HERE I AM LORD, SEND ME
Judges 4:1-10
DISOBEDIENCE
HAS CONSEQUENCES
V:1-3. After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil
in the eyes of the Lord.
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.
3 Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly
oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.
A. A pattern of disobedience is evident in this passage.
1. While Ehud, a judge of Israel
was living, the people followed the Lord's
commands.
2. After Ehud died,
Israel returned
to their evil ways.
3. Man left to
himself will fail before God.
4. We need the
government of the Lord to keep us on the road to heaven.
5. God never
abandons us, but He chastises us because of His love.
GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
B. To give us some comfort in the accuracy of the Bible, God
always includes
names, times and
places which we can verify in our history books.
1. These first three
verses set the stage for Israel 's
cry for help from God.
2. Their
disobedience was the cause of their trouble.
3. Their
disobedience cause God to choose an enemy to punish them.
4. The lesson here,
is God sometimes uses evil means to show us our
evil behavior
and bring us to our knees.
5. God may use evil
means to draw us back to Him.
C. God gives us time in our misery to correct our behavior.
1. God used Jabin
to oppressed Israel
for twenty years.
2. God used Laban to oppress Jacob the patriarch of
their family
for twenty years to bring him to his right mind 600 years earlier.
GOD HAS WILLING SERVANTS
V:4-5. " Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth,
was leading Israel
at that time.
5 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. "
A. God selects good leaders to direct His people.
1. Deborah was a
servant of the Lord.
2. Deborah listen
to the Word of the Lord.
3. Deborah was
submissive to her husband even though she held a higher position.
B. Deborah had the wisdom to determine what was right and to
resolve
conflicts between
her people.
1. Deborah trusted
the Word of God to guide her.
2. Deborah gained
the respect of the people by following God.
3. What we learn
from Deborah is that success follows obedience to
the Lord's
commands.
THE BEST ADVICE ; FOLLOW
GOD'S PLAN
V:6. " 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
A. While Deborah was in charge, she readily back down, to
let God lead His people
in His way.
1. God chose Barak
to lead the army of Israel
into battle against their enemy.
2. God selected
the men He want to go in battle.
3. Deborah stood
behind God's choice.
B. A good leader
consults God before making any decisions.
1. A good leader
follows God's directives.
2. A good leader
informs others of the Word of God.
3. A good leader
follows all of the Lord's commands.
4. A Good leader
adds nothing to the Word of God nor takes anything away from
the Word.
GOD WILL SET A TRAP FOR YOUR ENEMY
V:7. " I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's
army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon
River
A. God has a plan for your deliverance.
1. Your deliverance
starts with prayer.
2. Your
deliverance is sure when you are obedient to God's commands.
B. Notice, God controls all the events during Israel 's
deliverance.
1. While your enemy
is busy planning to attack you, God has planned their
demise.
2. God will ensure
that you are victorious in any battle when you are
obedient to
Him.
3. God will set the
place and the time for your victory over the enemy.
YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT
V:8 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go;
but if you don't go with me, I
won't ."
A. There are times
that you may have to encourage others to do the work
that God called
them to do.
1. Some people,
for lack of faith will not act without your help.
2. We need to be
available and willing to be the shoulders that others
lean on.
B. Sometimes we
have the go the extra mile and help others in the mission
that God set for them.
1. Barak lack
faith in his ability to carry out God's plan.
2. Barak may have
feared the enemy more than he trusted God.
3. Barak trusted
Deborah's confidence in God.
4. Our confidence
in the power of God influence others.
THE TRIALS WE FACE DEVELOPS OUR FAITH
V: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.
A. There are consequences in not trusting God.
1. God is able to
do with you what He planned for you.
2. If you don't
trust God, you will lose the experience of the victory
with God.
B. Barak did not trust God, therefore lost the confidence he
could have gained
by allowing God
to use him alone.
1. Barak also lost
the respect of his men because the victory was given to
a women.
2. Trusting God
through one situation, prepares us for the next trial.
3. Deborah trusted
God in her position as judge, which gave her confidence
in the battle
against the enemy of Israel .
4. When God calls
us to serve, He will give us the resources, the strength and
the
encouragement to be successful.
THANK GOD FOR OUR
SALVATION
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