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Judges 4 Devotional

The LORD Who Goes Ahead

“Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.”Judges 4:14 (BSB)

Under Jabin's iron chariots, Israel cries out to the LORD (4:3). His answer comes through Deborah, a prophetess judging Israel, who tells Barak that God will draw Sisera out to the River Kishon and hand him over (4:6-7). Barak will not go unless Deborah goes too, so she warns him the honor will go to a woman (4:8-9). On the day of battle she reminds him that the LORD has gone out ahead of him (4:14), and the LORD himself routs Sisera (4:15).

The hero of this chapter is not Barak or Jael. Barak's courage is borrowed, and Jael wins by welcoming an enemy into her tent and killing him as he sleeps (4:17-21). The chapter's summary: God subdued Jabin (4:23). Yet Hebrews names Barak among those who lived by faith (Hebrews 11:32). His faith was small and hesitant, but it rested on a God who keeps his word. Faith does not have to be impressive to be real. It leans on a God who has already gone ahead.

To think about: What step are you hesitating to take that might look different if you believed God had already gone ahead of you?

About Judges 4: Deborah, Barak, and Jael Defeat Sisera

After Ehud’s death Israel turns to evil, and the LORD hands them over to the Canaanite king Jabin and his commander Sisera. The prophetess Deborah sends Barak to battle, but he will go only if she comes. God routs Sisera’s chariots, Jael kills him in her tent, and Israel presses on until Jabin falls.

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