Jabin king of Canaan.... The commander of his army was
Sisera, ... had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for
twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of
Israel.
... Deborah, a prophetess, ... sent and called for Barak
..., and said to him, "... the LORD God of Israel
commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with
you ten thousand men ... and against you I will deploy
Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots
and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver
him into your hand'?"
And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will
go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!"
So she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless there
will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for
the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." ...
And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his
army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera
alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot ... to the
tent of Jael, the wife of Heber ... And ... she covered him
with a blanket.
... So [Jael] opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and
covered him....
Then Jael, ... took a tent peg and ... a hammer in her
hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his
temple, and it went down into the ground .... So he died.
Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day
... (Judges 4:2-9,15-21, 5:1, NKJV)
Notice first of all that Deborah was a prophetess, a female
prophet. The Lord is no respecter of persons, and considers
males and females equally (1 Samuel 16:7). As a prophet,
Deborah's ministry was to proclaim the messages of wisdom
and instruction she received from the Lord. People would
come from miles around to hear the wisdom of the Lord, and
have Deborah act is a judge in interpersonal disputes. In
the course of her ministry, she received a message for
Barak to lead a small Israelite army against Sisera, the
commander of Jabin's troops.
It was the Lord's intention to not only defeat the armies
of Sisera, but also to exalt Barak to the position of
military commander over the armies of Israel. However,
Barak was only willing to fulfill the Lord's command as
long as Deborah came with him. Barak knew that the Lord
was with Deborah, but he wasn't totally convinced that the
Lord was going to be with him and provide him success in
his battle with the armies of Sisera. He had faith, but he
also had unbelief, and unbelief lead to fear.
Unfortunately, his unbelief, caused him to miss the entire
blessing the Lord had planed. Yes, the Lord enabled him to
defeat the armies of Sisera, but he was not allowed to
personally kill Sisera himself. Instead of Barak getting
the full credit for the defeat of Sisera, an obscure woman
named Jael was honored as the one who actually killed
Sisera. In fact, in the celebratory song of victory after
the conflict, Barak had to share accolades with both
Deborah and Jael, all because of his limited faith mingled
with unbelief.
So what can we learn about faith from Deborah and Barak?
First, unbelief, severely limits faith. It causes us miss
the full benefits the Lord intends for us. Second, unbelief
leads to both fear and doubt. Unbelief causes us to
distrust the Lord, His intentions, and His ability to
deliver us through our trials. Third, the Lord has a
specific ministry chosen for each of us, which He expects
us to fulfill. The Lord expects us to fully commit to the
ministry He has given us, and invest our entire being and
all our efforts, even as Deborah fulfilled her ministry as
a prophets. The Lord expects us to limit ourselves to the
confines our specific ministry; Deborah had no intention of
going beyond the limits of her ministry as a prophet, but
acquiesced for the sake of overcoming Barak's unbelief,
doubts and fears in the conflict with Sisera.
----------------------------------------------------
Jon Straumfjord is the author of numerous articles about
the Seven Spirits of God and the God of the Bible. He is
also the creator of the website http://www.7-spirits.com ,
and is the author of the book "The Seven Spirits of God."
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