Testament?
He said,
I am so sure of that
that I will give you a job
the day you graduate.
So here, here it is.
The person that I admire most,
that I respect most,
is telling me,
change your career.
Drop philosophy,
go into Old Testament.
Do I believe him?
Maybe he's saying,
get out of love for me
rather than because
it's a word from God.
So here,
this woman comes to Barak,
whose name, by the way,
is Lightning,
and says to him,
take these 10,000 soldiers
and go to battle.
Is she patriotic?
Is she excitable?
Why should she do anything?
Why should she tell him that?
Why should he do anything?
And he has to make a decision.
So,
I mean,
it would help
if God gives him a sign.
You know,
the sun stands still.
Or,
you know,
10 plagues,
or something like that.
I mean,
that would help.
So,
he says to her,
in verse 8,
Barak said to her,
if you go with me,
I will go.
But if you don't go with me,
I won't go.
How should we take that passage?
There are various ways
of reading it.
One way,
the way that most people take it,
and it probably is true,
is,
I'm afraid.
I don't want to go alone.
But if you come with me,
I'll go.
I remember something very similar
when I was in seminary,
taking a course in evangelism.
I needed to evangelize.
I needed to witness to people.
And I wasn't sure where to do that.
And one of my friends says,
let's go to this area in Chicago.
And so,
I looked it up to see what area it is.
And it was a fairly dangerous area in Chicago.
And he said,
let's go witness there.
So,
I said to him,
if you go with me,
I'll go.
But if you're just sending me alone,
I'm not going.
I was afraid.
However,
let's try this one.
There is a,
there used to be a professor at Trinity
who was a millionaire.
He made his first million
when he was 27.
And we were good friends.
And so,
I asked him one day,
how do I make my first million?
And he said,
invest in this company.
So,
I said to him,
have you invested in this company?
And he said,
no.
Barak may be saying to her,
if you are willing to risk your life,
I'm willing to risk my life.
But I'm not willing to risk my life
all by myself.
So,
in any case,
he decides to go
to battle.
The battle is not easy.
because if we go to
the beginning of this passage,
verse 3,
chapter 4,
verse 3,
because the enemy had
900 iron chariots.
If I have a sword
and they have a chariot,
who's going to win?
And iron chariots,
not just wooden chariots
like the Egyptians,
but iron chariots.
The one who has the superior weapon
almost always wins.
I remember a famous case,
the siege of Vienna.
The Ottomans had invented
these very,
very heavy guns,
and they were going to use it
to smash
the city walls of Vienna
and conquer the city.
But they didn't.
Why?
I'll tell you in just a minute.
Because it's the same situation here.
If you are my generation,
or if the word
Indiana Jones
mean anything to you,
there's that famous scene.
one of the guys
who's going to kill
Indiana Jones
has his sword,
and he is
doing all these
things with the sword,
and he's,
you know,
and we're thinking,
boy,
he's going to make him
a barbecue chicken,
and Indiana
takes out his revolver,
boop,
and he drops.
Superior weapon,
superior,
easier victory.
So to go to war
is risky.
The enemy
has superior weapon.
And so
we have this problem.
How is God
going to deal
with this problem?
God has to deal
with Barak's hesitation.
Now he has to deal
with the inferiority
of the Hebrew army.
So he led them
to Mount Tabor,
and they were
on the slopes
of Mount Tabor,
and the chariots
were underneath them.
There on top,
the chariots
at the bottom.
In Western movies,
who do you want
to be on top,
and who do you want
to be on the bottom?
Who's easier
to shoot at?
Shooting up
or shooting down?
So they had them.
They had them.
But the reason
that the enemy
did not pursue them,
because if you start
to go up a slope,
you can't maneuver.
But if it's a plane,
if it's a plane,
flat plane,
you can maneuver
all you want to.
You can run
in every which direction.
And what happened
is that these heavy,
mighty chariots
were caught
in a flood.
It rained
and rained
and it turned
completely mud.
What happened
at Vienna
was the same thing.
It rained
for a month,
and these heavy guns
couldn't be pushed.
So they had to
abandon them
so the score
was even.
You may be interested
to know
that in 1799,
Napoleon's army,
the French army,
and the Ottoman army
were at the same spot
facing each other
and guess what happened?
It rained
and rained
and the Ottoman army
was neutralized
and Napoleon won.
The very same spot.
So,
what does God
do
to neutralize
the enemies?
God uses
nature.
Does he ever
use nature
before?
How about
at the Red Sea?
here come
the chariots,
the sea parts,
the sea closes
and there's
your Egyptian army.
What about
at Jericho?
They march
around the city,
they don't even attack
and the walls
collapse.
Maybe God knows
how to overcome
obstacles.
And in this
case,
flood.
It rained
and they were
caught in the mud.
And once
they were
caught in the mud,
so,
look at
verse 17.
Sisera,
the commander,
Sisera,
however,
fled on foot
to the tent
of Yael.
The reason
he fled
on the foot
and he left
the chariots
behind
because he
couldn't use
the chariots
anymore.
They were
caught in mud.
And so,
he on foot
seeks refuge.
He went
to the tent
of Jael,
the wife
of Heber.
Heber means
ally.
And Jael
means
goat,
little goat.
So,
Sisera,
however,
fled on foot
to the tent
of Jael,
the tent
of the little goat,
the wife
of Heber,
the Kenite,
because there
was friendly
relations
between Jabin,
king of Hazor,
and the clan
of Heber,
the Kenites.
So,
he says,
we have a good
relationship.
I can seek refuge.
I can hide there.
They won't catch me.
And so,
she will give me
shelter.
And so,
he is seeking
shelter in a tent
of an ally.
But the question,
of course,
is ally of whom?
Whose ally
is she?
So,
verse 19,
mothers understand
this very well.
I don't even have
to explain it.
Verse 19,
I am thirsty,
he said,
please give me
some water.
She opened
a skin
of milk,
gave him
a drink,
and covered
him up,
either to conceal
him or to
make him warm.
And he says to her,
stand in the doorway
of the tent,
he told her.
If someone comes
by and asks you,
is anyone here?
Say no.
First of all,
she gave him
milk.
What milk
do we drink
in the Middle East?
Not,
not cows,
not,
you know,
we don't have
cowboys,
you know,
we have either
goats or sheep.
It is not
sheep,
it is
goats.
The milk
that you drink
in the Middle East
is from goats.
So,
a woman
whose name
is goat,
little goat,
gives him
milk.
Secondly,
why doesn't
she give him
water?
milk do
to somebody
who is tired
that water
does not?
Makes him
sleepy.
So,
she wanted
him to go
to sleep.
Why?
Is she that
concerned about
his health?
Apparently not.
and so,
verse 21,
Gail,
Khabar's
wife,
picked up
a tent peg
and a hammer
and went
quietly to him
while he was
fast asleep,
exhausted.
She drove
the peg
through his
temple
into the
ground
and he
died.
the verb
to drive
the peg
through his
temple
is the
same verb
as Ehud
stabbing
Eglon
with a knife.
It's the
same verb.
Taqaa.
And so,
she killed him.
Look at this.
How does
Ehud
kill the
king?
They are
privately
together.
Nobody is
there.
and the
king
trusts him
that he
has a
message from
God.
How does
she kill
their
private
together
in the
tent
and he
trusts her?
It is
interesting
that just
as nothing
is said
about the
Holy Spirit
of Deborah,
nothing is
said about
the Holy
Spirit
of Ehud.
So,
maybe they're
supposed to
go together
as a pair
to be seen
as a study
in comparing
and contrasting
of how
one way
that God
works.
So,
the enemy
is killed.
Three things
I want you
to notice.
Back
in the
beginning,
look at
verse
8.
Barak
said to
Deborah,
if you
go with
me,
I will
go.
But if
you don't
go with
me,
I won't
go.
Very well,
Deborah
said,
I will
go with
you.
But because
of the
way you
are going
about this,
the honor
will not
be yours.
For the
Lord will
hand
Sisera over
to a
woman.
If I
stopped here
in the
story and
you asked
me,
who is
that woman?
I could
swear on
a stack
of Bibles,
it's Deborah.
That's the
only woman
in the
story so
far.
So,
I'm
thinking,
who's
going to
do it?
Deborah.
I'm
looking
forward for
her to
do it.
And it's
not Deborah,
it's
Jael.
We think
we know
who God
is going
to use
and maybe
God decides
to use
somebody
else.
I don't
want to
hurt anybody's
feelings.
I really
don't.
I'm not
trying.
But we
think we
need a
secretary
for the
church,
so guess
whom we
ask to
serve as
a
secretary?
Someone
whose job
is a
secretary.
Why?
It makes
sense.
We need
a treasurer,
so guess
who do we
ask?
Somebody
who's a
treasurer.
We need
Sunday
school
teachers,
guess
who do
we
ask?
Elementary
school
teachers.
It never
occurs to
us that
God may
want to
do
something
different.
Maybe
God isn't
as predictable
as we
are.
Maybe
we want
him to
use
Deborah
and
he
wants
to
use
jail.
So,
because of
the way
he was
going about
this,
prove,
help me,
rather than
here is my
opportunity,
let me go
wholehearted,
he does not
get the
glory.
The second
thing,
the next
thing I want
you to
notice is
in all of
the book of
Judges,
on all the
occasions that
God delivered
them,
only Deborah
has a
song
celebrating
that.
There is
no
celebration
anywhere.
Did they
celebrate?
They probably
did,
I would
expect them
to.
Is
anything
written
about the
celebration?
Nothing.
As far
as the
reader is
concerned,
only
Deborah
celebrates
God's
victory.
That is
interesting.
that is
interesting.
It is
argument by
omission,
but it is
at least
worth noticing,
even if one
doesn't conclude
too much
out of it.
And,
the next
point,
it is
interesting that
the book of
Judges usually
says,
and so
and so,
you know,
this judge
ruled so
many years
and then
he died
and Israel
had peace
during his
time,
and then
they rebelled
and then
God raised
the other
judge,
you know,
et cetera,
et cetera.
Nothing
is said
about
Deborah
dying.
Nothing
is said
about
Deborah
dying.
That does
not lead
me,
it does
not lead
me to
think that
there is
a really
old woman
in Jerusalem
who is
about
2,000
years old
and,
you know,
but it's
her makeup
that makes
her look
like she's
80.
you know,
that's not
what's
going on.
That's not
what's
going on.
The point
that is
going on
is that
perhaps
the judges
were influential
as long
as they were
alive.
Once they
died,
people went
back to
the old
ways.
Perhaps
by not
mentioning
that she
had died,
he is
marveling
about her
influence.
I don't
know if
that's
what he's
doing,
but it
might be
he's
saying
the same
way as,
you know,
when the
two brothers,
when Cain and
Abel,
and one
kills the
other and
God says,
his blood
is shouting
to me.
Well,
he was
dead.
So how
could he
be shouting?
What is
the point?
God
doesn't
always
use the
people we
expect.
God
doesn't
always do
it the
way we
expect.
God's
got lots
of options,
lots of
people,
lots of
choices,
but it
is clearly
God who
does it.
It is
clearly
God who
does it.
God is
sovereign,
and God
is versatile
in how
he works.
Let's
not put
God in
a box
and say
he can
only work
this way.
Let's
have a
word of
prayer.
Lord,
thank you
for a
lesson from
the Old
Testament,
a lesson
that speaks
to all
of us.
We
thank you
because you
are much
more clever
than we
are.
we
thank you
because you
can think
of things
that we
would never
even
imagine.
We
thank you
for women
like
Jael,
who is
willing to
take a
risk and
kill an
evil leader.
We thank
you for
women like
Deborah,
who are
willing to
confront
cowardly
leaders and
say,
come on,
let's go to
battle.
we are
reminded,
Father,
that we
are in
spiritual
warfare,
not the
same as
Canaanites,
but we
are in a
warfare.
We
recognize that
the victory
is yours,
Lord,
so we
ask you,
give us the
victory,
Father,
and help
us to
serve you
as faithfully
as we
can.
In
Jesus'
name,
Amen.