Jdg 5:6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
Jdg 5:7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
Jdg 5:8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
The book of Judges aims to demonstrate that defection from Jehovah incurs severe punishment and servitude. Only by turning back to God can restoration be enjoyed. Thus the judges were charismatic leaders, raised up by God to deliver His theocratic people. Only by heeding their Spirit-directed message and following them in deliverance against their enemies could restoration be accomplished. The OT judges performed two functions. By divine power and Spirit-anointed leadership they delivered the people from enemy oppression. Having accomplished this, they ruled over them and administered government in the name of Israel’s God… Since the book reports seven apostasies, seven servitudes to seven heathen nations, and seven deliverances, it is evidently put in a symmetrical form (From: The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary).
The activity of the Spirit of the Lord in the book of Judges is clearly portrayed in the leadership of the period. The deeds of Othniel, Gideon, Jepthah and Samson are attributed to the Spirit of the Lord. This same Holy Spirit is available to us today to do extraordinary spirit empowered exploits for the Kingdom of God. We just have to be willing to “Go” and to listen to the direction of the Lord.
2 key verses of Judges:
Judges 2:16: “Then the lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.”
JUDGES 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25: “IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS NO KING IN ISRAEL; EVERY MAN DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES.”
Sermon title: Deborah Prophetess!
Thesis: Deborah was a leader in Israel and revealed that a women can be chosen by God to lead His people. She was a woman of faith and she flowed in the prophetic realm getting divine insight in solving disputes and in hearing from God what to do and how to do it.
Historical Background:
Deborah is a unique character in the Bible. She is the only woman to be a Judge of Israel. Her story takes place between the years 1209 and 1169 B.C. She was a prophetess and Judge of Israel. her leadership was honored. As Judge, she was also leader of the army of Israel.
The Israelites intermarried with other tribes in the land and turned away from God into pagan practices. With each apostasy Israel suffers oppression and wars. And with each apostasy, God raises up a deliverer to rescue the Israelites from their oppression.
Women in the New Testament church did flow in the prophetic ministry of the church and helped in leading the church forward to victory all across the Roman Empire. It all started in Acts 2 but note especially verse 17-18 “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women. I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.”
Case in point:
A number of women helped lead in the spread of Gospel and within the leadership of the church – See Acts -Priscilla, Chole, Lydia, Apphia, Nympha, the mother of John Mark, Phoebe literally called a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea (Romans 16:1).
Women flowed and functioned in the prophetic ministry of the church Philip had four daughters who were recognized as prophetesses in the church (Acts 21:8-9).
“Paul speaks about Junias, referring to her as being “outstanding among the apostles” (Romans 16:7, Nas). Some have debated the exact meaning of this verse.
a. Prophecy is the testimony of Jesus’ heart for His people. An angel told the apostle John that the “testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10). When the Holy Spirit reveals aspects of Jesus’ heart and will to us in various supernatural ways, we often refer to it as receiving or operating in the spirit of prophecy.
b. Grudman states, “Most prophecy is human words reporting something that God brings to mind.”
i. , “The Spirit conveys to our mind thoughts we communicate in contemporary language. They are a mixture of God’s words and man’s words that combine divine inspiration with the human process
c. Bickle states, “It is the will of God for everyone who loves Jesus to prophesy. This really is the inheritance of every born again believer. I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied (1 Corinthians 14:5). For you can all prophecy (1 Corinthians 14: 31). The manifestation of the Spirit means a demonstration of God’s Power. First Corinthians 12:7 says, ‘The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.’ I remind you again of the three purpose of simple prophecy. There are to bring edification, exhortation, and comfort to people: “he who prophesies speaks clarification and exhortation and comfort to men.” (1 Cor. 14:3) (Page 169).
b. Deborah was raised up by God and she flowed in this gift from God and He enabled her to lead with supernatural knowledge, wisdom and revelation.
T.S. - Deborah was raised up by God to be a judge and she was given the prophetic gift to lead her people to victory but it did not happen until the nation called and cried out to the Lord for deliverance.
II. The cry for help by the oppressed gets God’s attention.
a. During the time of Deborah’s rule, the nation of Israel had been under domination by the Canaanites for twenty years. They had suffered terrible atrocities and finally began to cry out to God for deliverance from this enemy. (Judges 4:3).
i. When people do what it says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
1. We must cry out today for our nation, for our families, for our communities and for our churches. If we want a healing to come!
i. Jabin ruled the Canaanites and the captain of their army was Sisera. The Canaanite army had 900 iron chariots and many more warriors to boot.
ii. Poor Israel had only 10,000 warriors; they were badly outnumbered. But God tells Deborah to instruct Barak, her general, to take their 10,000 soldiers up to the River Kishon on Mount Tabor. There, God would send Sisera and his 900 iron chariots and the Canaanite soldiers. God tells Deborah that the Israelites will win the battle. (Judges 4:6-7)
1. Deborah speaks the words of God to the general but the faith of the general in God is lacking because - Barak says he’ll obey this command only if Deborah accompanies him. She agrees. Remarkable. This general is given a prophecy that his army will win but won’t go to battle without Deborah. We can discern two things from this: that Barak had incredible faith in Deborah, if not in God, and that Deborah was a courageous and faithful woman.
2. This woman was not only going to serve on the front lines but lead the battle! This alone is astonishing for the times.
3. When God asks us to do things that seem outrageous or impossible, how willing are we to go ahead and do them? Deborah teaches us that with God all things are possible. No person is useless or not good enough to serve God. And, when we are willing to obey Him, God can work through us to achieve incredible victories, even against terrible odds.
4. Deborah doesn’t take any credit for her actions or for the victory their army was to enjoy. In Judges 4:8, she tells Barak that the honor will not be for him but for God. Her humility is a lesson to us. Too often, we are quick to grab the glory of our successes instead of thanking God for them. Jesus taught, “For whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4 KJV)
c. The battle plan of God is carried out:
i. The Israelites defeat the Canaanites, killing them all. In Judges 5 we get a hint to how they won the victory, their chariots got stuck in the mud of the river valley, it even eludes to this in Deborah’s song in Judges 5; 4, 20-21. God immobilized their chariots and the Israelites pounced on them as God handed them into their hands.
ii. The only one to escape was Sisera, their leader. Sisera fleed and hid out in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. He believed he was safe there, because the king of the Canaanites was at peace with the Kenites. But, Jael was no friend of the Canaanites or of Sisera. She slays Sisera, driving a tent stake through his head as he sleeps.
1. Point: There is nowhere to hide from God when we choose to fight against Him. God is the one who gave them their victory it was not by human hands but by the power of God.
2. This story tells us how God conquers evil and sin; it cannot be hidden from Him. He is all seeing, all knowing and all-powerful. We cannot hide our sins from Him, but if we confess them, He is faithful to forgive them. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 KJV)
iii. The Song of Deborah - In Chapter Five of Judges, Deborah sings to the Lord with a grateful heart and gives thanks and praise to God for delivering the Israelites from the Canaanites. Even though she could certainly have bragging rights considering her position for the times and the success of the battle, Deborah instead gives all the glory to God.
1. She recounts the miracles God has performed in the battle, the supernatural move of nature, the mud, the rain the hand of God in it all.
“Anointed music has and always will be a means of communion and connection between God and His creatures above and below. It moves human affections in the deepest way. Music is a providential gift that God has bestowed upon His creation. Music has been woven throughout all created order. Throughout the Scriptures creation is referenced and exhorted to give praise to God in song. Likewise, God’s people are to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). For all of eternity, we will be singing songs to the Lord” (Page 191).
a. Deborah’s story is largely about success against all odds.
i. Though everything about the times and the culture was against Deborah serving as the leader of the nation, she did. Though her army was vastly outnumbered, they won. Though her enemy tried to hide among sympathizers, one he believed to be on his side killed him anyway. Deborah didn’t allow the circumstances around her to overwhelm her or interfere with her belief in God’s promises to her.
Circumstances can fool us, if we let them. Our best approach in life is to place our faith and trust in the Lord.
iii. Had Deborah believed in the circumstances and not God, Israel would have remained under the oppression of the Canaanites. Don’t block the rewards God has for you with unbelief step out in faith and trust God.
Throughout the book of Judges we see the need for Godly leadership – because without the Godly leadership the nation falls away from God and into sin and then oppression and destruction of the nation.
Define the following names:
o Deborah = “Bee” in the sense of orderly motion and being sweet to her friends and family and dangerous to her enemies.
o Jabin = “Whom God observes”, understands
o Sisera = “Battle array”
o Barak = “Lightning or Lightning Flash”, cast forth,
o Jael = “Mountain Goat”
Israel had been under cruel oppression for 20 years.
Deborah was a prophetess and she led Israel at that time. The people would come to her to have their disputes settled.
Deborah sent for Barak and revealed the plan of God to him – for him to lead an army from Israel and defeat Sisera, the commander of Jabin the Canaanite king who ruled Israel.
Barak insisted that Deborah go along. She told him that he would not get the honor, but that Sisera would be handed over to a woman.
Deborah commanded to “GO” for this was the day of deliverance by the hand of the Lord. “Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?”
Sisera was routed to the point that not one man was left alive of his troops.
Sisera escaped and hid in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber. Jael drove a tent peg through his temple as he slept.
5:7 Warriors in Israel ceased until Deborah arose as a mother in Israel.
5:31 “So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.”
Why We Need Deborah to Arise Today:
1. There is a cry going out from the hearts of God’s people about the oppression the church is under from the enemy.
a. Heaven is aware of the issues affecting the people of God. But, until a cry goes out from the people of God, the hands of Heaven are tied.
b. Without a cry, we show we are satisfied or content with the way things are.
c. The oppression had been going on for 20 years. How long do we put up with things before we cry out for change?
2. God has been watching and stirring up Deborah’s for quite some time now and the timing is right.
a. "I find so often when the frustration in heaven gets in line with the frustration on earth, there is a power that is released that just gets very strong." (Bill Hybels)
b. When we get to the place to where the stirring itself isn’t enough, but we must see change take place, we know we are on the verge of something great.
c. We have got to get to the place that we don’t just want change, but we are willing to rise up and put our hands to the plow to see change brought about.
d. Actions truly do speak louder than words.
3. Deborah represents the steadiness and consistency necessary to both win and maintain victory.
a. Barak means “lightning flash”. That is temporary. We don’t need a temporary fix or a temporary anointing.
b. If a temporary, quick fix was enough, we would be in a great position by now.
c. We didn’t get to where we are at quickly, and the victory must be won with consistency and dedication.
4. When Deborah arose, the warriors returned.
a. There is a remnant of God’s warriors who are waiting for someone to rise up and lead them back to he place and position for which they have been created.
b. God granted peace and victory for 40 years. The time of victory was twice as long as the time of oppression.
c. The sad part is that after the 40 years, the Israelites went back to their wicked ways and found themselves in a place of oppression again.
