In one of the numerous biographies of A.B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, his time as a seminary student is described. Simpson would write about the other men going to school to become pastors. From his writings, the majority of those entering into vocational ministry were doing so because of the prestige it brought to themselves or their family, or as an easy job. Few were actually called to the work of leading a local church.
A few years ago I was talking to an older pastor who had transitioned from back east to out west. He brought up his son, who at the time, had just quit his position of Children’s Pastor. The older pastor said how it was never a good fit for his son and he was almost forced into the position by a friend of his, simply due to his son’s extroverted and charismatic personality. I mentioned that it sounded like he might not have been called to the pastorate. The older pastor paused and said, I think you’re right.
As we looked for a pastor here, in the last four years, we have received over two-hundred applications. Discounting those applications from outside of the US, I would say 80-90% of those who applied did not seem to be called to vocational ministry, because their desire was to run a youth program, or a rec center.
A calling for ministry is something that God places on an individual’s life. It’s a call to love God’s Church as he himself does. A calling of vocational ministry in a pastor’s position, is not merely a job, it’s a life given up to God for his purposes of showing his people, his Bride, sacrificial love.
But God doesn’t just call people to vocational ministry, he calls them to all sorts of things. Teachers of the next generation, presidents, and kings, family men, and stay at home moms. The calling of God, is where the obedience of God’s people meet the gifting of God, with the purposes of God in view. And its when people meet God at this intersection, a job becomes more than a job, it becomes a calling.
And it’s this idea of calling that brings us back into our summer series where we will be picking up in the book of Judges, chapter 4, starting in verse 1. As we open up to Judges 4:1, lets see where we are so far in our summer study.
The first week we talked about the introduction to the book of Judges and how it was unique to this writing. The introduction sets up the overall theme of Judges, which is that though Israel turns their back on God, God doesn’t turn his back on them. This book then becomes a microcosm of the whole story of the Scriptures, in which, though humanity turns their back on God, God pursues humanity, because God is faithful, though we are not.
In addition to the overall theme, chapters 1 and 2 set up the spiraling down cycle of Judges. Israel sins, they experience the consequences of that sin in subjugation, they repent of what they have done and turn back to God, God acts in a saving way by raising up a judge to overthrow their captivity, and the people experience a time of rest.
This then leads us into the first section where we saw the good judges of the book. Othniel is the ideal, while Ehud and Shamgar are right up there with him. These three are seen as doing what is good in the sight of the Lord. They walk in obedience and give the glory to God who achieves the victories. This is God’s desire for us as well. He desires that we are people who walk in obedience to his word, utilizing the gifts he has given us for his work.
With the good judges established, we begin to see the cracks of the judges’ role show. That’s where we pick up in the book of Judges 4:1.
“1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.
“4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.
“6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, ‘Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘“Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand?”’ 8 Barak said to her, 'If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.’ 9 And she said, ‘I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.’ Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.
“11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
“12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, ‘Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?’ So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
“17 But Sisera fled away on foot 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. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, ‘Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.’ So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, ‘Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.’ So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, ‘Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, “Is anyone here?” say, “No.”’ 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, ‘Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.’ So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.”
“23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
From verse 1, we see that the cycle begins with the death of Ehud. From Israel’s disobedience a new king arises from the Canaanite people; people who were not driven out as the Lord Commanded. This follows the sin cycle and those who God uses to correct his people. From the first three stories of the cycle, we see that the first king we saw was a foreigner, the second king was a relative, this third king was a consequence of their own design. The first two kings came from beyond their borders, but this one is one that should have been defeated even before he could take a crown. But this king is stronger than the ones before. He is using modern weaponry, making chariots with iron. And with those advanced weapons, the king oppresses Israel.
But how long did it take for Israel to turn back to God? Twenty years. Twenty years they allowed their sin to keep them in bondage before they turned back to God. But though it took them so long, God was already implementing his saving work.
It’s in verse 4 that Deborah is introduced. Now Deborah is the only female judge we’re given, but she is also the only judge who’s judging is qualified. Her introduction as a judge is different than the others because she seems to already be in the role before the people cry out. In addition, she does not fulfill the military role of a judge that we have seen so far and will see for the rest of the book.
Instead her role seems to be less of a judge in the sense of the rest of the judges of the book, and more in the role of prophetess and counselor. She is judging disputes, but not on a macro level. Yet, her wisdom and role as a prophetess seems to carry a lot of weight, and seems to be the focal point of her role in this story.
And it’s here that I think we need to make an observation, especially where we are in our culture. I think this story gets misused in applying it to other facets of Scripture. Woman as prophetess are not exceptions in the Bible. This was a vital role that several women are said to have taken. Miriam in Exodus 15:20, the unnamed women in Isaiah 8:3, Huldah in 2 Kings 22:14, and Anna in Matthew 2:36, just to name a few. Women fulfilling the role of prophet shouldn’t surprise us since at Pentecost, when the Church received the Holy Spirit, Peter quotes from the prophet Joel, “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dream…(Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28-32)’”
So Deborah is fulfilling God’s calling on her life. But the calling of a prophet does not mean that a person has free reign over all other aspects. In fact, though Deborah is a prophetess and though she does judge disputes, she is not called to be a judge the same way that Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, and even Barak are. Her calling is different than the other judges, to where a judge in this book is called to military work and overall leading. Deborah doesn’t fulfill this role, though without her fulling her calling as a prophetess, Barak would not have fulfilled his calling.
In addition, I have had it said to me that Deborah’s story shows us that if a man won’t do what God calls him to do, then God will raise up a woman. That’s not what’s going on in the text. First, if we’re thinking God is raising up Deborah over Barak, we’re wrong, God already raised up Deborah before Barak was called and she was fulfilling that calling. Second, even though she goes with Barak, Deborah never takes the role of military judge. Finally, she isn’t the woman who gets the final glory of victory anyways, that’s someone else.
Instead of making Deborah something she’s not, let’s thank God for the faithful woman of God she is. Because we see that she is faithful in her calling of prophetess when she summons, not requests, Barak’s presence. She is faithful in her calling of prophetess when she nails Barak for knowing that God has called him to judge Israel, and yet he has not done so. She is faithful in her calling as a prophetess when she tells Barak that the glory God was going to bring about through him, would now shift to someone else. And she was faithful in her calling of a prophetess when she went to the battlefield and counseled Barak when to attack.
Deborah is used in our modern day conversation of women in ministry as an example to say that woman should be elders in the local church. Without getting into that discussion and not caring at this moment where someone falls on that argument, Deborah’s role here is not comparable to an elder of a local church. The role of a prophet/prophetess is also not comparable to the role of elder in a local church. In fact the judge role in general is not comparable to the role of elder in the local church. It’s apples to oranges. Let’s not use Deborah as a pawn in the discussion of women in ministry and, in my estimation, diminishing her role in Scripture. Instead, let’s see Deborah as who she is. Deborah is a woman fulfilling the calling that God brought her to, not because a man didn’t walk in his calling, but because she was faithful even before this situation.
That being said, let’s talk about Barak. Barak is considered by Scripture to be the judge in this situation. 1 Samuel 12:11 reads, “And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.” And Hebrews 11:32 reads, “32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets…” Both these passages attribute the role of judge to Barak, whereas after chapters 4 and 5 in Judges, Deborah is never again mentioned in the whole of Scripture.
But its with Barak where we start seeing the cracks in the judges’ role. Othniel, Ehud and Shamgar are the good judges that do what they’re called to. But Barak disobeyed God’s calling not once, but twice. And then, though the prophetess calls him out on it and tells him directly that God is guaranteeing a victory here, Barak will only go forward if the representative for God, Deborah, is right by his side. As I think about Barak, he’s very similar to Jonah. Both were called to a task, both disobeyed and choose not to go where God wanted them.
It’s because of Barak’s repeated rejection of God’s call, that Deborah tells him that he won’t get the glory that God intended for him, and instead that glory is going to go to a woman. It’s a shot at Barak’s ego that not only will he not get glory here, but that someone who, culturally speaking, shouldn’t even be on the battlefield, a woman, will win the greatest victory of the day.
It’s here that we see who the woman is that receives the glory that God had in store for Barak. Jael, like Ehud last week, is an unsuspecting hero. In comparison to Barak who had to be convinced twice and had to have his hand held in order to do what God called him to. Jael is put into a position where she takes the opportunity that is afforded her. This is without any instruction.
Like most women of her day, she’s not on the battlefield, but when the battle comes to her, she takes action. That shows a lot of difference between the typical warrior Barak who is hesitant to follow God even after all the calls, and the housewife who does it without any prompting. She places a rug on Sisera, which after running from a war zone isn’t the best thing to put on someone if you tend to help them. She gives him milk when he asked for water, which against isn’t the best for someone who is overheated. Both these actions lead to Sisera to fall asleep and gives Jael the opportunity to strike. Her intelligence in dealing with this enemy of Israel is on full display.
So the glory of the victory moves away from Barak, the chosen judge, to Jael the housewife. In the song that follows in chapter 5, not only is Jael given the place of triumph in verses 24-27, she is also connected in verse 6 to Shamgar, one of the good judges. Though she doesn’t get a lot of the attention in the two chapters, her place in them and what is said of her, fulfills the words of Deborah that a woman would receive the glory from God.
Once God’s saving work is fulfilled, we’re told that the land then receives forty years of rest.
This brings us to what God is desiring us to understand today. There’s two points of the passage. First, is the obedient aspect. The judges before Barak were obedient to God’s calling, and because of their obedience, God used them to bring about his glory, in turn they benefited as well. Barak stands in contrast to that. He purposefully rejected God, choosing sinful disobedience over righteous obedience. God still used him to achieve his goals, like he did with the begrudging Jonah, because God’s plans will always come to flourish, even when defied by sinful man.
But God’s desire is that we choose obedience. It’s from the foundation of the world, that God builds a universe in which he can interact with his creation for the very reason of his own pleasure (Colossians 1:16). When we are obedient, the blessings of God from that obedience flow on us. God intended that to happen to Barak. But when Barak rejected walking in obedience, though he eventually did do what God called him to, the blessings fell on Jael instead.
God’s desire is that we experience his blessings, how do we do that? Through obedience. It’s not about being perfect in obedience, or being able to do more than what is asked of us. No, it’s about walking in trust, doing what God calls us to. It’s Isaiah’s response in Isaiah 6:8, “Here I am! Send me.” Deborah and Jael did just that, and they are inshrined in Scripture as faithful women of God.
God is calling us to his blessings, not because we earn it through obedience, but because our Father wants to lavish on those who return his love. This returning of love is shown through our actions of obedience. And when we are obedient, God is glorified, and through that, God brings his blessings upon us in ways that go beyond the prizes of this world, with its fading treasures. God blesses us with eternal treasures, that even now our beyond our wildest imaginations.
So my challenge for you this week is this, re-read chapter 4 and all of chapter 5. Then seek God’s calling on your life. Spend time in prayer with the Holy Spirit in seeking what God wants from you in this time of your life. If you’re retired, what does God want to do through you in your retirement? Maybe you’re a teen, what does God want to do through your teenage years? Maybe you’re struggling financially, or relationally, physical, mentally, spiritually, what is God wanting to do through you, during this time.
The blessings of God come in many victories, let us seek to live obedient lives, not for the blessings in and of themselves, but for the God whom we love and who’s calling we desire to fulfill. Amen.
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