Judges series - Judges 4

The way to read this article is that the orange underlined texts are the verses of the Bible (NIV, unless otherwise stated). The black texts following the Bible verses (and enclosed by square brackets) are my commentaries. At the end of these Bible texts and commentaries, I have inserted a section on "Points to take note".
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Judges 4

Deborah
1 After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. 2 So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help. [Once again, when the judge died, the Israelites went back to their evil ways. How similar is this even in our own lives? Often we too, felt conviction and repented of our sins and then we went back again, over and over, to repeat the same mistakes we made. Talking of long-suffering, no one can compare with the Lord. One of the fruits of the Spirit is long-suffering, and if you think about it - that which the Lord wants to see developed in us, is also what He himself is capable of doing most excellently. But at the same time profaning the grace of God is really a bad thing to do. If we keep profaning the grace of God and are then caught off-guard, we are to be blamed, not God. What happened to the Israelites here was that they were given over to the Canaanites under the Canaanite king, Jabin. The Hebrew word used here for “sold” I believe is “makar” which means “to be given over”. There are a few Bible translations that use the words, “gave them up”, “delivered them up” or “used Jabin.. to defeat”. The words, “give over” I believe capture the essence of what really happened in these scenarios in the Bible. God did not and does not set up a snare for his people; that would be wickedness which will never happen with God. The workings of the fallen world/sins are what caused many of the so-called “bad things” that happened. It is not a question of God acting wickedly but it is a question of whether or not the hands of protection/blessing of the Lord are over certain people/individuals. It is most disastrous to find yourself completely without any protection/blessing from the Lord in this fallen world. It is believed by Bible scholars that previously Joshua defeated another King of the Jabin clan who reined in the same territory (Joshua 11). It was probably the descendant of the killed Jabin that came for revenge against the Israelites; God merely lifted his hands of protection over the Israelites. God had not the obligation because firstly God’s covenant with the Israelites had been broken by the latter, and secondly the Israelites were just unrepentant despite many years of help by the several judges that God had given them out of grace. God’s compassion moved Him, especially after the cries of the people having come up to Him, to stretch out his hands to protect, all out of grace. When things are given out of grace, i.e. given when the recipients were undeserving (unmerited favor, we say), when God stops giving, the recipients cannot blame God, can they? I believe this was what happened here.]

4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.[Under the 20 years of cruelties of King Jabin, the Israelites again cried out to the Lord. In life, there is one thing that we as Christians can do, no one can stop us – that is to cry out to the Lord. Who can stop you? No one. You can pray in your heart, and if you baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God will help you to pray (in tongue) even when you do not know how to pray or too distressed to think out the words to pray (again it can be done, silently, under breath). If nothing else you can do, you can always appeal to the compassion of God. After that, of course, it is up to Him. In this case, a prophetess, Deborah, had been raised as a judge for the Israelites.]

6 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 the way to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.' " [Deborah sent for Barak and asked him to lead an army consisted of the Israelite tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun to fight Jabin. Deborah got her instructions from the Lord, and she told Barak that she would lure the commander of Jabin’s army into Barak’s hands.]

8 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go." 9 "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, 10 where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him. [We were not told what went on in the head of Barak. It appeared that Deborah was not meant to go with him but he insisted Deborah went with him. Maybe Barak did not trust the words of the prophetess completely, but whatever it was, it was not pleasing to God, and for that Barak would not have the honor of slaying the commander of the Jabin army; a woman would have that honor. Maybe many times, like Barak, we too missed that honor that God wanted to give us; why can’t we just do as directed!]

11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. [This verse is here to introduce Heber, a Kenite. You will read later that God used Jael, the wife of Heber to kill Sisera, the commander of Jabin army. God did not use Deborah to kill the commander; the woman referred to in verse 9 is Jael, the wife of Heber.]

12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River. 14 Then Deborah 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, followed by ten thousand men. 15 At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left. [As earlier indicated by the Lord through Deborah, the Jabin army went to Kishon River, and the battle was won by Barak; but the enemy’s commander fled on foot.]

17 Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my Lord, come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him. 19 "I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. 20 "Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.' " 21 But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. 22 Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple-dead. [Sisera reached the tent of Jael, and the rest, like people say it, is history - Sisera was killed by Jael while he was asleep, with a tent peg driven through his temple. The honor went to Jael, a woman.]

23 On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him. [Israelites continued to win over Jabin until finally they destroyed him.]


Points to note/Questions to ponder:

This entire chapter was devoted to judge Deborah. I suppose Deborah can be considered a major judge; the next chapter, which we will cover in a separate article, was also devoted to Deborah – the Song of Deborah.

Again, here we read of the recalcitrant nature of man. Have you given serious thoughts to what I said for the first few verses of the chapter?

“Once again, when the judge died, the Israelites went back to their evil ways. How similar is this even in our own lives? Often we too, felt conviction and repented of our sins and then we went back again, over and over, to repeat the same mistakes we made. Talking of long-suffering, no one can compare with the Lord. One of the fruits of the Spirit is long-suffering, and if you think about it - that which the Lord wants to see developed in us, is also what He himself is capable of doing most excellently. But at the same time profaning the grace of God is really a bad thing to do. If we keep profaning the grace of God and are then caught off-guard, we are to be blamed, not God.”

Another repeating theme in the Book of Judges, and can be seen here is the concept of God’s giving over of people to the enemies. Can you agree with me that the utmost nature of God is holiness, and that there cannot be any wickedness in God?

“God did not and does not set up a snare for his people; that would be wickedness which will never happen with God. The workings of the fallen world/sins are what caused many of the so-called “bad things” that happened. It is not a question of God acting wickedly but it is a question of whether or not the hands of protection/blessing of the Lord are over certain people/individuals. It is most disastrous to find yourself completely without any protection/blessing from the Lord in this fallen world.”


Again we read the cries of desperation can touch the heart of compassion of God. Can you agree with me on what I said concerning this aspect, and will you remember it for your own good?

“In life, there is one thing that we as Christians can do, no one can stop us – that is to cry out to the Lord. Who can stop you? No one. You can pray in your heart, and if you baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God will help you to pray (in tongue) even when you do not know how to pray or too distressed to think out the words to pray (again it can be done, silently, under breath). If nothing else you can do, you can always appeal to the compassion of God. After that, of course, it is up to Him.”

Judge Deborah was a prophetess. Much of what was seen in the chapter was a record of the fulfillment of prophesies made by Deborah. How do you look at prophesies? Do you embrace wholeheartedly prophesies? Or are you like Barak who moved with hesitation and did not get the honor God originally intended for him? Or is it really as simple as I remarked in the commentary, “Why can’t we just do as directed?”


Anthony Chia - Lord, may I not hesitate like Barak, but just do as you direct.

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