It's so good to be with you again. Thanks for having us down again this summer. We don't have time for a full report on Asheville, but many of you know Asheville. I hear you say things to me like, wow, you're here to talk about judges, but isn't judges a lot like Asheville? Everybody kind of doing whatever's right in their own eyes. And it's really true. And that makes church planting really challenging. But we love what we're doing. and we look with great anticipation with what the Lord is going to do this next year and in the years to come. So thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support. Thank you for encouraging us. Thank you that when you're in town you call us and you want to see us. Thank you that you are behind us as a church. We really do appreciate it and we really do believe that prayer is the engine of what we're doing. If you want to find out more about what we're doing, I'm happy to stay after the lecture and talk a little bit more about that. We will be sending out a newsletter this week, so I've committed myself to doing that, an email newsletter. We're not very good at doing that, so we apologize for that public apology, but we'll send it out this week, and I'll have more details about what's going on at this particular time in City Church. But I do bring you greetings from our fledgling little congregation, City Church in Asheville. Thanks again for having us. Well, we're here to talk about Deborah this morning. Would you turn in your Bibles to Judges chapter 4, and we'll look there. You've already heard in your study the stories of the first three of the named judges, Othniel, Ehud, and at least a little bit about Shamgar two weeks ago with Dr. Davis. And today we come to the story of Deborah, and it consists actually of two halves, chapter 4 and chapter 5, which together form a complete picture. Chapter four recounts events in almost entirely human and natural terms from the historian's point of view and given in narrative prose. Chapter five, however, gives them to us in more supernatural and extraordinary terms, in poetic or in song form. And this is implicitly telling us something. It's actually a clue, not just to understand the book of Judges, but actually to understand all of life, what seems mundane and merely human. is in fact spiritual. The spiritual situation, though frequently invisible, drives the natural events forward. We'll spend most of our time today in chapter four, but we'll actually look at chapter five as chapter five flavors and provides us with a richer and deeper perspective. So let's look together, Judges chapter four, beginning in verse one, we'll go through chapter five in verse one, and then we'll look at chapter five in verse 31 to close our reading. Judges chapter 4. And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, the king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harasheth Hagoyim. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron. and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for 20 years. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel, in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abba Noam from Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you? Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun, and I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand. Barak said to her, if you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh. And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kadesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels and Deborah went with them. Now Heber, the Kenite, had separated from the Kenites. the descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Za'ananim, which is near Kadesh. When Sisera was told that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Ha'arasheth Hagoyim to the river Kishen. And Deborah said to Barak, For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harasheth Hagoyim, And all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. Not a man was left. But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. For there was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, turn aside, my lord. Turn aside to me. Do not be afraid. So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. And he said to her, please give me a little water to drink, for I'm thirsty. So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. And he said to her, stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, is anyone here, say no. But J.L., the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand. And she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, come and I will show you the man whom you are seeking. So he went into her tent, and there lay Sisera dead with the tent peg in his temple. So on that day, God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel, and the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin, the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin, king of Canaan. Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day, and then chapter five in verse 31. So may all your enemies perish, O Lord, but your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might. And the land had rest for 40 years. Well, this is another gripping episode, every bit as gruesome as the story of Ehud who plunged the sword into fat King Eglon's belly as he sat on the potty, as we say around our house. And it rivals any episode of Breaking Bad or House of Cards for all the twists and turns, for all the treachery and plotting and scheming and violent betrayal. If you found some of the episode of Ehud and Eglon disturbing, then you might be absolutely shocked, apoplectic even. with this account of Sisera getting his skull and his brains bashed in. So maybe you bristle a little bit because of the bloodiness of this whole scene and it bothers you, or maybe you have problems with the ethics of JL, who catches Sisera on the run for some reason. The Kenites had some sort of an agreement with King Jabin. And perhaps that's why J.L. and Heber move up north because they're minorities in Israel. And so they wanna move closer. Maybe it was better for them financially. But for whatever reason, they're up there and J.L., as Sisera's on the run, says, come on in. You can find some rest here, Sisera. Let me put a rug on you, a blanket. Let me keep you warm. Would you like some milk? I have some milk or whatever it was in the skin that she gave to him. And she invites him in. And then she threw the temple. Little betrayal, little treachery, maybe that bothers you, maybe you're still trying to figure out how all that fits together. But remember that this is God's word. It really is. And he chose to include it in his story, in his revelation of himself to us. as bloody as it may be, and therefore we can't and shouldn't ignore it. Besides, don't some of you let your children watch cartoons or you did let your children watch cartoons? Christy tells me the cartoons are now cleaned up, they can't be as violent as they once were, but I've seen some of the most violent scenes while watching Tom and Jerry. So let's not be too sensitive about what's taking place here. And besides, that's not the point of the story. The point of the story is not that we may have modern objections to what's being told to us, or that we have some sort of ethical objections to the way in which JL lured Sisera into her tent. That's not the point of the story. If we get sidetracked on that, and if we focus on that, we're actually gonna miss the point of the story, and this is the point of the story, that God saves his people. And sometimes he does it in the most unusual ways, sometimes in the most laughably ironic ways, sometimes shockingly startling ways. Haven't you seen that already through the book of Judges? And to drive that home, I want us to see four things this morning. The first thing, the terrifying power of the enemy. The second thing, the clear command of the Lord. The third thing, the faithful obedience of a soldier. And the fourth thing, decisive victory of the Lord. The terrifying power of the enemy, the clear command, the faithful obedience and the decisive victory. Now I'm hardly the first one to break down the text in this way, or in a way similar to this. But I really do think it helps us walk through the text. So the first thing, the terrifying power of the enemy. Now first a little geography. Most of the action in our story takes place in the northern part of Israel. They're under the hand of Jabin, king of the Cainites, who's headquartered in Hazor, which is actually a little farther north than Mount Tabor, where all our action takes place. He has influence over northern Israel. His hand is heavy on northern Israel. But Jabin keeps a very low profile in a story. Actually, he's not mentioned very much throughout our story. Instead, we meet the commander of his army. General Sisera. And General Sisera had 900 chariots. Now you need to think modern day M1 series tanks. And the Israelites had bows and arrows and sticks. You need to think World War I armory. And that's what Sisera had. But it also tells us where Sisera is from. He's from Horesheth Hagoyim. And even that name Horesheth Hagoyim is hostile towards the Israelites because Hagoyim means of the Gentiles. So we're told Sisera is from the city, Horesheth, the city of the Gentiles. And as you know, it was Gentile oppressors who were holding down the Israelites, oppressing them. But you know, those two things aren't even the worst thing about Sisera. We're told something else about Sisera. His disposition in chapter four and verse three, at the end of verse three it says, and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for 20 years. Now he's the only oppressor that actually gets that term cruelly applied to his oppression. Which means out of all the oppressors, what it's telling us is Sisera was one of the worst And we see actually how bad he was if you turn over and how vicious he was. If you turn over to chapter five and look at verses 28 through 30, this is Barak and Deborah's poetic view of all the events that's taken place. And in verses 28 through 30, it says this, as they imagined Sisera's mother looking out the window, waiting for Sisera to come back from battle. And this is what it says. Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice. Why is his chariot so long and coming? Why carry the hoofbeats of his chariots? Her wisest princesses answer. Indeed, she answers herself, have they not found and delivered the spoil? A womb or two for every man. A womb or two for every man. Do you get what she's saying there? That Sisera and his men raped and pillaged the people of Israel. That's what kind of general Jabin had, and that's what kind of oppressor the Israelites were facing. So there's a terrifying enemy that they're facing, and they're in bondage under the physical enemy from whom they need rescue. But actually, that's not the only bondage they're under. They're also under the bondage of their own sin. You know the story up to this point, the people of Israel were living in a land that was oppressed, are supposed to be filled only with the people of God. But because of their own rebellion and decline, they actually lived in a pluralistic society, surrounded by other people who were idol worshipers, who didn't follow God. So the people of God were constantly finding themselves assimilating into the practices of the people around them. This Friday, of course, was July 4th. We were driving down here from Asheville to Columbia, and you know how you kind of get highway hypnosis, and for a little while you kind of check out. I mean, you're there, but you're not really there. And all of a sudden I wake up, and I'm really like feet off of the bumper in front of me. And I look behind me, and there's a guy who's feet off of my bumper, and we're moving along in the left lane, in the fast lane, and I look down at my speedometer, and I was more than a little speeding. I kind of assimilated to the traffic around me. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing and I just found myself in the middle of this pack of cars and I would have never realized it if I hadn't just sort of woken up. And the Israelites are in this kind of situation as they live among all of these different gods and these pagan peoples and they're assimilating and they're thinking to themselves, What's just a little unfaithfulness, you know? I mean, why this particular rule? God, it doesn't seem like anybody else is paying attention to that. Why would I need to? And the reason it's so important to study the book of Judges, if you've been here all summer, you'll recognize this. You'll feel the pace of this. The reason that it's so important to study a book like Judges today is that our own situation isn't so far removed from it, is it? You and I work and live among a great variety of gods, not only the gods of formal religions, but the modern gods of wealth and celebrity and pleasure and comfort and ideology and achievement. And these idols are always there being put in front of us, and we're constantly finding ourselves going along with what the culture says. And the pattern gets set. They kept going back, the Israelites did, to other gods time and time again. They slide back. There's no permanence. or constancy with them. Ever feel that way? Ever look at your life and you think there's no permanence or constancy there? Or feel like you can't break the cycle? Ever feel like you're stuck in a rut? Ever feel like you're doing things that you know you shouldn't be doing, you're sinning in a way you know you shouldn't be sinning? That is to say you're sinning. and you're in this cycle and you can't break out of it and it just seems to have you and grabbed you, it's because sin in the Bible isn't just an act. Sin in the Bible isn't just failure. Sin in the Bible is power. Isn't that why Paul in Romans 9 says to be under sin, meaning under the power of sin, sin dominates, it enslaves, it enchains, it controls. And it takes someone liberating those chains, someone other than you. You can't do it unless someone sets you free. You'll be a slave forever. They needed leaders to come and help them remember who they were so they'd put away their idols. And so do you. And so do I. And the stress in this section is on God saving his people. The people cry to the Lord. Now, I don't think that's repentance. You see him over and over and again crying to the Lord. You don't see it as, I don't see it as repentance. Repentance, the word repent is never used in the book of Judges. I think instead of repentance, it's misery. But they cry out in their misery and God in his grace raises up saviors, judges for the people. And the book of Judges in part is wetting our appetite, showing us the lack of qualification and the error of even the most effective leaders to make us say, where can I find a leader? Where can we find somebody to save these people? Don't you feel that way as you go through Judges again and again and again? It's where are we gonna find a leader? Where are we gonna find a savior? Where are we gonna find someone who can come in and make this right? And Judges wets our appetite for a leader. The problem is you won't find one. In the book of Judges, you don't find one, especially as it moves on, who is what a leader ought to be. The book of Judges sadly ends with a picture of people in chaos, the chaos of a false religion and the chaos of moral depravity. And the refrain, there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in their own eyes. And implicitly in that message is, hey, if we had someone, if we had a king, this kind of stuff wouldn't be going on. The right kind of king could control all of this chaos. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. You know what that means? It means in the end, they did what they wanted and they wandered. in the wrong direction, which is what comes when you don't have a proper king to bring you under control. Unless you stand under the kingship of one who is capable of leading you well, you will continue to make an utter mess of your way. That's the thrust of the book. But in our culture, we wanna be our own kings, don't we? The slogan for Asheville changed five years ago. The slogan for Asheville used to be Asheville, land of the sky. Making reference to its geography and the beauty there. You know what they changed it to five years ago? Asheville, any way you like it. No joke. Any way you like it. Now I kind of expect that as the logical end to a relativistic culture, which says there is no truth, there is no God, or they just mound them up in one and say all the gods are the same. Totally expect that from a relativistic society. It's in Asheville. It's coming everywhere else, as far as I can see, without the Lord stepping in in some kind of serious way. Anyway. You like it, I expect that from a relativistic world, but the problem is we see it among God's people too, don't we? In his church. You know why God left all the other nations here around the Israelites? God could have taken care of them. God could have himself moved them out, but do you know why he left them? Look back at chapter three and verse four. all the other pagan nations, they were there for the testing of Israel to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord. It was for their testing. And we face a similar test, don't we? We faced a similar test. Are we going to live our life the same way as the world around us? following the values of the world, following the morals of the world, following the gods of the world, their way of life, or are we gonna follow after the Lord? In business, for instance, do we do business the same way as the world does business? Under quoting perhaps, just a little bit to get the contract. And once we got the contract, we raised the price. Well, that's just the way of doing business, isn't it? Or we give a deadline knowing full well we have no intention of keeping the deadline. Knowing full well we'll never keep it. Who cares about deadlines? That's just the way the world does business. You know what that sounds like to me? Any way you like it. Or maybe the temptation for us is just to behave like the rest of the world. So if our friends are out getting drunk on Friday or Saturday night, we feel like we should be there with them. After all, it's just a little bit of fun, just a little unfaithfulness. You know what that sounds like to me? Anyway, you like it. Or if our friends are sleeping around with their boyfriends or girlfriends, then we feel as if we ought to be doing that as well. Anyway, you like it. But the extent to which you and I start compromising on these things, we can find ourselves in the same situation as the Israelites, sliding further and further into sin and its power. The road to apostasy, one commentator said, is paved with compromise and with what you're willing to tolerate. Do you feel like you're sliding? Feel as if you're making a mess of your life? Feel as if you've compromised? Do you feel as if you're in bondage? You need a savior. I need a savior. You need a king. I need a king. You know, abandoning the Lord led to bondage and misery. in the 12th century BC, but you know what? It does the same thing in the 21st century AD. Bondage, misery. And that's the terrifying power of sin and the enemy. But although it was God who sold the people into the hand of Jabin the king, you know what it says there in chapter four in verse two? The Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin the king of Canaan. And why did he do that? He did it to shake them. He did it to correct them. He did it so they would come to their senses and realize and cry out to God, save us. It was God who did. He came to their rescue again and again and again in His grace and His mercy when they cried out in pain and anguish as they do in verse three, beginning in verse four. God's kindness to his people. And it comes in this clear command. And it comes through Deborah, who enters the story in verses four and five. And here's what we learn about Deborah. Deborah happens to be the woman, the prophetess, whom God has gifted and called to speak his word to his people. And she's judging Israel at this time. To get your geography straight, she's further down south. So Mount Tabor and the battle takes place up north, but she's down south in Ramah and Bethel. and that's where she is, and she hangs under her palm tree that's named after her. Now, you know you've arrived if you have a palm tree named after you. Wouldn't that be great? To have a tree named after you? The oak of Duff, you know? Has a nice ring to it. The hickory of Duff Strong, you know? She has a palm named after her, and that's where she sit, and everybody in Israel knows that's where she, you know, she says, Barak, come to me, and he doesn't say, Deborah who? He goes, he immediately goes. People come to her for judgment. She's well-known. She's even called the mother of Israel in chapter five and verse seven, where it describes the scene that the villages are there, but they're kind of like ghost towns because it's so bad under the hand of Jabin the king, that people are afraid to come out of their house. And Deborah says, not in a kind of prideful way, just inspired by the Lord to say, look, before I got on the scene, you all were afraid to come out of your houses, but now I'm here. and I'm the mother of Israel. She's the wife of Lapidoth. We don't hear anything else about Lapidoth, but she's a wife as well, and she summons again this guy, Barak, to come down from Kedesh, Naphtali, which is up north, and he runs down south to Deborah, and she tells him he's to take 10,000 men from Zebulun to Naphtali, go back up north to Mount Tabor, which is at the east end of the plain of Ezdralon. Now, it sounded outlandish to him, because as we've already said, it would be like taking World War I military armor to a battle that has M1 modern tanks. Seems absolutely outlandish, but that's the command. And you see in verses 14 through 15, Sisera has gathered his forces and Deborah gives the word to rise and go because this is the day God has given them into your hands. Has not God marched forth before you? God marched before them. And you know what he did? He did something very unusual. Turn over to chapter five and look in verse four. Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water. And then verses 20 and 21, from heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera, the torrent Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon, march on my soul with might. You see, here's the God who controls the stars and the heavens and with just the ease of maybe moving his hand, he has a rainstorm come, a torrential downpour. This is the God of the universe. What kind of warrior is able to command clouds to spill rain and that's what he does? And what happens to chariots in mud? Iron chariots. And if my memory serves me correct, three men would have been on each chariot. Now what happens to three men on an iron chariot in mud? They don't go anywhere, do they? Stuck. Impotent. And that's what the Lord has done made impotent the advanced technology and the greatest military prowess of that day with a little rain. And you see what Deborah's saying here? God has gone before you. He's the one who is the warrior who marches ahead of his people. Have you lost that view of God? Have you? Have you lost that understanding of God, do you see him as a warrior who fights for his people? Is that the way you see your God? He's not subject to our whims. He's not lacking gumption or backbone. He can't be put on the shelf. He's not your genie in a bottle. He's not one to be put in your pocket, taken out, put back in when you need him. or when you want him to just kind of be silenced. This is a warrior God, and he shows it by giving this command to Barak through Deborah, giving the promise of his presence and victory, and then he does what he says he'll do. God has gone out before you, Barak. Now, I don't wanna get too far down the road on this, but that is just at least a little bit of a word to us. It's a word to me as I think about doing ministry in a place like Asheville. And sometimes I think to myself, Lord, can you do, will you do, can you do this? Please do this. But at least in my action I think, eh. That's an insight into my own sinful heart. To say, Lord, with my mouth I can say, I believe you'll do this. But then I doubt and I wonder. God's word to Deborah is he's gone out before you. That doesn't mean the end is gonna end up what you think it's gonna look like. That you would like in your head is gonna end up how he wants it to be, but the word is there, he's gone out before you. He's gone into the future. The future is secure, he's worked it for you. It's an amazing thing, isn't it? This warrior God, this one who controls the heavens and the stars and all things has gone out before you. So go. with all the trust and the faith that he has worked it according to his purposes and his will for his glory and your good. Go. And that brings us to the next point, the third point, the faithful obedience of a soldier. Of course, I'm talking about Barak. Now, he catches a lot of flack, and we have to spend just a minute or two on this. He catches a lot of flack from people who say that he was more mouse than man. You know, and they'll point to verse eight as evidence of that. And they'll say something like this. Barak said to her, and they'll say it in this way. Well, if you go with me, I'll go. But if you don't go with me, I won't go. You know, he's just sort of a mouse. And he's afraid and he doesn't wanna go. And he's hiding under the apron of Aunt Deborah, you know. But I don't think that's what's going on at all, actually. I don't think he's more mouse than man. For one reason, when Moses is given the same kind of command to go forth by God, he says to God, not unless you go with me. And God's response is identical to Deborah's. I will go with you. Exodus chapter 33 verses 12 through 17. Another reason is in Hebrews chapter 11, you know, the hall of faith, there the writer is laying out for us all these people who acted in faith, all these great things that they did because they believed God in his promises. And in chapter 11 verse 32, at the very end he says, I don't have time to mention, but then he does, and he mentions Gideon and Jephthah and Barak and Samson, who did mighty things They, through faith, conquered kingdoms and routed foreign armies. That's very significant because there we're told that his victory was done in great faith. Deborah's not named in the list in Hebrews 11. I think because, listen, Deborah's getting direct revelation from God. She's the prophetess. She's the one who receives God's word and gives it to God's people. So how much faith would it take for Deborah to believe God's word? Not as much as it took Barak to believe God's word. So in the New Testament, Barak's scene is demonstrating great faith and asking for Deborah's presence and help. In verse eight, I think he's simply saying something to the effect, you're God's mouthpiece, Deborah. You're the prophetess. You're the one through whom I receive God's word. If I'm going into battle, I want to make sure that I have God's word close to me. That if I need any more kind of guidance, if I need any more instruction or direction, I have God's word right there with me. That's what I think he's saying. He's saying, I don't wanna go into battle unless you are there, God, through your prophet, Deborah. So come with me, Deborah. Notice something else too. When Deborah gives the command, she tells him that he won't receive any glory for this act of faith. Now I don't buy the argument that verse nine is in reaction to his wimpiness in verse eight. I don't buy it at all. I think actually a better translation might be the way in which you are going will not lead to your own glory. Not nevertheless, but the way in which you're going will not lead to your glory. And with that, Barak simply goes into battle knowing that he won't receive the honor. that a woman would begin and end this campaign. Now at this time, they thought that would be Deborah, but as it turns out, it's JL. But there it goes, knowing he's not gonna receive the honor or the glory. And there's a lesson there for us too, isn't there? How often do we do things, even service and work in the Lord, What are we looking for? We're looking for the pat on the back, we're looking for the glory, we're looking for the honor. You ever sit around and hit self-esteem home runs? You know, just dreaming about, oh, I just want to serve, but really I'm looking around, I'm waiting, I'm like a sponge wanting to soak up the praise and the glory. And actually some of us will say no to things because we know in the end there's no glory for us. Search your heart. I don't think I'm unusual in that way. We wanna receive the glory and the honor above other people. But even also above God receiving the glory sometimes too, don't we? But there it goes. And we need to hear what he heard. The way you are going will not lead to your glory. Don't you need to hear that this morning? I do. The way you are going will not lead to your glory. Well, that's the terrifying enemy. That's the clear command. That's the faithful obedience. Here's the last thing as we close, the decisive victory of the Lord. When I get home every day, I can tell where my kids have been. Three kids under the age of five, I know where they've been. There's jelly on the walls, you know, there are toys all in the hallway that inevitably end up under my feet. Even when I thought I've cleaned up, we turn off the lights and we go to bed, I step on something small. I know they've been there. There's chalk on the front porch. There's toys in my shoes, in my closet. I can tell they've been there. Their handiwork is there. They've put their signature all over the house. Well, God's handiwork and his signature is all over this passage. The point of this story is that God saves his people in the most unusual, sometimes laughably ironic, sometimes shockingly startling ways, we said. And here's God's way of working here. He uses unusual instruments. Well, who are they? Well, we've already been introduced to them. Deborah and JL. And to get the import of this, you need to know something about the way women were viewed in that very patriarchal society. Young Jewish men, by tradition, not by the Bible's command, but by tradition, were taught to pray a prayer every morning. And that prayer went like this. Thank you, Lord. that I am not a Gentile, I'm not a dog. And sorry, ladies, I'm not a woman. That was the view, not the Bible's command, but the tradition. So in the face of that, for God to choose a woman to lead his nation and a woman to take down Sisera, well, it's half the fun of it. You see that? It's half the fun of it. God could have raised up a man He raises up a woman. Now, listen, this text, caveat, huge caveat here, is not speaking to women's roles in the church, okay? We're not gonna go down that road. That would be a huge digression. But one of the things it's saying is that the Lord uses man or woman to bring about his glory. And he does it in the most amazing ways, contrary to the way in which we would do it. a woman to be the instrument of salvation. How outlandish. How peculiar. That's so unusual, they would have said in that day. It was so unusual, in fact, that it would have led the original hearers of this story to conclude that it was God who did this alone. God's the only explanation for it. They would never have chosen a woman. But God did. Another amazing thing in this is that to be killed by a woman was extremely embarrassing to say the least. There's something that takes place in chapter nine where a guy's there and a woman throws a millstone off a wall and he gets hit in the head. And he, as he's dying, he tells his armor bearer to thrust me through lest they say he was killed by a woman. So for God to use this, it's just a twist of his grace and his humor in saying to the whole world, look, look what I've done. There's a slight, I think, just a slight rebuke, maybe a strong rebuke, of the Israelites' understanding of women and God's use of them. but also it was a slap in the face to all the pagans and their gods and their rulers and all the enemies he takes down. In this case, he does it in this laughably ironic way. You know what that shows us? It shows us that God delights to take the things that this world sees as despised, that this world sees as insignificant, seemingly weak things of the world and do his work so there's no question who's done it. Sisera was dispatched by a woman. And what makes JL even more interesting as an unusual choice is because JL is a non-Israelite. She's part of the Kenites, they're not Israelites. And God takes this non-Israelite woman to take down Sisera. to put a little end note on it too. Because you might be tempted, well, that's very interesting and it's unusual, but sometimes these kinds of things happen. But didn't Deborah say it was gonna happen? Didn't God send word? God's saying, listen, by the way, I'm gonna do this. It's not co-winky dink. It's me, God says. And in his providence and in his sovereignty, he does it. There's something else in all of this too. There's an extraordinary moment in this story from verses 4 to 10. The tension is building for the great battle of the river Kishon. You can kind of feel it. You just kind of read that quickly. 10,000 Israelite troops are strapping on their swords and their bows and their arrows and they're rushing to the slopes of Mount Tabor on the heels of Barak. and they have the advantage of the hillside all ready to rush down on the enemy. So there they are poised in verse 10. And what do you expect? I don't know if you felt it as I was reading it. What do you expect? Here's all that taking place. You can see the Israelites, they're peering over down onto Sisera and his men in the 900 chariots. Their knees are quaking maybe. And then you know what you have? We interrupt this regularly scheduled programming for an address change. That's what takes place in verse 11. All of this action, we expect the climax, and we get an address change. What? Really? Heber the Kenite has moved from the south of Israel to the north of Israel. Now why should we even care? The truth is that this is a little jewel of the storyteller's art, because Jael is the wife of Heber the Kenite. Heber the Kenite was living in the south because that's where Kenites lived. But now he's moved up north for whatever reason. Remember what's up north? The battle. Where the battle takes place. There's a pause in all this action for the storyteller to say, look at the beauty of this. God moved Heber and his wife JL to be in the right place at the right time with the right tent in the right tent peg, the right hammer, which by the way, JL, it's not unusual for her to have a tent peg and a hammer because that was women's work back then. And so she was skilled with it with maybe one or two blows to put in the pegs of the tents. But she's the right person at the right time in the right place for God to do what he needed to do. And so there's Cicero, he's cold, he's the only one left, he's running, he's fleeing for his life, he goes to Heber the Kenites because there's some sort of truce between the Kenites and Jabin the king and he thinks he's gonna find safety there. So he knocks or he sees JL and JL says, come in, come in, come in, come in. What can I get for you? What can I do for you? And he goes to sleep because he's exhausted and he's wet and he's cold and he's tired and he's thirsty. And she takes that hammer and that tent peg and right through the temple. And there he lay, there he fell, there he was dead violently. God gets down to the details of Heber the Kenite moving from south to north. He gets down to the details, one commentator says. There are no loose ends with God. He's taking care of everything. He's wrapping everything up. He's weaving this amazing story. Sometimes we can't see it. Sometimes we get just a little glimpse of it. You think of a tapestry and in the back, maybe what we get in life is just one or two stitches and we get to see, but on the other side, God is weaving an amazing tapestry for His glory and our good and the rescue of His people. We don't always see it, but when we do, what an amazing thing. And you notice the view we're encouraged to have in all of this? This isn't Deborah's victory, this isn't Barak's victory, this isn't even JL's victory, this is God's victory. You notice there in verse 15, it says, God routed Sisera. And in verse 23, God subdued Jabin. God came down from the mountain that day and saved his people. That's the view of this text, isn't it? God came down and saved his people. But that's the view of the gospel too, isn't it? God came down a second time in Jesus Christ. No human judge was the answer to Israel's needs. Why? Because every human judge died. Deborah's one of the best of them. Judges never talked bad, scriptures never talked poorly about Deborah. She was a good judge, a good person to lead the people of Israel, but you know what? It only lasted 40 years. And then she died. If only there was a judge and leader who would never die, a judge who would live forever. Well, we know that when God came down in Jesus Christ, he came as the one who ever lives to make intercession for us. He came as the one who is able to save to the uttermost all those who come to God through faith in him. You sing about that? Maybe some of you write poetry. You write poetry about that? You write songs about that? That's what Deborah and Barak did. They broke out in song. They couldn't contain themselves. He said, look what God did. Look what an amazing God we have. Look what He's worked for us. And doesn't all of this make you want to trust Him? Obey Him, serve Him, follow Him with new resolve? You need a judge. No, you need a king. No, you need a Savior. And actually, we have the best one in Jesus Christ. Don't you see that? God is a mighty warrior who through Jesus Christ defeated his and our enemies, the evil one, death. He's gone out before us and he has already won victory. Now live like it. Let's pray. Father, thank you that in Jesus Christ you are our savior and our warrior. Help us to live in light of it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.