All right, we are in judges chapter number four.
Now tonight we're actually going to cover judges four and judges five and the reason
for that is because judges four and five are basically talking about the same exact story.
Judges four you have the events of of course the judge Deborah and Barak, Sisera, you have
both of those groups and then judges chapter five is a song that Deborah sings about those
events and what we're basically going to do is we're going to use some of judges five
to be a commentary for judges chapter number four because of the fact that the song actually
has some details that you don't see in judges chapter four that can basically enlighten
us a little bit as far as the specifics of this chapter.
Now if you remember prior the chapters prior we see that the children of Israel you know
that that vicious cycle that constant vicious cycle of their serving God they're doing well
you know there's a leader to deliver them and then the leader dies the deliverer dies
and what happens they go back into serving their false gods and getting away from the
Lord and what happens God has to raise up a foreign nation to come and chastise them
to come and oppress them they cry out into the Lord he raises up another deliverer and
the cycle continues again and in the previous chapter in chapter number three we started
off with those first three judges if you remember you have Othniel you have Ehud and then you
have Shamgar now in chapter four it just gets a little worse okay and why is that because
of the fact that you have Deborah now is there anything wrong with Deborah just like you
know who she is because she's a woman you know does she not love God does she not read
her Bible no it's just a simple fact that you have a woman ruling over men and that
is not in the Bible that is the wrong thing for any woman to do you say well why do we
have her in here in Judges chapter four ruling over men well just think about this look at
the condition the spiritual condition of Israel at this time okay and I don't want to get
ahead of myself I don't want to burst my own bubble because I got a lot of material that
I've been thinking about in regards to that but we find her in Israel during a very difficult
time when the children of Israel were just far from God they are not obeying the word
of the Lord they're serving you know false gods and to be quite honest with you there's
not a man to stand in the midst to make up the hedge to stand in the gap right so what
happens is that you have Deborah now Deborah is often used by these pastoras you know these
you know today in modern days these Pentecostal women and pastors that's like their text verse
that they go to to say see women can be pastors too and we're going to debunk that today but
I don't want to get ahead of myself I'm kind of skipping I'm jumping ahead here look down
to verse number one it says and the children of Israel again did evil on the side of the
Lord when Echad was dead now that is very significant obviously it shows us the cycle
that we were just talking about but notice that it says when Echad was dead now was Echad
the last judge of Israel no because who came after him Shamgar you have in chapter three
at verse 31 it says and after him referring to Echad was Shamgar the son of Anath which
slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goat and he also delivered Israel so
what do we see here well what we actually see is an overlapping of judges at this time
okay it seems as though Echad and Shamgar were potentially contemporaries but they had
a little bit of overlap but we're gonna see later on that Shamgar was actually there when
Deborah was there so why is Shamgar not being spoken about in chapter four well or excuse
me why is Deborah being highlighted in chapter four why does she step up to the plate because
Shamgar is not doing his job that's why and we'll see later on in chapter number five
in that song that that's exactly what took place so we see that vicious cycle in verse
number one verses two and three give us the antagonist of this chapter which is Jabin
king of Canaan you have Sisera who is his general and Sisera of course he mans this
army of 900 chariots of iron and they oppress the children of Israel for 20 years now it
says there in verse number three and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord for he had 900
chariots of iron and 20 years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel now don't
bypass that when it says he mightily oppressed them they're going through a lot during this
time okay and let me show you look at chapter five and look at verse number six so chapter
five as I mentioned is a song that Deborah is singing regarding the victory that they
won and it also has details that chapter four does not talk about look at verse number six
it says in the days of Shamgar the son of Anath in the days of Jael the highways were
unoccupied and the travelers walk through byways it says there so what is it telling
us it's telling us that these were days where it was very dangerous if people are being
mightily oppressed people aren't even going through the main roads they're staying off
the streets in other words it's probably because they have Sisera and his 900 chariots of iron
oppressing the people you know just kind of just oppressing them and persecuting them
look at verse number 28 now as I mentioned chapter five is a song and here's the thing
is like the latter end of this song for whatever reason obviously we understand now why but
for whatever reason you have Deborah prophesying of what Sisera's mother is going to say because
if you we read the entire chapter what happens to Sisera he dies right he gets a nail right
through the head you know Jael nails it you know she nails it she hits the nail right
on the head right and he kills this guy he dies a dishonorable death right and verse
28 is Deborah prophesying of what her his mother is going to say look at verse 28 says
the mother of Sisera looked out at the window and cried through the lattice why is this
chariot so long in coming why tarry the wheels of his chariot her wise ladies answered her
yea she returned answer to herself have they not sped have they not divided the prey to
every man a damsel or two to Sisera a prey of diverse colors a prey of diverse colors
of needlework of diverse colors of needle excuse me diverse colors of needlework on
both sides meet for the next of them that take the spoil so even his mom knows what
he's going out there to do what is he going out there to do to plunder to kill to steal
even it says right there have they not divided the prey to every man a damsel or two taking
women as slaves I mean this is being mightily oppressed you that's why there's no one walking
the streets you know there's no one walking the highways and the main roads for fear
of this these oppressors these people who are just destroying their lives making their
lives miserable so we see that although you know God is using these these wicked people
these are wicked people okay so it says there in verse number three go back to chapter four
the children of Israel cried unto the Lord for he had 900 chariots of iron in 12 20 years
he mightily oppressed the children of Israel look at verse four and Deborah a prophetess
the wife of Lapidoth she judged Israel at that time now one thing you'll notice here
is it doesn't say throughout the entire time that God chose Deborah God used Deborah but
he didn't choose her see we're gonna read in just a little bit that Deborah prophesies
and that prophecy is from God to who to Barak because God chose Barak now if you remember
in previous chapters the judges of Israel were to judge Israel but they also operated
as what as a military general so we don't see Deborah being a military general at all
in fact who's the military general there we have Barak that's the guy who actually God
chose to go and actually fight the wars for the Lord to go and actually do the work whereas
Deborah she's not chosen but here's the thing God uses her and this is like in the you said
what do you what can you compare this to I compare this to you know you have a for example you have
a mother who comes to church and her husband doesn't right he's she's on fire for the Lord
she's coming to church she's reading her Bible she's bringing the kids and her husband's saved
but he's not going to church he's not doing anything and she's kind of like the one who's
taking the spiritual reins of the family helping the kids grow in the Lord teaching them the Bible
now is that it I mean who's responsibility is it to have that spiritual thermostat in the home is
the dad but if the dad's not doing it who does it by default the mom right God doesn't choose her
to do it but by default she's gonna do it sometimes obviously you know what I mean God does not choose
her to be the leader the spiritual leader but you know if the dad's not taking care of business
spiritually speaking by default it's gonna fall to the mom God's not choosing her to do that but
you know what God can still use a woman right to teach the children to tell them to go to church
to help them with their spiritual disciplines that's not ideal obviously what ideal is is that
the man would just get up read his Bible be spirit filled be spiritual lead his wife lead
his children and be that man of God in the home but if that's not the case sometimes what you
have is like a Deborah you understand now you don't the unfortunate thing is is that sometimes
men come to church and their wife is still Deborah you know he's coming to church but he's not
learning the Bible he's not putting it into practice he's not soul winning he's not taking
care of the spiritual responsibilities and it seems as though the woman is like the leader in
that home yeah it is garbage amen says the man without a wife now I'm just kidding I'm kidding
but he's it's true cuz that's not the way it ought to be amen what it ought to be is the man
lapidoth lapidoth should be doing something say hey hey Deborah hold your horses just chill out
right I know Israel needs help I know I'll judge them I'll stand up and I'll judge them I know
you're on fire hey I'm thankful you love the Lord I know you see I know you got a burden for the
nation at this point but let me I'm the man God has chosen men to do this job let me do it but
do we see that no we just see that he's the wife all right that's he's not the wife see he's the
husband he's acting like the wife she judged Israel at that time so what does it mean when
she judges or she's basically telling them their sins like hey you guys are not right with God you
guys are serving false gods that's why God's bringing this upon us look at verse 5 wait a
second yeah verse 5 it says and she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Rhema and Bethel
and Mount Ephraim and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment that's man woman boy and
girl they're going to Deborah for judgment this shows you the spiritual temperature of Israel of
that day it's the equivalent to some guy who loves the Lord but goes to some Pentecostal Church where
there's some woman pastor okay give me your judgments like dude you find judgment you read
the Bible you figure it out so these are the kind of men that are in Israel at this point you know
what the best man in this whole chapter is Barak right but even Barak the general tells Deborah you
know Deborah gives him the prophecy and says hey you're gonna go fight conquer Sisera that's what
God said and he's like I won't go unless you go what in the world he says if you go then I'll go
if you don't go I won't go that's in stark contrast to Moses who when God commanded him to go on he
says if thy presence is going out with me you know I will not go forth you know Moses is like I only
need you to go with me God you know Moses is a man he's not afraid of anybody else he's just afraid
he fears God so he's like if you don't go I won't go Barak is like well Deborah if you don't go I
won't go what in the world an embarrassment a lot of weak-willed men found here in chapter
four you know and by default obviously now I want to stop right here and talk about this for just a
little bit so I've had ladies you know use Deborah not here in this church obviously but I've had
ladies in times past try to use Deborah as their you know proof text of why women can be become
pastors you know you tell them like hey that's on biblical to become a woman pastor it's not in the
Bible this is wrong it's ungodly and they're like well Deborah was used Deborah was a prophetess and
anything just because it says prophetess that automatically you just put in there in the Greek
or in the Hebrew pastor pastorate they think that a prophetess automatically means pastor
but you know what a prophetess is is someone who's preaching the gospel who's a woman someone who's
preaching the word who is a woman and look we're not against women preaching even the Bible we're
just against them doing it here you understand because throughout the Bible you have prophetess
in the Bible and in fact Deborah is rightly named a prophetess because chapter five is an
entire chapter of a song prophesying of that which took place prior in chapter number four
Miriam in the Bible was also named a prophetess and you know what it works in tandem with her
singing a song of God's conquering and the victory that he gave the children of Israel
here's the thing is like they want to use Deborah as their example but they never want to use the
example of the bad prophet prophetesses in the Bible they always want to go to Deborah because
that's all you know you know they look at it where's the pastor in the Bible on the internet
and then they come up across Deborah okay well how about in Nehemiah chapter 6 we have a woman
who is called the prophetess and she's actually there to discourage Nehemiah from building the
wall oh that's Old Testament okay well how about Revelation chapter 2 Jezebel the prophetess who
teaches my people to fornicate and to eat things sacrifice and titles there you go you know and
he's talking to a church by the way which is in the New Testament what's also in the New Testament
1st Timothy chapter 3 go to 1st Timothy chapter 2 first so we'll go to 1st Timothy chapter 2
what disgusts me more than a woman preaching behind the pulpit is a man who's in the pew
listening to her you know what's more disgusting than a woman standing behind the pulpit preaching
the Bible is the man the stoneless man sitting in the pews actually listening to her and not
doing anything about it but but yeah there's even something more disgusting than that how about the
man who sits in the pews who says amen to the woman who's preaching you know those dudes need
to get some stones they need to get right with God and get into a real church where there's a
man of God behind the pulpit preaching the Bible and he's a man amen not listening to some tightly
dressed and modest hoary slutty looking pastorette well not all of them are like that well how about
the butch looking Joyce Meyers both of them are bad Joyce Meyers and Oprah Winfrey she's a prophetess
too a wicked one he said well what kind of prophetess do you approve of the ones who go
soul-winning you know you have Philip the evangelist who had daughters who were prophesying
preaching the gospel amen we have some prophetesses in here but they don't do it in here they teach
their children at home right because in in in the book of Proverbs you have Lemuel's mother
prophesying unto her son right and so we're not against all prophetesses we're just against the
ones who think they have the authority to be behind a pulpit garbage okay now look at in case
you're wondering okay oh you're just spewing out the mouth that's your opinion well look at 1st
Timothy chapter 2 and verse number 12 but I suffer not a woman to teach I mean we could just end it
right there we could just pray be dismissed go to our barbecue tomorrow and it will be good on that
one nor to usurp or usurp authority over the man so what am I doing right now I am actually I
actually have authority over you as I preach so no one has the right to come up here and push me
out of the way and try to preach the Bible right I have the authority so when a woman does it behind
the pulpit she's usurping the authority over the man she's telling the man what to do nor to usurp
authority over the man but to be in silence what does that mean shut up now look we're not like
this machismo Church you never hear a man ever say shut up to a woman here right like shut your
mouth why because we understand that there's a balance we're to respect and love our wives
with respect and love our sisters in Christ and the reality is there's no woman in here who would
ever want to be like Jezebel for Adam was first formed and then even Adam was not deceived but
the woman being deceived was in the transgression look down at verse number one of chapter three
this is a true saying if a man desire the office of a bishop he desires the good work a bishop then
must be blameless the husband of one wife so if a pastor is to have one wife how does that work for
a pastorate unless him she's some freak dyke right but even then that still doesn't work
because dykes aren't saved dykes are reprobates and they're not even allowed in church let alone
behind the pulpit a bishop that must be blameless the husband of one wife vigilant sober of good
behavior given to hospitality apt to teach so we see here go back to judges if you would this is
not an ironclad bro although there's my example I say that because years ago that my in and out
illustration you guys remember that where I ran into those tongue flapping weirdos in and out
aka the Pentecostals and then you know they're like we speak in tongues and I'm like tongues is
not real and I'm like do it and then she was like holla shalabala in a six-pack dollar and then I
was like repeat that and she was like I can't I'm like yeah that's right cuz you're a phony you know
she actually told me that the one example that she had of a woman pastor is Deborah well Deborah
is not a pastor so I don't know where you're getting that from just because it says prophetess
it's just someone who preaches okay so number one this is not a good example because of the fact
that you have Israel just in sin and idolatry complete rebellion against God there's not a
man to stand up to take the place and then you have Deborah doing it okay but even then she's
judging Israel she's telling them hey you guys are wrong for doing this this is not right this
is ungodly and look if you want more proof look at Hebrews chapter 11 we're gonna go there just a
bit Hebrews chapter 11 is the the Hall of Faith chapter right and do you see Deborah on the Hall
of Faith no who do you see you see Barak as weak as he was he still exercised some faith there okay
so you know female pastors are ungodly it's wicked it's vile you know it disgusts me but
what disgusts me more is the men who actually sit in those pews actually listen to that garbage and
are just like wow that's great you know like how do you how do you walk away feeling like a man you
don't thank you you don't when you're listening to a woman teach you the Bible to usurp your
authority you need to get up and actually do the job okay and look not just in a church setting but
how about just in home at the home hey man we ought to be teaching our wives amen teaching
our wives the Bible knowing more scripture than our wives you say well that's not me then you
need to get on the ball crack open the Bible read it listen to sermons memorize scripture meditate
upon it learn more than your wife because look a wife wants her husband to outdo her in those
things yeah a wife wants her husband to be a strong spiritual leader biblically based that's
what a woman wants even the strong-willed women want that okay what a strong-willed woman wants
is a stronger-willed man you understand that's a sermon for another day man so by the way in
Isaiah chapter 3 go to Isaiah chapter 3 Isaiah chapter 3 you know you have these liberal churches
to you know it's that guy in Australia that big mega church he has a bunch of satellites Hillsong
how do you know that just kidding you got Hillsong and he lets his wife come up and preach a lot of
liberals like to do that what's the good word sister and they come up and they preach this is
wicked this is ungodly this is not biblical you can you please crack open your Bible and read
first Timothy for once Isaiah chapter 3 look at verse number 11 woe unto the wicked it shall be
ill with them for the reward of his hands shall be given him as for my people children are their
oppressors and women rule over them oh my people they which lead thee cause thee to err and destroy
the ways of thy paths so you know the Bible is telling us here that when you have a woman ruling
over you that's a curse from God nations countries that have like a woman president that's just a
seal to seal the deal did they have a curse over them you understand and it trickles down to every
aspect of society and church in the home when the woman is doing the work that the man is supposed
to do that's not a good thing that's not God's blessing you understand that that just showing
you that manhood is being stripped from that institution that they're no longer there therefore
by default the woman has to get up and actually do something about it you understand go back to
judges chapter 4 judges chapter 4 so judges chapter 4 Deborah is not this you know Oh God
is just fine with women pastors she's not a pastor she's a prophetess she's proclaiming the word of
God she's basically telling Israel hey you guys are in sin and the reason she's doing it because
no other man is getting up and saying that she's like husband can I go tell them that they're in
yeah I mean go for it I guess so basically he's just like you know on this TV or whatever
embarrassment now look at verse 6 and she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoham out of
Kadesh Neftali 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 Neftali and of the children
of Zebulun and I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon to Sarah Cicero excuse me the captain of
Jabin's army with his chariots and his multitude and I will deliver him into thine hand so who is
God choosing here Barak so she's he's God is sending Deborah on his behalf to go send the
message to Barak that he's actually the one who's supposed to be chosen because of the fact that
judges are supposed to be the generals as well as the deliverers as well as the judges supposed
to fulfill all those rules but Barak the one he the role he's not fulfilling is the judging part
he doesn't want to judge that's what it is right because she's the one who's doing it he's not
getting up and judging but what he is doing is becoming the general right so he's chosen not
Deborah Deborah's being used but he's being chosen here look at verse 8 oh man this is this I have a
hard time reading this out loud and Barak said answer if that will go with me then I will go
but if that would not go with me then I will not go I'm a real boy I don't know if he said it like
that I just read it into it like that I can't believe he said that he says if that will go
with me then I will go but if that will not go with me then I will not go what in the what do
you say you want her to fight to you want her to wield your sword what do you what's what's up
a rack again this is in stark contrast to Moses Moses was a man's man he was like if thy presence
going out with me you know I will not go forth all he needed was God's presence verse 9
and she said I will surely go with thee now it's like okay I'll go with you now withstanding the
journey that I'll take it shall not be for thine honor for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand
of a woman and Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh so what do we see here I believe that
Barak was supposed to be the one getting the honor for actually killing Sisera but because
he showed such lack of fortitude in verse number eight Deborah is basically telling them all right
well since you don't want to man up since you feel like you're just being forced to do this
then you know what a woman's gonna destroy Sisera not you he's like the honor shall not be dying it
shall be a woman's and you know what he was fine with it he's fine with it it bothers me I don't
know if it bothers you I'm like whoa yeah I take that back yeah I don't need you to go with me
that's what I would have said you stay I'm going I'm taking that honor you know and I'm sure the
Lord would be like all right go for it but instead he's telling she's telling him that he's not gonna
be honored for that JL is gonna be honored that's who he's talking about there verse 10 and Barak
called Zebulun and of Talin Kadesh and he went up with 10,000 men at his feet and Deborah went up
with him. Now Heber the Kenite which was the two of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses
had severed himself from the Kenites and pitched his tenant to the plain of Zainaim which is by
Kadesh and they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoham was gone up to Mount Tabor and
Sisera gathered together all his chariots even 900 chariots of iron and all the people that were
with him from Harosheth of the Gentiles onto the river of Kishon and Deborah said unto Barak up
for this is the day get up for this is the day which the Lord had delivered Sisera into thine
hand is not the Lord gone out before thee so Barak went down from Mount Tabor and 10,000 men after
him so even when they were already there she's like get up go God's already delivered him into
your hand just go so we have to be like kind of like encouraged hey get up go go do something
and look let me just chase a rabbit here man we should take the initiative spiritually speaking
hey man we shouldn't wait for someone to tell us to read our bible we shouldn't wait for someone
to tell us to go to church or to go soul winning or to just be the spiritual leader we should take
the initiative ourselves to follow after righteousness right and look you shouldn't wait
for your wife to tell you to do these things either or future wife whatever you know you
should be the one who takes the initiative and leads your family in the way of righteousness
cast that vision before your family to go do something great for God what do you mean like
what do you mean great for God win someone to Christ is something great for God you know winning
someone to Christ is something great for God coming to church and living a holy life standing
up for truth that's something great for God you shouldn't have to be forced to do that that should
come on your own you should be the one to say hey family let's go to church not like your wife's
like hey can we go to church it's just like oh I'm too tired up my hair hurts up you should tell
yourself up don't let Deborah or uh yeah Deborah tell you up I'm sorry is there a Deborah in here
hopefully there's not a Deborah in here right I'm talking about literally the name Deborah
you know we should be able to lead ourselves right to do what God has called us to do and
bring our family with us our family should not have to drag us to go do the things of God
we should be the ones to say this is what we're going to do amen
where we at here verse 15 and the Lord discomfitted Sisera and all his chariots
and all his hosts with the edge of the sword before Barak so that Sisera lighted down off
his chariot and fled away on his feet so let me make a couple comments here regarding this passage
of scripture now he discomfitted them with the edge of the sword obviously we have those 10,000
soldiers coming and they are killing off these people the the with the chariots of iron Sisera's
army there but I also believe that God also did something else aside from that and it really fits
into how God works in our lives you know when God commands us to do something we have to put the
effort into doing something right to obey his commandments and then God keeps his end of the
bargain by filling in that gap you understand so when God fights our battles for us we have
to take the initiative and put in the effort to fight and then God gives us the victory correct
so here we see that the men the 10,000 men actually got up with sword and they're slain
men with the edge of the sword but let's look at chapter five and verse number four I believe
that and I can't say I'm super staunch on this but I believe something supernatural also took
place during this time as well potentially a flood came and swallowed them up and destroyed
much of the army as well why is that well look at verse number four it says Lord when thou wentest
out of sere when thou marches out of the field of edom the earth trembled and the heavens drop and
the clouds also dropped water the mountains melted from before the Lord even that Sinai
from before the Lord God of Israel go to verse number 19 he says the kings came and fought
then fought the kings of Canaan and Tanak by the waters of Megiddo they took no gain of money they
fought from heaven the stars in their courses fought against Sisera the river of Kishon swept
them away that ancient river the river Kishon oh my soul thou hast trodden down strength then were
their horse hooves broken by the means of their of the prancings the prancings of their mighty
ones so what do we see here we see that there was some supernatural event that took place here
because Deborah's singing about it in verse number 21 and 20 talking about the river that just took
Sisera's army so what I believe what happened here is you have those 10,000 fighting and doing
their part and then God fills in that gap that potentially you know they couldn't fight off
he brings in a supernatural and we see that throughout the bible don't we that the armies
come the armies of the Lord come and they do their part and then God basically backs them up
helps them in a supernatural way this always happens in the bible and I believe this is what's
taking place here so this is how he disconfited Sisera and all his chariots now look go back to
chapter four let's read it again verse 15 says and the Lord disconfited Sisera and all his chariots
and all his hosts with the edge of the sword before Barak so that Sisera lied it down from
off his chariot and look what it says and fled away on his feet now let me ask you something
pop quiz here okay Sisera is he of Israel no he's from what Canaan which is a what nation
what he the nation but it's a
foreign nation okay what's another name for foreign huh strange what's another word for
strange alien who said alien
alien he's an illegal alien go to Hebrews chapter 11
because Hebrews chapter 11 is the faith chapter right we're not talking about et here okay
we're not talking about star wars star trek look at Hebrews chapter 11 and look at verse number
32 it says and what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon
and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah and of David also and Sammy and all the prophets
who through faith subdued kingdoms didn't Athneel Echad do that rod righteousness yeah they did
that too right obtained promises didn't didn't uh Deborah promise didn't she give uh Barak the
promise that he was going to be able to overcome them right stop the mouths of lions now who is
that Daniel right quench the violence of fire escape the edge of the sword out of weakness
were made strong because what do we see in chapter judges chapter four these guys are weak
but then they're made strong wax valley and fight turn to flight the armies of the aliens
okay so if you ever wonder what that verse meant that's all it means it doesn't
don't don't don't don't take the history channels rendition of this verse because all the flag you
know the armies of the aliens exit are uh Ezekiel and there's aliens out there and Nephilims and
all that stupidity turn to flight the armies of the aliens is what Barak did in judges chapter
four because that of weakness he was made strong I won't go unless you go but then he's what is
he doing later he's actually chasing him down he got his stones back and he turned to flight
the armies of the aliens so the very general the very king who oppressed Barak his family
and all the inhabitants of the land now they're tucking their tail and they're running see what
this shows this shows that you know even though Barak started off weak he ended up strong right
though he was weak in the beginning we see him now chasing the enemies of god
he turned to flight the armies of the aliens the foreigners and what's the biblical principle there
the biblical principle is this hey if you're weak you know you could be made strong you say
what do I have to do to be strong obey obedience because when we obey god's word we're exercising
faith right you know if you're literally feminine maybe you're a little soft around the edges
you know maybe maybe you know you feel like you're not strong in character strong in the
lord and the power of his might that can change you could be like Barak because look Barak is
in the hall of faith right and did you notice that that list had the vast majority of the
people on that list in chapter 11 were mostly people from the book of judges you had Gideon
Jephthah Barak you know all these men who exercised faith they had a lot of faith
and you know Barak is a great example of that because he went from I will not go unless you
go with me to you know going by himself and chasing Sisera and his armies and turning to
flight the armies of the aliens there go back to uh judges chapter four I thought that was interesting
it says in verse 16 but Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host
unto Harosheth of the gentiles and all the hosts of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword
and there was not a man left how be it Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the
wife of Heber the canine for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of
Heber the canine so what do we have here so Sisera is running he's taking off and he finds
this tent the tent belongs to Jael and Jael is a woman who is a wife of a man who made peace treaties
with Jabin the king of Canaan so you know Sisera sees this and he's just like well this is an ally
I should be fine here you know look what it says in verse 18 and Jael went out to me Sisera and
said unto him turn in my lord turn into me fear not and when he had turned in unto her into the
tent she covered him with the mantle sorry my pages got stuck and he said unto her give me
I pray thee a little water to drink fry him thirsty and she opened the bottle of milk and
gave him drink and covered him so look at chapter 5 and verse 24 this gives us a little more details
as far as how that encounter took place it says blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber
the canine be there goes your little mariology doctrine right there amen blessed above women
shall marry be no Jael the wife of Heber the canine be you know that shows you that shows you
that any woman can be blessed as long as they obey the lord you don't have to be married right
in order to be blessed of god you just have to obey the lord blessed shall she be above women
in the tent he asked water and she gave him milk she brought forth butter in a lordly dish in other
words you know she went the extra mile is what she did so he asked for water she not only gave him
milk but she also gave him butter in a lordly dish in other words she was showing her her
reverence or whatever you know now it could be that she was just kind of flattering him because
she's about to assassinate him okay but hey that's what it says there now let's keep reading verse
number 20 of chapter 4 and again he said unto her stand in the door of the tent and it shall be when
any man doth come and inquire of thee and say is there any man here that thou shall say no then Jael
Heber's wife took a nail of the tent and took a 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 now it could be that she gave him milk to put him to sleep doesn't milk make
help you sleep right so and by the way i don't think this was like cold milk it's probably warm
milk right it's fresh milk so he sees he sees it as wow this lady's you know she's going the extra
mile whereas she's like i'm actually doing this to put you to sleep so i can kill you because he
gets he gets sleepy he goes he goes there and he goes to sleep and does she grab a sword and just
pierce him through no she gets creative she gets the nail from the tent i mean it's not it's not
we're not talking about like a nine inch nail this is a very large nail right to hold down the
curtains of a tent she puts it to his temples and fastens it to the ground for he was fast asleep
and weary after this you're going to want to know how to swing a hammer because she did it but she
not only did it she put it through his head came out the other end and fastened him to the floor
does that not shock anybody it shocks me i'm just like whoa that's crazy
you know quick death now let's get some more details look at verse 26 of chapter 5 she put
her hand to the nail and her right hand to the workman's hammer and with the hammer she smokes
this her up she smote off his head so what what do we see i don't know you know but the bible says it
but i gather this if she's able to pierce that thing through his head to fasten it to the floor
she's probably able also to take off his head that's what it says right there right
she smokes this or she smote off his head when he had pierced when she had pierced and stricken
through his temples so you know me i like when i read the bible i'm like okay how would that look
because it says it happened when she smote him through the temples see what that means either
it was a really big nail which probably was the case and if she's smiting them just half of his
head just comes off i mean who needs hollywood right you got a good you got good stuff right
here look did the words of the lord are pure words this is how you got to read the bible
when you read just like sit back and just think about this for a minute don't just breeze over it
so she's smiting him and according to verse number 26 she took off his head when she had
pierced and stricken through his temples that means probably half came off man verse
27 and her feet at her feet he bowed he fell he laid down at her feet he bowed he fell where he
bowed there he fell down dead he bowed a lot okay so i'm not even gonna i i can picture this in my
head the way it looks okay it just boom and then he just kind of slumps over the part that comes
off slumps over and just falls at her feet i don't think i'm being graphic it's just it's
right there you understand so she hit the head she hit the nail right on the head okay basically
right she nailed it nailed it verse 22 of chapter four this is good stuff and behold as barack
pursued sister of jail came out to meet him and said unto him come and i will show thee the man
whom thou seekest and when he came into her tent behold sisra lay dead and the nail was in his
temples so god subdued on that day jabin the king of canin before the children of israel
and the hand of the children of israel prospered and prevailed against jabin the king of canin
until they had destroyed jabin king of canin so this brought a great victory okay because
ultimately you know you remove the foundation of an army everything else comes tumbling down
so they got jabin they got sisra and then the entire army was destroyed and they were able to
have peace in their land once again for many years thereafter in fact verse 31 of chapter
five it says so let all thine enemies perish oh lord but let them that love him be as a son when
he goeth forth in his might and the land had rest 40 years amen so what's the what's what's the
takeaways what are the takeaways of this well we gave all the takeaways but the main thing that we
have to understand is that hey you know there's some debras out there in the world right or excuse
me out there in some churches and maybe they didn't choose to be deborah but because their
husband is not reading the bible not leading spiritually by default she's kind of doing that
and it's not that god is choosing her god is using her right he can use her to be a blessing
he can use her even what what if she has an unsaved husband she can god can use her to save
her husband all right as long as she doesn't preach at him and here we see that deborah was
used but beyrak was choosed no i'm just kidding chosen okay i was trying to rhyme it he was chosen
and ultimately wrought that great victory which so after these 40 years everything goes well up until
the cycle continues again and then we get into the story of gideon amen let's bow our heads and
have a word of prayer father we thank you for your word lord thank you for this great story
and um thank you for the faith of beyrak and obviously we don't know what was going through
his head or what's going through his mind we know what was going through cicero's head was a nail
but as far as beyrak is concerned you know he started off weak but he became strong in the
latter end and he stepped out in faith and because of that he chased the aliens the armies of the
aliens lord these foreigners who were trying to destroy uh and pillage and plunder israel
and i pray god that you'd help us to take the way the spiritual application that we need to
stand up and take the initiative as men to be the spiritual leaders to set the spiritual thermostat
in our homes and in the church and i just pray that you bless us as we do so in jesus then we pray
amen