“Prophetess and Judge”
Text: Judges 4:1-5
I. Welcome
II. Introduction
This morning I want to return to our series of lessons on mountaintop experiences – this particular one on Mount Tabor. The story is about the only woman judge of Israel who was also a prophetess – Deborah. She is only mentioned here in the fourth and fifth chapters of Judges but she was definitely a leader at an extremely low point in Israel’s history. You probably remember how Israel would start worshiping idols and God would let another nation oppress them. Then when their cries became loud enough, the Lord would raise up a judge to deliver His people. This cycle of unfaithfulness and deliverance lasted for over 300 years until Israel finally demanded a king to rule over them. If her general was any reflection of the men of Israel at this time, it is no wonder God let a woman such as Deborah judge Israel. She judged Israel from the hill country of Ephraim between Ramah and Bethel as she sat under a palm tree. The text calls this the palm tree of Deborah which is somewhat interesting since there is only one other lady in the Bible named Deborah. She was Rebekah’s nurse and was buried under a tree near Bethel when she died. As Deborah judged Israel, Jabin, the king of Canaan had harshly oppressed Israel for 20 years. Jabin ruled in Hazor – one of the largest Canaanite cities. Joshua had captured and burned Hazor in northern Galilee during the conquest but now the fortified city had been rebuilt. With 900 chariots, Jabin and his army could easily control the Jezreel Valley. I hope you’ll open your Bibles to the book of Judges as we study the mountaintop experience of Deborah, judge of Israel. Please search the scriptures this week to make sure I have preached the truth of God’s word.
III. Lesson
Let’s return to the text in Judges 4:6-7 as we pick up our lesson: Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?” Evidently the Lord had issued some orders which had gone unheeded so Deborah called her general and reiterated those orders to Barak. The LORD God of Israel had specified the number of troops to deploy, where to deploy and given His people a promise of victory. Barak’s response in verse 8 reveals why Deborah is judging Israel at this time: And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!” We can surmise a couple of things from Barak’s response. It’s hard to imagine that he is the head of Israel’s army because we would label him a coward. He evidently had no faith in God’s promise of deliverance. But he refused to go into battle without Deborah. We might conclude that male leadership in Israel at this time was non-existent. Praise the Lord for a godly woman like Deborah at this point in Israel’s history! Let’s take a moment to survey the battlefield. Barak is commanded to take 10,000 men up Mount Tabor. This mountain southwest of the Sea of Galilee rises almost 1850 feet above sea level with a commanding view of the surrounding terrain. It will be inaccessible to Jabin’s chariots and thus affords protection to Israel’s army. The Lord has already told Israel that Barak will meet Jabin’s general Sisera and his chariots along the Kishon River. However little we think of Barak, Deborah is truly Israel’s leader and lays out the future for Barak in verse 9: So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. Barak is leading the army of Israel and has been assured of victory yet Deborah tells him that there will be no glory for him in this battle. The enemy’s general – Sisera – will fall by the hand of a woman. At this point, do you imagine Barak is thinking that Deborah will defeat Sisera? I don’t know how well you can see this map but the red line indicates the movement of Jabin’s forces and then the purple depicts their attack toward Mount Tabor. The gold line first represents the movement of the 10,000 troops from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh near the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Barak with his army and Deborah then deployed to Mount Tabor in preparation for the battle with Sisera. The green line marks the retreat of Sisera’s army as Israel destroys them. While the narrative of chapter four does not reveal all that happened, the song in chapter five indicates that rain and a flooding Kishon River caused Sisera’s chariots to get stuck and made them easy targets for Israel’s army. In the midst of all this information, we learn of some Kenites living near Mount Tabor who gave an intelligence report to Sisera that Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor. This was Sisera’s signal to deploy his chariots from Harosheth Hagoyim along the River Kishon. Maybe this little map gives you a better picture as we continue in the text. With 10,000 troops massed on Mount Tabor, Barak has to be told to get into the battle – by a woman. This man is definitely unable to lead. Listen to Deborah’s directions: Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before you?” Deborah’s orders were just what Barak needed as he then went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. And we assume that Deborah was also leading the men into battle. We mentioned earlier how the chariots got stuck but now we’ll read the account in verses15-16: And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. The once powerful army of Jabin has been decimated by the Lord. But this is not the end of the story since Sisera himself escaped on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite since there was peace between Jabin and Heber’s house. Now we get to see where Barak’s glory went as we read verses 18-22: And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket.
Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”
Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple. The glory went to Jael that day for the death of Sisera. We conclude this portion of the narrative with verses 23-24: So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel. And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. I want us to read the Song of Deborah together and hopefully it will take on new meaning – Judges 5:1-31 – Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying:
“When leaders lead in Israel,
When the people willingly offer themselves,
Bless the LORD!
“Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!
I, even I, will sing to the LORD;
I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
“LORD, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
The earth trembled and the heavens poured,
The clouds also poured water;
The mountains gushed before the LORD,
This Sinai, before the LORD God of Israel.
“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
In the days of Jael,
The highways were deserted,
And the travelers walked along the byways.
Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Arose a mother in Israel.
They chose new gods;
Then there was war in the gates;
Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
My heart is with the rulers of Israel
Who offered themselves willingly with the people.
Bless the LORD!
“Speak, you who ride on white donkeys,
Who sit in judges’ attire,
And who walk along the road.
Far from the noise of the archers, among the watering places,
There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD,
The righteous acts for His villagers in Israel;
Then the people of the LORD shall go down to the gates.
“Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and lead your captives away,
O son of Abinoam!
“Then the survivors came down, the people against the nobles;
The LORD came down for me against the mighty.
From Ephraim were those whose roots were in Amalek.
After you, Benjamin, with your peoples,
From Machir rulers came down,
And from Zebulun those who bear the recruiter’s staff.
And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As Issachar, so was Barak
Sent into the valley under his command;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
Why did you sit among the sheepfolds,
To hear the pipings for the flocks?
The divisions of Reuben have great searchings of heart.
Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan,
And why did Dan remain on ships?
Asher continued at the seashore,
And stayed by his inlets.
Zebulun is a people who jeopardized their lives to the point of death,
Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.
“The kings came and fought,
Then the kings of Canaan fought
In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;
They took no spoils of silver.
They fought from the heavens;
The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.
The torrent of Kishon swept them away,
That ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon.
O my soul, march on in strength!
Then the horses’ hooves pounded,
The galloping, galloping of his steeds.
‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the LORD,
‘Curse its inhabitants bitterly,
Because they did not come to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the mighty.’
“Most blessed among women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Blessed is she among women in tents.
He asked for water, she gave milk;
She brought out cream in a lordly bowl.
She stretched her hand to the tent peg,
Her right hand to the workmen’s hammer;
She pounded Sisera, she pierced his head,
She split and struck through his temple.
At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still;
At her feet he sank, he fell;
Where he sank, there he fell dead.
“The mother of Sisera looked through the window,
And cried out through the lattice,
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarries the clatter of his chariots?’
Her wisest ladies answered her,
Yes, she answered herself,
‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil:
To every man a girl or two;
For Sisera, plunder of dyed garments,
Plunder of garments embroidered and dyed,
Two pieces of dyed embroidery for the neck of the looter?’
“Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD!
But let those who love Him be like the sun
When it comes out in full strength.”
So the land had rest for forty years.
IV. Conclusion/Invitation
The story of Deborah, the only female judge of Israel, is a very interesting one. Apparently there were no men capable of leading Israel at the time. Even the leader of Israel’s army was afraid to go into battle without Deborah by his side. And, in the end, it was the woman Jael who killed the leader of the enemy’s troops. The glory in this phase of Israel’s history went to the women. I’m reminded how the faith of women has stood out down through time – often the motivator of men to serve the Lord. Hebrews 11:32 lists Barak as one of the heroes of the faith but we know it was only because of Deborah. Thank you sisters for your faith and example. I’m afraid we weak men are often outshone by women such as Deborah and Jael. This morning we have looked at a woman who was a leader of Israel and a woman who fearlessly slew the enemy. I’m not suggesting we follow the same path but may we learn from their faith. Women can be and are leaders when it comes to faith – just look around you. How many times have we stood on Mount Tabor – with the victory before us – only to falter for lack of faith or leadership? Must we wait for Deborah? Maybe it’s time we stood up and declared our faith in the Son of God. If you’re willing to repent of your sins and confess Jesus as the Son of God, we’ll be happy to assist you in putting on Christ in baptism. Maybe you’ve been like Barak – unwilling to obey God as you should. If you need to confess your sins and ask for the prayers of the church, we invite you to come as we stand and sing.
