Judges 4 -- Hesitation Can Bring Problems

When Ehud no longer was judge, "the Israelites lapsed back into idolatry and God had to punish them," my commentary said.  "Israel as portrayed in the book of Judges illustrates the difference between religious reformation and spiritual revival.  Reformation temporarily changes outward conduct, while revival permanently alters inward character.  When Ehud removed the idols and commanded the people to worship only Jehovah, they obeyed him, but when that constraint was removed, the people obeyed their own desires ... the empty heart is prey to every form of evil."

"Once again the people cried out to God, not to forgive their sins, but to relieve their suffering ... God raised up a courageous woman named Deborah to be the judge of the land ... God revealed to Deborah that Barak was to assemble and lead the Israelite army ...and God would defeat the enemy ... Like Moses before him ... Barak hesitated when told what God wanted him to do ... God took the honor from the men and gave it to the women."

God controlled the Canaanite army by bogging down their 900 chariots in the mud, by controlling the weather.  God also sent confusion into the minds of the enemy warriors.  "Had their own god Baal (god of the storms) turned against them??"

Sisera, the enemy commander, ran to his own town, where a woman named Jael met him and offered to hide him in her house.  Feeding him milk and covering him with a rug, she set up the right conditions to cause him to sleep.  Then she pounded a tent peg through his skull and into the ground!  "There was a war on ... it was God's will that the nation be delivered ..."  It wasn't murder.  Just war.  "This courageous woman finally stopped being neutral and took her stand with the people of God."

Father, it's often too easy to stay out of the fight and on the sidelines.  I pray that You are in this change in my life, and that I've heard you correctly.  Put me in and show me what You want me to do.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford