Day 71: Judges 4-6

(The previous post covered how Israel did not drive out the Canaanites after Joshua died. Israel went into bondage for eight years and Othniel delivered Israel into forty years of freedom. Next, Israel went into bondage for eighteen years and Ehud delivered Israel into eighty years of freedom. Finally, Shamgar was briefly introduced and described in the final verse.)

Judges 4

(This chapter covered the fourth Judge - Deborah.)

¹And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.

(Ehud (Judge) died and Israel did evil, again.)

²And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

(God acted in response to the injustice of the Israelites.)

³And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
⁴And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

(This third captivity was for twenty years, two years more than the second captivity. Deborah the prophetess was the Judge.)

⁵And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
⁶And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, 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 Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
⁷And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.

(Deborah asked Barak if God had commanded him to take men with him toward mount Tabor. In Hebrews 11:32, Barak was identified as an example of faith.)

⁸And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.

(Barak would go if Deborah would go too. Was Barak putting the responsibility of this decision on Deborah?)

⁹And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

(Deborah agreed but she warned Barak that he would not get the honor but a woman would. It was Just that Barak wouldn't receive the honor if he refused the responsibility. Barak put his faith in Deborah.)

¹⁰And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
¹¹Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
¹²And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
¹³And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.

(Sisera, the General of the Canaanite Army, prepared for battle.)

¹⁴And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
¹⁵And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
¹⁶But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
¹⁷Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

(Sisera fled to Jael's tent.)

¹⁸And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.

(Jael told Sisera to come in her tent. He did and she covered him with a mantle, which was a thick rug.)

¹⁹And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

(Sisera asked for water. Jael gave him milk.)

²⁰Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
²¹Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an 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.

(Jael took a tent nail and hammered it into his temples so that it was fastened to the ground. A woman would get the honor, just as Deborah stated in verse 9.)

²²And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
²³So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
²⁴And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.




Judges 5

(This chapter covered the song of Deborah and Barak.)

(Verses 1-2: the theme of the song - the joy and blessing of being a willing vessel for the Lord.)

¹ Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
² For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless ye Jehovah.

(Verses 3-5: remembering God's preservation of Israel.)

³ Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah; I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel.
⁴ Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir, When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, Yea, the clouds dropped water.
⁵ The mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

(Verses 6-8: a description of life under Canaanite oppression.)

⁶ In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, And the travellers walked through byways.

(Shamgar, from Judges 3:31, was referenced again.)

⁷ The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel.
⁸ They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?

(Verse 9: Refrain - Bless the Lord for the leaders and the willing vessels among Israel.)

⁹ My heart is toward the governors of Israel, That offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless ye Jehovah.

(Verses 10-12: a charge to recall the great victory.)

¹⁰ Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses, Ye that sit on rich carpets, And ye that walk by the way.
¹¹ Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah, Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.

(They rehearsed God's Righteousness. This would build faith.)

¹² Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.

(Verses 13-18: the tribes that helped and the tribes that didn't help.)

¹³ Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people; Jehovah came down for me against the mighty.
¹⁴ Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek; After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff.

(Amalek was from Esau.)

¹⁵ And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben There were great resolves of heart.
¹⁶ Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds, To hear the pipings for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.
¹⁷ Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: And Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, And abode by his creeks.
¹⁸ Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.

(Not all the Israeli armies came together at their great battle.)

(Verses 19-23: the description of the battle and a curse that followed.)

¹⁹ The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money.

(Megiddo was the site of the future battle of Armageddon where all of the armies will be brought together.)

²⁰ From heaven fought the stars, From their courses they fought against Sisera.
²¹ The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength.
²² Then did the horsehoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.
²³ Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah. Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, Because they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah against the mighty.

(Verses 24-27: praise for Jael.)

²⁴ Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

(Jael received the honor, not Barak, as Deborah said in Judges 4:9.)

²⁵ He asked water, and she gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
²⁶ She put her hand to the tent-pin, And her right hand to the workmen's hammer; And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head; Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.
²⁷ At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

(Notice, two women were the heroines of this story: Deborah and Jael.)

(Verses 28-30: thoughts for Sisera's survivors.)

²⁸ Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
²⁹ Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself,
³⁰ Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A damsel, two damsels to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?

(Verse 31: final praise to God.)

³¹ So let all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah: But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

(The land rested for forty years.)




Judges 6

(This chapter covered Gideon's call to service.)

¹ And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

(Israel did evil again and God gave them into the hand of the Midians for seven years. This was less than the twenty years of captivity. However, this was after forty years of freedom which was less than the eighty years of freedom that preceded it. It was almost like God reset the "Justice cycle" to a lower number of years.)

² And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
³ And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;
⁴ and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
⁵ For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it.

(The Midianites and Amalekites would steal what Israel would sow: sheep, ox, ass, crops, etc. Remember, God had said to Moses that He wanted the Amalekites permanently destroyed in Exodus 17:14. Now we see the Amalekites continued to make life difficult for the Israelites.)

⁶ And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah.

(Things got bad, so Israel cried to God.)

⁷ And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah because of Midian,
⁸ that Jehovah sent a prophet unto the children of Israel: and he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

(God sent Israel a prophet. What was this prophet’s name?)

⁹ and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land;
¹⁰ and I said unto you, I am Jehovah your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice.

(The Israelites were not obeying God. It seemed that before Israel could be delivered by a Judge they first had to be prepared from the words of this prophet. The message this prophet delivered ensured that the Israelites were not being enabled. God wasn't going to merely deliver the Israelites from their oppressors without first making the Israelites aware of why they were being oppressed.)

¹¹ And the angel of Jehovah came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

(An angel appeared to Gideon. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress. This would have been extremely difficult since a winepress would not allow much air flow and wind was what was used for threshing wheat. He was hiding so the Midianites would not steal his wheat. In Hebrews 11:32, Gideon was identified as an example of faith.)

¹² And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.

(The angel called Gideon a mighty man of valor. Did the angel see something in Gideon that Gideon was not aware of? Do you think Gideon felt like a man of valor as he was hiding in the winepress?)

¹³ And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? but now Jehovah hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.

(No record was given that Gideon was surprised by this visit from an angel of the Lord. Gideon asked why God had forsaken the Israelites. God already answered this through His prophet: vs. 8-10.)

¹⁴ And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?
¹⁵ And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

(Gideon was told that he would save Israel. Gideon did not understand this since his family was poor and he was the youngest and weakest in his family.)

¹⁶ And Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
¹⁷ And he said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, then show me a sign that it is thou that talkest with me.

(God said He would be with Gideon but Gideon wanted a sign that this was God talking to him. This was an example of a fleece.)

¹⁸ Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and lay it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
¹⁹ And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
²⁰ And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
²¹ Then the angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight.
²² And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face.

(After the angel of the Lord consumed Gideon’s offering, Gideon knew it was God talking to him. His fleece was answered.)

²³ And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

(Jehovah-shalom meant "God is peace.")

²⁵ And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto him, Take thy father's bullock, even the second bullock seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by it;

(Baal was the Canaanite god. Asherah was the same as Ashtaroth and Ashtoreth: the Canaanite fertility goddess.)

²⁶ and build an altar unto Jehovah thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which thou shalt cut down.

(Gideon would have to replace the pagan altars with an altar to the Lord.)

²⁷ Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Jehovah had spoken unto him: and it came to pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

(Gideon was afraid so he went by night. However, he did it without needing a sign from God.)

²⁸ And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
²⁹ And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
³⁰ Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the Asherah that was by it.
³¹ And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye contend for Baal? Or will ye save him? he that will contend for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one hath broken down his altar.

(Joash, Gideon's dad, asked the men if they needed to defend Baal. He said that if Baal was a god, let him defend himself.)

³² Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he hath broken down his altar.

(Gideon was called Jerubbaal. Jerubbaal meant "let Baal contend." This would have been a title of honor given to Gideon, especially since it was from his father. This name essentially meant that Gideon would be remembered as a man that Baal would constantly have to strive against.)

³³ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
³⁴ But the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.

(The Spirit was upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet.)

³⁵ And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
³⁶ And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast spoken,
³⁷ behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast spoken.
³⁸ And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

(This was where we got the term "putting out a fleece"...or fleece. Gideon asked for a sign from God to determine an action Gideon was going to take. The point of a fleece is to determine God's Will for a situation.)

³⁹ And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: let me make trial, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
⁴⁰ And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

(Gideon asked for a second fleece that was the opposite of the first. God answered it. Gideon knew this was God. These set of signs (fleeces) were so he was sure God wanted to save Israel through him. Gideon literally put out two fleeces and God answered his requests. Gideon was an example to us of a person with great faith. He was listed in Hebrews 11:32 in what has been referred to as the "Faith Hall of Fame."

Stating your will and then asking God for a confirmatory sign is not proof of little faith, it is proof of great faith. Asking for signs without stating your will is proof of being faithless according to Jesus: Matthew 12:39 and Matthew 16:4. The issue gets down to the how/why of asking for a sign. Is it to build my faith or is it to test/try God?)

(This post covered two more Judges: Deborah and Gideon.)

Day 72