THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Judges And Ruth: Personal Blessing Amid Group Apostasy

Part II: History Of The Era Of The Judges

B. The Record Of Specific Judges, Judges 3:7-16:31

4. Deborah's Song: A Godly Woman's Instructive View Of Biblical Manhood

(Judges 5:1-31)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

In today's era, men often need insight and encouragement to shoulder responsible Biblical manhood:

(1) Anti-male attitudes abound today due to feminism: (a) Heidi Szrom of Westville, Indiana mirrored it in her letter to The Wall Street Journal, October 10-11, 2015, p. A10. She wrote: "Perhaps the fault of the . . . tempest of violence . . . in the Middle East lies not with Islam, but with a misogynistic Arab culture that embraces Shariah law out of fear that any competing ideologies would reduce the power that men have over women in those countries."

(b) Feminism has impacted conservative Christianity: Andreas and Margaret Kostenberger's article, "A Match Made In Heaven" in Answers in Genesis' magazine, Answers, July-Sept., 2015, p. 52 stated: "Many women have the impression that the Genesis account of Adam and Eve imposed a humiliating, subservient role on women." The fact that a magazine like Answers would carry such an article shows the impact of feminism on conservative Christianity!

(2) Men are thus pressured today to avoid being responsible spiritual leaders: (a) women have long told us of their dismay at the lack of desire in some men to take responsible spiritual leadership. (c) In one case, a woman told me that her father-in-law had told his sons, "Don't have anything to do with Christianity -- it's a woman's religion!"

Need: So, we ask, "With today's debilitating pressure on men to avoid taking responsible spiritual leadership, what can be done to instruct and to motivate them to take responsible, godly oversight in Biblical manhood?!"

I. When God used Barak to defeat Israel's Canaanite overlords in Judges 4:1-24, He used a WOMAN prophetess, Deborah, to encourage the man Barak to lead Israel's men in the battle (Jud. 4:8-9), for Israel's men had been so bullied by cruel Canaanite overlords that no man wanted to lead Israel in war!

II. Thus, in her victory song of Judges 5:1-31, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Peter 1:21), Deborah as a WOMAN gave MOTIVATING INSIGHT to Israel's MEN on GODLY MANHOOD:

A. Deborah praised the Lord that Israel's men had volunteered to fight Sisera's hosts, Judges 5:2, 9b KJV.

B. She testified that her heart went out to the men who had volunteered to fight by faith in God, Judges 5:9a,b.

C. In view of the terrible oppression the people of Israel had faced under the Canaanites, Deborah implied that this willingness for Israel's 10,000 men to fight the enemy was a welcome event for all of Israel, Judges 5:6-8:

1. The Canaanites had been so abusive that Israel's people had abandoned the main highways, choosing to take the longer, winding side roads to do their necessary travels, Judges 5:6.

2. Israel's people no longer lived in unwalled villages, for people who lived in them were vulnerable to regular attacks, abuse and robbery by the Canaanites, Judges 5:7a.

3. Israel had turned to false gods, so God let the Canaanites press the war right up to the gates of walled cities in Israel, behind which all of Israel's people hid in fear, Judges 5:8a; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 390.

4. Indeed, shields and spears, typical weapons of war, were abandoned by Israel's men who dared not take the battle to the enemy because of their 900 iron chariots, Judges 5:8b; Ryrie S. B., KJV, 1978, ftn. to Jud. 5:8.

5. Thus, for 10,000 men in Israel to dare to fight the Canaanites outside their city walls was a great blessing to Deborah, and to all of the other people in Israel! (Judges 5:9)

D. The turning point in the battle came when Barak and Israel's 10,000 men left the relative safety of Mount Tabor to march down to the plain, daring to face Sisera's 900 iron chariots there, humanly a suicidal move: Judges 4:14b states this event, noting Barak with the men "went down" (yarad, Kittel, Bib. Heb., 370; B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 432-434) from Mount Tabor onto the Plain of Esdraelon.

E. Deborah, who had then remained up on Mount Tabor and had witnessed the battle from there, expressed her deep appreciation for such a great act of faith, highlighting this act of "going down" several times in her song:

1. First, Deborah expressed appreciation for how the warriors had initially left the safety of their homes on hills behind their walled cities to "go down" (yarad again, Ibid., Kittel, p. 372) to their city gates at the base of their city hills to leave them for the battlefield on the plain outside those gates, Judges 5:11.

2. Second, Deborah expressed appreciation for how the warriors had gone down (yarad again, Ibid.) to the nobles to be mustered for the coming battle at Mount Tabor, Judges 5:13a.

3. Third, Deborah expressed appreciation for how the warriors went down (yarad again, Ibid.) to meet Deborah at Mount Tabor, trusting God was leading them through her to fight the Canaanites, Jud. 5:13b.

4. Fourth, Deborah expressed appreciation for how the captains of Makir, a division of the tribe of Manasseh, had volunteered with the called-up men of Naphtali and Zebulun (cf. Jud. 4:6) to go down (yarad again, Ibid.) to the battle at Mount Tabor, Judges 5:14.

5. Fifth, and most emphatically, Deborah expressed appreciation for how the men of Issachar, also volunteers aside from the called-up men of Naphtali and Zebulun (cf. Jud. 4:6) had willingly submitted to being sent off (shalah, a change in the verb and in stem to the passive intensive Pual; Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D.B., p. 1018-1019) down from Mount Tabor's heights by her admonition to follow Barak's heels in facing a humanly vastly superior Canaanite foe in faith that God would give them the victory, Judges 5:15a!

F. However, Deborah expressed her dismay at the irresponsible timidity and neglect of duty on the part of the other tribes that did not join in the fight, but remained immobile at home, Judges 5:15b-17, 23.

G. Deborah also highly touted the bravery of the woman Jael who slew Sisera in Judges 5:24-27.

H. Yet, what most motivated Deborah to express all of this appreciation for the bravery of these warriors was the fact that their action had protected Israel's women as expressed in the last part of her song, Judges 5:28-31:

1. Deborah, a "mother in Israel" (Jud. 5:7b), described the scene of the Canaanite general Sisera's mother in Judges 5:28-31 who with her maids would try to explain Sisera's delay in returning from the battle.

2. Sisera's mother is thus presented as explaining his delay due to taking spoil in abusing captured women (v. 30a: coarse terms in the Hebrew text that are rendered in the phrase "to every man a damsel or two" (KJV) convey the idea of the male physical abuse of women) and in the seizing of their prized clothing (v. 30b).

3. However, this explanation of Sisera's delay would prove to be false as news of his death at the hand of a woman arrived, devastating Sisera's mother while Israel's women would be safe from abuse and robbery.

4. Thus, Deborah expressed deep appreciation for how Israel's men by faith in God through responsible male leadership had been used of God to PROTECT Israel's women and their possessions from oppressors!

Lesson: Deborah's victory song tried to IMPRESS Israel's MEN to TRUST GOD BRAVELY and RESPONSIBLY to FULFILL God's CALLING for them as MEN for the PROTECTION of Israel's WOMEN, and to REBUKE the TIMID IRRESPONSIBILITY of those men in Israel who FAILED to TRUST GOD so as to ACT in FAITH.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ to be saved from sin and hell, John 3:16. (2) As a man, may we trust God to perform our calling from Him as responsible and not in timid irresponsibility decline to take action, for the protection of others, including women, is at stake. (3) As a woman, may we like Deborah do our part to encourage male believers around us to take responsible action in faith, for our protection is at stake in the program of God.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

Last Sunday, a Christian woman spoke to me in our Fellowship Hall, reporting how a difficult situation had arisen in a Church group elsewhere in the State that had led to a crisis in that Church group's unity. As she explained the matter to me, I realized that the Pastor of the group had not acted as prudently as he should have, that his actions in response to the crisis the groups had faced had contributed to the unsettling of the Church body.

As I listened to this lady explain the situation in that Church, I sensed a concern in her about the lack of stability in that Church, and I wondered if it made her wonder if such destabilization might occur even here! It is hard enough for people to maintain a sense of stability in a secular world that is fracturing into many differing ideologies let alone for the local Church to face similar instability!

That conversation coupled with this sermon's lesson has led me to make a renewed commitment to do everything possible by God's power and grace to provide stability in this Church! True, sometimes trials arise that can "rock the boat," leading to difficulties in relationships, but it is absolutely crucial that we men, me as Pastor, the Deacons as other Church leaders along with all of the rest of the men here function responsibly in faith in God for the necessary stability of the whole body, including for the women of the Church.

May we trust in Christ, and, as believers, fulfill our roles as men and women of faith!