Judges 4:1-24 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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Deborah, Prophetess and Leader
Comments for Study 4

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Memory Verse: 3:1
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Outline
A MAP OF THE DIVISION OF CANAAN
A MAP OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL
ISRAEL'S HISTORY
ISRAEL'S JUDGES

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I. Deborah Sends for Barak (4:1-10)

>1. What did the third generation do after Joshua died? (1)

* Ruth 4:1 "After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD."

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>How was the Lord's response full of grace and truth? (2)

* Ruth 4:2 "So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim."

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>Compare how long this lasted to the previous two? (3; 3:8, 14)

* Ruth 4:3 "Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help."

* Judges 3:14 "The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years."

* Judges 3:8 "The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years."

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>2. How is Deborah described? (4-5)

* Judges 4:4-5 "Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided."

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* "the wife of Lappidoth"

* "leading Israel at that time"

* "She held court"

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>How did God use her to call Barak? (6-7)

* Ruth 4:6-7 "She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: "Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'"

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>How is this different than the previous two times? (3:10, 15)

* Judges 3:10 "The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him."

* Judges 3:15 "Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer--Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab."

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>What can we learn about the Lord's work with Israel despite their tendency to sin?

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>3. How did Barak respond? (8)

* Judges 4:8 "Barak said to her, 'If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."

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>What can be learned from Deborah's response? (9-10)

* Judges 4:9-10 "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, 10 where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him."

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II. The Lord Has Given Sisera Into Your Hands (4:11-16)

>4. Who were the Kenites? (11)

* Judges 4:11 "Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh."

* Genesis 15:18-21 "On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-- the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

* Numbers 10:29-32 "Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel." He answered, "No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people." But Moses said, "Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes. If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.""

* Numbers 24:21-22 "Then he saw the Kenites and uttered his oracle: "Your dwelling place is secure, your nest is set in a rock; yet you Kenites will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive."

* "Hobab" - Hobab is personal name meaning, "beloved" or "cunning." Father-in-law of Moses (Num. 10:29; Judg. 4:11). Some uncertainty exists concerning the identity of Moses' father-in-law. Jethro (Ex. 3:1; 18:2) and Reuel (Ex. 2:16) are also given as names for the father-in-law of the great lawgiver. Several explanations have been offered. Some say different groups within Israel handed down the story of Moses in oral tradition with different names for his father-in-law. Others say Reuel and Jethro were different names for the same person, while Hobab was the son of Reuel or Raguel (Num. 10:29) and thus the brother-in-law of Moses. Others say that the Hebrew term for father-in-law really has the more general meaning of "related by marriage." Moses urged Hobab to accompany the Israelites through the wilderness as a guide. (Holman Bible Dictionary)

* "Kenite" -Kenite is the name of a tribe meaning "smith." They were nomadic and probably blacksmiths. They originally lived in and around the land of the Kadmonites and Kenizzites before and during the time of the Exodus and later in the southeastern hill country of Judah. The Kenites "showed kindness" to Israel during the time of the Exodus (1 Sam. 15:6). Moses' father-in-law is called a "priest of Midian" (Ex. 3:1) and is described as a Kenite (Judg. 1:16). This association suggests a close relationship between the Kenites and Midianites. The Kenites lived among the Amalekites during the time of Saul. The chronicler includes the Kenite, Hemath, the father of the Rechabites, as one of the ancestors of the tribe of Judah (1 Chron. 2:55). No mention is made of the Kenites in the late history of Israel suggesting to many scholars that they disappeared from the area or lost their identity shortly after 1000 B.C. Traveling blacksmiths of the Middle Ages resembled the Kenites and continued relations with different peoples. In addition to their nomadic character, the biblical evidence also indicates that the Kenites were never completely absorbed by another people but maintained a separate existence throughout their history.

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>What had they become? (12-13)

* Judges 4:12-13 "When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River."

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>5. How did the battle go? (14)

* Judges 4:14 "Then Deborah said to Barak, 'Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?" So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men."

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>How does this show a common way the Lord works on behalf of his people?

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>6. Did Barak stop when the enemy fled? (15-16)

* Judges 4:15-16 "At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left."

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>When the Lord is blessing our labors for the advancement of the gospel what can we learn from Barak? (2 Cor. 10:2-6)

* 2 Corinthians 10:2-6 "I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete."

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>What can be learned about the Lord who was with Barak? (Isaiah 40:28-31)

* Isaiah 40:28-31 "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

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III. God Subdued Jabin (4:17-24)

>7. Where did Sisera try to hide? (17)

* Judges 4:17 "Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite."

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>What did Jael do? (18)

* Judges 4:18 "Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my lord, come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him."

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>Why might she give him milk? (19)

* Judges 4:19 "I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up."

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>8. Did Sisera feel secure? (20)

* Judges 4:20 "Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, "Is anyone here?" say "No.""

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>What did Jael do when Sisera fell asleep? (21)

* Judges 4:21 "But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died."

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>9. What did Jael show Barak? (22)

* Judges 4:22 "Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple-dead."

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>How was this a fulfilment of Deborah's words? (9a)

* Judges 4:9a "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman."

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>What can we learn about living by faith? (2 Cor. 5:6-10)

* 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 "Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."

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>10. Who had granted victory to Israel? (22-24)

* Judges 4:23-24 "On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him."

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>What should we remember as we fight the spiritual fight? (John 14:15-21)

* John 14:15-21 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

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