Judges Chapters 4-6

Mandy has okayed me for giving our adopted daughter the name Jael as a middle name...hey I'll take what I can get from one of my favorite stories with an awesome feminine hero!

4:6 - Deborah confronts Barak and says, "HAS NOT the Lord commanded you to..." The question we need to ask is, why does Deborah need to show up and prod this guy? It seems that God has already been calling him to act and Barak refuses to trust God and move. How long has he been ignoring God's call? Because of his failure to act when God calls, Barak is not the hero that is honored by this story...our hero (or heroine will show up later - v. 4:9). Are you ignoring the call of God in any way in your life right now?

4:18 - In contrast to Barak, Jael is ready and willing to act the call of God. She goes out to meet Sisera. She is a foreign woman, whose husband was probably an ally of Sisera...she had everything to lose, but she was willing to act. She is the example of heroic faith - not Barak.

4:19-21 - Here are a couple of attributes that make her successful in honoring God with her life. She uses creativity to serve God. She welcomes Sisera in...serves him warm milk...treats him as a man of honor...makes him feel safe - she is thinking outside the box. See is also willing to seize her opportunity as soon as it presents itself. When he nods off to sleep, she doesn't hesitate to bring the judgement of God. Again, it is weird to equate violent death from the OT to current day Christianity, but as followers of God, we must be willing to use creativity when it comes to serving God...and we must be ready to seize any opportunity to benefit His kingdom that presents itself.

5:1 - I just want to say...we do not do enough spontaneous victory songs. Seriously!

5:6 - Just a little reminder for everybody that so far in the book of judges, God has twice had to use foreign people to free his people. In fact, they were foreign people that used a farm tool and a household item to bring judgement. It is clear that God is powerful and uses the weak to humble the strong.

5:15-17 - Reuben, Gilead, Dan and Asher refused to help their fellow Israelites in their war against Sisera. They are mocked in this song, "Why are you in your sheep pens - do you want to hear you sheep whistle? Why do you stay with your boats?" The reality is that these tribes probably did not want to hurt their economy. If the shepherds of Reuben had gone off to war, people could have stolen their flocks. If the other tribes had fought against the Canaanites, it would have ruined their trade opportunities with those people. They were willing to put their own economic interests ahead of their own people...their brothers in the covenant with God. That doesn't have any applicability in our day and age, does it?

5:20-22 - It seems that according to the song, God sent tons of rain and caused a flood in the river which muddied up the battlefield and destroyed the effectiveness of the Canaanite chariots. I like how it is described as the horses run riderless and chaotic all over the battlefield!

5:24 - Interesting...Jael is praised here in the same way that Mary the mother of Jesus is praised. These are the only two instances in the bible where a woman is praised so magnificently. She is called the most blessed of women (How is that not a good name for a baby girl! Other than the fact that it means "Mountain Goat" in Hebrew)!

5:28ff - This is really awesome song writing. After describing how Jael kills Sisera, the singers jump immediately to the chambers of Sisera's mother. She is looking out the window waiting for her son to return. She is worried, because he has never been this late before in returning from battle. He has always come to tell her of his victories. So she and her handmaid think up reasons why he may be late...they settle on thinking that the plunder is so huge that he must still be dividing it up. She even says that each man is probably going to bring back a "womb" or two (literal translation - score another one for the ESV)! It is a disgusting way to describe bringing back women as slaves. It paints a picture of the brutality of ancient war. Women were seen only as object of sex...as possessions to be plundered. Fortunately for the women of Israel, Sisera's mother is just fooling herself - her son will never come back.

6:1-6 - Again, they have to be completely brought the their knees before they will turn back to God. I know people like this...who will constantly return to choices that have crushed their life over and over and they don't seem to learn that true life is found in the way of Jesus.

6:11 - Gideon is cowering in fear...threshing grain in the floor of a wine press. Not exactly the picture of the conquering hero.

6:12 - Hilarious...the angel of the Lord sarcastically calls the guy huddled fearful in the bottom of a wine press a "Mighty man of valor!" Hahaha. Nothing like a little mockery to get somebody off their butt.

6:15 - Much like Moses, Gideon is running down the list of excuses of why he is unsuitable to be used by God. What are my excuses? What are yours?

6:25 - His family and people have been totally corrupted. They have an altar to Baal in their encampment...they have an Asherah pole there too. And they wonder why God has allowed them to be oppressed by other people.

6:30-31 - Whether is is out of love for his son, or whether Joash still has some remaining faith in Yahweh...he stands up for his son and does not allow the other men to kill him. He says, "Hey, if Ball is such a powerful God, let him defend himself." He may have started to get wise that this Baal-guy wasn't doing them much good as a people. They traded God for Baal and got oppression. Sounds like what we get when we trade God for any other idol nowadays too.

6:37-39 - Gideon has already seen God consume the sacrifice he offered in person (v.21), yet he still doubts...he still wants absolute confirmation before he acts. This is why he is a lesser hero than the house wife Jael...she acts immediately...she trusts absolutely. Gideon...kinda has to be force into everything. Who are you gonna choose to be like as you live out your faith?