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JUDGES

CHAPTER 4

1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. 2 And 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. 3 And 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. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And 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.

Israel strayed from God again after Ehud's death. And of course God gave them another "proving" period (trial) to bring them back to Him.
They were put under the rule of Jabin whose headquarters was in the city of Hazor. That city is just above the Sea of Galilee. It was very important because it was in the center of the trade route for merchants. This was in the area of the tribe of Naphtali.
This Jabin was evidently different from the one Joshua had killed years earlier. They had been utterly conquered, but in Israel's slothfulness it was easy for them to come back to power.
For twenty years Jabin and his head of the army (Sisera) "oppressed" the Israelites.
Then Israel began to pray and ask God for help!

4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And 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. 6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, 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? 7 And 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. 8 And 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.

Deborah was a prophetess who received word from God and relayed it to the people. Therefore she was looked upon also as a "judge." It is said that she was the "wife of Lapidoth" (verse 4). The word "Lapidoth" itself means "lamp" or "light." Perhaps the intention is that Deborah is a woman of illumination.
Because of a word from God, Deborah sent a message to Barak. The message (verse 6) seems to imply that he already had a word from God to do something about the situation, but he didn't know exactly what.
The word God sent to Barak from Deborah told him exactly what to do: gather 10,000 fighting men from Naphtali's tribe and Zebulun's tribe. Then God would "draw" him to the river Kishon, and God would also draw Sisera there (verse 7). Deborah also assured Barak that God would bring victory.
Barak assured Deborah he would go IF she would accompany him. It seems that he wanted to have the council (illumination) of God immediately available. he would certainly NOT go if she didn't accompany him, because then the word of prophecy wouldn't have been assured by the presence of the prophetess.
((A little boy was praying once on Sunday evening before bedtime. His prayer perhaps reflects the fault of Barak here. The little boy said, "Dear Lord, we sure had a good time at church today....but....I wish YOU had been there!"))

9 And 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. 10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now 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. 12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 13 And 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. 14 And 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. 15 And 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. 16 But 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.

Deborah sent word to Barak that she would go. A word from God for someone ELSE to go is also a word from God for ME to go!
And the glory of the victory will be for God in HIS way, not necessarily the way WE want it.
The victory for this particular battle will be attributed to a woman and not to barak as commander of the army.
We, as Christians, should remember that it matters not who gets the fame as long as GOD gets the GLORY! If we do our work in such a way as to not try and gain credit, then we'll do a lot of things we wouldn't ordinarily do.
Once a writer was visiting India and saw a woman missionary who was washing lepers. He was amazed that she would do such a thing. He said, "I wouldn't do that for a million dollars." And she answered him quickly, "Neither would I. But I will GLADLY do it for Jesus - FREE!!"
What's your perception of your work for God? Well, throw it out the window!! Then look for HIS perception of your service to Him!
Barak go the men he needed and started in the right direction (verse 10), Deborah with him. There was a man (Heber), a descendent of Jethro (Moses' father-in-law)(verse 11), who saw Barak and Deborah en route, and told Sisera (verse 12).
Sisera got his army together and headed to meet them (verse 13).
God used Heber's evil to "draw" Sisera to the battle.
Deborah gave a word of encouragement letting Barak know that the time for attack was NOW (verse 14). Barak took the 10,00 men with him and attacked Sisera and beat him soundly, killing all his army (verses 14-15).

17 Howbeit 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. 18 And 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. 19 And 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. 20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. 21 Then 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. 22 And, 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. 23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Sisera escaped and went back to the Kenite traitor's (Heber's) tent. Evidently Heber's wife (Jael) didn't have the same opinion as her husband. She was very sly and invited Sisera in for refreshments (verses 18-19). Then, Sisera was tire, and decided to take a nap. And Heber's wife nailed his head to the ground with a tent peg! (verse 20).
Then Barak came along, and Jael showed him the dead king (verse 22). And the prophecy of Deborah came true (see verse 9).
God's Word ALWAYS comes true.
This enabled Israel to defeat King Jabin and receive "rest."

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