Introduction: Do you deal with fear? Do you struggle with a lack of
faith and a lack of faithfulness? I know that I do. A couple of
months ago, I was scheduled to argue before a U.S. Court of Appeals –
a court directly below the U.S. Supreme Court. That created fear.
However, shortly before I argued I preached a sermon about trusting
God and that sermon put steel in my spine. God blessed and the
argument went very well. This week our study is about men and women
facing great danger. Let’s dig into our study of the Bible and see if
we can find some steel in dealing with our problems and our fears!
- Judge Deborah
- Read Judges 4:1-3. Who are the “bad guys” here? (King
Jabin and army commander Sisera.) - What gave them power over God’s people? (God “sold
them” because they were unfaithful. There is also the
matter of 900 hundred iron chariots – a huge military
advantage for the bad guys.) - Read Judges 4:4-5. Who is leading God’s people at the
time? (Deborah.) - What are her qualifications to lead? (She is a
prophet of God. God’s people come to her to resolve
their disputes – this shows that they recognize her
authority.) - The Battle Plan
- Read Judges 4:6-7. What is the battle plan God has given
Deborah? (Barak is to assemble 10,000 troops and go to the
Kishon river.) - Do you see any weakness in this battle plan? (Other
than using a “lure,” it does not explain the battle
strategy. What about the chariots? God says He will
give them victory.) - Read Judge 4:8-10. Why do you think God selected Barak to
command the troops? - Consider his words. Is he willing to disobey God?
(Yes! He says he will do this only if Deborah goes
along.) - What does this say about Deborah? (She is
confident and confidence inspiring.) - Is there any other explanation for this
that is more favorable to Barak? (It could
be that Barak is concerned about Deborah’s
honesty. He figures that if she is willing
to risk her life, she is not lying about
God’s instructions.) - We have not discussed the unusual nature of
Deborah being the leader of Israel. How does
Deborah confirm this cultural problem? (She
says God will hand Sisera over to a woman – as
if that is something unexpected or negative.) - Read Judges 4:14-16. What happens despite the clear
military advantage of horses and chariots over foot
soldiers? (The Israelites win. They kill the entire enemy
army and collect many chariots!) - Read Judges 4:17-21. Men, are women to be trusted? (Notice
that they are trusted by God.) - Is this the reason most men these days live in houses
and not tents? - Re-read Judges 4:9. I thought Deborah meant that God
would hand Sisera over to her. What is the point of
God handing Sisera over to Jael? (This is a point
about gender.) - What is that point? (The point seems to be that
if men will not lead, God will select women to
lead. God has an initial tilt towards men.
(Perhaps because of Genesis 3:16, which we
recently studied.) But, at the end of the day
God chooses the person who trusts Him,
regardless of gender.) - Read Judges 4:22-24. Have women changed the course of
military history here? (Yes, they trusted God and this
resulted in crushing a military powerhouse that opposed
God’s people.) - Judge Gideon
- Read Judges 6:1-2. Who are the bad guys now, and why do
they hold power? (God’s people let Him down, again, and so
God allows the Midianites to oppress His people.) - Read Judges 6:3-6. What strategy do the Midianites use to
control God’s people? (They either destroy or eat all the
food.) - Read Judges 6:7-10. When the people call out to God, does
He ignore them? (No, God sends a prophet who explains the
reason for their problems.) - Read Judges 6:11. Why is Gideon threshing wheat in a
winepress? What difficulties does that entail? (A
winepress is a big wood barrel. You need wind to blow the
chaff away when you thresh wheat. A big barrel is exactly
the place not to be if you are threshing. We can only
conclude Gideon is doing this to hide his food from the
Midianites.) - Read Judges 6:12. Is the angel mocking Gideon? “Hey mighty
warrior, nice barrel!” - Read Judges 6:13. Who does Gideon blame for the fact that
the “mighty warrior” is hiding in a barrel? (He seems to
say, “I would be a lot braver if God would show up and do
something mighty.” Gideon, like Adam, appears to be
blaming God.) - Read Judges 6:14-16. Does Gideon, like Barak, need a woman
to put some steel in his spine? - Tell me what you think God is saying in verse 16?
(God says “All you need to win is Me. You say I’ve
not been helping? I’m here, let’s do this together.”) - Read Judges 6:17. What do you think about Gideon’s faith?
- Read Judges 6:20-23. Gideon says, “Please wait, I want to
bring an offering.” What does God do for Gideon? (Gives
him a sign. Notice the patience of God and how He works
with Gideon’s doubts.) - We are skipping over much of this amazing story. Read
Judges 6:33 and Judges 7:19-22. How many men are with
Gideon to attack the Midianite horde? (One hundred.) - What do the one hundred attackers have in their
hands? (A music instrument and a jar with a light in
it.) - Re-read Judges 6:15. What was Gideon’s concern about
taking on the Midianites? (He was weak and few in
number.) - What is the lesson for us today? (All that is
necessary to defeat the bad guys is God and you
working together.) - Sampson
- Read Judges 14:1-2. Why should Sampson demand that his
parents retrieve a wife for him? (Read Exodus 22:17.
Fathers were to approve a marriage.) - Read Judges 14:3. Do Sampson’s parents approve? Should
they? (Read Deuteronomy 7:1-3. They should not approve
because Sampson seeks to marry someone who does not
worship the true God.) - Read Judges 14:4. What lesson can parents learn from this?
That every command comes with a footnote saying that God
makes exceptions in certain circumstances? - Read Judges 14:5-9. Why did Sampson not brag about
killing the lion and the bonus of the honey? (Leviticus
11:39-40 reveals that Sampson’s parents would think eating
the honey made them unclean.) - What do these two events teach us? (Sampson does not
care about the rules.) - Read Judges 13:6-8 to understand the back story about
Sampson’s birth. How do you think Sampson’s parents feel
about his lax attitude towards God’s rules? (I’m sure they
are very unhappy, and are thinking that they let God
down.) - Read Judges 15:20 and Judges 16:1. Sampson is a Judge!
What kind of man is he? - Sampson ends up being captured and blinded by his enemies.
Read Judges 16:25-30. Does God hear the prayers of
sinners? (Yes.) - Read Hebrews 11:32-33. How do you explain these men being
listed in the faith “hall of fame?” - God’s people were turned over to the bad guys when
they failed to follow God. How are these men
different? (The key is reliance on God. They were
wobbly (or worse) in their actions, but when it
counted, they relied on God.) - Friend, will you determine today to place your reliance on
God – to always trust Him? - Next week: The Controversy Continues.
