Application - Judges 8

Journeying through Judges

Please read Judges Chapter 8

Discussion Questions

1.       Gideon had to deal with the complaints of the Ephraimites in 8:1-3?  What was the issue and how did Gideon manage it?

2.       Gideon had some problems with the people of Succoth and Peniel.  What happened and how did Gideon respond to it?  Was he right or wrong in how he handled the situation?

 

3.       What did Gideon do right and what did he do wrong in 8:22-27?  Explain.

 

One Step Further

 

1.       In 8:4 it tells us that Gideon and his 300 men were exhausted and yet kept up their pursuit.  What keeps us going in times of difficulty when we are weary and tired?

 

2.       We see jealousy and envy coming out to play in this chapter.  How have you seen jealousy and envy play out in your own life or experiences you have had with others?  What damage can be done?  What does 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 say about this issue?

 

3.       In 8:27 it talks of the “Ephod” that Gideon had made being a snare to himself and to his family as well as the Israelites.  Are there things in our lives that get in the way of us walking faithfully with God and finishing well? 

Journey through Judges 8

Judges 8

In this chapter we see that Gideon’s challenges are not over.  He has just been in battle with the Midanites and received the heads of the Midanite leaders.  God had secured a victory for Gideon with his 300 men.  However, one tribe, Ephraim, is not happy.  In fact it is noted that Gideon was criticized sharply by the Ephraimites.  Isn’t that just the way in our lives too.  We experience victory in something and there is always someone around to put a discouraging word on it.

So why were the Ephraimites unhappy with Gideon?  If we look back at chapter 5:14 we see that this tribe was involved in the battle with Deborah and Barak against King Jabin.  However, God and Gideon did not involve them from the outset in the battle against the Midianites and they were insulted and critical of Gideon.   They were known as a proud tribe and so not being asked to go to battle at the beginning would not be good for their ego.  However, I wonder if they would have been thorn in Gideon’s flesh when God told Gideon he only wanted 300 men to go into battle.

How do we feel sometimes when we are overlooked for something we think we deserve?  Discouraged, mad, angry, seek revenge maybe.

So how did Gideon deal with Ephraim?  He practiced Proverbs 15:1  A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.").  It is tempting to justify ourselves when somebody is on the attack but it is actually better to put out the fire rather than add to it.  Gideon responded to them in the right way and it is noted that their resentment subsided.  He compared what he had achieved to what they had.  However,  Gideon in v3 does acknowledge that God was the one that had won the battle by giving the Midanites leaders into their hands.

So the battle is not yet over and Gideon and his 300 men are still in hot pursuit.  He came upon the men of Succoth and asked for food for his men as they were exhausted and hungry.  He wasn’t asking the men of Succoth to join the battle only to help them with supplies.  However, they were not obliging because the battle had not yet been won.  It can be discouraging as we go through life that the people we thought would be there to help us when we needed it are of no help at all.  They are happy to stand on the sidelines and watch.

Despite this setback Gideon kept on going although he promised there would be punishment for the people of Succoth and Penuel.  In 8:12 we see Gideon pursuing the two Kings of Midian, capturing them and defeating their entire army.  Also in 8:11 the army was not expecting them so there was an element of surprise.   Gideon had had to face a larger group when he first went against the Midianites so this must have given him boldness to go after a smaller group even although they were tired and hungry and there were still only 300 of them.  Gideon was on a mission to fight the battle until it was won.  Often the most difficult part of a battle is the halfway stage as you are neither at the beginning or at the end.  This is when you often decide to either keep battling on or turn back and give up.

Gideon had promised punishment to the people of Succoth and Penuel as they had rebelled against God and Gideon kept his promise.  He took the elders or leaders of the town and whipped them with briars and thorns.  This was a lesson  they would never forget.

The tower at Peniel was import to the people and put their town on the map.  Taking the tower down would nullify that importance.

Gideon also asked the two Kings who they had killed at Tabor.  Gideon found out that they had killed his brothers.  Punishment was coming to them and they knew it.  Gideon asked his son to do it but he was too afraid.  However, Gideon wasn’t and killed them right there and then.  The enemy had now been dealt with.

In v22ff Gideon makes a right choice and wrong choice that would have consequences for the Israelites.  The Israelites had this great inability to be able to do what is right without a Godly leader.  The Israelites ask Gideon to be their ruler.  However, Gideon rightly says that the Lord is the one that will rule over them.  However, we note in the remaining verses that although he said that he would not rule over them as a King he sure acted like one.  We can often say the right things but our actions tell the complete story.

In v24 we see Gideon requesting a gold earring from the spoils of the war.  This amounted to about 50 pounds of gold.  This was a lot of wealth for Gideon as he also acquired ornaments, pendants and the purple garments worn by the Kings of Midian as well as all the attire that the camels wore too. (See 8:26).

With all the plunder that Gideon acquired he made a golden Ephod.  This was a garment usually worn by a High Priest.  Gideon was on dangerous ground here and was leading the Israelites straight back into idolatry.  Why Gideon made an Ephod out of the gold is speculative, maybe he wanted to take on the role of High Priest, whatever the reason the result of him doing that was not good for Israel and was a snare to himself and to his family. 

Remember where we first see Gideon in a winepress threshing wheat, low self esteem, in a state of unbelief and unsure of doing what God was calling him to.  Look at him now.  A very rich man and looked up to by the nation of Israel.  However, his reliance was more on his wealth than doing the right thing and obeying God.

The story of Gideon does not end on a good note for him or the people of Israel.  The people did enjoy peace for 40 years but Gideon was not setting an example of God being number one in his life and disobedience prevailed.  Gideon had many wives and one concubine.  From this harem he had 70 sons.  All of us know the consequences of a man having more than one wife.  Just look at other people in the OT who had multiple wives.  They are not stories of families who enjoyed peace and a happy ever after ending.

When Gideon died the people of Israel turned on God and worshipped the Baal’s.  They worshipped Baal- Berith which means the “Baal of the Covenant”.  They chose Baal to be their covenant God.  Gideon had great moments with God and encouraged the Israelites in his lifetime but he ended his life in a place of compromise which reflected the choices that the Israelites made.  Our lives are not lived in isolation but impact those around us.  Are we encouraging those that we do life together with in the ways of the Lord or are we reflecting a life of compromise.    Read Revelation 3:15-17.

Application - Judges 7

Please read Judges Chapter 7

Discussion Questions

1.       When you read Judges 7 what changes do you see in Gideon?

 

2.       How did God test Gideon’s faith in this chapter? 

 

3.       What are some of the reasons God reduced Gideon’s “Army” ?

 

4.       In what ways was God gracious to Gideon in this chapter knowing that he still battled with fear?  What does that tell you about God?

 

One Step Further

 

1.       What, if anything, have you learned from Gideon in the area of faith in this chapter?

  

2.       How would you define faith in your own words?

  

3.       How can you go from being FEARful to being FAITHful in your personal life?  Give practical answers.

Journeying Through Judges 7

Judges 7

So we begin this chapter with a test of Gideon’s faith.  Gideon had gathered 32,000 men to fight against the Midianites but the Lord had other ideas.  The Lord said there were too many men.  I wonder how Gideon felt at this point? He knew how many Midianites he was going to have to face and there were a lot more than 32,000.  So one way to get rid of a bunch of men is to ask who is fearful.  If you are, go home.  Notice how many men up and went home….22,000.  This left Gideon with 10,000.  The odds were not good at this point.  However, imagine going into a battle and two thirds of your men are going into it with fear.  What does that do to the moral of the group?  It doesn’t help at all.  It can instill fear in those who were not originally fearful.

However, 10,000 men were still too many and God wanted to whittle it down further.  Why did God want to do that?   Look at v2.  God didn’t want the Israelites to boast that they had conquered the Midianites in their own strength and giftedness.  God wanted the odds to be so bad in the Israelites favour that everyone would know that it was God victory and not a man victory.  Read Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”.

So God tells Gideon to take his men down to the water.    How does he separate them v5-7?  It is an interesting way of separating out the men who would fight and those who would go home.  There are different theories as to why God did it this way.  Some writers say that those who cupped the water were better soldiers because they were still alert and had their eyes on their surroundings.  Whatever the reason God wanted the number of soldiers down to 300.

What has God put in our lives that makes us rely on Him more than our own resources and abilities.  The Apostle Paul had a weakness, a thorn in the flesh, that he asked God to take away and God said no.  Remember what Paul was like before he was saved.  He was a man on a mission and yet when God got hold of his life it completely turned around.  It was Paul and God on a mission together.  What does Paul say in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10?   Paul says he delights in his weaknesses.  Is that something we claim today?  Do we delight in our weaknesses so that Christ might be better known?  It is something for us to think about.

Okay back to our story in Judges.  Notice that God affirms Gideon again.  He says in 7:7 that with the 300 men the Midianites will be given into Gideon’s hands.  There will be victory even with 300 men.  He also tells Gideon during the night to go down to the camp where the Midanites are.  God was going to encourage him before he went into battle.  Notice that God says in v10…if you are afraid to attack go with your servant, Purah.  God knew Gideon, He is a personal God and knew what Gideon needed.  Gideon goes down to the camp and hears about a dream that one man heard and his friends’ interpretation of it.  God was just confirming to Gideon over and over that this battle was going to be a win and that he didn’t have to fear.

One writer said that the barley bread represented a poor person and that God was going to use a “nobody” to destroy the Midianites.  God was building Gideon’s faith.  How big is our faith?  Are we willing to step out and be used of God or do we want to stay where it is safe?  I am sure all of us have put our foot out there in faith at different times in our lives and have seen God work and these are amazing experiences.  What step of faith is God asking you to trust Him for in this season of life?  Does your faith life need a boost?  What are you fearful of?  What fears take up room in your head and cause you to doubt and worry?  We laugh at Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress but maybe we are hiding in our own “winepresses” when God wants us out threshing wheat on the hilltop of faith.

What does Gideon do when he hears the dream?  (v15).  He worshiped God.  As a sidenote do we take time to thank God when He confirms things to us and give Him the glory?  After worshipping God Gideon returned to the camp and rallied the troops like a mighty warrior.  He was living out the name that had been given to him by the Angel of the Lord.  Gideon took charge, told his soldiers his plan and then they executed it.

Can you imagine if you were one of the Midianites?  It is the middle of the night, you are in the deepest part of your sleep and you are suddenly brought out of that state to 300 hundred trumpets going off, bright lights and shouting.  It would be extremely disorientating and confusing.  They would have no idea how many men were surrounding them but it probably sounded like more than 300 at that time of night.  Notice what the men shouted “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon”.  One Pastor (David Guzik) said that the Midianites may not have known who the Lord was but they knew there was a man from the Lord called Gideon.  This would send the men into a panic.  What happens when we panic?  There is utter chaos and we don’t think straight.  In v22 it says that the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn upon one another with their swords.  Gideon and his men didn’t even have to do anything at the beginning as the Midianites were fighting amongst themselves.

When we fight amongst ourselves and do each other harm by the things we say or do the enemy just needs to sit back and watch.  We are doing his job for him.  Are you dealing with a conflict situation right now?  How is it going?  Are we involving God in the resolution of the conflict or are we just tearing each other apart?  Just think of a church that goes through a split.  We all know the damage that can be done in these situations.  Some people turn their backs on God in situations like this….if this is what God’s people do to each other they want no further part of it.

In v22 we see the Midianites fleeing for their lives.  Notice in v23 that other tribes were called in to pursue the Midianites and that included Asher.  Back in chapter 5:17 Asher remained on the coast and didn’t come to help fight against King Jabin and Sisera.  However, here we see no reluctance and Asher joined the tribes of Naphtali and Manasseh.  Gideon was on a role at this point.  He was instructing the tribes to take the waters of Jordan ahead of the Midianites and the tribe of Ephraim also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb (raven) and Zeeb (Wolf) and decapitated them.  Notice where Zeeb was killed?  At a winepress.  The battle began for Gideon at winepress when his self esteem and faith were almost non-existent and yet the battle ended in victory at a winepress, not only in Gideon and His men taking care of the Midianites but also victory for Gideons faith life.  God has a way of turning things around.

None of us would choose to go into a battle with a fraction of the resources needed to win but when we have God on our side it is already a majority.  One Pastor said (Warren Wiersbe) “When leaders depend on their education, skill, and experience rather than on God, then God abandons them and looks for a Gideon”.  God looks for those who are available to be used by Him.  We don’t need to have it altogether before we make ourselves available.  God will make us ready like he did with Gideon.

Application - Judges 6

Please read Judges Chapter 6

Discussion Questions

1.       Gideon expressed 4 doubts in chapter 6.  What are they and how did God respond to them?

 

2.       Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress.  What does that tell us about Gideon?  What do you make of the name that the Angel of the Lord gave to Gideon in v13?

 

3.       Gideon used fleeces to determine God’s will.  Was this this a positive or negative means for discernment?  Should we use this method today? Why or why not?

 One Step Further

1.       What do we learn from Gideon in the area of faith and trust?

2.       Which one of the 4 doubts that Gideon had can you relate to?  Have you talked to God about it?  What is He saying to you?

Journeying through Judges 6

Judges 6

After 40 years of peace under Deborah and Barak we see a change in the cycle.  Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord.  This time it was at the hands of the Midianites.  The Israelites had fought against the Midianites in the past and had conquered them but here we see that they had grown in strength and the Israelites found themselves on the other side….the side of defeat.

The Israelites were living in constant fear under the Midianites so much so that they have moved to the mountain areas for protection whereby they lived in caves and shelters.  Imagine this…..  You are an agricultural society.  You work hard to prepare the ground for planting, you plant and take care of what you have planted and enjoy watching the crops grow.  Just when you think great we are going to have enough food to see us through till the following year your sworn enemies swarm in like locusts on camels destroying all your hard work. Your food for the coming year, your livestock are the land are completely destroyed.  This happened for 7 long years.  Can you imagine that time and time again?  I am amazed that it took them 7 years before they cried out to the Lord.

How did the Lord respond?  He sent a prophet (v8) who gave them a brief history lesson reminding them of what God had done for them and also where they were disobedient.  Sometimes we need a history lesson.  We complain to God regarding our circumstances but yet maybe God is trying to get our attention for some reason.  The Israelites were blaming the Midianites for their predicament however they were just the tool that God was going to use to get their attention.  Their disobedience was the heart of the issue.  How long do we wait to cry out to the Lord?

In verse 11 the Angel of the Lord came and sat under at tree that belonged to Gideon’s dad, Joash.  This angel of the Lord was the pre-incarnate Jesus.    The Angel of the Lord finds Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress.  This is not an ideal location for threshing wheat.  In order to separate the grain from the chaff you need some wind.  There is not much wind in a winepress.  You want to be up on a hill somewhere threshing wheat.  It shows the fear that Gideon and his family were facing with the Midianites.  They were struggling to make ends meet.

Notice the words out of the Angel of the Lord when he meets Gideon “The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior”  In looking at the conversation following I don’t think Gideon is feeling like a mighty warrior or inclined to be one at this point.  This makes me wonder if Jesus came and appeared to each of us whilst we were going about our day what would He say to us?  There is huge potential in each one of us when God is working in and through our lives.  Some of it is being realized but I wonder if there is more.  Something to think about.

Okay let us look at the conversation in verse 13.  Gideon tells the Angel of the Lord that God has abandoned them and God is not doing any signs and wonders anymore and that they have been left to fend of the Midianites by themselves.  But who left who?  It was the Israelites that had disobeyed God and God hadn’t left them at all.  Our disobedience affects our relationship with God and often distorts what we think about God and how we view Him.

The Lord continues the conversation and says to Gideon go in the strength you have and save Israel from Midian.  Notice what Gideon thinks of himself and his clan.  He feels pretty small at this point, his self-esteem is not existent.  He replies by saying “how can I save Israel?”  My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in his family.

However, the Lord answers Him by saying “I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midanites together”  That is the key here.  Gideon could not do it by himself.  It wasn’t possible but it was possible with God.

Have you said something similar to God recently regarding something He is asking you to do.  But I can’t because I am only……..you fill in the gap.   As one Pastor put it Gideon doesn’t need more self confidence but more God confidence.  Maybe that is true for us some of us today.  What should your reply be when God speaks and asks you to do something that seems completely out of your league?

Let us move on.... so Gideon had this visit from the Pre-incarnate Christ and was told that the Lord would go with him.  You would think that would be enough right?  However, Gideon wanted confirmation and Lord granted him that.  Gideon prepared meat, bread and broth and brought it to the Angel of the Lord.  The Angel of the Lord touched it with the tip of his staff  and fired flared from the rock and consumed it all.  At this point Gideon realized he had been in the presence of the Angel of the Lord.  This special sign was the confirmation that he needed along with the words that were said. 

I just want to caution us at this point.  It is okay to ask God for confirmation on something we have been questioning but we shouldn’t rely on miraculous signs alone as there are deceptive ones also.  However, in the case of Gideon he had a whole experience with the Angel of the Lord and all of it together confirmed that this was from the Lord.   Remember God will never do something that is contrary to His Word as that would make Him out to be a liar.

So Gideon realizes he has just had face to face time with the Angel of the Lord and he is obviously frightened because the Lord says to him “Peace, do not be afraid.  You are not going to die”.  Gideon experienced a lot of fear not only from the Midanites and the time he was living in but now with the Angel of the Lord.  He needed peace and the Lord gave it to Him.  He experienced Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace and he built an altar to remind him. 

Some of us need to be reminded that the Lord is peace today.  What disturbs us from having peace?.   We need to talk to the one that can give us peace.

Gideon had quite an exciting day and it wasn’t over.  He didn’t have time to process what had just happened to him before the Lord had a challenge for him.  Read 6:25-26.  What was Gideon’s response in 6:27.

Gideon’s family worshipped Baal and Asherah.  God needed Gideon to destroy the false gods in his life and in his family’s life.  Notice Gideon is not showing his mighty warrior nature here just yet as he only has courage to do it at night and not in the daytime.  However, he is still being obedient and doing what the Lord says even if he might lack a bit of courage. 

Well if you wanted to get your name on a wanted poster this was the way to do it.  It says the men of the town did a careful investigation, they were intent of finding out who had destroyed their altar and put up a new altar.  The town mob were after Gideon.  They appeared at Joash’s place demanding that he hand over Gideon to be killed.  Destroying their gods that dealt with weather and fertility was a big deal in this town.  However, Joash made a reasonable argument at this point.  If Baal is truly a god then he can defend himself.  The men were put in a difficult position here.  If they took matters into their own hands then it would mean that they didn’t really believe that Baal could defend himself.  So they made the choice to let Baal deal with Gideon.

In v33ff we see the Midianites and the Amalekites joining forces together with people from the East and they all camped in the valley of Jezreel.  Notice who comes upon Gideon…..the Spirit of the Lord.  Gideon blows a trumpet to call the tribes to arms and to fight in the valley of Jezreel.  The response is pretty amazing as 32,000 men showed up.  However, as we will read in chapter 7 he faced an overwhelming opposition. Read 7:12

At the end of chapter 6 we see this interesting encounter between Gideon and God.   He “put out a fleece” to God.  Look at what Gideon says to God before he does that.  “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised….”  Why did Gideon need to test God when he already knew that God had promised him victory and had given him a sign back in 6:19-21.  God in His graciousness goes along with this with Gideon, but I believe, from verse 39 that Gideon wasn’t 100% comfortable in doing it.  He is asking God not to be angry with him.  If you know you are asking God for something that is right then you don’t need to fear God’s wrath.  Gideon didn’t have that confidence.  He was asking for a fleece out of unbelief and immaturity of faith.    Nowhere else in the Bible that I know of do we see this being practiced as a general way of finding out God’s will.  Who are we to tell God what He should and should not do when He has already spoken to us through His word. 

As one writer put it we have an advantage over Gideon.  We have two tools that Gideon lacked.  First of all we have the complete Word of God.  What does 2 Timothy 3:16-17 say?  We do not need experiential proof such as signs, voices or miracles although there are times He does show himself in that way.  However, we do need to take him at His Word and not rely only on the miraculous.

God has also given us the Holy Spirit which is God Himself.  He resides in us to guide, direct and be our counsellor.  We have a greater advantage over the OT believers.  Sometimes we need reminded of that.

Application - Judges 4 and 5

Please read Judges Chapter 4-5

Discussion Questions

1.       What do we learn about Deborah and Barak as people?  What kind of characters did they have?

2.       What is significant about God using two women to help His people?

3.       Read Judges 5:12-18.  How did the tribes respond to the call to the battle?  Why?

4.       Why do you think Deborah and Barak put a song together in Judges 5?

One Step Further

 

1.       What do you learn about leadership or service when it comes to Deborah and Barak?

 

 

2.       Is there something you need to change in your life in order to be more usable for God’s service?

 

 

 

 

*Some questions taken from “Be Available” by Warren Wiersbe

 

 

Journeying through Judges 4 and 5

Judges 4 and 5

 I am taking chapters 4 and 5 together because they tell the same story just using different methods.  However, we gain some insight when we read the two chapters together.

The story sets out with the Israelites again doing evil in the sight of the Lord and God using one of their enemies, this time Jabin, King of Canaan.  God used the Israelites enemies to get their attention.  I wonder if God does the same in our own life today at times.

Sisera was the Commander of  the army and he had quite the army, 900 chariots in total and had cruelly suppressed the Israelites for 20 years.     We get a glimpse of what life was like for the people in 5:6-7. The roads were abandoned and village life ceased.  It wasn’t safe to be outside.  Imagine what that does for community life and for the fear factor.  We talked about fear at the ladies retreat.  It can be debilitating and imagine the fear the Israelites were under for 20 years with King Jabin at the helm and Sisera doing the nasty work.

An unlikely person came forward and stood in the gap for Israel, a woman.  A prophetess and Judge called Deborah.  She had a place of prominence and helped to settle disputes amongst the people.  I am figuring she had a lot of wisdom to offer the children of Israel.  Notice in 5:7 that she calls herself a mother in Israel.  It was not just a job to her.  She cared for the people of Israel like a mother does her children.  Their wellbeing was important to her.

Sidenote:  Deborah’s name means bee.   When you look at the characteristics of a bee she was well named.  Bees are hard workers, no nonsense creatures and they have a goal insight.   They are focused to achieve that goal and they will protect themselves and others if the need arises. 

Deborah called for Barak who was going to be the one to defeat King Jabin’s army.  This was a big ask.  First of all Israel wouldn’t have that many weapons to fight with.   Any weapons they would have had would have been taken from them by their enemies.  Read 5:8.  If you are going to go in and overthrow a country you want them to be defenseless so they can’t fight back.  Sisera had 900 iron chariots and they were going to face each other on a plain.  Who has the advantage on a plain….Sisera where his iron chariots could be put to full use.  How were the Israelites going to be any match for this oppressor.

Another sidenote ……Satan loves to come against us and rob us of what we have in God.  When we feel defenseless we succumb to the enemies attacks.  Remember to go into battle knowing who is on your side and also what resources are available to you.

Okay back to Judges….Barak takes on the job but he asks for Deborah to go with him.  Some would see this as a weakness on his part that he wasn’t fully obedient but we see later on that its Barak that rallies the troops from his own tribe of Naphtali and the neighbouring tribe of Zebulun.  10,000 men and they followed him.  Are you going to follow a leader who doesn’t lead.  Here were 10,000 men willing to lay down their lives under Barak’s leadership.  That has to count for something.

Also the fact that Deborah agreed to accompany Barak on this mission would suggest that it wasn’t out of the will of God.  However, there was a condition attached and that being that the honour would go to a woman rather than to a man.   This didn’t seem to phase Barak as he went anyway and fulfilled his part in it all.

The Kenites were distant relatives of the Jews through Moses  but were now friends with crazy tyrants like King Jabin and Sisera.  However, despite this “friendship” God used it for a victory over the oppressors as we will see.

So how did Barak and his troops defeat Sisera and the iron chariots.  One source I read was that this all happened in the dry season of around July to September.  There would be no way that Sisera would want to lose his chariots in the mud so he must have been confident that he would win this battle against the Israelites.  However,  what He didn’t know was that God was in charge of the weather and if He wants to send a freak storm in the dry season then He can.  Notice that the battle was strategically planned be near the Kishon River.  The banks of this river overflowed (5:21)which turned the plains to mud.  The iron chariots were of no use. 

Deborah boosts Barak’s confidence by telling him he will win the battle because of God’s involvement.  We are always more confident going into a war if we know we are going to win.  God was ahead of them already working things out.  Not only did God send a freak storm which would have made them also think that their own gods were going against them as they worshipped the god of Weather but he also confused their minds threw them into a panic. (15) and they fled on foot.  All Sisera’s troops died that day.

Now we have this interesting story of Sisera and Jael.  Sisera escaped also on foot and fled to the tent of Jael.  Sisera thought he had reached a safe haven with Jael as the Kenites were friendly towards King Jabin.  He went into her tent to seek refuge which is already taking a risk.  Only the husband would be allowed in our tent not some other man.  The fact that he was able to sleep when a whole army was after him already shows that he thought he had made it.  Sisera told Jael to lie if anyone came and asked her where he was.  According to one writer this could show that she knew the Israelites had won the battle and he was on the run for his life.  If we were reading this story for the first time we might think that Deborah was going to be the women to put an end to Sisera’s life (4:9) but it was to be Jael.  He died in a quite a dramatic way by having a tent peg hammered through his head.  In this culture it was the women who put up the tents so she would have been very handy with a hammer and used it to good use in this situation.

One writer made the comment (Wiersbe) that it was embarrassing enough for a captain of an army to be seeing fleeing the battle but to be killed by fleeing was humiliating and to be killed by a woman was the most disgraceful thing of all.

Now some of you might have an issue with Jael and her methods.  However, we need to think about the time that she lives in.  The Israelites had been under terrible bondage because of Jabin and Sisera.  It is noted that if King Jabin and Sisera had won the battle then hundreds of Jewish girls would have been captured and raped by their oppressors. (5:30)  As one commentator put it “There was a war on, and this courageous woman finally stopped being neutral and took her stand with the people of God.”

Let us end with Romans 15:4

Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope.