Spiritual Renewal: Women’s Challenge To The Church
Women’ Day 9:30 September 20, 1992 Text Judges 4 Ps19:1-7
Romans 8:31-39
TOBY
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Speak to us O God, that which we need to hear this day
concerning our spirittual renewal as your people in this world
today. May we respond with yes. So that the power you offer us,
will be unleashed in, among, and through us. Amen
When we look at the church, more times than not, there will
be more women than men in church. Often times this is seen as a
failure on the part of the church. In reality it may be the
success of women being in MORE tuned with the Spirit of God. If
there is to be a great awakening in the church, it will take
place because we, the women in the church will see begin to see
ourselves as God sees us. Women may hold the key to unleashing
the power available in the church.
When Jesus got ready to start a revival in the city of
Samaria, he did not send Peter, James or John. Jesus chose to
send a woman who had been a prostitute that was changed by spend
ing time with Him. Without the power of Christ in her life, no
one would have bothered to have given this woman the time of day.
Yet because she believed that Jesus was the Son of God, The
Anointed One, The Christ, she went and told others about Him.
The Scriptures says in John verse 39, "Many of the Samaritans
from that town believed in Jesus, because of the woman’s testimo
ny." You see you don’t need a degree or months of training to
touch others for God. You simply do what she did, and that’s to
tell others what Jesus has done for you.
RICK
Jesus delights in reaching out to use women to make a dif
ference in this world. Creation was not complete until God made
Eve. It’s interesting that God spoke the animals into existence.
Yet when it came to Adam, God made Him out of the dust and
breathed into the breath of life. Yet when it came to Eve, God
took even more care and totally involved Himself in the process.
Instead of dust, she was made of more complicated living flesh.
She is the only part of Creation that God personally introduced.
Even when God seeks to reestablish creation through the
powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ, God uses women to announce
this great event to the world. When the disciples were scared,
depressed, and ready to give up all hope, God sends two women
with the soul reviving message, "We have seen the Lord, and He is
risen from the dead." They brought back spiritual renewal and
hope to the disciples, simply because they were willing to go and
anoint the body of Jesus properly, regardless of the cost in
volved. Whereas the disciples were hiding behind closed doors.
TOBY
Since today’s theme For Women’s Day here at GPC is Spiritu
al Renewal: Women’s Challenge to the Church, this morning we are
going to look at how God uses the women Deborah and Jael, to stir
up a spiritual renewal in the land of Israel at a time when the
people had completely turned their back on God and decided to do
evil. As attractive as sin may be for the moment, the cost in
the end is unbearable. Someone has said, "the wages of sin are
always too high." Our text this morning comes from Judges the
fourth chapter.
We find in verse 1, "After Ehud died, the Israelites once
again did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord sold them
into the hand of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.
The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth
Haggooyim. Because he had nine hundred chariots and had cruelly
oppressed the Israelites for twenty years by destroying their
crops, dishonoring their women, and slayiing their children, they
cried to the Lord for help."
The nation of Israel did not have a king during this period
but was ruled by various judges at different points in time. A
judge would be raised up by God who would teach the people how to
live. No sooner than the judge died, the people would be off to
sinning again. When God sent judgment for their sin, then they
would think about crying out to God. They are now crying out to
God after a 20 year period of intentse oppresion. Sisera is a
commander of the enemy’s army, and he and the Caananite army
have truly been letting God’s people have it.
God is about ready to move and come down to deliver his
people. The judges were appointed and chosen by God. Look at
verse 4, Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was lead
ing Israel at that time." Now we want you to notice this. Some
4,000 years before equal rights for women became a movement, God
had chosen a woman to lead the nation of his people. Yet for
years, the church has talked about it’s a man job to do this and
that in the church. Sure we would love to see more men and boys
in the church, but we want you to know that we thank God for all
the women and girls in the church. God is not looking at our sex
to determine who to use next. God is looking at the willingness
of our hearts to be obedient to Him. Deborah arose to great
leadership, because she trusted God with all of her heart, her
mind, and her being, she could inspire in others, that same
trust.
RICK
We want you also to notice that the woman was a prophetess.
She was the spokesperson for the voice of God. God not only
wants to use women, God has always been doing it. The third
thing we want you to notice is that the woman is married. Some
women think that they should never stand out more than their
husband, and many teach that a woman’s job is to support her man.
God would rather us think in terms that it is the husband’s and
wife’s job to support each other.
God is free to choose to use whomever He so chooses. We
need men in the church who can be secure enough in themselves to
allow God to use the women that He is calling. We need women in
the church to realize that "hey, God just may be calling me to
that ministry." The fourth thing you should notice is that she
was leading the entire nation. In America, somehow we are still
uneasy about a woman president, as though somehow a woman would
mess up everything. I don’t believe any woman could have messed
up this country any worse than the men have already done.
TOBY
It has been recorded by Rabbies that Deborah was a keeper of
the tabernacle lamps. If so what a wonderful yet humble task for
this woman who was to become so great in Isreal. Later when her
faith in God became the strength of Isreal, she would become the
keeper of a new spiritual vision that would light all Isreal.
Verse 5 says, "She held court under the Palm of Deborah
between Raman and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the
Israelites came to her to have their disputes settled." It’s
obvious that Deborah was a woman of wisdom. She was fair. She was
intelligent, and she was able to handle very difficult situa
tions. People came from all over to have their lawsuits worked
out in her presence.
Verse 6 says "She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in
Naphtali and said to him, "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands
you, Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun
and lead the way to Mount Tabor, I will lure Sisera, the com
mander of Jabin’s army with his chariots and his troops to the
Kishon River and give him into your hands."
Any one is going to lead the church to spiritual renewal
must be willing to seek the Lord, to listen carefully to God’s
words and to speak forth what the "The Lord says." My friends,
in this day in which we live, the only thing that is going to
save us is what the Lord says. The government can’t save us. Our
presidential leaders would rather talk bout things that do not
offend people rather than those things of substance. When we
talk about revival and spiritual renewal in the church, it always
must begin with, "What is the Lord saying to us?"
RICK
Just because we say the Lord says, does not mean that people
are going to be willing to obey it. Sometimes what God has said
is not too pleasant and it means taking some risks. No doubt it
means taking some criticism. Here Deborah is saying the Lord
has said for Barak to get a group of unorganized soldiers and go
fight against a well trained general by the name of Sisera and a
seasoned army that had horses and iron chariots.
It’s great to know that God never sees a situation in quite
the same way we see it. God knows in advance what He’s deter
mined to do through our lives. He asks us to believe that we
know that He knows, what He’s doing. That’s not always easy when
we look at the size of the problem in front of us. Yet the
problem is that we are looking at the size of the problem, rather
than at the size of the God that we serve.
All Barak has to do is to call 10,000 farmers, merchants and
field hands together who have no weapons to go fight a mighty
well equiped army. Do you think Barak is going to say, "Oh sure
no problem." Look at 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."
TOBY
Barak’s statement demonstrates a generals’ great confidence
in a woman, a homemaker too who had risen to a high place in
Isreal largely because of one quality---her abiding faith in God.
Now God knows that the best thing for Barak to do is to
follow Deborah’s command. God wants to lift Barak up and to exalt
him at this time. Barak could believe that God was with Deborah,
but he would not believe that God would be with him, even though
the word came from Deborah. It’s often times easier to believe
God will do something for someone else that He won’t do for
us. This is due to our faulty understanding of who God is. God
loves you. God always wants the best for you. God knows how you
can be the most productive in the kingdom of God as well as in
your own life. This is not to say that what you think is best
for you, is what God knows is best for you.
There are some decisions that only come around once in
life. If we miss it, that door may be forever closed. Barak is
about to miss something because he sets limits on what he will
and will not do for God. "How often do we attempt to make deals
with God, by saying God, I’ll do this but only if such and such
takes place."
Deborah realizes immediately that Barak has missed God’s
plan for him. But thank God, God gives him another chance but in
a smaller capacity. She says in verse nine and 10 " Very well. 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." In these words, Deborah demonstrated more
than leadership. Her people were to discover that she was also a
prophet.
So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh where he summoned
Zebulun and Naphtali. We learn in Judges 4:9 that Deborah went
with Barak to Kedesh. That one word went best explains here
positive actionn. She did not sit at home and ponder the matter.
When time came for action she went forward, believing firmly that
whe was armed with strength from God.
Ten thousand men followed him and Deborah also went with
him. How intriguing? God is using a woman to speak for him, God’s
using a woman to organize the soldiers for Him to prepare for the
battle, and God is going to use a woman to capture the general
Sisera even though He has 10,001 men available. In this great
battle that’s going to take place, two women are going to stand
out for God.
RICK
As we seek a fresh move of the Spirit from God, can we
realize that just a few women who are saying yes to the full will
of God, can catapult this church forward. We can imagine that
when Sisera heard that Deborah was leading the army into Battle,
he must have had a good laugh at that one. "Barak was afraid to
come alone, so he’s bringing a woman with her." Little did he
realize that not only was Deborah a woman, she was a woman with
the power of God on her life. It’s not your sex that makes the
difference. What really matters is just how close do you walk
with God? How well do you serve Jesus Christ.
Sisera got his army together and prepared for the battle.
Deborah didn’t go down shouting do this and do that and let me
figure this out. No, her concern was making sure that she simply
stayed in touch with God. She was not about to speak until she
heard from the Lord. We see in verse 14 that whatever she was
waiting for from the Lord happened. She said to Barak, "Go! This
is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not
the Lord gone ahead of you."
Indirectly, from the Song of Deborah in the next chapter, we
learn that a storm of sleet and hail burst over the plains from
the east, driving right into the face of Sisera and his men. The
slingers and archers were disabled by the beating rain and the
swordsmen crippled by the biting cold. Deborah, Barak and their
forces had the storm behind them and were not crippled by it.
Keep this in mind, no matter what the battle, God does not
send us into it, unless He has gone ahead. Now sometimes we jump
into things God told us to stay away from and we wonder why we
were defeated. The key is in holding our ground until the Lord
says move forward.
Barak and his men went down the hill to face the enemy. Now
look at what the word of God says in verse 15, " At Barak’s ad
vance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by
the sword and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot."
Who was it that routed Sisera’s army?
TOBY
Notice that all Barak had to do was to advance his army. It
did not matter that the other army was stronger, better equipped,
and made up of seasoned soldiers. There is no such thing as
defeating God. If God be for us, the Scriptures says, then who
can be against us.
We women have the power and authority to serve notice on
Satan that we are reclaiming our children, our husbands, our
lives, our church , and our way of thinking for the use of the
Lord Jesus Christ. For God is with us, and God shall defeat our
enemies.
Every single soldier in battle for Sisera died in battle
that day. Sisera was the only one to escape. Do you know why
that was? How did the leader everyone was after manage to es
cape? Very simple, God opened the door so that God would do what
He said He would do. God had said, it will be a woman that cap
tures Sisera. Now Sisera may have though it was through his own
skill and cleverness that he had escaped. But he was wrong
We find in verses 17 that Sisera had fled on foot. He
managed to reach the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite.
Sisera thought that because the Kenites had been at peace with
him, he would be safe, especially sine Jael had come forth to
offer him hospitality. But he did not know that God had other
plans for his life. The woman Jael saw him coming and went out to
meet him. She may have not had any idea that Sisera would be
coming that way, but once he did she seized the moment.
Look at verse 18. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to
him, "Come my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid." So he
entered her tent, and she put a covering over him. We find that
she also gave him some milk. He told her to stand in the doorway
and if anyone comes by and ask if anyone is there to say no.
No doubt Jael had heard about Deborah’s words that a woman
would be the one to do in Sisera. Sisera, thinking that all is
well falls asleep in exhaustion. Jael, quietly picks us a tent
peg, walks over to the sleeping Sisera, and sinks the peg
through his temple and kills him. God’s word had come to past
exactly as he spoke.
RICK
A little while later Barak comes through in hot pursuit,
determined to capture Sisera himself at all cost. Imagine his
shock and disappointment when Jael says, come follow me. I will
show you the man you are looking for, and she shows him the
corpse. Thanks to Deborah and Jael, Sisera and his mighty army
are no more. God delivered his people from the bondage of the
king of Canaan. They turn to God in song, praise, and in their
deeds. A spiritual revival accompanied the victory at the hands
of the Lord.
To celebrate this great victory, the Ode of Deborah, one of
the earliest martial songs in history was composed. It begins in
chapter 5, Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Isreal. Debo
rah gave the credit to God. Deborah knew that only God could
cause the earth to tremble, only God could cause the heavens to
drop torrents of water, and only God could cause the mountains to
melt.
Tribute is also paid to Jael for putting Sisera to death.
At the end of the song which runs through 31 verses, her coura
geous voice sounds forth with trumpet notes of freedom. Her
people wer no long enslaved. Now with her, the people of Isreal
could declare, so may all your enemies perish o Lord. But may
those who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.
Verse 31 ends with the words, "Then the land had peace for 40
years.
Women, God wants to use you to revitalize the church. Be
willing to seek the Lord. Be willing to say thus saith the Lord.
Be willing to stand at the front of the battle. Be willing to
use your wisdom and your skills in defeating the enemy. Be
willing to believe, that God is able and will use you. Challenge
the church to go forward in God, and depend upon God for the
victory.
TOBY
Amen, let us pray. Great and Mighty God, we thank You that
Jesus delights in reahing out to use women as well as men, to
make a difference in this world. Help us all to see You, to
listen carefully to Your words, and be courageous enough to speak
forth what it is that You, Oh God are saying. Help us all to
become keepers of a new spiritual vision that will light up this
world. This day, as we challenge the Church to spirititual
renewal, May we each be challenged to have the power and author
ity of through Jesus Christ, to serve notice on Satan that we are
reclaiming our children, our spouses, our lives, and Our church
for Jesus. We thank you in His name. Amen
