And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.
2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.
8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
15 And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet 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.
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. Judges 4 KJV
After 80 years of rest, they are not resolved in their religion, but rather set upon their heroes. For after Ehud is gone then so is their covenant. They find evil waiting at the door and invite it in yet again. No one is there to chase it away from them, no one is there to remind them that they belong to God, or how they should behave. God raises up a woman of much wisdom, she is the next in a line of heroes, who God uses to correct Israel and their enemies. Deborah is a prophetess and she speaks to Barak in that manner, maybe of something that he knew to do, but like Gideon was uncertain of. She speaks with no uncertainty that this is what God would have him to do. He agrees but upon condition, and many say in cowardice here, but cowards usually don't march forward. He asks for her to accompany him in battle, and yes he must share the honor since he is not alone, but maybe there is more of a lesson here. Did not Aaron and Hur raise the hands of Moses to secure the victory of a battle they did not fight in? Did not Paul find it necessary to command Timothy against the youth's natural timidness to defend the honor of God's word against those who would bring another gospel? I think it's better to go with someone, then to not go for fear of being alone or uncertain of what to do. Even so the honor that could be his alone will now fall to a woman, since it is only with her that he is willing to do this. I think it marvelous of her that she accompanies him, for what better proof of one's words than to live or die by them.
They go to battle against a frightening opponent. He has many chariots, and they have their feet. Sisera is Jabin's captain, and he must surely see the odds as in his favor, but then something happens, God discomfits him, they are confused, scared. Deborah tells Barak to get up, and as if he had already won or it was in a bag that she was handing to him, she says, "this is the day." She is wisdom, she is Barak's resolve, his hope, comfort and faith. Jael shows him the tent spiked head and it must all come flowing back to him. I don't think he is upset, for it came to pass as she said, and he played his part, but all Israel is safe. God has used men, women, prostitutes, a donkey, a false prophet, a reed basket, Gentiles, Jews and whomever He wills. So none can stand before the Lord, none can say they have the formula for success within their stature. He will show them all sorts of men, favor, both enemies and heroes, great and small, and who will deliver them when they choose to be at odds with God? Heroes are a funny thing, for they don't exist on their own, they are sinners like us, yet God in His infinite mercy and wisdom has chosen to exercise both His judgment and His deliverance by the likes of such men and women. It is like the "foolishness of preaching" found in our day, often imitated but mostly by those who are drawn of greed, fame or seeking power. Men would love to be honored by men rather than honoring God, and waiting upon such favor that they think too far off, or that God's grace is somehow lacking. There is only One hero, one light that makes dim all that shined before Him, yet gives light as the sun does the moon, to reflect the Son. It is certainly our chief end, our duty, logic and life. We reflect the image of God, or we try to shatter the image. We glorify the Creator for that belongs to Him, it is His honor and cannot be rightly shared, for none is like Him. Heroes will come and wither away, like dust they will be lost to the wind, but God's word will remain. The serpent rose up to honor himself, and he took pleasure in leading humanity to corruption, but what did God say of the seed of the woman, "you will bruise His heal, but He will crush your head".
They go to battle against a frightening opponent. He has many chariots, and they have their feet. Sisera is Jabin's captain, and he must surely see the odds as in his favor, but then something happens, God discomfits him, they are confused, scared. Deborah tells Barak to get up, and as if he had already won or it was in a bag that she was handing to him, she says, "this is the day." She is wisdom, she is Barak's resolve, his hope, comfort and faith. Jael shows him the tent spiked head and it must all come flowing back to him. I don't think he is upset, for it came to pass as she said, and he played his part, but all Israel is safe. God has used men, women, prostitutes, a donkey, a false prophet, a reed basket, Gentiles, Jews and whomever He wills. So none can stand before the Lord, none can say they have the formula for success within their stature. He will show them all sorts of men, favor, both enemies and heroes, great and small, and who will deliver them when they choose to be at odds with God? Heroes are a funny thing, for they don't exist on their own, they are sinners like us, yet God in His infinite mercy and wisdom has chosen to exercise both His judgment and His deliverance by the likes of such men and women. It is like the "foolishness of preaching" found in our day, often imitated but mostly by those who are drawn of greed, fame or seeking power. Men would love to be honored by men rather than honoring God, and waiting upon such favor that they think too far off, or that God's grace is somehow lacking. There is only One hero, one light that makes dim all that shined before Him, yet gives light as the sun does the moon, to reflect the Son. It is certainly our chief end, our duty, logic and life. We reflect the image of God, or we try to shatter the image. We glorify the Creator for that belongs to Him, it is His honor and cannot be rightly shared, for none is like Him. Heroes will come and wither away, like dust they will be lost to the wind, but God's word will remain. The serpent rose up to honor himself, and he took pleasure in leading humanity to corruption, but what did God say of the seed of the woman, "you will bruise His heal, but He will crush your head".
Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people.[b] I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?
5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.
10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3: 1-11 NLT
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