Without a King: Deborah (Part 2) Rev. Ben Hentschke Hi Church, this week we are into week 2 of our series ‘Without a King’ as we look through the book of Judges who were ‘without a king’ and instead had judges lead God’s people. And like we saw last week, these judges were not just in the legal sphere, acting as the arbitrators of disputes that we think of in the English speaking world when we think of judges, but the Hebrew word that is translated for us as judge meant more than that – they were the ‘saviours’ or deliverers’ of God’s people from their enemies. And as we look at the judge Deborah today, we are going to see again that all the judges in their flaws and in their strengths, that they point towards the coming King, the one who we know who lived and died and lived again, Jesus Christ. And a quick recap on last week as we set the scene before us today. We focussed on two judges, Othniel and Ehud and how God used them, one a warrior, and one who was left-handed to save, or you could say deliver God’s people from their enemies. And both stories, while wildly different and varied, followed a similar pattern that we see repeated throughout the book of judges. The time period was a time of spiritual pluralism. The society of Canaan, the land God had promised to give to his people, and where the people are now living, had God’s people intermingle with other nations, and so there was a mix of believing and pagan people, and the people had the choice between looking to God as their Lord, or following the spirit and preferences of their age. And the book of Judges is in a nutshell the story of how God’s people failed at this task – of how they constantly turned from knowing, loving and obeying God, to doing what they thought was fit or right in their own eyes. And the cycle of judges went that the people would rebel against God, God gets angry, the people are oppressed by their enemies, which leads them to cry out to God, salvation is delivered through the chosen judge, there is peace in the land, the judge dies and the cycle begins again. And the story of Deborah starts in Judges chapter 4 where we read: Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. (Judges 4:1). Ehud, the last judge we looked at, the left-hander is now dead, and the Israelites rebel against God. And we read: So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help. (Judges 4:2-3) Now, we see this cycle go through the next few steps as we find Sisera, the commander of king Jabin’s army cruelly oppressing the Israelites for twenty years, but then we see that they cried to the Lord for help – the next step in the cycle. And you have to realise that in those days, 900 chariots was an awesome fighting machine. They took to men with swords like a hot knife to butter, and so God’s people were out-positioned, intimidated, and lacking in numbers and resources. And the old adage goes that desperate times call for desperate measures, and so the cried to the Lord. And these cries, quite literally were shouts or shrieks, they pretty much screamed to God for help, but it took that army of 900 chariots to bring them to this point. Which makes you wonder, what about us? What needs to happen for us to scream out to help from God? So often, when things are going fine and well sometimes get to a point where we almost have no need for God, because we find that we are all self-sufficient. We might think we don’t need to pray or read the Bible because life is good and everything is going great, but then suddenly comes and army. It might not be a physical army with 900 chariots, but it comes and seeks to steal away our joy in Christ our King. And this army comprises, among different things, guilt and shame; temptation and sin; stress and worry; work and hobbies. Each of these things cause us to spend more time in the world all about us, and less time in Christ which makes us easy targets, and can lead us to wonder what has happened in our life, and so we cry out to God for help again. Our cycle of sin and forgiveness, which we go through every Sunday is a reminder of this as we confess our sin and our need for God and then are reminded of the forgiveness he so freely gives to us. Back to our story, and we are now introduced to Deborah as we see: Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. (Judges 4:4) Deborah as a prophetess, preaches and teaches the word of God, and is leading Israel. She was recognised as a wise counsellor and judge by the people. And in many ways, Deborah is different from the other judges both before and after her. This is because Deborah led from wisdom and character rather than by sheer might. Last week we saw Othniel who went to war and Ehud who devised a clever assassination plan, but with Deborah we see someone who counsels and guides the people. She was a judge who led beyond the battlefield. In fact, she was not a warrior, which is why we read: 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. 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.’” (Judges 4:6-7) Deborah sends for Barak and passes on God’s commission to him. It is Barak to who God will give victory over Sisera. And we read his response: Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” Now, I don’t want to be too hard here on Barak because we all face troubling times, but He wants Deborah to go with Him because she represents God, but because of His lack of faith, his chance of becoming a hero for Israel is taken away because he insists that Deborah accompanies the army into battle. We know that we can stand only on our own faith, but we also know that there is strength that can be found in the faith of others. I think that is one thing that many of us have been missing through this pandemic is the easy opportunity to gather with our sisters and brothers in Christ, and allow their faith to strengthen our own faith in Christ. But Barak hesitated in the same way that we hesitate and maybe somehow even waste time looking for tangible evidence that God is going to help us before we face the difficulties that are in front of us. We want God to show up before we take that next step in faith, but the Bible clearly calls us to take the step of faith, and then allow God to do what only God can do. Barak needed reminding from someone else who had faith greater than he had, but in Barak’s defence, he does get some credit for recognising his inadequacy in the Book of Hebrews. So Deborah agrees to Barak’s request, but issues a condition of her own: “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honour will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. There Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went with him. (Judges 4:8-10) We read that the honour will go to a woman, instead of Barak, but, to emphasise the humility of Barak, he still obeys God and leads his men to fight Sisera. And we read what happened: When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron. Then Deboah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 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. Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left. (Judges 4:12-15) This battle was a rout as God’s people took down the chariots, with the help of God.