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Judges 4:14-16
Wow – if you read the story of Deborah, it’s fairly dark and seems so violent. And when we read the New Testament, doesn’t it seem as if God is different? Jesus tells His Disciples this.
John 14:8-10 (NIV) Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
So why is it that it seems as if God is so angry – especially in Judges, and we see the opposite of that in the New Testament? We see God personified through His Son, Jesus Christ. Here’s the thing, God can work through some of the most evil things and bring good.
Judges 4:14-16 (NIV) 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, with ten thousand men following him. At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left. Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.
If you read the rest of the story, Barak indeed does not get credit for routing the armies of Sisera. And he doesn’t get credit for killing Sisera that day. Deborah prophesied that credit would go to a woman. Scholars conclude that this was in response to Barak’s hesitation when Deborah told him to gather up and go – and he wouldn’t unless she went with him.
The honor as Deborah predicted, goes to a woman—but not Deborah herself. As his army is defeated and begins to flee, the general Sisera flees as well. And Jael, the wife of one of Sisera’s allies deceives him until he’s asleep in her tent. Then Jael creeps over and kills him. It is at this point in the story, that the reader looks up and wonders, “Why on earth is something like this in God’s Word?”
Of course that’s not the end of the story. The Bible tells us on that day, in the end it was God that subdued Jabin the King of Canaan. And from that day the hand of the Israelites pressed harder on Jabin until they destroyed him. And we really don’t know what that means other than Jabin is no longer oppressing the nation of Israel.
But who is it that liberated Israel, was it Deborah, Barak, Jael No – it was God. It wasn’t Deborah’s wisdom, Barak’s military might or the actions of Jael, The Bible is very clear that it was God.
So how could God work in such a dark, violent way here. Let’s look back quickly to a story in Genesis where Joseph told his brothers who enslaved him that God worked through their destructive cruel behavior for good.
Genesis 50:20-21 (NIV) You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
It isn’t that evil actions become good, rather it is that God can take the terrible things of this world, the brokenness of this world, and work through them to bring about goodness. And He does all of this, in spite of the things we do. The book of Judges is a good reminder of the God Who is always at work through the most unexpected people and circumstances.
Bring that into today’s societal issues, can God take the entire global mess of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and the societal problems regarding systemic racism, and turn that all around to work in His favor - to bring about good in our lives – you bet He can.