Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews 11. Let's ask our Lord's blessing. Father, thank You for the evening.
Thank You for the time that we have to worship. Bless, we pray
Your Word, for Christ's sake. Amen. The last time we met and we looked
in the book of Hebrews, we considered in verse 32 the faith of Gideon. And tonight, I'd like to take
the opening line of verse 32 and then go and look at the next
name that's in verse 32. You know, I think concerning
the way that the Spirit of God has written these Scriptures,
we would be remiss to not consider what our Lord has written in
His Word. So looking at verse 32, where
the apostle said, and what shall I more say? For the time would
fail me to tell of Barak." Now, the history of this man, Barak,
is found actually in Judges Chapter 4. I want you to turn with me
to the book of Judges. Judges chapter 4. And what I'd
like to do is I would like to just take, starting in that first
verse, and go through this chapter and read these verses and make
comments concerning this man Barak. The man Barak, he was a judge. Actually, he served along with
a judge named Deborah. The Lord had raised up a woman
to judge in Israel. This time of the judges, the
state of the Hebrews during that time was one that absolutely
exhibits the painful truth of every regenerated sinner that
has been made to know the battle that rages within him because
of the presence of sin. The book of Judges is a picture
that talks about the spiritual war within. Now, let's look at
Judges 4. The Scripture says, "...and the
children of Israel again." Boy, I tell you, I looked at that
word and I thought, oh... yeah. The children of Israel
again. did evil in the sight of the
Lord when Ehud was dead. What happened was, the children
of Israel, when they would be in these countries, God would
raise up a judge. And while the judge lived, the
Lord blessed that judge and blessed the people. And the Lord granted
repentance. He brought them to show them
what they were. And He drew them to Himself. And they repented of what they
had done. Is that not the continual battle
in a believer? They did again. God's people,
they will readily admit, oh, that I might walk as I would. In Christ, We are without sin. But I'm going to tell you something.
There is a nature that is within every believer. It is that old
nature. That nature with which we were
born. That old nature of sin. And the
only reason that that old nature Sin that dwells within us. That's
what Paul says, I see in me, that is in my flesh, that dwells
no good thing. The will is present with me.
How to accomplish? I find not. Sin! Sin is there. The only reason that the sin
within does not blossom into just open rebellion is because
we're kept. by the power of God through faith. Almighty God restrains what's
there. But it's there. And we know it's
there. The children of Israel again
did evil in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead. What they did was they worshiped.
They began to incorporate the worship of the God or the gods. As I said last week, if you see
the word Baal, Baal is a generic term. One God. Balaam, multiple. So they would incorporate. They
would begin to, Lord, tell them, don't marry each other. They did that which was evil.
Doesn't it grieve a believer to see that tendency that he
has to stray? I hate See, in that which is
within me. And the Lord, verse 2, sold them
into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor,
the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Herosheth
of the Gentiles. Now, the Lord's correction is
painful. It always is. It's painful. But how needful it is. All things work together for
good to them that love God. To them who are called according
to His purpose. All things. The corrections?
Yes. The afflictions? Yes. It's good. The Lord sold them into the hand
of Jabin. Almighty God causes His people
for their good to be corrected. He chastens whom He loves. Psalm
119.75 says, I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are right,
that Thou in faithfulness has deflected me. Faithful. Lord, I know You're
faithful. You're faithful to Yourself.
You're faithful to your covenant to show mercy. I want you to
hold your finger right there and judge His foreword. Turn
to Isaiah 40. Let me read something I read
today. This was a real blessing to me.
We talk about the faithfulness of God. God is faithful. Faithful to His covenant. Faithful.
Faithful. Faithful. Listen to Isaiah 40.
Verse 31. Isaiah. Forty-thirty-one. But they that
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount
up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not faint. Now, I want you to notice how
many times, they shall. They shall. They shall. They shall. And do you know how
they shall? God's going to draw them back.
He's going to draw them back. Now, we have a tendency to be
wavered. But they shall. They shall walk.
They shall follow Me. They will. They will. I will.
They shall. Almighty God, faithful to His
promise, faithful to His Word. How are they going to? God's
going to keep them. God's going to bring them back.
He said, you're not going anywhere. You're not going anywhere. If
He left us to ourselves, you know what we would do? We'd go
somewhere. Yeah, we would. Yes, we would. We would just
go if He did not love. He'd let them do it. I would
always tell my kids when they said, can I do that? No. Well,
so and so is going to do it. I said, well, that's fine. You're not going to. Why? Because
you're mine. And I care. And I don't think
that's best for you. No. Whom the Lord loveth, He
chasteneth. They shall. And He's going to
keep them. Well, back in Judges 4. And the
children of Israel, the Scripture says, verse 3, cried unto the
Lord, for He had 900 chariots, that is, Sisera, chariots of
iron. In 20 years, He mightily oppressed
the children of Israel. Here's the evidence of grace.
The Lord caused His people to cry unto Him. He knows how to
draw. The Lord caused them to know
that they were wrong. The Lord moved upon them. And
the Lord Himself was the only one that could deliver. And to
deliver, He's going to cause them to ask Him. All these things
I'm going to do for you, yet I will be inquired of. Almighty
God is going to cause His people to ask, to pray, to seek, and
to knock. They cried unto the Lord. Verse
4 and 5 says, And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, She judged
Israel at that time, 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. Now, without controversy,
not even up for debate, Almighty God raised up a woman to judge. Now, I know this, Almighty God
forbids women to stand in pulpits now. Paul says, I suffer not
a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over a man. I know
that. Women are to be silent in the
church, that is, as far as standing in a position of leadership,
direction. No. No. The Scriptures forbid
it. But Almighty God raised up this
woman right here, and this woman was a judge. She was a judge
in the time that Almighty God had allowed these people to be
oppressed for 20 years. That's what the Scripture says
in verse 3. Almighty God has promised, I'm never going to
leave you. I'm not going to forsake you. It was true then. It's true
now. And He is the Amen, the faithful
and true witness. Verse 7, she sent and she called
Barak. the son of Abinoam out of Kadesh,
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, of the children of Zebulun? 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 Now,
I want you to notice something. Almighty God did not ask Barak
what his thoughts were. No request was made to Barak. The prophetess Deborah, the judge,
says, hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded? Almighty God
set forth that the direction was sure. He said, you go, draw
toward Mount Tabor. I will draw Sisera. I will deliver him into thine
hand. Victory was assured. The Lord
was going to deliver his people. They did evil in the sight of
the Lord. God sent and made them to be
under oppression for 20 years. And when it pleased God, God
raised up a judge. Her name was Deborah. And guided
by the Holy Spirit, Deborah sends God's message to Barak. The Lord is going to deliver
Israel. The Lord rules and reigns. He's
got a chosen means to deliver Israel from the oppression of
this Jabin king and his general, I guess you'd say, Sisera. Do
we not see a picture here? Barak being a picture, a type
of Christ. Almighty God's servant to deliver
His people from their enemies, death and hell. The grave. The Scripture says, draw to Mount
Tabor. I will draw unto thee to the
river Kishon-Sisera. I will deliver him into thine
hand. By faith, it reveals in Hebrews
chapter 11, verse 32, Barak did what he did by faith. And he
desired God's spokesman, Deborah, to go with him. Look at verses
8 and 9. 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. And she said, I will surely go
with thee, notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall
not be for thine honor. For the Lord shall sell Sisera."
He'll deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah
arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. Now, this request that
Barak made was a lot like that request that Moses made. The
Lord told Moses, I'm going to send you into the land. Moses
said, Lord, go with us. If you don't go, Lord, don't
send us." The Lord said, I'll go with you. Here was a man,
the Scripture says, you read this, obviously I truly believe,
without a doubt, I don't doubt this for one second, that here
was a man that was weak in faith. The Lord told him to go. Sent
the message through God's judge, Deborah. Barak says, if you go,
I'll go. Obviously, God's raised you up
as His judge. If you go, I'll go. If you don't
go, I'm not going. She said, I'm going to go. But
she told him, she said, I'm going to tell you this. The Lord is
not going to give you the honor. In fact, the honor is going to
actually be to a woman. I'll go with you. The Lord chastened
him. But God's judge went. She said,
I'll go. I'll make the way with you. The Lord shall ever choose the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise. Here was Barak,
a man that Almighty God put in the book of Hebrews 11 in that
chapter of faith, that roll call of faith, if I can say it like
that respectfully. But the Lord has shown, I'm going
to take what is weak. Barak was a man in himself, weak. But Almighty God is going to
take the weak things of this world to confound the things
that are mighty. Back in Judges 4, verse 10, and
Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kadesh, and he went up with
10,000 men at his feet, and Deborah went up with him again by faith.
The Lord causes His sheep to hear His voice. He said, I know
them. They follow Me. And here, the
Lord having instructed this man to go, he did go. And He called
10,000 men, the Scripture says, and they came willingly. Verse
3, went up with 10,000 at His feet, following Him, subject
to Him. Judges 5, verse 2 says, Praise
ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel when the people willingly
offered themselves. So they came to do battle with
a willing heart. They came through the constraining
grace of God. God said, I'm going to deliver
Sisera into your hands. You go down by the river. I'll
put him there. I'll deliver him. You're not
going to get the honor for it. But he did what he did by faith. Verse 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
under the plain of Zeanaim, which is by Kedesh. Now, the Kenites,
I found out, was a nomadic people. At one time, they were actually
allied with the nation of Israel. And Heber, the scripture says
here, who was a Kenite, he was one that was related to Moses'
father-in-law, is said here to have separated himself from the
main body of Kenites. Now, here was a group of people,
the Kenites. Here's Heber, a Kenite. Used to be good friends with
Israel. But the Scripture says, and I'll
just show you this so you'll understand. Look at verse 17. I'll just skip ahead just a little
bit. 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 Hazar, and the house of Heber the Kenite. Now here's
the situation. Heber, this Kenite. At one time,
all the Kenites were with Israel. But Heber has now separated himself
from his group of people, from the Kenites. And he's out there
kind of by himself, living out there in that wilderness area. And Heber is a good friend to
Jabin. Jabin is the king of the people
that's wanting to oppress Israel. So Sisera, who is the captain,
the general, the king's servant over his army, he thinks he's
got an ally out there. So you'll understand who this
man is. Heber. We never explain the scenarios
that Scripture sets forth. We bow to Him. We know this Almighty
God sets forth that which the Lord is pleased to do. So verses
12 and 13. The Scripture says, and they,
that is, that family of Heber. And they showed Sisera that Barak,
the son of Abinaham, was gone up to Mount Tabor. And Sisera
gathered together all his chariots, even 900 chariots of iron, and
all the people that were with him from Herosheth of the Gentiles
unto the river of Kishon. Now, here's what we've got. Almighty
God is going to deliver His people, Israel, from Jabin, the king
that oppresses them. Jabin, the king's general, Sisera,
the Lord has said, I'm going to put him into your hands. I'll
deliver him. I'm going to bring him to the
very creek where I'm going to send you. I want you to go there.
I'll put him in your hands. So Sisera is out there and he's
got word now. He's gotten word from Heber's
family, the Kenites, who now are good friends with Jabin,
the king that's oppressing Israel. And so some of the family of
Heber, the Kenite, tells Sisera, the general, we've got good word
here. Barak is going to be down. He's over there out of Mount
Tabor. And he's going to go down by
the river Kishon. So Sisera thinks, okay, I've
got him. I've got good information that
my enemy is going to be down by this river. But now, what
do we see? We see the enemies of God and
His people doing exactly what they wanted to do, all the while
accomplishing God's purpose. Sisera, the general, on good
word he thinks, I'm going to trap them, and Almighty God is
bringing those people down to exactly where God said they were
going to be. Deborah had told him. The Lord
has said, I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon, Sisera.
I will deliver him into thine hand. God used Israel's enemies
to do just exactly what Almighty God purposed that they would
do all the while. The enemies of God were doing
just what they wanted to do. It reminds me of when the Jews,
the Scripture says, Did the very same thing concerning the crucifixion
of our Lord and the accomplishment of God's will. Just hold your
finger right there. If you want to, you can turn
to Acts 2. I'll read it. Acts 2, verse 23. What happened? Whenever the Jews
were crying, crucify Him, crucify Him, were they not wanting to
do that? That's exactly what they wanted to do. They hated
Him. They hated Him without a cause. They hated Him because in their
mind, He was blasphemous. Made Himself be God, they said. Doing what they wanted to do,
the Scripture says in Acts 2.23, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. So here we see the Lord accomplishing
exactly what He wanted to accomplish. All the while, causing Sisera,
who thought that he was going to come down here and entrap
God's people, get Barak. All the while, it's the Lord
drawing him by using Heber, the Kenite, who's a good friend of
the king of Sisera. We got him. We're going down.
Verse 14, and Deborah, said unto Barak, Up, for this is the day
in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thy hand. Is not
the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from Mount
Tabor, and ten thousand men after him." Oh, what comfort to hear
these words, Is not the Lord gone out before thee? When our faith would waver, and
it does. We don't have perfect faith.
We believe. Lord, help our unbelief. When
our faith is weak, the word of our Lord and His going before
us is the comfort of our hearts. Let me ask you this. Did not
our Lord eternally go before us as our surety? Has He not
eternally answered? Is He not the eternal Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world? Is He not gone before
us as our righteousness? As our substitute? As our resurrected
federal head and exalted great high priest? Does He not ever
live to make intercession for us? Take heart. The Lord has
gone before thee. And the scripture says in verse
15, 16, And the Lord discomfited Sisera and all his chariots and
all his hosts with the edge of the sword before Barak, so that
Sisera lighted down off his chariot and fled away on his feet. But
Barak pursued after the chariots, after the host, unto Herosheth
of the Gentiles, and all the host of Sisera fell upon the
edge of the sword, and there was not a man left." The Lord,
who had taken this army, of men that are weak in faith. Barak said, I'll go, but I'm
not going if you don't go. The Lord said, I'm going to deliver
him into your hand. Deborah says, today's the day
that God's going to deliver him. Caesarea is coming. Thinks He's
got him. God Almighty discomfited the people there that oppressed
the nation of Israel. Foiled their attempts. Defeated
them. The Scripture says now, verse
17, until the end of this chapter, verse 24. Let's read what happened. Barak is going to be over here.
And so here he comes. But now, Sisera, who realizes,
I'm losing this war, he fled on foot and he runs to the tent
of where he thinks he's going to be safe. The wife of Heber
the Kenite. For there was peace, the Scripture
says, between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber
the Kenite. 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, unto the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 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. 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?
thou shalt say, Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent,
and took a 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. And behold, as Barak
pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him,
Come, And I will show thee the man whom thou seekest.' And when
he came into her tent, behold, Cicero lay dead, and the nail
was in his temples. So God subdued on that day Jabin
the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. And the hand
of the children of Israel prospered and prevailed against Jabin the
king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan."
Now, in closing, what we see is the false security of those
that resist the Lord. Sisera thought he had a refuge. Sisera, that general that opposed
God's people, thought that he was safe in the tent of Jael,
Heber's wife. Men think that they are safe
hiding in the tent of their own works. Now, I want you to notice,
here was a woman. Now, remember this. The Scripture
says back in Hebrews 11.32, everything that Barak did, he did by faith. You say, boy, I tell you what,
it looked like to me that there was a lot of weakness there.
There was. There sure was. But God Almighty,
looked upon that man in Christ. God Almighty delivered him in
Christ. Sisera, that general, the one
that opposed God and His people. And when you oppose God's people,
you oppose God. It's personal. Saul, Saul. Why persecutest thou me? Who was Saul actually going after?
God's people. But that's God's body. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ body. Let me read something to you. Back in Proverbs, I want to just
read this. I've read this to you before, but let me read this
to you again, talking about this woman. Here was Jael. Now remember
Jael, her husband, Heber. That was Jabin the king's good
buddy. And here's the wife of the man It's good friends to
the enemy of God's people. And that was the woman. That
was the woman. A woman who was the wife of the
husband of the enemy of God's people. This man Sisera, he came to her,
thought he had a friend. Thought he had an ally. Proverbs, let me just read this.
This is talking about false religion. Hebrews, I'll get it right again,
Proverbs 7, verse 6, I looked at the window of my house, I
looked through my casement and beheld among the simple ones,
I discerned among the youth, a young man, void of understanding,
passing through the street near her corner. And he went the way
to her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the black
and dark night. And behold, there met him a woman with the attire
of a harlot, subtle of heart." Now here's a picture of false
religion, false security. Cicero came to that woman, Jael,
and he thought, I've got a friend right here. This woman will hide
me. I've got some security. This
is a refuge. I'm safe. Nothing will happen
to me here. I'm with a friend. Here's false
religion. Verse 11, she's loud and stubborn,
her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without. Now in the
streets, life and weight at every corner. So she caught him and
kissed him. and with impudent face said unto
him, I have peace offerings with me. This day I have paid my vows,
therefore came I forth to meet thee. Diligent to seek thy face,
I found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings,
tapestry, carved works, fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed
my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our
fill of love till the morning. Let us soulless ourselves with
love, for the good man is not at home. He has gone a long journey. He has taken a bag of money with
him. He will come home at the day appointed." And with her
much fair speech, she caused him to yield with the flattering
of her lips. She forced him. He goeth after
her straightway as an ox, goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool
to the correction of stocks, till a dart strike through his
liver, as a bird hasteneth to the snare, and knoweth not that
it is for his life." Here was God's enemy. God's enemy thinks, I'm going
to get God's people. I'm going to get Israel. He comes,
that is Sisera, he comes to what he thought would be his protection. He came to that place that he
thought there would no harm ever come here, but the providence
of Almighty God proved his demise. The overflowing scourge came
through for him that night, and where he thought he was safe.
The Scripture says this woman got him in her tent, gave him
some warm milk, gave him milk. It didn't say warm, it said gave
him some milk. Lay down here. I'll take care
of you." And while that man was fast asleep, she took a tent
spike and put it right through his temples and just nailed him
to the ground. And whenever Barak came, she
said, come here, I'll show you the man that you were after.
Truly, God didn't give Barak the glory for taking down Sisera. But God delivered Sisera into
the hands of His people. Almighty God looked upon this
man, Barak, in Christ and said he did what he did by faith. Oh my, how the Lord is going
to accomplish His purpose. Lord, may we walk in the light
that we have. May we seek Your face. ever looking
unto you, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Truly,
we know our faith is weak, but we know Him and we believe Him.
May the Lord bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.
Amen.