Thursday, November 17, 2016

Thursday - Judges 5 - Deborah (part 2)

God used Deborah to maintain peace in Israel for another 40 years. It's no wonder God was able to use her effectively. Her precious spirit of wisdom and devotion can be seen in a song of hers that has been recorded for us (verse 7 indicates that Deborah was the author).  However, it wasn't just her song.  It was a duet that she and General Barak sang together.  Let's consider the content of this song.

It is a song of praise. Deborah praised God, but indeed, she honored the nation too. It was two different kinds of praise though. She worshiped God by praising Him and she commended the people by complementing their obedience. Two verses, Judges 5:2 & 9, speak of the willingness of the people and of their leaders to be used of God. And, it was the willingness of the nation that freed God up to help them. Consider this: God is always ABLE to help us. However, He is only happily WILLING to help us greatly when we are willing to offer ourselves to Him. Now, not everyone in Israel offered themselves to God in the same way (see verses 14-18). Each tribe contributed variously to the effort. After all, in the fighting of a war, there are many different needs and opportunities. In her song, Deborah gave recognition to each tribe in a specific way, depending on how that tribe had involved themselves. Sadly, not everyone came forth to the battle (Judges 5:23). So, even though the victory was absolute and perfectly complete, the slackers were rebuked.


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