Thursday, October 18, 2007
By Faith... the Judges, Part 5 of 62
TEXT: "And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets" (Hebrews 11:32).
IDEA: We can learn important lessons about faith from relatively obscure characters in the Bible.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see why Barak is a man singled out for his faith.
When you think of people of faith in your own life, were they famous people or ordinary people?
In Hebrews 11 the writer gives us people from the Old Testament who were singled out because of their faith.
Some of the people are rather well known—Abel who was murdered by his brother, Noah who built an ark, Abraham who became the father of the Jews, Christians and even Muslims, Moses to whom God gave the Law and was the leader of the people of Israel when they escaped from Egypt.
There are some lesser known people that he mentions – Rahab, Gideon who was known for the Bibles he put in hotels, and then there is Barak, Hebrews 11:32.
[Who was Barak?]
I. He was a general who lived in the north and won a great victory over a superior army.
Where do we find his story? His story is found in Judges 4-5.
If his story is found in the book that records the deeds of the judges, was he a judge?
How did he get into the book of Judges?
He got into it through his association with a judge. The judge in his time was Deborah.
[Who was Deborah? Judges 4:4]
II. Deborah was a judge and a prophet who carried out her ministry in the southern part of Israel.
Why do you think there was a woman judge?
Was she a good judge?
Of all the judges, she is shown to do more judging than any of the rest of them. Most of the judges were military leaders. She held court under the Palm of Deborah in the southern part of the country, and Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided (Judges 4:5)
Deborah received direction from God that she passed on to Barak.
III. Deborah lived in the south and Barak lived in the north, the territory under foreign oppression by the Canaanites for twenty years. Read Judges 4:1-3.
Deborah summoned Barak and told him that he was to raise an army of 10,000 men and go up against the Canaanites.
What do you know about the Canaanites?
The text says that they had 900 iron chariots. What was the upside of having iron chariots? What was the downside of it?
It is significant that God spoke through the judge Deborah and not directly to Barak. In that way Barak resembles us in that we do not get a direct word from God, but we live on the words given through God’s prophets and apostles.
CONCLUSION: If we pursue the story of this lesser-known man Barak, we can discover things about his faith that can help us with our faith.
