STAR WARS
Judges 4 & 5
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: The True Danger
Medical Studies have found that:
1. The Japanese eat very little fat - and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
2. The Japanese drink very little red wine - and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
3. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine – yet suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
4. The Germans drink lots of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats – yet suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
5. The French eat a lot of fat – yet suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
CONCLUSION: You can eat and drink what you like. It’s actually -- speaking English that apparently kills you.
Isn’t it a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies?
B. TEXT
4 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord…. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army…. 3 had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help. 4 Now Deborah, a prophet…was leading Israel at that time. 6 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 them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’” 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.” 9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot….17 to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. 21 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. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him. 5:1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang…. 20From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. 21 The river Kishon swept them away…” Judges 4:1-4,6-9,15,17,21,24;5:1,20-21.
C. THESIS
1. Science fiction has captured the imagination of millions of Americans for decades. Even before we achieved space travel, men dreamed of building ships to wander among the stars. One day we will -- in our glorified bodies!
2. A recent example of this heavenly desire is the Star Wars movie. But the Wars among the Stars is more than an idea, it's a reality. There are wars going on among the stars themselves. You see, the Angels are called "stars" in Job 38:7, Daniel 8:10, and Rev. 12:4.
3. The Angels of God are warring against the angels of Satan. See Rev. 12:7 and Eph. 6:11-12. In today's text we're going to see how the faith and obedience of one man and woman brought about victory.
4. Many preachers have portrayed Barak as weak, as depending on a woman, and as having inferior faith. But the Bible celebrates the faith of Barak as worthy of emulation (Heb. 11:32). What was so special about this man as to get him into the Hall of Faith?
5. We’re going to look at the Source, Course, and Force of Barak’s faith. The title of this message is “Star Wars.”
I. THE SOURCE OF FAITH 4:1-9
A. THE ENEMY WITHIN
1. Israel was in a deplorable condition: sin was epidemic, Idol worship was prevalent, they were oppressed by Jabin for 20 years, they were imprisoned in their cities, the highways were unsafe.
2. Their oppression by Jabin was their own fault! This was one of the kingdoms they were supposed to have subdued when they entered the promised land. This was the only time in Judges where an enemy from within oppressed them.
3. If we don’t defeat the habits and patterns of our old life when we get saved, they will come back and attempt to dominate us!
4. America too is being overrun by alcoholism, drugs, gambling, abortion, corruption, brazen sexual sin, etc. Is there hope? Yes! God will help us as we grow in faith and trust toward Him.
B. WEAK BARAK GREW STRONG IN FAITH
This victory turned on the faith that developed in Barak. Barak is a type of the weak believer God wants to use. It must develop in you and I also.
1. Barak's faith began as Deborah declared the Word of God to him. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God" Romans 10:17. The Bible is Alive!
2. Faith is not positive thinking. Faith in faith is positive thinking, but faith in Christ is salvation. Faith is not simply wishing for what we want. Faith begins by receiving the Word of God.
3. Barak's faith emerged by hearing, believing, and acting on the Word of God. Deborah did the spiritual warfare and Barak did the physical warfare. She prayed while he pounded the enemy.
4. Barak's faith was weak at first. Can God use weak faith? Yes. Barak told Deborah, "I'm not going unless you go with me" Judg. 4:8.
5. Now there’s reasons why Barak had some reservations.
a. Sisera was a general who hadn’t lost a battle in 20 years.
b. He had a very large army – far outnumbering the Israelites.
c. He had 900 Iron Chariots. This was equivalent to 900 tanks. Each could run over and kill hundreds of men. They were technologically advanced ahead of the Israelites; iron was yet unknown to them, or not used in such quantities.
d. God had limited Barak to only 10,000 men. Like Gideon, God wanted the Israelites to give Him the credit for the victory.
6. Even though Barak had a fearful faith, it was still sufficient faith. It wasn't great faith in God, but faith in a Great God that one the battle of Star Wars.
7. Jesus said, "If you have faith like the grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and cast into the sea’ and it will be done" Matt. 17:20. Jesus meant that the least amount of faith is greater than the greatest amount of difficulty.
C. REASONS FOR THE GROWTH OF FAITH
1. What caused Barak's faith to grow? He heard the Word of God and associated with the people of God. Faith is as much caught as it is taught.
2. Do you want your faith to grow? Get with God's people and get in God's Word. It's that simple. If you run with the people of faith you will have the faith that people.
3. Show me the crowd you run with and I'll show you the kind of person you are or will become.
4. HUMOR: CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE?
a. A woman went into an insurance office with her newborn identical twins. The man agent asked her if she'd ever had any trouble telling them apart.
b. She gave him an odd look and said, "No, I haven't had any problem. This is Benjamin and this is Elizabeth."
II. THE COURSE OF FAITH 4:10, 13-22
A. STRATEGY: COME UP HIGHER
1. God directed Barak to assemble his army on the strategic high ground of Mount Tabor. Mt. Tabor is a small mountain some 1,886 feet high with precipitous sides on all directions, a wonderful location to attack from.
2. Chariots could not ascend it so they would be left at the base to do the cleanup battle afterward.
3. According to Judges 4:14-15, God didn’t give the order to attack until the forces of Sisera were climbing the sides of Tabor. Then the Israelites went down to engage the tired out army from above them. They swept them down the mountain!
4. You see, God knows how to stage the battle so that the weak overcome the strong. Some of you are trying to fight your battles on level ground, but God’s saying, “Come up higher! The enemy can’t fight you up here! Up here with Me you’ll be victorious.”
5. Prayer, worship, and intercession are ways to get up higher! One additional fact: Do you know who else went up this mountain? The Lord Jesus, Peter, James & John.
6. When they went up higher with the Lord, He was transfigured before them! They saw Him in His glory! They met Moses and Elijah up there.
7. They came down glowing with the presence of the Lord and when the demonized boy was brought to them, the demon was driven out!
8. Listen to God’s advice to gain victory: “Come up higher; fellowship with Me and you will be invincible!”
B. STRATEGY 2: SHOWERS
1. But God’s strategies weren’t finished yet. As both armies joined in battle, it began to rain. The bottom fell out and the clouds poured down (Judges 5:4). It rained so hard that the river Kishon overflowed its banks.
2. The battleground around the base of the Mountain became a swamp (Judges 5:21). The horses reared and floundered and the chariots became bogged down.
3. Barak and his army pounced on Sisera's chariots and remaining soldiers. They were wiped out. Sisera himself ran for his life and went into the tent of a woman named Jael (Judges 5:17-22).
4. The worst thing that could happen to a man in those days was to be killed by a woman; such a thing demeaned the man's manhood. The outcome? Literally: "He got nailed" by her.
5. This second strategy hinged on the anointing. When God sends the anointing, the enemy is thrown into confusion. All the devil’s warfare is mired in spiritual mud.
6. HOW WE MESSED UP THE SEANCE
a. When now Missionary Samuel Stone was a kid in Burma, there was a great deal of shamanism – like a witch doctor. Samuel and another kid came across a large crowd where a shaman was about to talk to a spirit in the spiritual world on behalf of a family.
b. He meditated and danced for a long time, but no spirit would visit him. Usually what happened was the spirit would take over a shaman’s body and talk.
c. For example, if this family wanted to communicate with their late mother, the shaman would evoke the spirit of her mother and let the mother’s spirit takeover his body and the shaman would speak as the mother, often producing a woman’s voice.
d. We waited there for about half an hour, but nothing happened. Finally the shaman shouted to the crowd saying that he sensed that there were “Jesuses” among the crowd, that’s why the spirit wouldn’t come.
e. The tribal people called Christians “Jesuses.” As long as Christians were around, the spirits wouldn’t come. So he asked, “If there any Jesuses in the crowd, please leave. All Jesuses go home!” They eventually left.
f. Some people in town told them that later that the spirit came. “The advantage of being a Christian was that we were protected by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Evil spirits were afraid of my presence with the Holy Spirit.”
7. Being full of the Holy Spirit still defeats the enemy today! We need the rain showers of God in our lives!
III. THE FORCE OF FAITH 5:20
A. THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S
1. Verse 4:20 gives us a further glimpse of the scope of the battle: “From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.”
2. This is a clear reference to spiritual warfare in the heavenly realms. Daniel was told by an angel (10:12-13) that he had been trying to get to Daniel for 21 days, but was hindered demonic angelic authorities. Only when the archangel Michael came could the resistance be overthrown so that the angel could through!
3. As I mentioned earlier, Angels are called "stars" in Job 38:7, Daniel 8:10, and Rev. 12:4. Judges 4:20 is telling us that there was angelic warfare occurring over the battlefield of Barak & Deborah.
4. The devil always wants God’s people to be oppressed and resists all efforts for them to be freed.
5. The wonderful truth is that we don’t fight alone! God Himself is fighting for us! “If God be for us who can be against us?”
6. 2 Chron. 20:15; “Be not afraid…for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper” Isa. 54:17.
7. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” saith the Lord’ Zech. 4:6. “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” 1 Jn. 4:4.
B. VICTORY: A FOREGONE CONCLUSION
1. A final inference of this verse is that our victory is already decided – if we fight. "The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera."
2. This verse means that the battle was already lost for Sisera before he began fighting and it was already won for Barak. Deborah had already prophesied victory for the battle (Judges 4:14).
3. Understand: The whole universe fought against this man Sisera. There was no way he could have won the battle against Barak.
4. Do you want to know the highest form of wisdom? It's to find what direction God is going and go with him! God help the person who thinks they can fight and prevail against God!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: DIFF. TYPES OF ADULT PRAYERS
1. The "Call 9-1-1 Prayer." You make this call when you have an emergency. You don't want to trouble God normally. God is your divine spare tire with your life goes flat.
2. The "Jiminy Cricket" prayer. "When you wish upon a star; makes no difference who you are; anything your hearts desire will come to you." God is viewed like a cosmic grandpa.
3. The "Monty Hall" Prayer. It begins like this: "God, let's make a deal." You will do something for God if He comes through for you first.
4. The "Aladdin's Lamp" Prayer. It's based on the deep belief that if you just "rub" God the right way, He will magically be at your service. God is treated as a cosmic bellhop.
5. The "Lottery" Prayer. It can't hurt to try, and you just might hit the jackpot.
6. The last is the "Guinness" Prayer. This person thinks it's a matter of how long and how loud they pray that gets a response on God.
7. But what we need it is the “Ps. 50 Prayer:” “Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.” (50:15).
B. THE CALL
1. Salvation Call.
2. Are you involved in a battle now? Prayer.
[This message is adapted from James O. Davis’ message of the same title.]
