WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.520 We're going to read from the Old Testament. 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:08.320 This is the text from which our teaching is based tonight in Judges chapter 4. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:13.439 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Eahud 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:20.679 died and the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan who reigned in Hazor. 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:25.960 The commander of his army was Cicera who lived in Herosheth, Hagoim. 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:31.520 And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help for he had 900 chariots of iron and 00:00:31.520 --> 00:00:36.679 he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for 20 years. 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:43.320 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth was judging Israel at that time. 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:48.240 She used to sit under the pole of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:52.960 of Ephraim and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:59.359 She sent and she summoned Barak, the son of Abinohim, from Kadesh, Naftali and said to 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:03.480 him, I was not the Lord that God of Israel commanded you. 00:01:03.480 --> 00:01:09.240 Go gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naftali and the 00:01:09.240 --> 00:01:14.680 people of Zebulun and I will draw out Cicera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:20.599 the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops and I will give him into your hand. 00:01:20.599 --> 00:01:26.640 Barak said to her, if you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:27.640 I will not go. 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:30.239 And she said, I will surely go with you. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:35.000 Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:41.159 tell Cicera, for the Lord will sell Cicera into the hand of a woman. 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:46.759 Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh and Barak called out Zebulun and Naftali 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:53.400 to Kadesh and 10,000 men went up at his heels and Deborah went up with him. 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:59.960 Now Heber, the Kenite, had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, the 00:01:59.960 --> 00:02:08.000 father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Za'anamneem, 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:09.879 which is near Kadesh. 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:15.680 When Cicero was told that Barak the son of Abinuem had gone up to Mount Tabor, Cicera 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:22.240 called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:25.760 from Herosheth Hagoyim to the river Kishon. 00:02:25.760 --> 00:02:30.400 And Deborah said to Barak, up, for this is the day in which the Lord has given Cicera 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:31.400 into your hand. 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:33.840 Does not the Lord go out before you? 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:39.480 So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him, and the Lord routed Cicera 00:02:39.480 --> 00:02:44.080 and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:49.160 And Cicera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, and Barak pursued the chariots 00:02:49.160 --> 00:02:54.000 and the army to Herosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Cicera fell by the edge of the 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:56.720 sword, not a man was left. 00:02:56.720 --> 00:03:03.280 But Cicera fled away on foot to the tent of Jail, the wife of Heber, the Kenite, for 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:08.640 there was peace between Javen, the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber, the Kenite. 00:03:08.640 --> 00:03:13.160 And Jail came out to meet Cicera and said to him, turn aside, my Lord, turn aside to 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:15.400 me, don't be afraid. 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:18.840 So he turned aside to her into the tent and she covered him with a rug. 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:23.719 And he said to her, please give me a little water to drink for I'm thirsty. 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:28.199 So she opened the skin of milk and she gave him a drink and she covered him. 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:32.960 And he said to her, stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:33.960 is anyone here? 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:35.519 Say no. 00:03:35.519 --> 00:03:40.639 But Jail, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and she took a hammer in her hand. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:46.399 Then she went softly to him and she drove the peg into his temple until it went down 00:03:46.399 --> 00:03:50.119 into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. 00:03:50.119 --> 00:03:51.119 So he died. 00:03:51.119 --> 00:03:57.279 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Cicera, Jail went out to meet him and said to him, come 00:03:57.279 --> 00:04:00.000 and I will show you the man whom you were seeking. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:06.279 So he went into her tent and there lay Cicera dead with the tent peg in his temple. 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:12.159 So on that day, God subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the people of Israel. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.399 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:21.639 Canaan until they destroyed Jabin, king of Canaan. 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:23.240 Thank you very much, Corey. 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:29.199 If you came here tonight to hear a wholesome story, this is probably not it, because it's 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:30.199 pretty violent. 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:34.160 And it also teaches us something about a biblical woman. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:36.240 Sometimes you hear people telling women, you should be more violent. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.240 You're biblical. 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:43.079 Now we learn that hammering a tent peg through someone's head is in the realms of possibilities 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:45.920 here. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:51.560 And we need to remember that in the book of Judges, we are in a very different time from 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:52.960 our modern times. 00:04:52.960 --> 00:04:56.960 So we should remind ourselves of some of the things we have said in the last few weeks. 00:04:56.960 --> 00:05:02.280 First of all, it's a difficult book from our perspective and it's hard to grasp sometimes. 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:07.119 And often we will wonder whether the God that we read about in the book of Judges is the 00:05:07.119 --> 00:05:10.279 same God that we read about in the New Testament. 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:16.199 And the answer is, of course, yes, but sometimes they can feel so different. 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:21.479 But it's important to remember that the Bible doesn't sugarcoat what happened. 00:05:21.479 --> 00:05:26.919 It's not trying to make things sound nicer than what they actually were like. 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:32.360 And it's important to bear in mind that we are in a very different point in God's redemptive 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:33.360 history. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:41.680 So in the history of God saving his people, we are very... 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:47.439 So we were quite a few years before Jesus was born and it was a very different time. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:54.240 In the book of Judges, we read that it was a time where everyone did as they pleased, 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:58.560 really, as they thought was right in their own eyes. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:05.000 We should also remind ourselves that like Tertullian, the great theologian, the church 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:09.840 father who lived a few hundred years after Jesus said, in the book of Judges and in the 00:06:09.840 --> 00:06:15.240 Old Testament, we find rehearsals of the incarnation of Jesus. 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:22.400 So we see these judges, the deliverers of Israel and they are like Jesus in many ways. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:27.439 They are pointing forward to someone who will come and deliver Israel. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.839 Actually the word deliverer comes from the word Yeshua. 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:36.679 Yahweh saves and that's where we get the name Jesus from as well. 00:06:36.679 --> 00:06:43.799 And in this cycle, in this Deborah cycle, the cycle in chapter four and chapter five of 00:06:43.799 --> 00:06:51.959 the book of Judges, we read again that the people did... 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:53.639 They sinned. 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:58.919 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Eid died. 00:06:58.919 --> 00:07:02.719 So the cycle of idolatry again continues. 00:07:02.719 --> 00:07:09.439 The Israelites sinned, they violate the covenant they have made with God and they feel the consequences. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:15.959 And in this case, it says that the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan. 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:20.399 So God allowed the king of Canaan to rule over the Israelites. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:27.079 And so far, whenever we have read about the beginning of a new cycle of idolatry, the 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:33.639 falling away of God's people, we have read in the next sentence or so, we usually read, 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:37.599 and the Lord raised up a new deliverer, but not in this chapter. 00:07:37.599 --> 00:07:40.159 We don't read this sentence in this chapter. 00:07:40.159 --> 00:07:44.679 Instead we are introduced to a woman called Deborah. 00:07:44.679 --> 00:07:49.759 By the way, we only read chapter four, but I will make references to chapter five because 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:54.000 they are both giving an account of the same story in very different ways. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:59.159 Chapter four is prose, chapter five is poetry, but it gives us details that are important 00:07:59.159 --> 00:08:01.159 to understand what happened. 00:08:01.159 --> 00:08:08.240 So I will walk us through the text and point out some things and then I'll try to say 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:13.480 what we can learn from the text and how we can apply it to our own lives. 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:15.319 So who is Deborah? 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:22.319 The text tells us that Deborah was a prophetess, so a female prophet, and she was the wife 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:27.439 of some guy called Lapidoth, who is really not significant at all in this story. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:32.919 So maybe we should say Lapidoth was the husband of Deborah, because at least we know who Deborah 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:33.919 is. 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:38.519 We also see that Deborah was judging Israel at that time, and it's not exactly clear what 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:40.039 that means. 00:08:40.039 --> 00:08:45.439 She wasn't an official judge from what we can see, because usually an official judge 00:08:45.439 --> 00:08:49.639 would have said at the city gates, that's where they did their business. 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:51.879 But Deborah is not at the city gates. 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:59.559 Deborah actually sits under a palm tree, which is called Deborah's tree, which is also unusual, 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:02.719 because in that area in Israel, you don't really get palm trees. 00:09:02.719 --> 00:09:07.000 But probably there was this one palm tree where she sat and where people would go up 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:12.679 to her and she would judge their cases and she would give them advice. 00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:20.080 She probably wasn't a professional judge then, but she was known as a prophetess, as one 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:26.840 who received the word of God and who gave people the word of God. 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:29.639 And in this story, we kind of see what that means. 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:36.120 The people of Israel come to her and they complain, because they're being oppressed, 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:38.480 they're being ruled cruelly. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:44.799 And so she summons Barak and she orders him to lead his army, the army of the Israelites, 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:46.200 into war. 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:50.360 So Deborah in this case is a bit like a mother, right? 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:54.799 The children of Israel, they come and complain to her, and what do mothers do? 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:56.679 They sort things out, right? 00:09:56.679 --> 00:10:01.480 So Deborah says to Barak, go and lead the people, because God has told you that you 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.759 will win against the king of Canaan. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:11.240 And in this little verse that is describing Deborah, we get a hint where the chapter is 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:14.120 going. 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:18.919 The reason why Deborah is not in the city being a judge probably is because she's a 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:20.480 woman. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:23.319 But we see that God uses her. 00:10:23.319 --> 00:10:29.439 She is determined to use her gifts for the good in whatever capacity she can. 00:10:29.439 --> 00:10:34.919 And we will see that God uses her even in the war. 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:41.679 So often a question arises, the question comes up, why did God choose a woman in this chapter, 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:42.679 in this case? 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:48.879 And what a lot of commentators think is happening here is that there was a problem with man 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:50.559 in Israel. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:52.039 So what's the problem? 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:56.360 The problem is the man are not taking up their responsibilities. 00:10:56.360 --> 00:10:58.199 We will see that later on as well. 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:04.879 The chapter is showing that idolatry, the idolatrous cycle has made man irresponsible 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:06.160 people. 00:11:06.160 --> 00:11:10.360 And not completely, not every man is as bad as it gets. 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:15.360 I mean, Barak is still doing good stuff, but I think the chapter is hinting at that. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:20.680 So instead we get a woman who is giving people the word of God, not in a public space like 00:11:20.680 --> 00:11:27.600 prophets because they wouldn't have been acceptable probably, but she is doing whatever 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:31.879 she can using the gifts that God has given her. 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:36.720 And God is using her for the people of Israel. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:42.080 And she not only receives God's word, she applies it, she does things, she obeys it. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:48.120 So she summons Barak and she asks him, has not the Lord, the God of Israel commanded 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:54.519 you, go gather your man at Mount Habor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naftali and the 00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:56.920 people of Zebulun. 00:11:56.919 --> 00:12:02.240 And Barak doesn't say, you are the prophetess and I know you are giving me a message from 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.679 God so therefore I will go and do it. 00:12:04.679 --> 00:12:10.120 No, he says, Deborah, I'll go if you go. 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:13.039 No, that's the kind of man we have here. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:14.360 He's scared. 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:19.039 He says, Deborah, I will go, but you have to go with me. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:21.799 Why is he saying that? 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:23.439 Doesn't he have 10,000 men with him? 00:12:23.439 --> 00:12:25.120 I mean, that's quite a lot of people. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.120 That's what I thought when I read the story. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:34.440 But the problem is that as so often the instructions that God is giving him, they make no sense 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.120 from a military point of view. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:45.000 If you Google Mount Habor, that's where they're supposed to go up with all the people. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.680 If you Google that, you will find a mountain that is like this, like a bowl that you turn 00:12:49.680 --> 00:12:50.680 upside down. 00:12:50.680 --> 00:12:53.720 It's like a child was trying to draw a mountain. 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:57.759 That's what you get. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:01.759 I went down a rabbit hole when I was preparing the sermon of a Hebrew scholar saying that 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:04.200 actually, Tabor means belly button. 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:06.519 And I'm not sure what exactly he wanted to say. 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:08.639 Maybe it's a negative of a belly button. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:09.639 That's what it looks like. 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:10.639 I'm not sure. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:17.680 Anyways, in verse three we read that Cicera had 900 iron chariots. 00:13:17.680 --> 00:13:22.759 And you have to imagine iron chariot is basically like a tank in that time. 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.720 Fast technology, really strong. 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.319 You have an advantage on the battlefield. 00:13:28.319 --> 00:13:35.439 And if Barrack and the Israelites go up Mount Tabor, Mount Belly Button, as it were, then 00:13:35.439 --> 00:13:38.480 they could just surround them with their iron chariots. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:39.759 And what happens then? 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:42.960 The Israelites have no way of escaping, right? 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:49.159 So when the chariots come up, they have to fight to life and death. 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:52.399 And the Israelites, they were oppressed for 20 years. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:53.600 They don't have the weapons. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:55.319 They don't have the food. 00:13:55.319 --> 00:13:57.120 They are not fed well. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.959 So they really don't have a good chance. 00:13:59.959 --> 00:14:07.439 So we can kind of see why Barrack is scared to go up Mount Tabor. 00:14:07.439 --> 00:14:14.799 In Judges chapter one, verse 19, we're giving a little hint at how powerful iron chariots 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:16.240 were in that time. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.879 It says that Judah couldn't drive out the inhabitants of the plain land because they 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.720 had chariots of iron. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.399 So it really makes a difference. 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:30.679 So strategically, from a military point of view, it doesn't look great. 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:36.500 But from a spiritual perspective, God had promised them victory. 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:40.039 So Deborah responds to Barrack. 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:44.600 And she says, okay, sure, I'll go with you. 00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:49.600 But because you asked me that, Cicera, you asked me that, Cicera will fall into the hand 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:51.080 of a woman. 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:55.800 In other words, Barrack will not get any glory, no honor for killing Cicera. 00:14:55.800 --> 00:14:58.800 But instead, a woman will get the glory. 00:14:58.800 --> 00:15:04.279 And at this point of the story, everyone thinks, well, we know who this woman could be, right? 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:08.600 It's probably going to be Deborah who killed Cicera then, since she is so strong, she is 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:11.639 so strong and she's the judge and prophetess. 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:14.279 Maybe she's the one who delivers them. 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.320 But that's actually not what's going to happen. 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:22.280 We are being introduced to another character, J.O. 00:15:22.280 --> 00:15:23.840 So what's the point of this? 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:25.500 What is the point I'm trying to make? 00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:31.360 Why is it such a bad thing that a woman gets the glory instead of a man? 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:37.760 See the passage is trying to make a point that idolatry has made man weak. 00:15:37.760 --> 00:15:44.320 And it's trying to do that by saying the women are the active parties because the man are 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.120 not taking up the responsibility given by God. 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:54.720 We live in a time where feminism, where equality are really big topics. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:00.120 But it's really important to not portray our worldview on this passage because we would 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:02.480 miss the point. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:11.560 Because what this is actually trying to say is that it's not saying that women can't 00:16:11.560 --> 00:16:13.400 have responsibility or power. 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:19.559 It's just trying to make the point that there should have been other people taking up responsibility. 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:21.759 In biblical times that would have been clear. 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:25.559 A hundred years ago that would have been clear. 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:29.399 Is this saying that women can't serve God? 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:34.279 Is this saying that women can't take up responsibility or anything like that? 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:35.519 No it's not. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:41.639 You see God used Deborah and God used J.O. in his sovereignty. 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:47.439 Now we as a church and as a denomination, as a free church, we hold to a complementarian 00:16:47.439 --> 00:16:53.159 view of man and women, which means they're equal, but they have distinctive roles given 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:54.519 by God. 00:16:54.519 --> 00:17:00.600 And we believe that the New Testament is giving us instructions as to how some offices and 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:05.639 roles in the church and in public worship are reserved for man. 00:17:05.639 --> 00:17:08.519 Now we can't go into all the details of that. 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:12.599 If you have questions then please ask Cory about that. 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:16.279 And he's happy to talk you through that. 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:20.879 But let me say this, dear women of this church, of this congregation, or if you're visiting 00:17:20.879 --> 00:17:26.200 today, you are very much and how do I say this? 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:30.519 You're so appreciated in this church because without you the church would struggle quite 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:31.599 a lot. 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:34.480 And this story is making a case for women. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:39.920 It's making a case for women who love God, who walk with God, who love to read the Bible, 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:46.160 who love to serve, to do exactly that, to be used by God, to be used in his ministry, 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:50.640 to pour themselves into the ministry of God and let him use you. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:55.240 So with respect to the New Testament instructions. 00:17:55.240 --> 00:18:05.799 Now having said all this, this story is also showing that man has a responsibility, that 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:11.480 we need to take God seriously, that we need to take his word seriously. 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:15.359 In this very instance, Deborah gets that. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.319 Baruch doesn't get that so much. 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:22.799 That's why Deborah commands Baruch, not once but twice. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:27.839 Because she gets that it's God who will bring deliverance from the enemies. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:34.480 It's not their strategies, it's not their effectiveness, their weapons, their technology, 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:36.919 but it is actually God. 00:18:36.919 --> 00:18:43.399 That's why she says to Baruch, does not the Lord go out before you? 00:18:43.399 --> 00:18:49.599 And then the story continues and kind of you prepare for a long account of the battle and 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:50.599 what happens. 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:56.719 But it's just in a couple of sentences that the Bible tells us that Baruch and the man, 00:18:56.719 --> 00:19:00.439 they go down the mountain and they defeat the enemy. 00:19:00.439 --> 00:19:03.240 They kill every single person. 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:06.519 And only one person manages to flee, which is Cicera. 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:09.919 And you're kind of left wondering, how did that happen? 00:19:09.919 --> 00:19:16.480 And that's a good point to turn to chapter five because in chapter five we get a song 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:22.680 in which Deborah sings about everything that happened. 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:25.120 So chapter five includes more details. 00:19:25.120 --> 00:19:30.720 Chapter five says, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:34.960 Yes, the clouds dropped water. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:40.360 And that explains how the Israelites won, right? 00:19:40.360 --> 00:19:44.240 Because remember, they had chariots of iron with them. 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:52.200 So you remember Mount Tabor, the round kind of hill and they surround the hill with their 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:53.559 chariots of iron. 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:58.720 Now it starts raining really heavily and you want to go up there with your chariots of iron. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:19:59.880 What happens? 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:03.759 The horses light, the chariots, they fall over. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.400 The people are in chaos. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:10.120 Nobody knows where they're supposed to go, what's happening. 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:19.719 You can really, you can almost feel the confusion and the chaos that is there. 00:20:19.719 --> 00:20:23.239 Maybe tanks would have been better after all because they could have maybe made the way 00:20:23.239 --> 00:20:26.559 up, but not the chariots of iron. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:31.559 We can only imagine what it was like, you know, all the enemies trying to get up there 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:38.799 and suddenly it starts raining and thundering and storming and they can't make it. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:44.440 So all that Barak and the Israelites had to do was run down and sweep away the enemy, 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:47.079 kill them. 00:20:47.079 --> 00:20:52.200 There's a really cool detail, well I think it's a really cool detail in this text and 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:54.319 that's Barak's name. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:57.240 The name Barak means lightning bolt. 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:05.000 Now God is making this thunder storm and Barak, aka the lightning bolt, is running through 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.119 it down the hill, striking the enemy. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:15.880 If Psalm 20 had been written at that time, the words would have been really fitting. 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:22.480 Psalm 20 says, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:24.119 the Lord our God. 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:28.400 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:32.279 See, God does not care about human strength. 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:35.519 He doesn't care about advanced technology. 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:39.559 In His sovereignty, He can do whatever He likes. 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:44.879 Judges 5 verse 20 even says that the stars were fighting for Israel. 00:21:44.879 --> 00:21:51.519 In other words, God's providence goes as far as making the stars align in the right way. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:55.279 When the Lord is on your side, you have nothing to fear. 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:59.000 Yet it's easier said than done, right? 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:00.660 We are not in the times of judges. 00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:04.000 We are New Testament believers. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.120 We know what happens with Jesus and the cross, and we know about our identity. 00:22:08.120 --> 00:22:09.519 We know that God is on our side. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:13.240 We know that in Jesus we have the victory. 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:17.320 We know that nothing can separate us from the love of God. 00:22:17.320 --> 00:22:18.480 We know that we are loved. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:21.519 We know that we are chosen and redeemed. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:29.880 But sometimes even a small comment of someone can make all that crumble. 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:37.000 Do you really believe that? 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:42.560 This passage encourages you to believe in the promises of the living God and to obey them, 00:22:42.560 --> 00:22:46.160 to do what He asks you to do. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:53.720 Though we may seem weak sometimes, as a church, we have the living God on our side. 00:22:53.720 --> 00:23:00.680 Let's see how the story ends, King Cicera runs away without his chariot of iron, and 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:03.720 he ends up in Jail's tent. 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:05.559 And Jail is not an Israelite. 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.600 She is the wife of Heber the Kenite. 00:23:08.600 --> 00:23:13.960 And Heber the Kenite had peace with Jabin the king of Hazor. 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:16.000 And Jabin is Cicera's boss. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:20.400 No, it's a lot of names and quite confusing, I know. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:25.280 Anyways, Cicera thinks that Jail is his friend. 00:23:25.280 --> 00:23:28.560 So he feels kind of safe, right? 00:23:28.560 --> 00:23:31.240 And Jail says, come into my tent, you've got nothing to fear about. 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:32.240 I'll take care of you. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:34.000 I'll hide you. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:38.440 So Jail is a bit like a double agent in that instance. 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:41.960 She's a bit like a female James Bond almost. 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:46.519 She comforts him, and she gives him milk and puts a rug over him. 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:53.759 And as he sleeps, exhausted, she takes a tent pack and drives it through his head, which 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:58.599 is quite a wild story. 00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:02.160 And we wouldn't expect that in the Bible sometimes, you know. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:05.960 But the Bible, as we said, is pretty raw. 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:09.720 It doesn't sugarcoat things. 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:10.799 It's a remarkable story. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:16.119 We get two really strong women who do the will of God, and together they deliver Israel 00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:20.239 from their oppressors. 00:24:20.239 --> 00:24:25.759 And sometimes people say, but Jail, was she really that good? 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:30.839 I mean, she kind of acted in a pretty horrible way, right? 00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:32.839 What do I mean? 00:24:32.839 --> 00:24:38.959 The thing is that she betrayed her husband because she's breaking the peace her husband 00:24:38.959 --> 00:24:41.479 had with Jabin. 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:47.480 He's lying and actively deceiving Cicera that he doesn't have to be afraid. 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:52.839 And then she murders him by hammering a peg through probably, so commentators say, through 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:57.319 his mouth and throw it into the ground, which is pretty horrible. 00:24:57.319 --> 00:25:02.000 And if you believe the traditional Jewish interpretation and actually the interpretation 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:09.360 that a lot of scholars have as well, she might have even used her femininity to sexually 00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:11.400 seduce Cicera here. 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:19.040 So if she was here among us, we would probably say that wasn't a very good way to bring these 00:25:19.040 --> 00:25:21.840 things about, right? 00:25:21.840 --> 00:25:27.200 Now the Bible says something different. 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:35.200 The Bible in the next chapter says this, most blessed of women be Jail, the wife of Hebrew, 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:39.920 the key knight of 10 dwelling women, most blessed. 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:44.000 That's quite different to our reaction maybe. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:49.039 It says further in verse 25, he asked water and she gave him milk. 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:51.320 She brought him curds in a nobles bowl. 00:25:51.320 --> 00:25:56.600 She sent her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workman's mallet. 00:25:56.600 --> 00:25:59.160 She struck Cicera, she crushed his head. 00:25:59.160 --> 00:26:03.019 She shattered and pierced his temple. 00:26:03.019 --> 00:26:04.720 She crushed his head. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:07.560 And the Bible commends her for that. 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:13.559 And again, we have to stress that this is a different time and a different place in the 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:21.480 Bible in the history of God, which means the history of God saving his people. 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:25.399 And it's also worth mentioning that Jail wasn't an Israelite, right? 00:26:25.399 --> 00:26:29.119 Because maybe she didn't even know about all the laws. 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:34.119 But what she did know, and this is the important part, what she did know was that Yahweh, the 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:37.679 God of the Israelites, is the living God. 00:26:37.679 --> 00:26:41.759 And she made sure she was on the right side of things. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:46.799 God's enemies will be punished according to their sins is what judges then says in Judges 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:48.299 5.31. 00:26:48.299 --> 00:26:51.879 It says, so may all your enemies perish, O Lord. 00:26:51.879 --> 00:26:56.559 But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:00.919 Jail made sure that she's a friend of God. 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:09.880 And chapter 5 verse 30, it also hints to the fact that Cicera was the kind of person who 00:27:09.880 --> 00:27:18.360 would take Israelite girls as part of his treasure and that he and the soldiers would 00:27:18.360 --> 00:27:20.600 take them as slaves. 00:27:20.600 --> 00:27:21.680 He wasn't a good man. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:22.680 He was cruel. 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:23.680 He was harsh. 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:27.880 He took whatever he wanted, not just their foods, not just their treasures, but also their 00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:30.000 daughters. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:32.880 So he was oppressing the people of Israel. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:39.000 Now, I think that there is something more going on in this passage, that there is something 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:43.240 symbolic about Jail killing the oppressor of Israel. 00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:48.240 Because in the very beginning of the Bible, there was already an oppressor of the people 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:49.640 of God. 00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:56.440 In the garden, in Genesis 1 to 3, we read about that, in the garden, the serpent tempts 00:27:56.440 --> 00:28:00.880 Adam and Eve, and he causes them to fall into sin. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:07.080 And as a consequence, God curses the serpent and he prophesies to someone the seed of the 00:28:07.080 --> 00:28:10.480 woman who crushes the serpent's head. 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:13.519 And throughout the Bible, we get accounts of that again and again. 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:20.640 One of the more famous ones is David and Goliath, David crushing the big Goliath. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:27.320 And here in this story, we get a woman who symbolizes also the seed of the woman as prophesized 00:28:27.320 --> 00:28:29.440 in Genesis 3.15. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:35.480 And this woman, Jail, she crushes the head of the one who symbolizes the enemy, who 00:28:35.480 --> 00:28:39.780 symbolizes the serpent. 00:28:39.780 --> 00:28:46.240 So what we get in here is, in the realness and in the brutality and the messiness, which 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:52.240 reflects the times of the judges, we get a picture of the gospel. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:29:00.519 The seemingly strong oppressor is executed by a person that nobody would have expected, 00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:06.920 which means that in the story of judges, we have a pattern of strange people and strange 00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:10.319 places and strange solutions. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:13.960 And overall, in this cycle, we see that again and again. 00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:19.759 So let me give you a list of things that I think this story is trying to teach us. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:26.319 So firstly, I think that this cycle shows, first and foremost, that God's sovereign will 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:30.720 and providence is there, is active. 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:32.240 He delivers his people. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:39.000 He has a plan and he will use whoever he needs to use to achieve his purposes. 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:43.279 So in this story, we have a team effort through which the enemy is brought down. 00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:45.879 And it's all orchestrated from above. 00:29:45.879 --> 00:29:52.559 Through God's word, through his bringing about of the storm and even changing the nature, 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:59.200 and through him leading Cicera into Jail's tent, who then deceives and kills him. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:04.799 Secondly, in the books of Hebrews in chapter 11, we have something that we sometimes refer 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:10.279 to as the Hall of Faith, where the author of Hebrews is talking about examples in the 00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:14.359 Old Testament who were examples of faith. 00:30:14.359 --> 00:30:19.680 And Barrick's name is actually mentioned in the Hall of Faith. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:23.440 So what God asked of Barrick wasn't easy. 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:27.359 And yes, he did doubt and he was weak. 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:31.720 But God showed his strength through his weakness. 00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:37.759 So Barrick is an example of faith and he is an example of what it means to trust in God's 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:38.759 word. 00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:44.879 In the Bible, God uses unusual people with unusual methods. 00:30:44.879 --> 00:30:51.000 In a time in which everyone did, as was right in their own eyes, he used Jail, who was from 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:53.879 a different people, to kill Cicera. 00:30:53.879 --> 00:31:00.319 And what we can learn from Jail is not to go and do likewise, please don't. 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:04.839 But what we can learn from her is that we should find ourselves on the right side. 00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:07.960 We should be on the side of God, of the living God. 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:10.160 We should be friends with Him. 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:13.759 And we should do everything we can to fight the enemy. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:19.360 We ought to fight the idols in our hearts that keep us oppressed and that keep us slaves 00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:20.360 of sin. 00:31:20.360 --> 00:31:26.920 Fourthly, we don't fight with weapons like the people of God in the book of Judges. 00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:32.559 One writer says this, the New Testament equivalent of the conquest of Canaan is the conquest 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:36.799 of the whole earth by and for Christ. 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:42.839 And the way we do that is by fighting with weapons that God has given us in the New Testament. 00:31:42.839 --> 00:31:45.119 We are warriors of love. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:52.039 In Ephesians 6, Paul has given us the whole armor of God that we sang about in our first 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:58.680 song this evening, where Paul says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able 00:31:58.680 --> 00:32:03.319 to stand against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, 00:32:03.319 --> 00:32:07.359 but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:12.960 darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:13.960 The fight has changed. 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:17.519 It's not against flesh and blood anymore. 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:26.599 And let me encourage you to read Ephesians 6, maybe throughout the week, and be encouraged 00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:27.599 by that. 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:33.240 Let me just mention the different pieces of the armor that Paul is giving us there. 00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:39.519 He's talking about the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of readiness 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:46.759 given by the gospel of peace, a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, and the sword 00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:51.559 of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:56.759 One thing has stayed the same as in the Old Testament, and that is that the word of God 00:32:56.759 --> 00:33:00.839 tells us that our enemy has already been defeated. 00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:06.319 Through Jesus' death and resurrection, the curse of sin has been broken. 00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:11.199 Salvation is offered freely to anyone who believes in Him. 00:33:11.199 --> 00:33:15.399 If you think that you're just a strange person in an unusual place and you have nothing to 00:33:15.399 --> 00:33:22.559 offer to God, then this story is telling the opposite and leaves us without any excuses. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:28.959 Deborah, Barak, and Giles show us that God uses those who are willing to serve. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:35.079 He uses those who seem to be weak in faith, and He uses those who seem to be outsiders, 00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:38.079 so we really don't get an excuse here. 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:39.079 Let us pray. 00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:46.279 Holy Father, we thank You for the story of Deborah and Barak and Giles and the story of 00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:47.279 Judges. 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:54.600 And we do ask You that You would help us to understand the story better, that You would 00:33:54.599 --> 00:34:03.759 help us to fight as warriors of love, as warriors of Your kingdom, and to use the weapons and 00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:05.799 the armor that You have given us. 00:34:05.799 --> 00:34:11.279 Father, we give thanks for Your Word, and we ask that You would encourage us in that 00:34:11.279 --> 00:34:14.119 and help us to apply all these truths to our hearts. 00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:20.719 And we give thanks for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who went to the cross and who achieved everything 00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:23.719 that we couldn't have achieved out of our own strength. 00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:24.719 In Jesus' name, we pray. 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:53.719 Amen.