Jabin king of Canaan.... The commander of his army was Sisera, ... had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel. ... Deborah, a prophetess, ... sent and called for Barak ..., and said to him, "... the LORD God of Israel commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men ... and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand'?" And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!" So she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." ... And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot ... to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber ... And ... she covered him with a blanket. ... So [Jael] opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him.... Then Jael, ... took a tent peg and ... a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground .... So he died. Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day ... (Judges 4:2-9,15-21, 5:1, NKJV) Notice first of all that Deborah was a prophetess, a female prophet. The Lord is no respecter of persons, and considers males and females equally (1 Samuel 16:7). As a prophet, Deborah's ministry was to proclaim the messages of wisdom and instruction she received from the Lord. People would come from miles around to hear the wisdom of the Lord, and have Deborah act is a judge in interpersonal disputes. In the course of her ministry, she received a message for Barak to lead a small Israelite army against Sisera, the commander of Jabin's troops. It was the Lord's intention to not only defeat the armies of Sisera, but also to exalt Barak to the position of military commander over the armies of Israel. However, Barak was only willing to fulfill the Lord's command as long as Deborah came with him. Barak knew that the Lord was with Deborah, but he wasn't totally convinced that the Lord was going to be with him and provide him success in his battle with the armies of Sisera. He had faith, but he also had unbelief, and unbelief lead to fear. Unfortunately, his unbelief, caused him to miss the entire blessing the Lord had planed. Yes, the Lord enabled him to defeat the armies of Sisera, but he was not allowed to personally kill Sisera himself. Instead of Barak getting the full credit for the defeat of Sisera, an obscure woman named Jael was honored as the one who actually killed Sisera. In fact, in the celebratory song of victory after the conflict, Barak had to share accolades with both Deborah and Jael, all because of his limited faith mingled with unbelief. So what can we learn about faith from Deborah and Barak? First, unbelief, severely limits faith. It causes us miss the full benefits the Lord intends for us. Second, unbelief leads to both fear and doubt. Unbelief causes us to distrust the Lord, His intentions, and His ability to deliver us through our trials. Third, the Lord has a specific ministry chosen for each of us, which He expects us to fulfill. The Lord expects us to fully commit to the ministry He has given us, and invest our entire being and all our efforts, even as Deborah fulfilled her ministry as a prophets. The Lord expects us to limit ourselves to the confines our specific ministry; Deborah had no intention of going beyond the limits of her ministry as a prophet, but acquiesced for the sake of overcoming Barak's unbelief, doubts and fears in the conflict with Sisera. Copyright (c) 2008 Jon Straumfjord
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