By Andrew Williams – March 11, 2021
Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord . So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord ; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?
Judges 4:1-7 NKJV
INTRODUCTION
In the book of Judges we see that the Israelites lost their way many times and turned away from God. But then after a period of oppression they returned to God. Today on Redirecting Our Focus we will look at one such instance and see what we can learn from this pattern.
WE TURN FROM GOD
When we are left unchecked we turn to our own devices. As humans it is our innate desire to do whatever we choose or whatever we think is right. But we were made by God in His own image to serve Him, and this is what we should do.
In the early history of Israel we see that whenever there were Godly leaders that the people followed God, but when these leaders died the rest of people departed from serving the one true God. In this passage, after Ehud died people started to do what was evil in the sight of God once more. It was then that God allowed them to once again be oppressed by the Canaanites.
I am sure that like many of us who drift away from the Lord that the Israelites were fine for a period of time just living life the way they chose. And for them, just like us, life must have been good for a period of time. I remember the days when I was living a sinful life, totally away from God, and for me I felt pleased within myself. In those times I did not think of God, I didn’t think about the consequences of my actions, or my broken relationship with God.
GOD ALLOWS OPPRESSION SO THAT WE CAN SEE WHAT WE HAVE DONE WRONG
It was only when I started having problems and I couldn’t figure out how to solve them or to get away from them that I started seeking God again. It was in those times when I felt the oppression that I tried to turn from my life of sin and to seek God for help. We see also that when the Israelites were feeling oppressed they called out to God.
It is not God’s desire that we should suffer or be oppressed, but when we move away from serving Him, He allows us to come under oppression so that we can remember how we should live our lives. Oppression sometimes helps us to be less self-centered and more god-centered in our thoughts and in our actions.
In the book of Judges we see how God used oppression periodically to bring His people back to the place where they would seek Him once more. When we find ourselves under oppression let us look to see where we have departed from God, and use this revelation to come back into right relationship with God.
GOD HAS A PLAN OF SALVATION
God has always had a plan and will always have a plan to save us. His purpose for allowing oppression is for us to cry out to Him and to seek Him once more. In the passage we see where God uses the judge Deborah to call on Barak to lead the army that would defeat the Canaanites. When she called him she gave him this word from God, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?”
We may not know the full plan of God, but He’s always preparing things behind the scenes so that at the appointed time everything will be in place to accomplish the plan of salvation that He has.
APPOINTS A SAVIOR
We noticed that the person that God chose to lead the army was Barak. He was the one that was appointed, but, when we read the story in entirety we realize that it was a woman (Jael) who killed Sisera. Unlike some of the other stories in the book of Judges where only one person is mentioned as the “savior”, in this story Deborah, Barack, and Jael were the ones who are mentioned.
It doesn’t matter who got the credit, what is important was that God fulfilled His plan of salvation through them and the people of Israel returned to serving God for a period of time. As we think about how God uses ordinary people to bring others back to Him and to get them out of oppression, my question to you is this: “If God was to give you a role to play in His plan of salvation , what would your response be”?
RESPONDING TO GOD’S PLAN OF/FOR SALVATION.
Man lives in a sinful world but this was not the way that God created it. When man sinned God came up with a plan of salvation so that man could once again fellowship freely with Him. God’s plan was to send His son Jesus to preach the gospel, to die for our sins, and then to present us to God the Father as righteous when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior.
Have you responded to this plan OF salvation? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior? If you haven’t then my question to you right now is: “Will you choose to accept Jesus Christ as the only way to have Fellowship with God the Father?”
If your responses yes, then you are saved! Welcome to the family of God!
If you have already accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and savior and then my question to you is, “have you responded to God’s plan FOR salvation?” You may be thinking what is God’s plan FOR salvation? Well, as disciples of Christ we are commissioned to: “Go and Make disciples of all peoples!”
Are you doing that? Are you telling people about Christ, showing them how to live their lives for God, and teaching them how to make other disciples? We are to continue making disciples who will make disciples, because this is what Jesus commanded us to do. We are called to be part of God’s plan for salvation. Let us live our lives in the way that God designed for us to do. Let us spread the gospel, make disciples, and live our lives in a way that shows others the way of salvation.
PRAYER
Father God, we have all turned away from You at some point in our lives and now we come back to You repenting of this sin. We thank You for never giving up on us and for fulfilling Your plan of salvation. YOU came in human form to save us from our lives of sin, and You have given us the mandate to witness to others. Thank You Lord! Thank You for accepting us when we returned, and help us to lead others back to You. Father God we love You and we surrender our lives to You so that You can use us to fulfil Your will here on earth. Bless us as we continue to bless others in Jesus’ Name, amen.