Saturday, November 2, 2024

World Domination

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Deborah from the tribe of Ephraim
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 4-5 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

  

Risk is a board game where winning means world domination. It requires strategic alliances and risky cutthroat moves. The board is a political map of the world that is divided into 42 territories across six continents.

 

Each player starts out with the same number of playing pieces (their army) which they strategically place on the board. From there, you try to capture other territories from your opponents. The goal is to conquer and eliminate all the other players. But in order to win, you have to take risks!

 

In the opening verses of Judges 4, we see Israel's cycle repeating itself. Israel turned from the Lord; the Lord gave them over to Jabin, a Canaanite king who oppressed them for twenty years; Israel cried out to the Lord for help; the Lord sent a judge to deliver them.

 


Deborah was not only the Lord’s judge who led Israel, but also a prophet who settled the disputes of the people. One day, possibly after the people asked her what could be done about Sisera, she sent for Barak with this word from the Lord.

 

6b “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”                    NIV

 

Even though the Lord promised to give Barak victory over Sisera, he wouldn’t do it unless Deborah came with him. He wouldn’t take the risk. Deborah complied with his demand, but prophesied that a woman would defeat Sisera, not Barak.

 

In the meantime, a spy informed Sisera of Barak’s plans to take his army to Mount Tabor. With this information, Sisera gathered his 900 iron chariots and all his warriors at the Kishon River. With the Jezreel Valley spreading out between the two armies, the stage was set for an epic battle.

 

Chariots were the tanks of the ancient world. So even though Barak had ten thousand fighting men, the Israelites were outmanned. Despite this, upon Deborah’s command, Barak and his army charged Sisera and his chariots, soundly defeating them. How did the Israelites overcome their superior weaponry?

 

God had provided a downpour that caused the Kishon River to overflow its banks making Sisera’s chariots useless in the mud. And when Sisera fled the battlefield and tried hiding in the tent of Jael, the wife of the spy, she killed him by hammering a tent peg through his temple.

 

We may not be in a fight against flesh and blood where we’re overpowered by their weaponry. But we do fight with an even more dangerous enemy. Paul described it as “mighty powers in this dark world”. And Peter gave this warning.

 

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.        NIV

 

Like the game of Risk, the battles we face in life also have great risks, but the rewards are much greater. It’s not for world domination, but for eternal life.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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