I don't know how to pronounce
Barack or Barack. I'm not sure which it is. So
I might go back and forth. I asked Lynn if she knew and
she didn't. At any rate, the writer to the
Hebrews uses this man to give us an illustration of faith. Judges chapter four. Verse 1, and the children of Israel again
did evil in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead. And we know what that evil was
specifically in the song of Deborah in chapter 5, verse 8, it says,
they chose new gods. Idolatry. They chose new gods. Something that the children of
Israel fell into over and over and over again. Idolatry. They chose new gods. I think of the last warning of
John in his first epistle, Little Children. Keep yourselves from
idols. False conceptions. of the living
God. So in Judges chapter 4 verse
1, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the
Lord. Isn't that sad? They had enjoyed 80 years of
prosperity. You can read about that in the
previous chapter. 80 years of prosperity. And it's
so sad that prosperity has a tendency to harden the heart. Everything's
good. Everything's fine. We're okay. And they did evil in the sight
of the Lord. Verse 2, And the Lord sold them into the
hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor, the captain
of whose host was Caesara, which dwelt in Herosheth of the Gentiles. Now, verse 3, and the children
of Israel cried unto the Lord, for he had nine hundred chariots
of iron. And this was quite a formidable
army. And twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
Now, for a twenty year period, they were under oppression from
this king. And go into chapter 5 for just
a moment, we give some idea of what was going on in their nation.
Verse 6, this is Deborah talking about what happened before she
began judging Israel. Now, you can't talk about Barak
without talking about Deborah. Deborah was the judge of Israel.
Lynn asked me, why was a woman a judge of Israel? I don't know,
but she was. And she was a good judge, and
the Lord blessed her in her reign and in her rule. I don't understand.
Esther, at one time, was the leader of Israel. This was somebody
the Lord used, a wonderful woman by the name of Deborah. And we're
going to see how special she was when we read the Song of
Deborah, when we read about what she did during this time. But
look at verse 6 of chapter 5. In the days of Shamgar, the son
of Anath, in the days of Jael, This is his 20-year period. The
highways were unoccupied and the travelers walked through
byways. The inhabitants of the villages ceased, and they ceased
in Israel until I, Deborah, rose, that I rose a mother in Israel.
They chose new gods. Then was war in the gates. Was
there a shield or spear among the 40,000 in Israel? No, there
wasn't. Highways were unoccupied. There
was no commerce. There were financial problems. No travelers walked the roads
because robbers prevailed. Crime prevailed in Israel at
this time. There was no farming. No food. The inhabitants did nothing.
The inhabitants ceased. That means they didn't have anything
to do. Unemployment. Does that sound something like
today? What was going on at this time? There was no justice going
on in the government until Deborah arose. Corruption in the government. And they lost the ability to
fight. Their military was powerless. And the nation was in trouble
under these 20 years of Cicero's putting them down. Verse 3, And
the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. Would to God somebody do that
even now? To cry unto the Lord. It makes me so sad in reading
judges how often this happened that they grow hard, they get
in trouble, and they cry to the Lord. Why do we have to get in
trouble to cry to the Lord? Why can't we just do it right
now? Right now. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Does it take trouble? It shouldn't.
But that's the way we are. Trouble causes us to cry, just
like it caused them to cry unto the Lord. Verse four. And Deborah,
a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm
tree of Deborah between Ramal and Bethel in Mount Ephraim.
And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. After crying to the Lord, they
came to her for counsel. Evidently, that was the direction
he gave them. Verse 6, And she sent and called
Barak, or Barak. Does anybody know how to pronounce
that? I don't want to fight with that. What's that little thing mean? Anybody
know? Okay, I'll call him Barak. Barak. And she sent and called Barak,
the son of Obenoim, and of Kedesh Naphtali, and said unto him,
Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded? And that word commanded
is sometimes translated ordained or decreed. hath not the Lord
God of Israel ordained, saying, Go and draw toward Tabor, and
take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali,
and the children of Zebulun, and I will draw unto thee to
the river of Kygostion Caesare." He was the general over those
900 chariots. The captain of Jabin's army with
his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into their
hands. Now we're introduced to this
man, Barak. His name means Thunderbolt. Deborah says, God has commanded
you to go to Mount Tabor. And he says, I will withdraw
Jabin's army there. Now, I love thinking about this,
the language of the scripture. It's glorious. When Jabin went
there, he didn't know God was drawing him, did he? He went
there because he wanted to destroy Israel. He wanted to wipe them
out. He thought he could do it. And he had no idea that he was
being drawn by the Lord. He was. But he didn't know it.
He thought he was doing exactly what he wanted to do. As a matter
of fact, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do. Exactly
what he wanted to do. But he was being drawn by the
Lord. The Lord was drawing him in to destroy him. And he didn't
know it. But what this reminds me of is
that the Lord is behind the scenes of everything. controlling everything. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord
was drawing him. He didn't know it, but the Lord
was drawing him. Verse 8, And Barak said unto
her, after she told him this, If thou wilt go with me, then
I'll go. But if thou wilt not go with
me, then I'll not go. Don't know why he said, I won't
go if you don't go, although the Lord's commanded you to do
it. But I do know this. I see the gospel in this passage
of scripture. I don't want to go anywhere without
Christ. Do you? I don't want to go anywhere without his word.
I want to be with him wherever he goes. That's where I want
to be. And if he doesn't go, I don't want to go either. I
simply want to be with him at all times. Verse 9, 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 into the hand of a woman. And
Deborah rose and went with Barak to Kedesh. Now, I see the gospel
here. The Lord says to This man, you're
going to go. He speaks through Deborah. You're
going to go and you're going to deliver the people and you're
not going to get any glory in it. Not a bit. As a matter of
fact, he's going to deliver this man by the hand of a woman. As
we go on reading in this passage of scripture, we'll see what
took place. But he said, you're going to be used for this deliverance,
but you're not going to get any glory in it. We're saved by the
grace of God in such a way as we don't get any glory or honor
in it. Does that bother you? That doesn't
bother me in the least. I'm glad it's that way. I love
for Christ getting all the glory, because I know this, I don't
have any glory coming to me. I'm just as sure of that as I'm
a foot and a half high when I'm speaking to you. I've got no
glory coming to me. All glory goes to Him. Now, Deborah
says to Barak, you're going to win. God's going to do this for
you, but it's going to be in such a way that you won't get
any glory. Verse 10, And Barak called Zebulun,
Now remember, look back in verse 4, or verse 6, I'm sorry, verse 6. And she sent and called Barak,
the son of Abednum, out of Kadesh, Naphtali, and said unto him,
Hath not the Lord God of Israel ordained, commanded, decreed,
saying, Go and draw toward Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten
thousand men of the children of Naphtali and the children
of Zebulun? Now God decreed ten thousand
people out of these two tribes will be brought up to win this
battle for you. This was all a part of God's
purpose. So now, Barak goes to Zebulun and Naphtali, and he
calls for 10,000 men. He calls upon for a volunteer
army. Now, God's army is the only army
in which all of its members are drafted, in which all of its
members are volunteered. Volunteers. I think that's glorious. I'm drafted. I'm drafted by irresistible,
invincible grace. I'm brought into the kingdom
of heaven. I'm drafted. It's a work of His sovereign
grace. I know that so. I'm drafted. And I'm a volunteer. I'm a volunteer. We know these
people were willing because look what chapter 5 says. Verse 2. Praise ye the Lord for the avenging
of Israel when the people willingly offered themselves. These 10,000
people willingly offered themselves. Now, they were drafted. And the
only reason they willingly offered themselves is because they were
drafted, but they willingly offered themselves. They did what they
wanted to do. You know, people do what they
want to do. You know, I had something in my notes and I said, you know,
a lot of times I do things I don't want to do. And I thought, that's
not so. Everything I do is what I want to do, neither more nor
less. I'm willing in that sense. The Lord has made me willing. And this is part of the glory
of the gospel. Salvation is by His sovereign
grace. He constrains us. He causes us. He causes us to
believe. He causes us to repent. He causes us to love Him. And
He does it in such a way that we do it because we want to.
God forces us to be willing. I love that. Only the Lord God
could do that. No man could do that. I can't
make you willing to do anything. You can't make me willing. But
God can, and God does. This is part of the great mystery
of the Gospel. He makes people willing. They
willingly offered themselves. Psalm 110.3 says, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. And how does God view
those who are not willing? Look in chapter 5, verse 23. Now, there were some people who
were called upon and didn't come. Curse ye, Meroes, said the angel
of the Lord. Curse ye bitterly, it happens
there, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the
help of the Lord against the mighty. Now, it's not like the
Lord needed their help. The Lord doesn't need me. He
doesn't need you. We need him. But what a horrible
thing it is for us to not to be called upon to the help, whatever
that means, and to not do it. And he said, cursed be those
people who would not come. Now, willingness is of God. You know that, don't you? And
unwillingness is wicked. That's all you can call it. Willingness is the gift of God.
We looked at that. I love that Sunday in Bible study
this morning where where it says it's God that work within you.
Both the will and to do of his good pleasure. Now, let's go
on reading Judges chapter four, he calls upon this army. Verse 10, and Barak called Zebulun
and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he went up with 10,000 men at his
feet, and Deborah went up with him. 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 toward the
plain of Zionim, which is by Kedesh. And they showed Sisera
that Barak, the son of Abednaman, 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 for heresy of the
Gentiles unto the river Chisholm. Remember, God said, I'll draw
him here. He didn't know he was being drawn
by God. He thought he was going there to kill all the Israelites.
But he was going there to be slain himself. God was in control
of all this, and he was drawing him in. Verse 14, I love this
verse. And Deborah said unto Barak, Up, for this is the day. in which the Lord hath delivered,
not he will deliver, but he hath delivered Caesara into thine
hand. Is not the Lord gone out before
thee? So Barak went down from Mount Tamar, and ten thousand
men after him." Now, she says, the Lord hath delivered. And you know, every time I think
about this, it thrills me. The Lord has delivered me. It's not something that is going
to be done. It's something that's already
been done. My salvation is already accomplished. There's nothing I can do to mess
it up. There's nothing I can do to lose it. There's nothing
I can do to lessen its effects. It's already accomplished. The
Lord hath delivered me to this extent. This is how much I'm
already delivered. This is true of every believer.
This is how much we're already delivered. We're already delivered
to this extent. I'm already glorified. I'm already
glorified. I'm already in heaven. Scripture says we're seated together
in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6.
I'm already there. That's how secure I am. Whom
He justified, then He also glorified. Not He will glorify, but He's
already done it. My salvation is completely accomplished. It's what He has done. And that
just takes all the pressure off. I'll get so stressed out about
myself, and then, oh, what a blessing it is to know I've already been
saved. Completely, finally, absolutely,
he hath delivered them into your hand. And he said, I love this,
he said, Deborah said unto Barak, up, for this is the day which
the Lord hath delivered Caesar into thine hand. Is not the Lord
gone out before thee? What a blessed thought. The Lord
Jesus Christ has gone out before thee. He went out before you
in the covenant when He agreed to be your surety. He went out
before you. He went out before you before
God's law when He kept the law for you. He went out before you
when God's justice had to be satisfied against sin, when He
was made the sin-bearing substitute. He went out before you when He
ascended back to heaven and brought you with Him. He goes out before
us on Judgment Day when He stands before God and represents me. And when my name is called, He
says, He's here. He's here. He goes out before
us. Isn't that wonderful? He's already
accomplished salvation, and He goes out before us. And I think this is glorious.
In verse 14, once again, Deborah said unto Barak, Up! For this
is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Caesaree into
thine hand. Is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went
down from Mount Tabor, and the ten thousand men after him. Go
up! He went down. Remember, the way
up in the kingdom of heaven is always down. Go up! He went down. Go up. The only way I know to
go is down. Down at the feet of the Lord
Jesus Christ as a sinner needing his mercy, as a sinner needing
his grace. Down. And that is a trip up. If I try to go up, it's wrong. The way up in the kingdom of
heaven is down, down, down at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse 15. And the Lord discomfited Caesara
and all his chariots and all his hosts with the edge of the
sword before Barak. Evidently all Barak was doing
was watching. It doesn't say that his sword was destroying
these people. He was just watching while the
Lord did all this. And isn't that what salvation
is? It's us watching what he does. Salvation, you know, I've heard
people say salvation is not a spectator sport. Well, I beg to differ. It is. It is. We watch what he
did. Now, when he wins, we win. But
we watch what he did. He just simply watched as the
Lord defeated these hosts. The Lord disconfitted Caesar
and all his chariots and all his hosts with the edge of the
sword before Barak. All Barak did was watch so that
Caesar lighted down off his chariot and fled away on his feet. The
Lord destroyed them for them. That's what salvation is. The
Lord winning for us. Verse 16. Barak pursued after the chariots
and after the host, unto Herosheth of the Gentiles, and all the
host of Sesherah fell upon the edge of the sword, and there
was not a man left." Now, regarding this thing of salvation, there's not a sin left. There's not a trouble left. All
my sin has been put away. There is not one left. There's
pardon for the sins of past. It matters not how black they're
cast. And, oh, my soul, with wonder
of you, for sins to come, here's pardon too. There remains not
one of them complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. There was not a
man left. Howbeit, verse 17, Cicero fled
away on his feet to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the
Kenite. For there was peace between Jabin,
the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael
went out to meet Sesera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord,
turn in to me, fear not. And when he had turned in unto
her, into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 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. And 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? But thou
shalt say, No. 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 unto the ground. For he was fast asleep and weary,
so he died. And behold, as Barak pursued
Caesara, 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, Caesara 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 destroyed Jabin. King of Canaan. Chapter 5. Then sang Deborah and Barak,
the son of Abinoam, on that day saying, now this is what's known
as the Song of Deborah, the Song of Barak, and it's so beautiful.
Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel when the people willingly
offered themselves. Hear, O ye kings, Give ear, O
ye princes, I, even I, will sing unto the Lord. I will sing praise
to the Lord God of Israel. Lord, when thou wentest out of
Seir, when thou marchest out of the field of Edom, the earth
trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped waters,
the mountains melted from before the Lord, even the Sinai from
before the Lord God of Israel. In the days of Shamgar, the son
of Anath, in the days of Jael, This is what it was before you
delivered us. The highways were unoccupied and the travelers
walked through byways. The inhabitants of the villages
ceased. They ceased in Israel until that I, Deborah, rose.
I rose a mother in Israel. They chose new gods. Then was
war in the gates. Was there a shield or a spear
among the 40,000 in Israel? My heart is toward the governors
of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the people. Well, I want that to be me and
you, don't you? I want to be somebody who offers myself, body
and soul, willingly to Him. He says, Bless ye the Lord. Speak ye, verse 10, that ride
on white asses, ye that sit in judgment and walk by the way.
They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places
of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts
of the Lord, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of
the villages in Israel. Then shall the people of the
Lord go down to the gates." Now, when I thought about that, when
I thought about that verse, I thought, there's gospel preaching. We're rehearsing
the righteous acts of God. Now, you can put righteous before
everything He does. When we talk about grace, I love
to think of the freeness of His grace. That's where a sinner
has hope. That's where a sinner can find some comfort. But do
you know it's altogether righteous? His grace is a righteous grace.
It doesn't make sin okay. It doesn't leave sin unpunished.
It's righteous. Sin is punished, and I'm saved
in such a way. Yes, my salvation magnifies the
mercy of God. My salvation magnifies the grace
of God, but my salvation magnifies the righteousness of God and
the justice of God. I don't have any sin. That's
what His grace does. It's altogether righteous. It
makes everybody that He saves altogether righteous. Nothing
to be ashamed of. Nothing to be afraid of. And
in preaching the gospel, aren't we rehearsing the righteous acts? of God. Everything he did, everything
he does, is altogether righteous. And he saves us in such a way
as honors his righteousness and makes us righteous before him.
We are rehearsing the righteous acts of God. Verse 12, Awake,
awake, Deborah, awake, awake, utter a song, arise, Barak, and
leave thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. Wake up! That's what he's saying. Wake
up. Satan's saying that to himself. Wake up. Awake, Barack. Don't
we continually need to wake ourselves up? Awake, my soul. Verse 13. Then he made him that
remaineth had dominion over the nobles among the people. The
Lord made me have dominion over the mighty. This is what the
Lord does. I understand completely. This is what the Lord caused
to happen. Salvation is what he made me. Ad of Ephraim was
their root of them against Amalek. After thee, Benjamin, among the
people, Ad of Macher came down governors, and Ad of Zebulun,
they that handled the pen of the rider, they came willingly,
and the princes of Issachar were with Deborah, even Issachar,
and also Barak they sent on foot into the valley for the divisions
of Reuben. They were great thoughts of heart."
or impressions. Now he's talking about Reuben.
Reuben, why abode a sow among the sheepfold? To hear the bleedings
of the lots. Evidently Reuben said, we can't go help. We can't
go help. We need to watch the sheep. He
says, why did you do that? For the divisions room and there
were great searchings of heart. They had a reason for justifying
what they did. Gilead abode beyond Jordan. And why did Dan remain in ships?
And Asher continued in the seashore and abode in his breeches. These
all are mentioned people who did not come to this battle.
Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives under
the death in the high places of the field. They did what they
did willingly. They did what they did because
they wanted to, and they jeoparded their lives, and that speaks
of them. The kings came and fought. Then
fought the kings of Canaan and Tainak by the waters of Megiddo,
and they took no gain of money. They were not mercenary. They
fought from heaven. The stars and their horses fought
against Caesarea. You know, the Lord was fighting.
The stars were fighting against them. The river of Cushon swept
them away. The ancient river, the river
Cushon. Oh, my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. Then were
the horses broken by the means of the prancings, the prancings
of their mighty ones. The Lord was mightier than them.
Curse ye, Meroes, said the angel of the Lord. Curse ye, Bitterly
the inhabitants there because they came not to the help of
the Lord to the help of the Lord against the mighty once again
I want to be volunteer. Don't you I? Don't want to be
one of these people that he curses here. I want to be someone who
willingly offers myself Lord make me willing in the day of
thy power Lord caused me to be willing Lord turn me caused me
continually to be willing Now he says in verse 24 blessed above
women should JL the wife of Heber the Kenite be I? Blessed shall
she be above women in the tent. He asked for water, and she gave
him milk. She brought forth butter and a lordly dish. She put her
hand to the nail and her right hand to the workman's hammer,
and with the hammer she smote Sisera. She smote off his head
when she pierced him stricken through the temples. At her feet
he bowed, he fell, he lay down. At her feet he bowed, he fell
where he bowed. There he fell down dead. The mother of Caesarea
looked out a window and cried through the lattice, Why is this
chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
Her wise ladies answered her. Yea, she returned to answer to
herself. Have they not sped? Have they not divided the prey?
To every man a damsel or two. To Caesarea, a prey of divers
collars, a prey of divers collars of needlework, of divers collars
of needlework on both sides. Meet for the necks of them that
take the spoils. They didn't know he was dead. So let all
thine enemies perish, O Lord. But let them that love Him. This is the person I want to
be. I want to be somebody who actually loves the living God. And I do love the living God. I don't love Him like I ought
to. And I'm ashamed of my love. It's not what it ought to be.
There's no question about that. And you think the same thing
about yourself. I know you do. But I do love him. Like Peter
said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Now, this is the description
of a believer. They love the Lord. You know,
we love him for who he is, don't we? We love Him as He's revealed
in His Word. We love His justice. We love
His holiness. We love His sovereignty. We love
His wisdom. We love every one of His attributes.
We love Him just as He is. Now, He says, O Lord, let them
that love Him be as the Son when He goeth forth in His might. Now, that is very strong imagery. be as the sun going in its might,
but if I'm in Christ, that's not an exaggeration. I am as the sun going in its
might. You know, the Lord said that
we'll shine as the sun in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father.
This describes every believer. We shine as the sun in our might,
the might He gives, and the land had rest forty years. Now, what about this fellow Barak? What was his faith? You know, it's so simple. Deborah
said, the Lord is going to draw Caesaree to you, and the Lord
is going to defeat him for you. You know what Brack did? He believed. He simply believed what God said. And God delivered this mighty
army into his hand. And God defeated this army for
him. And he did it in a way where
he didn't get any glory. The Caesarea was defeated by
a woman. He said, this is not going to
be for your honor. But I don't believe that bothered Barak a
bit. He was glad it was that way,
and would to God that you and I can imitate the faith of this
man, trusting the Lord, winning my battle for me. One final scripture
turned to Isaiah 40, a very familiar scripture. Verse 1, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God, speaking comfortably to Jerusalem, and crying to her,
that her warfare is accomplished. that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Praise the Lord. Let's pray.