Tonight, we continue with our study of the Judges, turning to Judges 4. I had indicated in the bulletin a desire for you to read today Judges 4 and 5, as we consider the Judge Deborah tonight. And Chapter 5 deals with Deborah's song, and I apologize, I had meant to also mention that this morning to give you a reminder from the pulpit. And there were too many other things going on, and I forgot. But tonight, we read together Judges chapter 4 with a hope that you have had the opportunity to read Deborah's song, the song of Deborah in Judges chapter 5. Beginning at verse 1, we hear now the Word of God. After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin. a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Herosheth-Hagoim. Because he had 900 iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years, they cried to the Lord for help. Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, And the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak, son of Abinoam, from Kadesh in Naphtali and said to him, The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, go take with you 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tebor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands. Barak said to her, 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. So Deborah went with Barak to Kadesh, where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him. Now Heber, the Kenite, had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zananim near Kadesh. When they told Sisera that Barak, son of Abinuam, had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera gathered together his 900 iron chariots and all the men with him from Herosheth Hagoim to the Kishon River. Then Deborah said to Barak, Go. This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you? So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by 10,000 men. At Barak's advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Herosheth Hagohim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword. Not a man was left. Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the clan of Heber, the Kenite. 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. I'm thirsty, he said. Please give me some water. She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. Stand in the doorway of the tent, he told her. If someone comes by and asks you, is anyone here, say no. But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. Come, she said, I will show you the man you're looking for. So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple, dead. On that day, God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him. Then, of course, there's the song of Deborah. And the very last phrase of chapter 5 says, Then the land had peace forty years. And once again, people of God, as with the story of the judge Ehud piercing fat king Eglon, which we considered a couple of weeks ago, we have before us tonight another action-packed episode. In fact, if the writer of Judges, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, hadn't plainly told us who was the one to inflict the deadly blow, we would be busy playing a game of Clue, trying to put all the pieces together, looking for motive and opportunity to find out who done it. And if we were successful, we would find out that the most unsuspecting character of the story was the one to inflict the deadly blow who killed Sisera, the woman named Jael. Now boys and girls, maybe a couple of weeks ago with regard to the sermon about Ehud, you were a little bit interested because of the action and the excitement involved. The double-edged sword piercing that fat king Eglon through the belly with the fat closing in around the handle of that sword. And tonight, in a sense, we have a repeat only with different characters. This story, again, involves another murder that really makes you think and say to yourself, well, what was it like? I wonder what it would have been like to be there in that tent to witness that. But boys and girls, we need to understand that Sisera's death is not the main part of the story. And again, the story is not about what Deborah and Barak and J.L. did, but it is about what God was doing and what He did through them. Because God alone brings salvation and deliverance to His people. Therefore, tonight we hear about the Lord's crushing salvation. As we notice these four points. The shameful situation, the victorious message, the faithless response, and then the divine deliverance. And this episode begins once again with those familiar words. We've heard them before in essence. After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Now we get the idea that as long as Ehud was alive, then everything was going quite smoothly in the spirituality department. Everything was fine. But as soon as he dies, the people turn away from God again. And we have to wonder, was their loyalty to God some sort of a forced loyalty? Were they simply being persuaded to serve God by somehow having their arms twisted behind their back? With rest for 80 years, another generation had grown up who had forgotten not only what Jehovah had done for His people on the conquest of the land through Joshua so long before, but they had not experienced themselves the deliverance that He had given through Ehud. Overall, God's people had forgotten Him, yet He didn't forget them. He allows them to be oppressed. In fact, the Bible says He sold them into the hands of the enemy. God sold His own people into the hand of the enemy. If you think about that, this oppression and this hardship shows that God always had His eye on His people. You say, well, where's the comfort in that? Well, remember Hebrews 12, how the Lord disciplines those He loves. And as we said before, this repeated rebellion serves to show that the salvation Ehud brought was incomplete, it was imperfect, it was only temporary. But as the Israelites continue to spiral downward in their on-again, off-again relationship to the Lord, we see that as time goes on, the oppression gets worse. Remember the facts so far. The king of Mesopotamia came from a long distance away and oppressed Israel for eight years before God raised up Othniel. And then King Eglon of Moab, along with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, were neighbors next to Canaan and relatives of the Israelites, and they oppressed Israel for 18 years before God raised up Ehud. And then we didn't really consider him, but the last part of chapter 3 says, after Ehud came Shamgar, son of Anath, who struck down 600 Philistines with an ox goat. He too saved Israel. Doesn't seem like a big deal. There are only 600 Philistines. But if you look at a map of the geography, we see that with those three episodes, enemies from three sides of Israel had attacked them, had oppressed them. What was left? You see, now Jabin, king of Canaan, an enemy right within their own land, an enemy from across the street, we might say, oppresses them, not for eight years, Not for 18 years, but for 20 years. In Joshua chapter 11, we read about another Jabin, king of Hazor. He lived about a hundred years earlier and he was destroyed by Joshua. And throughout the hundred years then, Hazor had been rebuilt. The people once again grew and they had power once again. And most likely, Jabin was a title, kind of like Pharaoh for the kings of Egypt, but it was a title that every king took. And to be sure, Jabin and his commanding officer, Sisera, were used by God as his instruments to oppress the Israelites. But as far as Jabin was concerned, he had a different motive. And he took this 20-year opportunity to get even for a 100-year-old grudge. Jabin and Sisera's oppression of Israel was definitely severe. We're told they had 900 iron chariots. These were probably state-of-the-art and the most up-to-date military equipment available. They provided Jabin's army with strength and speed and mobility. They could cover a lot of ground with these. And it's clear from Deborah's song that they took advantage of their advantage over the Israelites. In verse 6 of chapter 5, we learn that in the days of J.L., the roads were abandoned. Travelers took to winding paths. You see, God's people were afraid to run into any of their enemies, to face them, even on the roads. And therefore, they stayed off of the main roads. And verse 8 tells us, And not a shield or spear was seen among 40,000 in Israel. They had no weapons. If they did have them, they didn't use them. The internal condition due to Sisera's oppression, the internal condition of Israel was in bad shape. And why was this? Because of their spiritual condition. Now as we know, one of the main characters in the story is the judge Deborah. And the Holy Spirit wants us to know without a doubt that this judge is a woman and does this by saying that she is a prophetess and the wife of a man named Lapidoth. Deborah judged Israel at this time in judicial matters according to God's divine law. She held court, it says. She was qualified by God to judge the nation, which meant, first of all, to settle the kind of problems or disputes among the people that the lower courts were not able to decide. But the fact that Deborah was a judge was an indication of the sad condition, spiritual condition in Israel. Now ladies, this is not meant to be a put down on women. Or on the skills and the abilities of women or anything like that. What we're doing here is setting forth the facts. But also, Deborah's leadership position, as well as some of the other female leaders in Israel's history, is not proof or support for women's liberation or feminism or even for women in church office. And those who use this story for that purpose violate God's Word here. The fact that Deborah was a judge shows us that the people had violated God's creation order with regard to the roles of men and women. Again, I'm not saying that Deborah herself did this because God gave her the position that she held. But at that time, the men of the nation had severely failed. They had shrunk back from their leadership responsibilities. At this time, there was no leader in Israel like Othniel or Ehud who dared to lead the hosts in battle. But also, if you think about it, throughout the book of Judges, throughout the 350 years of this judge history, we don't hear much, if anything, about the activity of the priesthood. Where was the priesthood? Deborah was judging according to the plan of God, yet to the shame of God's people. And she knows this herself, as she makes clear in her rebuke of Barak. Israel has a woman judge and a woman victor to shame Israel, And especially the men because there were no leaders. This was a dark time in Israel's history, yet Deborah's light shone bright. She was obviously a woman of great faith who revealed God's will to the people and who warned the people to repent and who reminded the people of the former times of deliverance. You see, Deborah's appearance is not a seeking equality with men. She was prompted by the glory of Jehovah's name and a love for His people. We might say she was a judge for two reasons. First, there was no man to take her position. And she had received a special message from God. She was a prophetess. Deborah was not only unique among the judges, being the only woman recorded in Scripture, but she was unique among Israel because she was a person with faith. Now, beloved, is the role reversal that we've seen in society over the past many years an indication of our spiritual health or lack of it. I'm afraid it might be. Even in the church, we all know that this has been and more than ever continues to be a problem. Over the years, I've often heard the statement, well, the women have to take over because the work won't get done if we wait for the men to do it. And I'm afraid that in some churches that's exactly true. It's exactly true. I thank God that in this congregation, many men, God has raised up many men who are willing to serve and do faithfully serve by His grace. And I believe, too, that today we see many more women involved in studying God's Word than men, at least in a group-type setting. And that's wonderful, ladies. That's absolutely wonderful. But men, overall, this is a sad commentary on us. God has given to us our role in this life to be the spiritual leaders. And women, today more than ever, you are called to encourage the men, your husbands especially, to take seriously their God-given responsibility at home and in the church. Well, then once again, the Israelites, by God's grace, cried to the Lord for help. And the Lord sends them, through Deborah, a victorious message. She calls Barak. Now, many believe that Barak was most likely one of the faithful few who had remained faithful to God because it appears that he willingly appeared, he willingly came forward when he was summoned by Deborah. And also, because of where he was from, along with those tribes of Israel that formed Barak's army, he most likely had been living right in the middle of the oppression. And he may have been one of the best leadership material in Israel, Yet, as we will see in a moment, that's not saying a whole lot as he shows his true colors. Deborah says to Barak in the last part of verse 6 and verse 7, The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, go. Take with you 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands. In the Hebrew, the word for lure can also be translated to draw out, and it literally means to drag someone out as if going before a firing squad. And you know what that would be like. That person can't resist that dragging. They might be kicking and screaming, but they can't resist it. That's the idea, I believe. In other words, Jehovah, unknown to Sisera, was going to place Sisera and his army right in front of Barak and company for the kill. And to confirm this, the Lord God says, and give Him into your hands. Now, beloved, this was a done deal. The battle was over even before it started. The battle belongs to the Lord. We heard that played for the offertory. What a reason to rejoice. God had heard their cry and now had given them a victorious message with His guaranteed stamp of victory. Beloved, the word of the Lord cannot and will not be broken. It is sure, it is the truth, and it is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But was it enough for Barak? Notice what he says to Deborah, 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. Now some say that that's a demonstration of Barak's faith because he knew that the Lord was with Deborah and he wanted the Lord to be with him. That sounds good, but I'm not convinced. I'm not convinced because of what Barak had just been given. I don't believe it's a faithful response. I believe it points more to a faithless response. He had been given the very Word of God. But God's Word wasn't enough for Barak. He looked at what he was up against and then he looked at what he had to go with his little army and for some reason he thought that what he had along with the word of the Lord wasn't quite enough. Barak's call was not only to deliver Israel from outward oppression but also from inner shame and he failed and therefore the inner shame would be made worse. The glory would not go to another man but to a woman. You see it would not have been wrong for Barak to ask Deborah to go along as God's representative, we see that more often in Old Testament history, her presence might very well have been an inspiration for the army. And some believe that Barak wanted Deborah to go as a sort of a pledge from Jehovah. Maybe kind of like Gideon and the fleece, you remember. It's possible that her going along might also be a way for her to prove to Barak that she believed the word that she spoke. After all, the human odds were definitely against them. So, Deborah, are you willing to put your money where your mouth is? But as the Lord said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. The problem is that Barak makes his obedience to God conditional upon her going along. Setting forth conditions with God. His sin was not believing the Word of the Lord. Barak is representative of the lack of leadership and the poor condition in Israel. And Deborah is not only Israel's judge, but she also turns out to be the general of Israel's army because later on she gives the command to go forward. Again, not because of her choice or her ambition, I believe, but because of the weakness of the man. And of course, the decisive blow will also go to a woman. Yet I must point out that Barak is not completely faithless because by the grace of God, when it comes time to attack, as we'll see in a moment, he is given the faith to charge ahead and win the battle. And that's an important point as well. But therefore he is included in the record of the heroes of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. The people of God, when the Word of God says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, that's the truth. And when the Word of God says thou shalt have no other gods before me, thou shalt not take my name in vain, thou shalt remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, thou shalt not steal or kill or commit adultery or any of the other commandments, that's the truth. When the Word of God says that Jesus Christ was crucified, died, was buried, descended into hell, He rose again, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father as the advocate of His people, that's the truth. When it says, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, because He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, that's the truth. And when it says that Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead, that's no lie, beloved. That's the truth. the word of God is not to be questioned as Barak did but it is to be believed by faith according to the grace of God God's word is sufficient and God's grace as Paul found out was sufficient and that word is to be obeyed unconditionally no questions asked because God alone then brings about the divine deliverance Barak calls together the prescribed 10,000 men and gathered on Mount Tabor. Mount Tabor was anywhere from 1,000 to 1,300 feet above the valley below. It was cone-shaped, it's reported, and the slopes were covered with trees. And from the rounded top, it is said that one would have one of the most beautiful views in Palestine. I have a close friend who had the privilege of being there for his work a few years ago, and he was on top of Mount Tabor and said the same thing. What a view. Again, if we had a map before us so that we could see the geography, we would see that the geography was in the shape of a triangle with Mount Tabor at one point and the valley spread out before the mountain to the other two points and Sisera and his army most likely were able to stretch out across those other two points. And we need to understand that for whatever reason, we're not sure, but for whatever reason Israel could not go down the backside of Mount Tabor. They had only one option, and that was to go into the lap of Sisera. Thus, Barak's faith. Humanly speaking, you see, the odds were against Barak and his army. The mighty host of Sisera versus 10,000 men of Israel. The enemy was well equipped for war, but Israel was virtually unarmed. Sisera's men were well trained for combat. They were soldiers ready to fight, but the men of Israel were untrained. And they were used to being oppressed. Maybe more coward-like. Humanly speaking, you see, the soldiers of Israel were being led right to the slaughterhouse. And their only hope was by strength in the faith of the Word and name of Jehovah. But that's all they needed. Deborah says in verses 14 and 15, Then Deborah said to bear gold. This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you? So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by 10,000 men. At Barak's advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. Did you catch that? She says, Has not the Lord gone ahead of you already? He's already gone. And we read, The Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army. As Israel watched, whether Israel knew it or not, whether she knew it or not, the Lord had already begun to fight against Sisera. And to understand this a little bit better, we need to look at Deborah's song in chapter 5, in verse 21. In verse 21 we read, The river Kishon swept them away. The age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul, be strong. The river Kishon swept them away. You see, in chapter 4, verse 7, the Lord had said that He would drag Sisera to the river Kishon and deliver them to Barak. And the Jewish historian Josephus supports Deborah's song as he reports of a terrible thunderstorm with much rain that came up suddenly. You see, beloved, as with at other times in Israel's history, God intervened with a terrible natural disaster. The Kishon River flooded and carried some of the enemy away and the wet clay-like soil, which is reported became like concrete, made the chariots useless. They couldn't even move. Jehovah was fighting on behalf of His people as He did when Pharaoh's army followed the Israelites into the path of the Red Sea. Exodus 14, verse 25 says, And He took off their chariot wheels so that they drove them with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. And then Barak and his army basically cleaned up the rest as on foot. They were now more powerful than the chariots of their enemies. Sisera realizes he can't get away fast enough with his chariots, so he takes off on foot. And now this is the part of the story, isn't it, that usually sticks in our minds more than any other part. If you notice in the text, as we read about the two sides taking up their positions for the battle, all of a sudden, verse 11 pops up, which says, Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law. In chapter 1 it says his father-in-law. We're not sure, but either way it's in-laws of Moses. And pitched his tent by the great tree in Zananim near Kadesh. You may have wondered as we read that, why is that said all of a sudden? You see, the Kenites, again, in-laws of Moses in some way, so somewhat associated with the Israelites, had taken up residence in the southern part of the kingdom, according to chapter 1, verse 16. But Heber had left his extended family and moved north. All we can say is how providential for Barak and his army. We know the story. We're told that things are peaceful between Heber, the Kenite, and Sisera's boss, Jabin. Sisera, as exhausted as he was, thinks that he has come to the house of a friend and will be able to get some rest and take refuge until he can gain some strength back. It's interesting as we read that, I notice again that J.L. says, Come in, my Lord, come right in. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. J.L. makes him comfortable, gives him a drink of milk, and watches Sisera sink into a deep sleep, never to awaken in this life again. And then she literally nails Sisera to the floor. Remember, with King Eglon, we made the point that when the king or the leader was dead, then the army was done for. Their hope was gone. And here we see that it wasn't enough for Sisera's army to be killed, but he had to be killed. But of course, just like Ehud and his double-edged sword, Jael with her hammer and tent peg is condemned by many. And indeed, if the lesson here were purely a moral lesson, then yes, she is to be condemned for her deceit and her horrible murder. But again, we need to remember that Sisera was a representative of the kingdom of darkness. This was warfare ultimately between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light, the kingdom of God. And for 20 years, Sisera oppressed the people of God and challenged the name of Jehovah as represented in God's people. Sure, he was God's instrument of chastisement for God's people, but his motive was anything but to do the will of God. Beloved J.L.'s act, just like Ehud's act, is not necessarily to be humanly justified or copied. But the fact remains that she had the honor of killing one of the most terrible enemies of God. And just as Deborah prophesied, Jael, a woman, receives the glory. Notice again, chapter 5, verses 24 to 27. Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. Most blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a bowl fit for nobles, she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell, there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell. Where he sank, there he fell, dead. And then verse 31 of chapter 5 says, so may all your enemies perish, O Lord, or be utterly destroyed. Beloved, through J.L., God nailed down deliverance for His people. In this episode, we see God's crushing victory, His crushing salvation. The land had rest for 40 years. We say, that's great. Not really. Again, that means that the salvation through Deborah and Barak and J.L. was incomplete and it was insufficient. It was only temporary. But again, as we look at this temporary deliverance, we must raise our eyes and see God's grace and eternal deliverance on the cross of Christ. As we listen to the hammer pound the tent peg, punishing Sisera for something he deserved, we can also hear the hammer pounding the nails into the hands and feet of our Savior, punishing Him for that which we deserved. But on that cross, Jesus Christ dealt Satan a deadly blow, crushing the serpent's head, delivering His people. Congregation, the Lord alone fights for His people because they are helpless, they are unarmed, they are oppressed by sin. They cannot stand on their own. He is the only real help for God's afflicted people. And our comfort here is that the more downcast and the more afflicted and the more faithless God's people are, the further down He reaches to deliver them. And his salvation is sure if God is for us. Who can be against us? And please never forget that Paul's intended answer there is no one. No one can be against us. Praise the Lord. Sisera's death was degrading and humiliating, especially in those days. He died by the hand of a woman. But his death also symbolizes all of God's enemies. They will be completely destroyed. And beloved, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, take comfort in God's crushing salvation for you. But if you don't believe in Him, be warned. You will be crushed. You see, God's Word is sufficient. His Word is enough. God's Word never fails. His Word gives life. His Word is to be obeyed unconditionally without question. And God's incarnate Word is Jesus Christ and He alone is victorious. He alone gives complete and eternal deliverance and rest. And beloved, may our hope rest only in Him. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, once again, at the close of this service, at the close of this day, we thank You for the truth of Your Holy Word. We thank You for the certainty of Your Word. We thank You, Father, that we never have to doubt Your Word. And may we never doubt Your Word. Father, may it be, too, that You would work in our hearts continually by Your Holy Spirit that we might take You at Your Word, that we might be obedient to You without condition, without any back talk, but trusting completely in You alone. Father, we ask that as we leave this house tonight, each one of us might leave here more strengthened in the faith than when we came this morning and more sure of our salvation than ever before. Thank you for that blessing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.