Leaders

God Raises Up Leaders and Goes On Before Them (Judges 4:2-9a, 14-15) The consequence of returning to sin This same enemy had been previously defeated but regained a position of strength due to the sin of God’s people (Joshua 11, Judges 4:1-2) After 20 years, God’s people cried out to Him (Judges 4:3) Emphasizes the importance of turning to God with prayers of supplication. Deborah Judge (Judges 4:5) Prophetess (Judges 4:4) (Role: Spoke God’s Word) In the whole of the Bible, we find a total of 9 prophetesses identified (Miriam, Exodus 15:20; Deborah, Judges 4:4; Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22; the prophetess who bore a son in Isaiah 8:3; Anna, Luke 2:36; and the four daughters of Philip, Acts 21:9). Every time a prophetess is identified in the Bible, she is identified in relation to a man (e.g., her husband, her father). Name literally translated “honey bee” but from root word which means “to speak” Mother in Israel (Judges 5:7), nurturer Where there was a lack of male faithfulness and leadership (Judges 17:6), a woman was called to admonish and encourage a man to such faithfulness and leadership. God used Deborah to summon Barak and remind him of God’s instructions (Judges 4:6, this is actually a question not a command) and to encourage him to act upon them (Judges 4:14). In other words, she called on him to be a man of God! (Part of a Christian woman’s/wife’s role?) Barak (Role: Obeyed God’s Command) (Heb. 11:32-34, a man of faith?) Was afraid (Judges 4:6 (was in Naphtali, a place of refuge) & 8) God uses the weak to demonstrate his strength. (1 Cor 1:27-29, 2 Cor 4:7)

Sisera

Philistine, exclusive hold over iron weaponry (Role: Enemy of God and God’s People) Relied on human strength (iron chariots) which were overcome by heavenly intervention (intense rain which caused a flash flood and turned a dry creek bed into a morass of mud, Judges 5:4, 20-22) (Israel virtually unarmed by comparison (Judges 5:8)) Josephus records a vivid picture of this event: "When Barak saw the army of Sisera, he and the Israelites were frightened and were resolved to march off, had not Deborah retained them, and commanded them to fight the enemy that very day, for they should conquer them, and God would be their assistance. So the battle began...there came down from heaven a great storm, with a vast quantity of rain and hail, and the wind blew the rain the face of the Canaanites, and so darkened their eyes that their arrows and slings were of no advantage to them, nor would the coldness of the air permit the soldiers to make use of their swords; while this storm did not so much accost the Israelites, because it came at their backs...some of them (Canaanites) fell by the Israelites, some fell by their own horses which were put into disorder, and not a few were killed by their own chariots" (Ant. V,v,4). Jael (Role: Was an instrument through which God Executed His Judgment, with a mere hammer & tent peg) God Commands action by His people (Judges 4:6) God draws and delivers/hands over the enemy to defeat (Judges 4:7 & 9) Executed judgment by slaying the enemy (Judges 4:23) Deborah and Barak gave the glory to God (Judges 5) In Summary: When God’s people turn to Him in their distress crying out for help (Judges 4:3), and when God’s chosen leaders, trusting in Him, obey his directions, then God’s true people will follow them (Judges 5:2) and God will go on before them, delivering them (Judges 4:14). Side Note: Mount Tabor is a volcanic cone that rises 1,843 feet out of the valley of Esdraelon, also known as the valley of Megiddo, the famous site of so many wars. Throughout history there have been many famous encounters at that place. Napoleon, Alexander, and some of the great Egyptian pharaohs fought their. It is also mention as the site of a great future battle!