Judges 5:6-9
A MOTHER IN ISRAEL
May 14, 2023
The book of Judges is a gritty, dirty history book. It is filled with sin, violence, and the judgment of God. In the text before us today, we are introduced to two women who were used by God in great ways, for his glory. Those women are Deborah and Jael. One was a respected leader in the nation; the other was an army wife. They came from different walks of life, but they were both used by God in remarkable ways. I want you to see how God used courageous faithful women to deliver His people from oppression.
The Right Spirit - These verses describe the horrible spiritual conditions that existed in Israel during the time of Judge Deborah. We are told that “they chose new gods.” The people of Israel turned their back on the God of their salvation and followed the gods of the Canaanites. They did not have the right spirit! Whenever the anointed judge died, and they no longer had a leader they wandered from the right path and “again did evil in the sight of the Lord.” The children of Israel are a picture of what we see all too often in our churches. We see people who will follow God for a while, and then when there is a spiritual void in their lives, they turn away from God and seek their own ways. Perhaps it is the death of a special loved one. A parent, a grandparent, or some other influential relative will pass away, and the believer finds his foundation is gone. Sometimes it happens when a preacher leaves a church, the people will often scatter. This kind of things happens when believers get their eyes on men and not on the Lord, Hebrews 12:1 “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” Because of Israel’s rebellion against God, they were oppressed by King Jabin of Cannon (4:2) and his armies for 20 years. The Bible says that God “sold them into the hand of Jabin.” As far as Israel was concerned, Jabin was undefeatable. He possessed a powerful army with 900 chariots of iron. This is the only time during the period of the judges when the Israelites' enemies came from within their land. The Israelites had failed to drive out all the Canaanites. If the Israelites had obeyed God in the first place and had driven the Canaanites from the land, they would have never been oppressed in the Promised Land. The helpless armies of Israel were no match for this enemy. According to Judges 5:8, the Israelites possessed no weapons. They were a conquered, defeated people. After 20 years of suffering, they finally call on the Lord! But notice that they did not cry out in repentance, they cried out for deliverance from their problems. Most people in our day call on the Lord so that He will deliver them from their problems, while they fail to deal with the root of their problem, which is their sin. Our goal should not just be to escape our problems; our goal should be to be found pleasing to our Lord. Our goal should not just be to have an easier time in life; our goal should be to be right with the Lord in every area of our lives. If we could ever learn to seek the right spirit, we could be spared from many of the hardships we are forced to face in life.
The Right Side - The Bible is very clear; Deborah was both a “prophetess” and a “judge”. As “prophetess” she received direct revelation from the Lord and shared that word with His people. As “judge” she settled disputes among the people of Israel, v.5. Deborah was the leader of the nation during those dark days. She receives a word from the Lord, and she calls Barak, to take 10,000 soldiers and go to war with the enemy. The Lord promises to defeat Sisera, the Canaanite general. God promises a great victory if they will simply trust Him. But Barak seems to be afraid to follow that word. He is willing to go to battle, but only if Deborah goes with him. She agrees to go but tells him that since he depended on a woman, the glory of victory will be given to a woman! At this point we believe that the woman that will get the glory is Deborah but hold on. When Barak calls for the tribes to unite behind the word of God some of the tribes refused to come, v.17. We should note that everyone is not going to work with you on everything the Lord has ordained for you to do! But you are called to use who you have and get the job done. Considering the fact that Israel had not used weapons for a while, v.8, and had no standing army, what Deborah prophesied called for an amazing act of faith. They had to trust in God and not in their own might in order to get the victory! The Bible says that God “discomfited” Sisera and his armies. As they fought, God allowed the Kishon River to overflow its banks v.21 , the iron chariots of Sisera became stuck in the mud and the soldiers were swept away by the currents. All the soldiers of Sisera were slain. Seeing that his army was defeated, Sisera fled the battlefield on foot. He went to hide in the tent of his friend named Heber, who was a traitor in Israel. Heber’s wife Jael greets Sisera and invites him into her tent. Sisera asks Jael for a drink of water, she brings him a drink of milk instead. The offer of milk served two purposes. First, it eased the mind of Sisera. He was convinced that he had entered the tent of a friend and that he was safe. Second, the milk would have helped him fall asleep. When Jael saw Sisera come to her tent on foot, she knew that he had been defeated in battle. She also knew that if she was caught hiding him in her tent, she might be put to death with him when Barak found them. She saw that Israel had come out on top in the battle and she wanted to be found on the right side when the dust settled. Sisera was tired from the battle and when he drank the milk and laid down, it wasn’t long until sleep overtook him. While he slept, Jael takes one of the tent nails and a hammer and quietly walks over to him and drives it through Sisera’s head, killing him, v.21. Jael was not a prophetess, she was not a judge, she was not a warrior, but she knew how to secure a tent! She knew how to hold a peg steady, and she knew how to strike it with a hammer! Her husband made a bad decision to side with the enemy, but she chose the Lord’s side. She must have remembered the history of Joshua saying, “Chose you this day whom you will serve? As for me and my house, we are going to serve the Lord!”
The Right Song - The victory over Sisera causes Deborah and Barak to write a song. It is a song of praise to God for victory. It is a chorus of praise offered to God for allowing them to defeat their enemies and free them from the bondage of their oppressors. They praise God for His power in their lives. We should all have a song of praise! Take a moment to inventory your life. Hasn’t God been good to you? Won’t He do it? Yes He will! You are saved, sanctified and blessed beyond measure. He is worthy of our song of praise! The song got so good to them they started praising God for the volunteers – When the call went out for volunteers, only half the tribes came to fight. In the days of Joshua, every tribe was expected to fight for the nation, when Barak called for warriors, many would not come. Things have not changed today. The majority of the work is carried out by a minority of the people. The call has gone out for us to tell the world about Jesus, but few go. The call has gone out for us to take our stand against evil, but few have answered. The call has gone out for us to rally ourselves together and fight the good fight of faith, but few answer the call. I thank God for those who are willing to work. I thank God that Deborah rose up as a mother in Israel! Every now and then it takes a mother with a word from the Lord to get us up and ready to fight for the Kingdom! I thank God for those who can be counted on to teach those classes, sing in the choir, come out to prayer meeting, greet the worshipers, and go to work for the Lord in these dark days. I just believe that God still blesses those who fight and work for Him! We look at our world today and wonder whether we can have victory anymore. Yes, we can! You see, it isn’t numbers, wealth or human power that gets the job down; it is the power of God, 1 Corinthians 1:27, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” They close their song by praising the Lord for a woman that didn’t have a title. She was not the pastor nor the deacon, not the prophet or the judge, not a minister or a missionary. The nation’s leaders remembered to praise God for a courageous woman. “Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be.” God always has His people. The prayer warriors, the silent servants, the people who do the little things that no one notices, and the people who serve behind the scenes. There is a God in Heaven Who sees who you are, and He watches what you do. Galatians 6:9 says, “let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” One day you who are faithful, will hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
