Notes on Judges 4 - God's Grace Amid Sin

Structure
A.  Israel Enslaved by God [1-3]
       B.  Woman of War:  Deborah [4-10]
              C.   Kenite [11]
                   D.  Sisera & Barak [12-14]
                          E.  The Lord routed Sisera [15]
                   D.  Sisera & Barak [16]
             C.   Kenite [17]
        B.   Woman of War: Jael [18-22]
A.   Israel Freed by God [23-24]

 
Exegetical Notes
1.  Jabin had already been conquered by Joshua (Jos 11.1f).  His name means “intelligent one.”  He is crafty and a usurper of the Lord’s territory.  As Jabin’s general, Sisera is the right hand of the evil king.

2.  By putting it at the center of the chiasm, the passage focuses attention on the Lord’s routing Sisera and His deliverance (not Debbie or Barak’s power). 

3.  Women play a primary role in this passage.  Debbie is a prophetess and judge.  Jael is the battle winner.  This must be read in light of Gen 2-3 and Isaiah 3:12.  The people are “doing what is right in their own eyes.”  Men have abdicated their roles as leaders.  Women are ruling.  Barak is a limp man who must be coaxed into following the Lord (Deborah at least is honorable to call him to fulfill his office).  In the end the battle belongs to a woman (v. 9). 

This is not God’s plan for leadership.  God calls men to stand up for righteousness and take their roles as leaders seriously.  He who abdicates is in rebellion against God.

4.  The men in the passage are girly.  Not just Barak who is in a real sense Deborah’s “help mate,” but also Sisera.  There is a bit of humor when in verse 20 he says, “If anyone asks, ‘Is there any man here?’ Say, ‘No.’”[1]  It should not be missed that both men are told what to do and where to go.

5.  Barak – “lightening bolt.”  The Canaanite god Baal was the god of rain; he carried a lightening bolt in his hand. 

6.  Heber the Kenite separated from Israel and made an alliance with Jabin.  He is an apostate.  But his wife is faithful to Israel and Israel’s God.  She broke the alliance and put herself at risk.  But she rather serve the Lord than obey the commandments of men.  (You could say that she wore the pants in that family).

7.  Dale Ralph Davis points out that Heber moved to just the right place at just the right time.  This was God’s providence over the events of history to bring about his larger purposes.

8.  Schwab makes the case that Jael’s capture of Sisera involved sex and an “unmanning” of Sisera.

9.      The enemy’s head is crushed.  The wiles of the evil one come to an end.

Sermon Outline:
The Lord’s grace amidst the bounty of sin
I. Repeated idolatry
II. Leadership & manliness
III. Heber’s apostasy
IV. [Perhaps Jael’s sexual exploit]


[1] Schwab, Right in their own eyes.