Judges | Chapter 5

Judges 5:1-31

“The Buzz of the Bee”

  1. Intro.
  2. Vs. 1-5 Bless the Lord
  3. Vs. 6-18 When leaders lead
  4. Vs. 19-23 Willingly offering yourself
  5. Vs. 24-31 No, retreat, no reserves, no regrets

Intro

    The fifth chapter of Judges is Deborah’s song (one of the oldest in the Bible) and while reading it when can evaluate our own lives. Her song is one of praise for the Lord’s faithful deliverance from the oppression that was Jabin and Sisera for over 20 years. It also was a tune that listed the willing participates in God’s work as well as chastised those who were content to kick back and watch others risk their lives for their freedom. When we look at how many consider God with regards to obeying commands it would seem that some view them as optional and don’t accept His authority. Are we offering Him excuses, ½ hearted efforts, partial obedience with a begrudging attitude? Has the gulf widen in our heart between our “Convictions” and our “Commitment”?


    Vs. 1-5 Bless the Lord

      Vs. 1-3 The song starts out with this phrase “When leaders lead in Israel” then she sings of how they are to lead by saying, “When the people willingly offer themselves.” The simplest and purest definition of leadership is when people willingly offer themselves to the Lord. Deborah says, “I even I will sing”! Sometimes we are reluctant to sing God’s praises because we put too much emphasis on the sound coming out of our mouths and not enough and His goodness and grace coming into our hearts! Saints if you are going to be a leader you must first and foremost be a follower of the Lamb of God.

      Vs. 4-5 But Deborah looks back upon God’s working to save the nation and recalls the time during the exodus that God did the same thing. And just like then the Lord caused rain to fall in a season when rain doesn’t fall in a dry creek bed which rendered the 900 Iron chariots worthless. Baal was the storm god but it was the true and living God that caused the down poor that ended Jabin’s 20 year reign of terror. Saints why are we so surprised by God’s workings in our lives? Remember Psalm 72:18 “Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things!” His working on our behalf didn’t just start when we recognized it He has been doing “wonderful things all along”.  


      Vs. 6-18 When leaders lead

        Vs. 6-18 Israel knew what it was like to be captive in their land and homes. They had walked the back roads instead of the highways; they had lived in villages where the hustle and bustle had stopped. They had known what it was like not to be safe in if they dwelt in walled cities. The occupation had left them no way to protect their families. Have you never run into someone where the life has gone out of them? They were the life of the party, always cutting up and now their life style has caused life to cease as everything revolves around the “FIX”.  What was the cause of such things? Well verse 8 tells us “They chose new gods”! A high school friend of mine recently wrote of his 11th anniversary away from chemical dependence by saying; “Seems like yesterday I was a worn out, used up, poor excuse for a Father/Husband/Man strung out on Meth/Pot….Only by the grace of God is it possible...” Has life ceased for you, are you still thinking that you can control the life style that is in fact controlling you? Although the people had turned away from God He had not chosen another people and instead chose a deliverer to free they from the god’s they had chosen. 

        In verse 7 it doesn’t say that Deborah was the “mother OF Israel”, it says that she was a “mother IN Israel”. Here was a lady that was a prophetess, a poet, a judge but she saw as her greatest asset was that she was a mother, she knew how to care for children. Her mother’s heart caused her to solicit a military man to help in the gathering of 10,000 men to go up against an enemy that outmanned, out armed and out positioned them. The amazing thing was that they had no problem amongst the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. We are told three reasons why in these verses:

        1. Vs. 2 “The leaders led”: Barak didn’t have to twist arms because he was willing going as was Deborah. In verse 9 she says, “My heart is with the rulers of Israel who offered themselves willingly with the people.” The people saw that the leaders weren’t asking them to doing anything they themselves weren’t willing to do.
        2. Vs. 13 “The survivors came down”: The people responded immediately without hesitation or wavering, they had a heart that was ready, willing and available. It is one thing to be moved emotionally and another thing to be moved practically. A stirring speech will get folks hyped up but only the Holy Spirit can get them to move practically.
        3. Vs. 15 “There was great resolve of heart”: Though the commitment was with the individual the action had to be in cooperation with each other. They couldn’t be fighting amongst each other on who will do what.

        Vs. 12 I love the fact that Deborah includes Barak in the song of those who took action even though he didn’t seem to be too into it to begin with.  Saints, it’s great that we start the race well but it’s that we finish well is what people will remember. There is an old proverb that says, “It is true that the early bird gets the worm, but it is the 2nd mouse that gets the cheese!”

        Vs. 13-18 Deborah gives us two lists the “Roster of the Willing” and the “Roster of the Reluctant”. The 6 tribes the came with the right response to God’s call; Ephraim, Benjamin, Machir (which was the ½ tribe of Manasseh who lived west of the Jordan), Zebulun, Issachar and Naphtali. She even singles out the tribes that deserve special mention:

        1. Vs. 15 Issachar: Who went rushing into battle into the valley where they would have been most vulnerable to the 900 Iron chariots. Interesting to note that Barak was with them.
        2. Vs. 18a Zebulun: Who risked their lives to the point of death. It seems as though each of those men in that company put their lives on the line.
        3. Vs. 18b Naphtali: Who stood on the heights of the battlefield. Which suggests that they chose the “hot spots” in the fight and were the “Navy Seals” or “Green Berets” of the fighting men?      

        I believe that this is a great picture of many in the church who rush in to serve even when they are most vulnerable, those who are willing to risk, whole heartedly take on the “hot spots”. In Exodus 36:2-5 we are told that Moses putout a call to “every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work.” Then after a while Moses had to say, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.” I’m afraid there are far too many in the Church today who are only willing to give God the “leftovers” of their lives to the One who gave them His only begotten Son. The problems is that there is too much duty in our service and not enough devotion!   

                    The “Rooster of the Reluctant” lists 4 ½ tribes that that didn’t march into battle. (Judah and Simeon are never mentioned at all probably because they were located too far away.) Deborah gives us insight as to why the 4 ½ tribes chose not to get involved and they four excuses are still used today.

        1. Vs. 15-16 Reuben’s excuse: Though there was “great resolve” but it never equated to “great action”. They were emotionally stirred but never practically moving. They stayed at home listening to stirring speeches in the “piping’s” of the flocks but chose to sit and talk about it instead of standing up and going! They were moved in “sentiment” but never in “sacrifice”! Oh how easy it is to become like the tribe of Reuben to be “stirred up” but never “stand up”!   
        2. Vs. 17a Gilead’s reason: Gilead is the name of a region east of the Jordan which included the tribe of Gad and ½ the tribe of Manasseh who along with Reuben chose not to cross the Jordan to receive their inheritance. The reason these tribes didn’t join was that had long ago cut themselves off from fellowship with the rest of God’s people. A voluntary separation from consistent fellowship with God’s people will inevitably produce a lack of enthusiasm for God’s work! 
        3. Vs. 17b Dan’s dilemma: The tribe of Dan just stayed on the ships, but why? Back in chapter 1:34-36 we are told that the Amorites forced Dan up into the mountain country and when that wasn’t enough they left the area all together. It seems that the tribe of Dan never grew spiritually as they chose to always compromise and flee at all difficulty.
        4. Vs. 17c Asher’s blindness: This tribe lived on the beautiful Phoenician coast and their focus was totally upon their own work and as such had no vision for God’s work. They only lived for the here and now as their focus the “Cares of this life” had choked out any hunger for God’s mission and plan He had for them in this world.

        In looking at each of these 4 ½ tribes none of them ever have any significant contribution to the cause of God again.

        • Asher vanishes for lack of vision, except for a brief involvement with Gideon
        • Dan dives into apostasy and is over run and ceases to exist
        • And Gad, Manasseh and Rueben never are involved and become victims because they refuse to risk to what they had and as a result they lost what they had

        Vs. 19-23 Willingly offering yourself

        In this last section Deborah describes parts of the battle, but at the very end of this section she mentions the “Curse of the town of Meroz”. It does not say that they didn’t help Deborah or Barak, it says that they didn’t help the “Lord” against the mighty! So what is the Curse of Meroz? We don’t know because we don’t know where Meroz was only that it was within the battle area and yet they chose not to help in the fight. So, whatever it was it worked really well! They were “conscientious objectors” in the battle of God as it wasn’t that they “couldn’t” come to help it was that they “wouldn’t” come to help. Mordecai told Queen Esther, “If you fail, then their deliverance will arise from another quarter but you’re gonna be cut off, you’re gonna be slain, you’re gonna lose out.” If you fail to respond to the call of God, if you fail to respond to His request to participate, you’re going to lose out. 


        Vs. 24-31 No, retreat, no reserves, no regrets

        Vs. 24-31 Deborah celebrates in the song the destruction of Sisera at the hand of Jael in the same way one might rejoice in Hitler’s death! Jael didn’t let Sisera live in her tent, she pegged him down. How about it are you allowing your Sisera to live in your tent as he doesn’t want anyone else to know that they are there? Deborah thinks of what Sisera’s mother is thinking when he doesn’t come home in verse 30; “Oh he is late because he is counting his money, or maybe he is out with some girls, or buy some new clothes”. Nope, her wicked boy has been nailed down, no longer oppressing the people. She is again thankful towards all who served to defeat these tyrants saying in verse “Let those who love Him be like sun when it comes out in full strength”. The problem with those 4 ½ tribes did not lie in the quantity of their service but rather in the quality of their relationship with God. That is what Jesus told Peter in John 21:15 “If you love Me, feed my lambs.” No, retreat, no reserves, no regrets!                   

        A man person is defined by the company they keep and you can tells much about a person by who their enemies are as by who their friends are. So who are my enemies?

        Well, Satan and his friends, the world system that lies under his control and my old carnal flesh that is still as self-centered as it was the day I was born! Oh, how I want to be like one that loves than one who acts like one of his enemies. Finally, we are told that they had rest for another generation period of time 40 years. Oh, that we would cry out for a fresh filling of the Spirit of God for a new work in this generation!



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