Deborah – Part 2 – Judges 5

Posted on March 24, 2023 by dkoop

Gaining the victory, triumphing over, conquering some problem or difficulty is a great motivating factor in life. Once a conquest has been made, the human heart is aroused to rejoice in the victory achieved. This is the experience described in the present passage of Scripture. The great judge of Israel, Deborah, and the commander of the armed forces, Barak, had just led the Israelites in an impossible victory over the mighty army of the Canaanites. For eighteen long years, the Canaanites had held the Israelites in the bondage of slavery and brutal oppression. But God had raised up Deborah and Barak to break the back of the enemy and set the Israelites free from the cruel oppression. A great victory had been achieved over a far, far superior force.

God called the army to assemble and victory would be assured but Barak said, “I will go if you go.”

How did Deborah command such respect? She was responsible for leading the people into battle, but more than that, she influenced them to live for God after the battle was over. Her personality drew people together and commanded the respect of even Barak, a military general. She was also a prophet, whose main role was to encourage the people to obey God. Those who lead must not forget about the spiritual condition of those being led. A true leader is concerned for persons, not just success.

In Chapter 5, after God’s victory,  Barak and Deborah sang praises to God. Songs of praise focus our attention on God, give us an outlet for spiritual celebration, and remind us of God’s faithfulness and character. Whether you are experiencing a great victory or a major dilemma, singing praises to God can have a positive effect on your attitude.

The song of Deborah is a rousing declaration of praise to God. The hearts of Deborah and Barak break forth spontaneously in an emotional outburst of praise and thanksgiving to God for the victory. It was God who had stirred the courage within the Israelites to stand against such a formidable enemy. And it was God who had used nature to burst forth in a thunderstorm, a downpour of rain that swelled the banks of the river and engulfed the enemy with its 900 chariots. It was God who had caused chaos and confusion among the enemy troops and stricken them with panic, causing them to flee from the pursuing Israelite soldiers. Praise and thanksgiving were to be lifted up to God. He was deserving. And the people’s hearts were filled with praise, in particular, the hearts of Deborah and Barak.

The song of Deborah is a magnificent song of victory. It is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving, a song that lifts up the name of the Lord God who gives His people victory over all their enemies.

Wise leaders are rare. They accomplish great amounts of work without direct involvement because they know how to work through other people. They are able to see the big picture that often escapes those directly involved, so they make good mediators, advisers, and planners. Deborah fit this description perfectly. She had all these leadership skills, and she had a remarkable relationship with God. The insight and confidence God gave this woman placed her in a unique position in the Old Testament. Deborah is among the outstanding women of history.

Her story shows that she was not power hungry. She wanted to serve God. Whenever praise came her way, she gave God the credit. She didn’t deny or resist her position in the culture as a woman and wife, but she never allowed herself to be hindered by it either. Her story shows that God can accomplish great things through people who are willing to be led by him.

Deborah’s life challenges us in several ways. She reminds us of the need to be available both to God and to others. She encourages us to spend our efforts on what we can do rather than on worrying about what we can’t do. Deborah challenges us to be wise leaders. She demonstrates what a person can accomplish when God is in control.

Darrell

www.Upwards.Church

Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/watch-now/leander-campus-videos

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

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Deborah – A Remarkable Woman – Judges 4

Posted on March 22, 2023 by dkoop

Is there a woman in your life that you highly respect?  A woman that is dedicated, hardworking and faith filled?  For me it’s my mom and my wife Niki.  Today we will look at a remarkable woman who can teach us all some great truths about how to live.  Deborah is one of most interesting women in scripture.  She was a judge, a prophet, a wife, mother, a warrior and a poet.   As we continue in the book of Judges we will learn from her, her courage, faith and leadership.

Her story is told in Judges 4, and this is how she is introduced in Judges 4:4-5, “Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, was a prophet who had become a judge in Israel.  She would hold court under the Palm of Deborah (which was obviously named after her). . .and the Israelites came to her to settle their disputes.”   Deborah lived in Israel in a time after Moses’ but a time before they had kings, so they would have a judge, someone who was very wise and was respected who would often sit out in front of the city at the city gate.  Deborah sat under a palm tree and people would come to her and they would bring their disputes and their settlements and she would make a decision and whatever she said, they would live by.”

Deborah is the very first and only female judge recorded in the Bible.  This is incredible because this was a male dominated society.  Women in those times didn’t have the rights and weren’t respected as much as men were.  So for her to become the judge, and to lead eventually the entire nation of Israel, she had to be a godly woman of great respect, of great wisdom and of great courage.

During Deborah’s time, the Israelites were being oppressed by a group of people called the Canaanites.  The Canaanites had a military general named Sisera who had 900 iron chariots to oppress God’s people.  God came to Deborah one day as she sat under her palm tree, judging the people.  He told her to send the army to go meet Sisera. God told her—“I will bring victory if you do that.”  So Deborah calls the commander of the Israelite army whose name was Barak.  She calls him over and says—“God has told me that he will give us victory if you will go and meet Sisera.”  And Barak, the military commander’s response to her was, “Yeah, that’s not a good idea!  I don’t necessarily want to go by myself, but I’ll go if you go.”  And Deborah says, “okay, I’ll go.”  But then she tells him—“if I go and I lead the army, you are not going to get any of the glory from this battle.  All the glory is going to be given to a woman.”  They agree and Deborah helps lead the army into battle.  Just as God said, He brought victory to the Israelite army and Deborah was held as a hero.  And she went down in history for helping remove the Canaanites from oppressing the Israelites.

What made Deborah truly amazing was her faith, courage and her leadership.  She was the first female judge in Israel.  Even though she had no military training whatsoever, she was able to rally the general into battle.  I believe, that she was fearful as she was out of our comfort zone and very uncertain, but she believed God and she stepped out anyway.

We may not be ruling a country.  We might not be leading an army, but we face decisions, we face circumstances and things that happen every day, every week of our lives that require courage.  They require us to step out, even though we are afraid and uncertain.  By looking at Deborah’s example, we can learn what made her remarkable in the face of fear and difficulties.

Willingly believe God

 6 One day she sent for Barak…. She said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. 7 And I will call out Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him.” Judges 4:4-7

God comes to Deborah and tells her to send the army into battle to face her oppressors who are stronger than her people.  God tells Deborah this in Judges 4:7.  “I will give you victory.”  Before Deborah could obey, before she could move forward, she had to believe what God told her.  Notice this.  The source of Deborah’s courage, it wasn’t her own ability, it wasn’t her own strength.  The source of her courage was the belief that God would do what He said.  It was the belief that God would bring victory.  There was no doubt in my mind that Deborah was afraid of this oppressive enemy of 20 years but she moved forward anyway, because she believed God.  What if Deborah hadn’t believed God?  What if she hadn’t stepped forward and obeyed God?   The Israelites had been in captivity for 20 years to the Canaanites.  So if she hadn’t stepped forward, Barak, the army commander, he obviously wasn’t going to step forward, so the Israelites would have remained oppressed for many more years?  Not only that, but we never would have heard of Deborah.  If she hadn’t obeyed God in this instance, she might not have ever become famous, she might not ever have been written about in the Old Testament. But she did believe.

Do you believe God?  Do you believe his Word? When we open God’s Word, God opens his mouth.  God speaks through our conscience and Godly friends. Do you trust God with your life?  So where is God asking you to believe Him?  Is it in your job?  Is in a relationship?  Is it with your finances?  Is it to forgive someone? To have a tough conversation?  To share your faith with someone at work or someone in your family?

Wherever God is asking you to step out of your comfort zone and follow Him, your first step is to have to believe Him.  The second step is:

 Walk forward in spite of Fear 

When you and I are in our comfort zone and God asks us to take a step out it is our fears that stop us.   Our fears keep us from experiencing God’s best for our life because they keep us from following God and obeying Him.  We may think that God may not want us to take the next step in our spiritual life because God doesn’t want us to experience stress or fear, so we avoid it.  We think God doesn’t want us to serve because we don’t have time.   “God may not want me to be baptized, that’s too much attention on me.  And I’m sure that God doesn’t want me to tithe because I can’t afford it.  And I don’t think God wants me to be in a Connect group or to even lead a Connect group.”  Most of the time it isn’t God who is holding us back.  It’s our own fears telling us that we aren’t good enough or that we aren’t ready or that it’s not worth the effort.   We have to be able to distinguish the difference between God and our own fears.  If you are waiting to do something, if you are hesitating to move forward because of the fear, that’s not God.  But why doesn’t God make it easier and remove my fears for me?  God is never going to remove our fears  in order to make our life easy.   Why?  Because God wants to grow our faith.  If we don’t have those fears that we have to confront and go through, then we are not going to grow our character.  We are never going to have courage if we are never afraid.  We are never going to get stronger if we don’t have to overcome difficulties in our lives.  So God is going to use those to develop us.   Deborah and Israel had their own intimidating fears.  They were the Canaanites.  In Judges 4:3, it says,

13 Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help. Judges 4:1-3

  We all have fears.  And they differ depending on what God is asking us to do.  One of the things that we get in trouble with is we will look at someone else’s life and their life looks perfect from the outside and we will think—“I wish I had their life and not my life, because I have all these problems.”  That’s not true, because, when someone looks perfect on the outside, that just means they are putting up a wall, they are not being honest, because everyone has problems, everyone has hurts, everyone has things that they are ashamed of.  We wouldn’t want to trade with anybody, because if we traded with someone we couldn’t handle their problems.  God created us to have enough strength to handle the problems and the difficulties and the trials that come into our life. When we give our lives to Jesus we are given the strength and courage to defeat our own fears because He walks with us!  So Believe God and Move Forward Despite our Fears.  In the next post we will see two more characteristics that Deborah had that we can learn from.

 Darrell

www.Upwards.Church

Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/watch-now/leander-campus-videos

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Judges Introduction & Invitation

Posted on March 16, 2023 by dkoop

You’re Invited! 

Series: Judges

Description: Everybody loves a hero that exhibits great bravery and strength; punishes the bad guys, and saves the people. In our series in the book of Judges, we will see God used real life heroes like Sampson, Deborah and Gideon to bring deliverance to his people and justice to their oppressors. Join us and hear their stories which are still exciting and relevant today.

 Dates           Titles Scripture                                     Events

 March 19      Deborah –Judges 1-5                  Growth Groups Start – Spring Break ends

March 26      Gideon –Judges 6-7

April 2           Samson –Judges 13-16             Palm Sunday, Communion

Introduction to Judges

Heroes are hard to find these days. Modern research and the media have made the foibles and weaknesses of our leaders very apparent; we search in vain for men and women to emulate. The music, movie, and sports industries produce a steady stream of “stars” who shoot to the top and then quickly fade from view.

Judges is a book about heroes—12 men and women who delivered Israel from its oppressors. These judges were not perfect; in fact, they included an assassin, a sexually promiscuous man, and a person who broke all the laws of hospitality. But they were submissive to God, and God used them. Judges is also a book about sin and its consequences. Like a minor cut or abrasion that becomes infected when left untreated, sin grows and soon poisons the whole body. The book of Joshua ends with the nation taking a stand for God, ready to experience all the blessings of the Promised Land. After settling in Canaan, however, the Israelites lost their spiritual commitment and motivation. When Joshua and the elders died, the nation experienced a leadership vacuum, leaving them without a strong central government. Instead of enjoying freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land, Israel entered the dark ages of her history.

Simply stated, the reason for this rapid decline was sin—individual and corporate. The first step away from God was incomplete obedience (1:11-2:5); the Israelites refused to eliminate the enemy completely from the land. This led to intermarriage and idolatry (2:6-3:7) and everyone doing “whatever seemed right” (17:6). Before long the Israelites became captives. Out of their desperation they begged God to rescue them. In faithfulness to his promise and out of his loving-kindness, God would raise up a judge to deliver his people, and for a time there would be peace. Then complacency and disobedience would set in, and the cycle would begin again.

The book of Judges spans a period of over 325 years, recording six successive periods of oppression and deliverance, and the careers of 12 deliverers. Their captors included the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Philistines, Canaanites, Midianites, and Ammonites. God used a variety of deliverers—from Othniel to Samson—to lead his people to freedom and true worship. God’s deliverance through the judges is a powerful demonstration of his love and mercy toward his people.

As you read the book of Judges, take a good look at these heroes from Jewish history. Note their dependence on God and obedience to his commands. Observe Israel’s repeated downward spiral into sin, refusing to learn from history and living only for the moment. But most of all, stand in awe of God’s mercy as he delivers his people over and over again.

Vital Statistics

Purpose: To show that God’s judgment against sin is certain, and his forgiveness of sin and restoration to relationship are just as certain for those who repent

Author: Possibly Samuel or Phineas

Original Audience:  The people of Israel

Setting:  The land of Canaan, later called Israel. God had helped the Israelites conquer Canaan, which had been inhabited by a host of wicked nations. But they were in danger of losing this Promised Land because they compromised their convictions and disobeyed God.

Key Verse:  “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (17:6).

Key People:  Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelech, Jephthah, Samson, Delilah

Special Feature:  Records Israel’s first civil war

The Blueprint

  1. A. THE MILITARY FAILURE OF ISRAEL (1:1-3:6)
    1. Incomplete conquest of the land
    2. Disobedience and defeat

    The tribes had compromised God’s command to drive out the inhabitants of the land. Incomplete removal of evil often means disaster in the end. We must beware of compromising with wickedness.

  2. B. THE RESCUE OF ISRAEL BY THE JUDGES (3:7-16:31)
    1. First period: Othniel
    2. Second period: Ehud and Shamgar
    3. Third period: Deborah and Barak
    4. Fourth period: Gideon, Tola, and Jair
    5. Fifth period: Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
    6. Sixth period: Samson

    Repeatedly we see the nation of Israel sinning against God and God allowing suffering to come upon the land and the people. Sin always has its consequences. Where there is sin we can expect suffering to follow. Rather than living in an endless cycle of abandoning God and then crying out to him for rescue, we should seek to live a consistent life of faithfulness.

  3. C. THE MORAL FAILURE OF ISRAEL (17:1-21:25)
    1. Idolatry in the tribe of Dan
    2. War against the tribe of Benjamin

    Despite the efforts of Israel’s judges, the people still would not turn wholeheartedly to God. They all did whatever they thought was best for themselves. The result was the spiritual, moral, and political decline of the nation. Our lives will also fall into decline and decay unless we live by the guidelines God has given us.

MEGATHEMES
THEME EXPLANATION IMPORTANCE
Decline/ Compromise Whenever a judge died, the people faced decline and failure because they compromised their high spiritual purpose in many ways. They abandoned their mission to drive all the people out of the land, and they adopted the customs of the people living around them. Society has many rewards to offer those who compromise their faith: wealth, acceptance, recognition, power, and influence. When God gives us a mission, it must not be polluted by a desire for approval from society. We must keep our eyes on Christ, who is our Judge and Deliverer.
Decay/Apostasy Israel’s moral downfall had its roots in the fierce independence that each tribe cherished. It led to everyone doing whatever seemed right in his own eyes. There was no unity in government or in worship. Law and order broke down. Finally, idol worship and man-made religion led to the complete abandoning of faith in God. We can expect decay when we value anything more highly than God. If we value our own independence more than dedication to God, we have placed an idol in our hearts. Soon our lives become temples to that god. We must constantly regard God’s first claim on our lives and all our desires.
Defeat/ Oppression God used evil oppressors to punish the Israelites for their sin, to bring them to the point of repentance, and to test their allegiance to him. Rebellion against God leads to disaster. God may use defeat to bring wandering hearts back to him. When all else is stripped away, we recognize the importance of serving only him.
Repentance Decline, decay, and defeat caused the people to cry out to God for help. They vowed to turn from idolatry and to turn to God for mercy and deliverance. When they repented, God delivered them. Idolatry gains a foothold in our hearts when we make anything more important than God. We must identify modern idols in our hearts, renounce them, and turn to God for his love and mercy.
Deliverance/ Heroes Because Israel repented, God raised up heroes to deliver his people from their path of sin and the oppression it brought. He used many kinds of people to accomplish this purpose by filling them with his Holy Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit is available to all people. Anyone who is dedicated to God can be used for his service. Real heroes recognize the futility of human effort without God’s guidance and power.
Source:  Life Application Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 350-351.
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Courage to Leave a Legacy – Joshua 24

Posted on March 15, 2023 by dkoop

I have this verse hanging in my master bedroom.  It’s one of the first things I see each day when I wake up.  This verse is one of the most popular verses in the entire Old Testament.  It’s part of Joshua’s last words to his family and his people.

“As for ME..”   It all starts with me: faith and a decision to follow Christ is a personal decision that I must make for myself.

It’s been said that “God has no grandchildren, only children.” When it comes to the choice to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and then spend your life serving Him as Lord, no one can decide this for you. Your mom can’t decide this for you. Your dad can’t.  Your pastor can’t. It is your decision. You decide.

We need fathers and mothers today who say, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”  “Our primary job is not to be our child’s friend but a parent.  We will go to church on Sundays, read the bible and live out its principles.  Others may skip church because of select sports, we will not! Other kids may have no boundaries and call the shots but not our kids!  We will strive to serve the Lord.”

We need single adults who say, “As for me and my body I will serve the Lord!”  “If you choose to sleep around or live together before marriage that is your choice, but as for me, it’s not going to happen! As for my sexuality I will serve the Lord.”

We need business men who say, “As for me and my business we will serve the Lord!”  “Other businesses may choose to defraud, cheat or lie.  We will not!”  We need more businesses like Chick-fil-a, Hobby Lobby and Mardell’s that will hold to biblical and family values.  They close on Sundays to observe a day of rest and spend time with God and their families. Their businesses are booming.

Personal choice and stance are the first part of this verse.  Joshua also reminds us here that Christian parents have another choice to make.

Remember God’s Words in Deuteronomy 6:6-7?

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

In his final words Joshua says, “I have obeyed this instruction from God. I don’t know about you “but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” If we read on we would see that the people replied saying that “Yes, We will serve the Lord!” but Joshua asked them again and again and repeatedly they said yes. Finally, he accepted their answer and put up a stone memorial to remind them of their commitment to teach their children about God. I’m sure there were a lot of amens as he did so. But unfortunately they did not follow through with this commitment. They didn’t teach their children about God’s loving actions.

In the very next book of the Bible, (which we will look at next week!) in Judges chapter 2:1-2 it says, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.” So the parents didn’t make this choice. How sad.

The fact is we are only one generation away from a culture that turns it’s back on our faith because all it takes is the failure of one generation of parents to tell their children about God. Moms and Dads, this is our God-given responsibility and don’t misunderstand me.  I’m not saying that children decide to serve God simply by parental decree or that children inherit their faith from their parents like they do their physical characteristics.  But I am saying that if the next generation is to remain faithful to God, parents we must teach them about God.

We must tell them what God has done and what He means to them. The fact is much of the problems in our culture stem from the fact that many parents have not made this choice correctly.

There are many parents these days who say, “My choice is no. I don’t want to influence my child when it comes to religion. When they are old enough they will choose for themselves.” I find it strange though that they don’t follow that philosophy in other important matters. They don’t let their young children decide when to go to bed or what to eat or wear. They don’t let them decide if they want to go to school or not. They don’t say, “Hey play in the street if you want to! That’s your choice.” Why this inconsistency? Why give your child some guidance in life but refuse to give them the most important guidance? Guidance that not only equips them to deal with the heartbreaks that are around every corner in this fallen world of ours, but also prepares them to make their own personal choice when it comes to their allegiance to God.  That choice that will affect where they spend eternity.

The final choice of faith is up to the child but a child needs guidance and encouragement that will help them make the right choice. Think of it this way. If children are allowed to grow up like weeds in a spiritual wilderness, chances are good that they will remain weeds.  We can be sure that our children do not grow up in a spiritual vacuum. If we don’t teach him, someone else will. The only sure hope that a child has when it comes to making the right choice when it comes to faith in God is the home.

Listen to these words,

“The facts show that it is the family which is the main center of maintaining the religious spirit. We cannot and we shall not remain indifferent to the fate of children on whom their parents, fanatical believers, commit an act of spiritual violence. We are not indifferent to the fact that, in the Soviet society, a family is a cell of communist education or a refuge of backward conceptions.”  These words were spoken in 1964 by one of the top officials in communist Russia.  Back then the Russians feared Christianity so much that they forcibly took children from believing parents. Even they were wise enough to know something that many Christian parents apparently ignore. The family is the key to passing on faith in Jesus.

What about you and your house? Like Joshua have you made the commitment to tell your kids all about the Lord you love and serve so that they can make a well-informed decision?

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Darrell

www.Upwards.Church

Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/watch-now/leander-campus-videos

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