The Reluctant Spirit.
Judges 5:15b-18
“honorable mentions” and the “dishonorable mentions rebuke towards four and one half tribes whom did not come.
“suppose they gave a war and nobody came?”
Ruben: The tribe that was sentimental but not decisive . . . therefore could not act.
Name meant: I see a son A New beginning” (symbol was a rising sun)
• First glance seems good.
• First reaction was enthusiasm and good intentions
Quickly deteriorated into questioning analysis and selfish inactivity.
Stages of the development of their reaction:
Among the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart
Deserve some respect due respect,
o The problem was a good distance away.
o They had settled on the other side of the River Jordan. Yet, in spite of that, they quickly gathered and expressed a responsibility for their brothers.... at least at first.
o The phrase “great resolves” is not necessarily to be taken negatively
They were expressing deep feelings of the heart.
• But that was also their biggest problem; they were only “of the heart.” When they got together it was most probably with great enthusiasm... at first. But this soon deteriorated into long discussions of the pros and cons and we soon see that good intentions were not enough.
Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks?
• they began to hear other sounds
It was the bleating of their sheep.
• It was all that represented their living and being to them, as they were shepherds.
• Who’s going to pay the bills when we are away?
• Yet, they really do need our help over on the other side, and we really should go. We cannot desert our brothers. What shall we do?”
Among the divisions of Reuben, There was great searchings of heart.
o It has changed from “thoughts of heart” to “searchings of heart.”
o The word “searching” here means a “deeply anxious, searching pondering.”
o They were double minded in this. Yes, they wanted to help. But then again we need to think of ourselves.
The word tells us that for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:6-8).
• The words “double minded” mean a divided interest.
If we are to do anything for God we need to be single minded!
How similar is this situation to the parable of Jesus about the Father who asked his sons to go into the field to work. Immediately one of the boys was taken up with good intentions and said, “I’ll go!”
• To rise to the cost that lay between vision and reality is vital for victory.
• We love vision and people that are excited with that vision, but when it comes to it costing us
• “Rubens” do not say “no,” but rather, “Let me think and pray about it”
o The “Rubens” have good intention but are distracted by the bleating of the sheep so they cannot react decisively.
Basically the “Reubens” were motivated by sentiment, not sacrifice.
• They can be moved to tears over the needs of the church or missions or other needs
o but never to the point of sacrifice to help change that problem.
• The Rubens had a problem and that was how to lift the standard of the Lord and stand as one and try to ease themselves from the risks of war
• In the midst of it all they forgot that indecision closes the door to action.
• Indecision is a vote cast
• We don’t know who won the debates that were under way, but we know that even if the “yes’s” won it was too late. The battle was over, the disapproval of the Lord was upon them.
• This is typical of the spirit of those who are willing, at the drop of a hat, to discuss everything about a vision or need presented to them.
o They spend much energy on exposing problems in order to “get it right”
o Yet are not willing to pay a personal price to change it. Because of this attitude Reuben was indecisive, and the fruit of this indecisive spirit was plain to see.
Gilead: The tribe that lacked fellowship
Gilead abode beyond Jordan.
• Gilead was actually made up of two tribes;
o Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh.
o They had chosen to remain on the other side of the Jordan when Joshua went in to take the country, but were permitted on the con¬dition that they help in the conquest on the other side of the Jordan (see Josh. 1:12 - 15).
o God, from the very beginning of the conquest, that they (and we) had a responsibility for each other.
o The years had passed and because of the natural barrier between them, (the Jordan River) fellowship seemed to have grown cold because when they were needed they did not even respond.
There is a very important lesson here: we are to be fellowshipping people.
• God has created us so we are not to be an island, but members of a living Body, where each of us has our own particular place and function.
• As members of that Body we need each other
We were created with a need of fellowship.
• That fellowship is first with God then to each other.
• Fellowship is necessary for proper growth, because God has created us with a need for each other. We need to be admonished, inspired, encouraged and loved.
o Why do you think the Bible tells us not to neglect the “assembling of ourselves”? I have often met people who, because of the problems they have seen in a church, say they don’t need it.
Church is made up of imperfect people
• If you finally find a perfect church and you join it, then it would be no longer perfect.
• An old proverb says, “You are either part of the problem or part of the solution
Revival in Norway and the new saved that said they did not need others, church was boring..
Being married to a Filipino
• You got Him but He has a lot of children!
o He wants you to meet and be in relationship with them.
Many of them long to be a part of your life as well.
• We realize that to be cut off from fellowship can also mean being cut off from experiencing victory
• Here we see that his indifference to the fate of his brothers was a sin.
Indifference towards others’ needs will rob us of our own victory.
Dan: The Tribe that refused to grow in faith
Name means Judge
Here is one of the saddest stories of all the tribes, and it is a story of almost constant defeat from the very beginning.
” Then the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain, for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley. And the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres” (Judges 1:34 - 36).
• The Amorites had driven Dan into the mountain country (Judges 1) They had not just lost a battle or two, as Judah and the others had, but they were even driven away from the very area that God had given them as an inheritance!
• They were completely driven from the coastal area, which was to be their inheritance, and driven back further and further up north and inland until they ended up near the present Golan Heights This was a very long way from their original inheritance!
• What happened is that they did not have the overcoming faith to take the land that God had promised.
• They refused to believe that God meant what He said and allowed them¬selves to be pushed until they ended up in total defeat.
• This sad situation, because of the sin of unbelief, didn’t end there. Dan never seemed to change and so eventually became the first tribe to go into apostasy.
In fact he led the way into it (Judges 18).
• Unbelief is dangerous and can only lead to defeat on the spiritual plane that ultimately affects all other areas as well. That is why the Bible warns us to be very careful that there is not to be found in us any evil heart of unbelief (Heb, 3:12).
• Later on in this chapter of Hebrews it’s recorded that the generation who died in the wilderness did so because of one thing: They could not enter because of unbelief”. (Heb. 3:19)
People that are not living in overcoming faith will not be volunteering for much, especially if it costs something.
• All Dan could see was his own problem, and that seemed bigger than anything else.
The Word says in Hebrews 11:6: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Faith is a key to pleasing God.
• Dan had forgotten this and did not rise in faith to receive what God had for them in the past. When Deborah sent word for help, they did not even bother to respond.
Asher: The Tribe that was engrossed in the cares of this life
Asher continued on the seashore, and abode in his breaches.
• Asher lived by the Phoenician coast and worked with commerce, boats, trade.
• It is also highly probable that many of the Phoenicians they had to work with were involved in Sisera’s army.
• “Why risk offending their trade partners when the battle was so far away? “Instead Asher stayed at their seashore and docks, caught up with the business and the cares of this life. When God had called him to battle he stayed and did “business as usual.”
No wonder they had no vision for the work of the Lord. They had no sense of how important they personally were in God’s plan, or that just their personal contribution was not only important but expected.
Example of the parable of the sower.
Parable of the potatoes
He was simply too busy for God.
• Too busy seeking his career and fulfilling his vocation to find time to serve God.
o One of the hardest things to find today is people that are totally willing to give unselfishly of their time and energy to God.
Gina in Norway, career first
• But so it was also for Asher. He had too much to lose by going to war and was judged.
• It’s impossible to hear a message from the heavenly world when our eyes are full of the sights and sounds of this earthly world.
The Price Of A Reluctant Spirit
final conclusions that are very sobering.
Not one of these four and one half tribes ever made an important contribution to the cause of God as a tribe after this!
• Dan led the way (the wrong way!) and was the leader into apostasy.
• Asher virtually vanished from the scene after Gideon, the next Judge.
• Gilead and Reuben from across the Jordan were repeatedly overrun time and time again and almost constantly defeated.
The Willing Spirit
“Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves”. (Judges 5:2)
• One of the main themes of this entire Song of Victory is the willingness of the leaders and people. My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD. (Judges 5:9) They did not hesitate, as we will see that others did.
• It is very true that “leaders cannot win a cause; it is won by the followers.”
When leaders lead in the way that God meant, we are in a solid position.
A Jewish friend, a Sergeant-Major in the Israeli army. He said that the reason they lost so many officers in the last war was because an Israeli officer is a leader in every sense of the word. He told me that there was no military word for “forward” in battle--only “follow me”. That was the Israeli army’s word for forward: “Follow me”! The leader led the way into battle!
With a military like that who would want to be a leader? And yet this is the same prin¬ciple in New Testament leadership.
o We, as leaders, are to be “examples to the flock in word and deed. This is the type of leader¬ship where one can say as Paul did,
o “be imitators of me” even though it may cost a great deal.
o Let’s pray that God will raise leaders that are willing and that say “Follow me!”.
Need fathers who lead right.
It is true that “love without criticism brings stagnation,” but it is also true that “criticism without love brings destruction.”
Peter deals with the need of willing leaders in 1 Peter 5:2: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be (NIV).
The People Volunteered
We need to be reminded once again that they who would do anything for God must first give themselves as a free-will offering. I know you are familiar with the following verses, but since so much of our study is about this type of attitude let us read once again these classic verses:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1, NIV).
“Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the wombs of the dawn, you will receive the dew of your youth “(Ps. 110:3, NIV).
God wants a surrendered life and a willing heart.
Zebulun and Napthali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto death in the high places of the field” (Judges 5:18).
These two tribes will always be remembered as the tribes that loved not their lives, even to death.
But the question of who will rise to the battle call is still on the heart of God as we see in Isaiah when he heard the Holy conversation: who will go for us, whom will we send. It is for us to cry as Paul, so burdened by the lot around him, I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh if that would make them come to the light.
The fervor of John Knox’s heart on his knees crying out to God; “Give me Scotland or I die!’
Or John Wesley; “The world is my parish”. We need to shout as Isaiah: “Send me!”.
General Booth. When J. Wilbur Chapman, the famous evangelist, was in London and had the chance to meet the General, who was past 80 at that time, he asked him about the secret of his success. He hesitated a second, Dr. Chapman said, and he saw the tears come into Booth’s eyes and steal down his cheeks. Then he said, “I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I, men with greater opportunities; but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Jesus Christ could do with the poor of London, I made up my mind that God would have all of William Booth there was. And if there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life
Not only do we need to be surrendered to God, but also through that surrender have a willingness to be used.
The Roll Call Of The Brave
Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people; the Lord made me have dominion over the mighty. Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak; he was sent on foot into the valley”
( Judges 5:12 – I5a )
These are the two basic things God has always required of His people up to this day “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword” (Isaiah. 1:19 – 20, NIV).
Some great examples of this type of attitude are found in the Old Testament. In Exodus 36, when Israel built the tabernacle, we read that it was built by everyone whose heart stirred him, who gave enthusiastically all the gifts needed for the building.
• when they were making preparations for the building of the temple:
“The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David, the king also rejoiced greatly” (1 Chr. 29:9, NIV). When we choose this type of attitude we will be filled not only with victory, but also with joy, as the Lord in turn blesses us.
