Deborah leads Israel to victory. Hooray to Ladies in the Leadership!! Also when they are in-charge, you better behave well. Or else you will be pegged to the ground!!
God needs men and women for his work. Let’s rise to the occasion as Deborah and Barak.
Deborah said to Barak, “The Lord is indeed going out before you.” As a leader she was a woman of encouragement.
Same vicious cycle of Israelite Failing / Bondage / Cry out / and Redemption by God. In Judges 3 Israelite were in bondage for 8 years and in Judges 4, 20 years. Israelite who knows the Delivering/Redeeming God tends to forget the shame they bring to God when they were in bondage. God loves us so he redeems us from shame. But our Love of God needs to keep us away from things which will bring shame to HIS name.
“For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again” (Proverbs 24:16). But which took Israelite 8 years to realize and call upon God took 20 years on next fall, to realize and call upon God. Seems like his unlimited grace takes them away from God slowly. Realizing and coming out of this cycle of Falling and Redemption, the earlier the better.
I think the reason behind the falling and raising pattern exist in almost everyone . When we feel we have everything , we become comfortable/ complacent tend to stay from God , try to attribute our success/ fall to ourselves – becoming self righteous. When we have nowhere to go, most of us truely seek God and repent.
The cunningness of Jael. She said ‘ Come, MY LORD, come right in.Don’t be afraid’ Gave him even MILK when the fellow just asked for water. Then pegged him. Chilling… May be she is a shadow of me. I also call Jesus as LORD and ….
At the beginning of the chapter we see that the Lord sold the Israelites to the king of Canaan (v2) and the chapter ends with a note that the Israelites hand grew stronger and stronger over the Canaanite king (v24).This transformation is because the Israelites cried to the Lord for help (v3).When we are in trouble, the Lord delivers us when we call upon him and honor us (psalm 91).But let us not forget his mercy and return to our own ways.
Did the people cry to the Lord after 20 years of cruelty? Or did the Lord allow them to suffer and cry for 20 years before he reached down to help? In either case, it seems ridiculous why the Israelites would suffer for so long when they could rout enemies as easily as they were doing with God’s help. Why not go back to the Lord immediately?
Deborah was the strongest woman who had faith in God in the old testaments. God used Deborah to lead the Israelites and deliver them from Jabin the king of Canaan.
-Magdalene Martha was the strongest woman who had faith in Jesus Christ in the new testaments. When Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to Magdalene first and used her to tell the good news to His disciples that He is risen.
-If we are faithful to the Lord, He will be with everyone and use everyone to fulfill His purpose.
Man or woman, weak or strong, wise or foolish, confident or hesitant, bold or fearful, small or big, however a person can be, if God wants to use them, God’s guidance will be with them, and they will be filled with God’s strength and will become a great leader.Here we see Deborah (a woman) became a powerful leader.
Barak was hesitant at first to accept God’s word, but he become a great leader too.
God’s power and his plan to make Israelites delivered from the enemies matters more than the person whom he chooses to use.
Sisera, fell asleep in Jael’s tent thinking that was a safe place from his enemies, but his life ends there. God is the one who will protect us under his wings. (Psalm 91:4)He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield…
Just as Deborah trusted God’s words to her, we, too, can trust the words God speaks to us. Deborah took the time to hear God’s voice and obey. Trusting that God’s words to her were true came easy because she was used to listening to God and obeying Him.Often God is willing to speak, but the busyness and noisiness of life drowns Him out. We should sit quietly and wait on the Lord and ask God to help us to listen to His voice and respond in trust.
Even though Heber had friendship with Jabin, Jael makes a wise decision to kill Sisera. She decides to side the Israelites. Reminds me of Rahab.
If we look at Jael in another angle, she is a நம்பிக்கை துரோகி😳Is that OK?
It was OK there but I don’t think it is OK now. ‘Mass killing’ we can relate to ‘war against terrorism’. Is it OK now? I don’t think so.
Jesus said love your enemies.
Old testament practices shouldn’t be applied directly. Our fight, our war is within ourselves. Our heart is the battleground.We are allowed to do நம்பிக்கை துரோகம் against evil thoughts.
Move It is that time of the year. Thousands move away from cold North to avoid the harsh winters and move to south of the United States/ Europe. It seems a migration pattern. But such a conclusion could be short-sighted . V 11 Heber – a Kenites moves upstate ? big deal right?
Turns out that Hebers wife was Jael who did the smashing.
God is interested in the details
