Deborah - Turning to a Helper

This is week three of our women's Bible study on the book of Judges, which we call The Time of Turning. Our study of Judges really helps us get a picture of God's unfolding plan of redemption, what he was doing in the moment. But the study of Judges also gives us insights for our life of how we can live in a culture, in a society that has turned from God and turned to idols. I hope that chapter four and five will also inspire us now how to minister to one another in difficult times. This week's lesson is unique in that it's, we're setting the only judge that's a female, Deborah. And Deborah was a woman with a sword in her hand and a song in her heart. A sword in her hand and a song in her heart. The story of Deborah in Judges chapter four and five matches that description that I just gave you because chapter four is a narrative in prose of wartime. And chapter five is a song of praise written in poetry. It covers the same material, but the genre is different. It changes. So we have Deborah's sword in chapter four and her song in chapter five. Now what I'm gonna do this morning, rather than go all the way through chapter four and then all the way through chapter five is I will be intermingling them because we get different things from prose and from poetry. So I am going to sort of intermingle them to give us the full picture. Now on the timeline of where we're at in Judges, we said that from Joshua to Samuel was about 325-ish years. We're about midway already through that time. And we've already had a few cycles of sin that we have observed in the nation of Israel where they turned from the Lord and then what does God do? He brings oppression. First, it was the oppression of the Mesopotamians and then they turned to God, they cried out to God. He raised up Ophniel and then they had 40 years of rest. And then it said the Lord strengthened Egon, the king of Moab against them. And so there was this oppression because the people had turned once again from God, but they returned to him and he raised up Ehud to relieve them and there was 80 years of rest. And then we had the footnote about Shamgar, which I think we will see the person of Shamgar is a little closer to this time than it was to Ehud's time. But this chapter picks up after the years of rest that had followed Ehud. So let's start reading Joshua, judges, chapter four, verse one, and the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. So that cues us, we're starting another cycle. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera who lived in Herosheth Haggaim. Okay, now remember last week, we talked about, we paused for a minute when we saw that the Lord strengthened Egon. And we asked ourselves the question, would God do that? Does God actually strengthen the enemies of Israel? Okay, so remember last week, it said the Lord strengthened Egon against Israel. Look at the stronger language this week. The Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin. So God's getting a little stronger with his people now. And now here comes that moment of grace that we talked about before, okay? We talked about that moment of grace in Israel's life and also the moment of grace in our lives when our idols disappoint us, when our idols don't do for us what we thought they were going to do. And we realize we've made a terrible mistake. And we return to the Lord. Here's the moment of grace. Verse three, then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help. For he, Jabin, had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for 20 years. Last week when we talked about 18 years of oppression, we walked back in our mind of what that would have looked like in our life. So let's do that again. Y2K, everything that has happened to us since Y2K would have been in cruel oppression. We would have labored for someone else's benefit. Only two words, cruel oppression. Let's see if we can get an understanding of what that means, what that looked like for them. It was a time marked by fear. And the song, whenever I say the song, I'm going to be talking about chapter five, okay? The song gives us insight into this. Look at Judges five, verse six and seven. It says, in the days of Shamgar, son of Anoth, in the days of JL, stop before we talk about what the oppression looked like, okay? This time marker. Do you know how songs, we use different words when we sing a song or when we write poetry. We grab random things out and it just works. It just makes sense. Look at this time marker that they put together. The days of Shamgar, the days of JL. Well, that probably tells us that this Judge Shamgar was much closer to this time period. But why those two? Well, I just thought of some interesting similar things that they have in common. First of all, we thought that Shamgar probably wasn't Israelite. His dad has a solid Canaanite name. He has a Canaanite name. JL also is probably not Israelite. So we're marking this with two people that are not Hebrews, but worked for the benefit of God's people. What else did they have in common? I love this. They both had a stick, okay? Shamgar had this ox goad with which he killed the 600 Philistines. And what does JL have if you did your lesson? She has a tent peg. So here we're marking this time with two people that fight for Israel with a stick, okay? Now, what is the oppression like? It says, the highways were abandoned. The travelers kept to the byways. The villagers ceased in Israel. I love how the New King James says, village life ceased. It was a time of fear. It was a time when people were keeping to themselves. It was a time when people weren't sure who they should make eye contact with and who they shouldn't make eye contact. It was a time when they were staying home. Now, up until this year, we probably would not have understood what this feels like, but now we do. Maybe for different reasons, but the circle of trust had narrowed in Israel. Now, keep going in verse eight. It says, and we learn about the weapons. Okay, first, last week when we talked about Shamgar and we suspected that the weapons were taken away by the Philistines. Well, this confirms it. Look at in the song, verse eight. When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among 40,000 in Israel? So this cruel oppression was a time when they didn't even have enough weapons to fight for themselves. And then the chariots, the 900 chariots. Can you recall when we started this Bible study in chapter one and it said, Judah could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had iron chariots. For Israel, those chariots represented something that was bigger than God, too hard for God to handle. And now we have iron chariots times 900. We can relate to that because we bump up to things in our life that all of a sudden, we bump up to iron chariots and all of a sudden we say, that seems like God can't handle that one. I better do something about this because it's too big. It's too hard. It represents something more powerful. All right, now let's see what God's going to do about this situation. Cruel oppression, iron chariots, few weapons. Verse four. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth was judging Israel at that time. Just when I told you in the introduction, the judges weren't judges, then we have a judge. She seemed to be administering justice in some way. Now the name Deborah means bee. I'm scanning the room to see if we have any Deborahs. I have plenty of people in my life with that name. The name Deborah is bee and just like a honeybee, she was both able to make sweet and able to sting at the same time. I love just little details. So I looked up to see what the name Deborah has been like in our culture. So from 1950 to 1962, this remained among the top 10 baby names and it peaked in 1955 as number two. So it's probably ready for a revival, I'd say in about 15 years, you know how those things go. Cause right. Now we have lots of Eleanors and Emmas and all that. So I'm ready for the Deborahs. And the day I meet a baby Susie, I'm just gonna go, I am an old woman. But she, the Bible tells us she was a prophetess. Not, this is a very small club in the Bible. Not very many women were named by name and said they were a prophetess. We have Miriam, the sister of Aaron and Moses. And then we have a fashionista named Hulda, who was the keeper of the wardrobe in Josiah's day. And it says she was a prophetess. And then we go all the way to the New Testament with when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the temple to present him to the Lord. There was Anna, says she was a prophetess. These are the only four women who were named by name. We have others like Philip's daughters, but so this is a small group. And we don't know exactly what it looked like, but the word tells us she was a prophetess. She was a mother in Israel, as we learn in the song. Never underestimate the potential of a mom, I say. But right here in this verse, it says she was the wife of Lapidoth. And it bears mentioning that just because a woman has a special calling, that doesn't mean it overshadows the roles of husband and wife in their marriage, okay? This is God's created order. God created the husband in marriage to express the glory of Christ, and he created the wife to express the glory of the church. Now, way back in creation in Genesis chapter two, we find that man was created first. And then what did the Lord say? I will make a helper suitable for him. And the woman was created to be a helper suitable for him. That doesn't mean she was made to be a servant suitable to him or a slave suitable to him. A helper. It is the Hebrew word ezer, which also happens to describe in scripture the role of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. So it is not a derogative term in any means. It holds a high honor. It means one that is going to help. So in this moment of grace, God himself is turning to a helper. That is the title in our study guide. And he's turning to an ezer. Israel is turning and depending upon a helper. Barak is turning to a helper. Helpers are very, very important people in this world. They help people to lean upon one another. The scriptures say two are better than one. Mr. Rogers quoted his mother as saying, in times of difficulty, look for the helpers. That's a good reminder. We should remember that. But let's keep going now and find out how she is a helper. Verse five. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kadesh Naphtali. And you have a map in your study guide and you can refer to it often, but it shows us that there was quite a little distance between the two of them. They were about half a country apart. And she said to him, has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you? I kind of feel like what she's saying is the Lord is saying to you. This is where she is a prophetess. She is declaring what the Lord says. So hasn't God commanded you? Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 of the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun, that they were close to him, and I will draw it to Sarah, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishan with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand. So here's the plan, she says to him. She goes, you get 10,000 guys. You go up to Mount Tabor. I will draw the bad guy. He'll follow me. We'll meet at the river, which is just south, and I regret not drawing it on this map. We had to draw this map. You know, copyright is just a real pain. But I forgot to draw this river, but it is south of Tabor. So I'll bring out the bad guy, and I'll just introduce you guys, and it's all gonna work out great. And of course, who would like a plan like that? That did not sit well with him at all. And so in verse eight, Beric says to her, you know what, if you go with me, I'll go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Cicera into the hand of a woman. And then Deborah rose and went with Beric to Kadesh. I don't know what tone Deborah used. To me, she seems a little exasperated with him, but helpers can be that way, can't we? But she agreed. She's like, okay, that's fine. I will come with you. But she prophetically said here, you need to know you're not getting the glory for this. And I do not believe she was talking about herself getting the glory. I think she was prophesying that a woman, meaning J.L., would get the glory for this victory. Now, in some ways, Deborah sort of did get the glory, because as we read through the 12 Judges of Israel, do we read the name Beric? No, we read Deborah. So in some ways, she did become the prominent one there. But Beric would only prepare for battle if Deborah went with him. So he's nothing like Othniel, who was just ready to go. He's nothing like Ahud, who turned back and did everything himself. So it makes me think Beric was not ready for this moment of grace like Deborah was. Why was he not ready? Well, scripture doesn't tell us, but it makes me wonder. And sometimes I like to wonder out loud. So these are the things I wonder about. I wonder if he was personally just a timid person. Or I wonder if his timidity was a characterization of men in his day. We've had about 100 years of rest with no war. We've had about probably that same amount of time of culturally turning away from God and turning to idols. And I wonder if one of the tolls that happens in a culture that has turned from God and turned to idols is if people lose touch with the glory of man and the glory of women. And I wonder if they become confused about the genders. I wonder about those things. C.S. Lewis, in his book, The Abolition of Men, described men without chests. That's pretty much how I would describe Beric. And it may have been representative of his day. But anyway, verse 10. Beric called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kadesh, and 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. And the next verse is a little parentheses, but it's very important. Now, and we are introduced to new characters. Now Heber, the Kenite, had separated from his other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses. So probably Midianite here. And he had pitched his tent as far away as the oak at Zamanim, which is near Kadesh. All right, so we got a lone wolf Midianite who's got a tent in an area. We need to know that. If this was a movie, visually, we would have seen what was going on. But we need to kind of paint this picture for us. Now back to verse 12. When Cicero was told that Beric, the son of Abinuim, had gone up to Mount Tabor, and I wanna stop right there because I wanna talk about this mountain. In Hebrew, we would pronounce it Mount Tavo, but we pronounce it English. And so it's on your map. This is also the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus took Peter, James, and John in the Gospels. It is not a mountain like Rocky Mountain National Park, okay, this is a big rounded hill. It is prominent in its own region because from the top of this, you can see the entire plain all the way around. Names are rarely wasted in the Bible. And so what does Mount Tavo, what does that mean? The name means the light is good. That's what it means. There is no site where there is no light. And on top of this mountain, the light is good. The perspective is good. And we're going to see in here that God knew before even Deborah and Barak knew what perspective they were gonna get from that mountain, okay? All right, now let's keep going. Verse 13. Sassara called out all of his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him from Herosheth, Hagoim, to the river Kishon. By the way, the river Kishon is barely a creek. It is not a boundary river. It's at sometimes it probably could almost completely dry up. It is just a creek. And Deborah said to Barak, up, for this is the day in which the Lord has given Sassara into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you? And I wonder in those words what her perspective was that she said that. We'll find out. So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. And the Lord routed Sassara and all of his chariots and all of his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sassara got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, which is very curious because like if I'm driving my car and running away from a bad guy, am I gonna ditch my car and run on foot? That doesn't make sense. The chariot is faster than foot. So we have to wonder why he did that. We'll find out. And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Herosheth, Hagoim, and all the army of Sassara fell by the edge of the sword. Not a man was left. A helper, Deborah, gave the commander, Barak, the inspiration that he needed for this success. He could not have done this without a helper. But this brings us to a logical question that we have. If it was that easy, why did you take 20 years to do this? Like that sounded like it just went right along. Why didn't you do this a long time ago? Why did you let the cruel oppression last this long? Well, we get a little insight from the song. Let's go to the song and look at verses four and five. Listen to what they sing. Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, those places are to the south of Israel, south of Mount Tabor, okay? The earth trembled and the heavens dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, even Sinai before the Lord God of Israel. And so we see that in this day, the Lord sent a storm. The Lord sent, keep on reading, look at there. The next slide is Judges 5.21. The torrent Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent Kishon. The little creek that dries up Kishon swept away all this army. That was quite a storm. How well do you think iron chariots do in muddy ground? They get stuck. They're not accustomed to having to do war this way. Jabin's war machine was hindered. Why? Because God ordained it. God ordained it and he wanted Deborah and Barak to see that perspective from the mountain where the light is good. As they were looking to the south, can you imagine they're looking and they see those storm clouds and they're like, this is gonna be good. And Deborah says, now's the time, go down and finish the deed. But make no mistake, the battle was won by the Lord. And think about a thunderstorm. Think about a rainstorm. Did we mention last week that Baal was the god of rain that the Canaanites counted upon to give them the agricultural success that they needed, even sacrificed their children to the god of Baal. So I see kind of a throwback to what God did when he took the children out of Israel, how he would pinpoint the gods and just make them look stupid. So here was this army defeated by the God of Israel who seized the power of the clouds and did battle for them. That'll preach, huh? So look at verse 17. But Sasera fled away on foot 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. So this lone wolf had made peace with Jabin. They were on friendly terms, they were allies. And Jael came out to meet Sasera and said to him, "'Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me, do not be afraid.' So he turned aside to her into the tent and she covered him with the rug. And he said to her, "'Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.'" He'd been running that whole way, right? Of course he was parched. So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. And he said to her, "'Stand at the opening of the tent "'and if any man comes and asks you, "'is anyone here, say no.' But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand. And then she went softly to him and drove the tent peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. And so he died." Now, a description of a violent murder like this is troubling for some people, I understand that. I personally don't, I'm not troubled by wartime violence, but let's talk this through just a little bit. Jael was probably not Israelite. She was probably Midianite. They had an alliance with the enemy who is now being defeated. If she was aware of anything going on, it would make sense to quickly switch sides without letting them know that you're switching sides, right? So we don't know what her motivation is right here. Is her motivation to switch sides and suddenly act for the glory of Israel? Or was her motivation something a little bit more personal? Now, it says that he asked for water. He needed to be refreshed, but she was not about to have a guy in her tent that was refreshed. What did she give him? She gave him milk. What does that do? Milk has amino acid tropophene. It puts to sleep. It's why we drink warm milk before, I don't. I would never drink warm milk, but I've heard it said. And so I wonder, see, these are the things I wonder about. Was she buying herself some time? I need this guy to sleep this off a little bit to think through what I'm going to do. And was she wondering about what may happen to her when he woke up? Because here she is in the tent with this commander. Was this self-defense or was this murder? Was she at the moment saying, self-defense here? It's either, you're either going to wake up and rape me and maybe kill me, or I'm going to kill you first. You know what? We don't know. But these are the things that I wonder about. Look at verse 22. And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, come, I will show you the man whom you are seeking. So she went into her tent and there lay Sisera dead with the tent peg in his temple. So regardless of her motives, she gets credit for this victory. It's like a basketball game, right? The score, last five minutes, the score is close. You're just one-to-one. There's five seconds left. Somebody on your team just swishes a three-pointer. You know the game is won and everybody's excited. And that guy gets the glory for the game. It's a little unfair because what about this guy that made 25 points? Like without him, the game wouldn't have been won. But that's our human nature. We look to the final score and that's where the glory goes. That's what happened with Jael. And that's what Deborah prophesied. The glory will go to a woman because Jael got the final score in this victory. And we read about it. Let's go back to our song, verse 24. Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite of tent-dwelling women. Most blessed, he asked for water and she gave him milk. She brought him curds in a noble's bowl. She sent her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workman's mallet. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. And so in the song of praise, there is the glory going to her. And so we're just gonna go back and finish up chapter four, verse 23. On that day, God subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the people of Israel. And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin, the king of Canaan until they destroyed Jabin, king of Canaan, all because of a helper. In life, things aren't always as they appear. I like to think about Mount Tabor, Mount Tavo, giving perspective to Deborah and Barak, a place where the light is good. We often need a good perspective in life to get to a higher place, to get somewhere where we can see maybe what God is doing. Even though Jabin was the king, the commander, Sisera, was the real threat. And even though Barak was the commander, Deborah was the real leader and inspiration. And even though it was Heber's tent, it was J.L. that got it. got the glory and got the final score. Things aren't always as they seem. And that's why we need perspective. Now, I just wanna end talking about Deborah. It's a women's Bible study, and so when we find a woman that inspires us, we should dig just a little bit deeper. It's not that Deborah was such a great gal. I'm sure she was. But the glory of Deborah was not in her ability. The glory of Deborah was in her availability to the Lord. And every one of us can be available even if we don't feel like we are able. And so we can be inspired by that. As females, we have an innate potential to be a helper, to be that one that nurtures, that equips, that brings inspiration, that brings perspective. Now, men can be helpers, too, make no mistake, and women can be efficient leaders, too, as this narrative has taught us. But our strength lies in our availability to hear from God and to be used by God and to obey God. And so just today, we should just pause and say, Lord, I want to be available to you. Help me hear your voice. Help me hear what you are doing. Now, what can we learn from the relationship between Barak and Deborah? I think I mentioned in the study guide, if they were a married couple, we would see a great sense of cooperation with them, which is awesome. But as it relates to the body of Christ, this same sort of cooperation is something that we want to seek out. We want this, we want to learn the art of leaning upon each other's strengths and abilities. There would have been no success without Deborah and her prophetic inspiration. There also would have been no success without Barak and his army. They needed to lean upon each other and bring to the table uniquely what they had to bring. Even the song expresses their teamwork. The first verse in the song part says, then Deborah, or then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinuam on that day, that the leaders took the lead in Israel and the people offered themselves willingly. Bless the Lord. All right, two final questions. What's going on in your life right now? Do you feel a little timid? Do you feel a little overwhelmed? Do you feel a little maybe fearful like Barak did? Could you use a helper right about now? I used to say to my husband, I need a wife. Have you ever said that? It's like, you have one, I need one. I see you do too. It's not a failure in life if we feel a little bit like Barak. What we need is a helper. We need a little inspiration. This is what the body of Christ is for. This is why I love Friday mornings because we can do some of this for one another. Sometimes in my life, I need somebody to take me to Mount Tavo, like take me where the light is good because I feel like I'm in a hole and I have zero perspective. And I get that. Somehow, some way, listening to somebody or a friend or a family member takes me to where the light is good. We need that. Seek it out. Last question. Are you aware that you are specially equipped to be a helper? And are you making yourself available to God to be the one who inspires and who supports? Who is in your life right now that God may be speaking to you even at this moment? Go support that person. That's what God told Deborah. There's this guy, Barak, he needs you. And if we don't never ask, I wonder if God, I wonder if we don't hear. So ask the Lord today, who needs me to take them to Mount Tavo for the perspective to see that God wins this whole deal? Right? So the story of Deborah and Barak turning to a helper. Lord, thank you for the lessons we learned, so practical this time. And I pray you would help us to apply these to our lives. Lord, help us to be the helper that you desire us to be in whatever area you call upon us. And Lord, help us to lead when you call us to lead. Help us to see your perspective, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.