Yesterday, we recalled the exciting story of Judge Deborah, with military leader Barak, leading the Israelites into battle against Sisera, as recorded in Judges 4. The battle ends with the death of Sisera at the hands of Jael, a housewife married to a Kenite (non-Israelite, apparently).

Then while he was fast asleep from exhaustion, Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg and hammer, tiptoed toward him, and drove the tent peg through his temple and all the way into the ground. He convulsed and died. (Judges 4.21, MSG)

It’s such a great event that Judges Chapter 5 records the song Deborah and Barak led in celebration. (Click the link: it’s worth the read in its entirety.)

It ends the same as chapter 4 with Jael’s heroics.

Most blessed of all women is Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of homemaking women. He asked for water, she brought milk; In a handsome bowl, she offered cream. She grabbed a tent peg in her left hand, with her right hand she seized a hammer. She hammered Sisera, she smashed his head, she drove a hole through his head. He slumped at her feet. He fell. He sprawled. He slumped at her feet. He fell. Slumped. Fallen. Dead. (Judges 5.24 – 27, MSG)

I wish I knew the tune! “…she drove a hole through his head. He slumped… He fell. He sprawled. He slumped… He fell. Slumped. Fallen. Dead.”

In addition to Jael, the song focuses on God’s exploits and the heroic responses of warriors from Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulon, Issachar, and Napthali. For example:

Zebulun risked life and limb, defied death, as did Naphtali on the battle heights. (Judges 5.18, MSG)

BUT, the song also includes this damning section:

But in Reuben’s divisions there was much second-guessing. Why all those campfire discussions? Diverted and distracted, Reuben’s divisions couldn’t make up their minds. Gilead played it safe across the Jordan, and Dan, why did he go off sailing? Asher kept his distance on the seacoast, safe and secure in his harbors. (Judges 5.15 – 17, MSG)

• Reuben: “diverted and distracted…couldn’t make up their minds”
• Gilead: “played it safe across the Jordan”
• Dan: “why did he go off sailing?”
• Asher: “kept his distance on the sea coast, safe and secure in his harbors.”

That’s not a list I’d want to be on! Significant women (yesterday), insignificant men today. There’s a battle going on. Judges makes it clear from the beginning:

Here is a list of the nations the Lord left in the land to test the new generation of Israel who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. For God wanted to give opportunity to the youth of Israel to exercise faith and obedience in conquering their enemies… (Judges 3.1, 2, TLB)

We’re supposed to exercise faith and obedience in conquering enemies. Recently Christianity Today reported on a few song writers collaborating on a new stanza for How Great Thou Art.

Until that day

When heaven bids us welcome,

And as we walk this broken warring world,

Your kingdom come,

Deliver us from evil,

And we’ll proclaim our God how great You are!

Some day heaven will bid us welcome. In the meantime, “we walk this broken warring world.” And we’ll need to “exercise faith and obedience in conquering our enemies.”

May we be more like Deborah, Barak, Jael, Zebulon, and Issachar and less like Reuben and Gilead.

Women in leadership is a hot topic these days, but the Israelites didn’t seem to have a problem with it:

Deborah was a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth. She was judge over Israel at that time. She held court under Deborah’s Palm between Ramah and Bethel in the hills of Ephraim. The People of Israel went to her in matters of justice. (Judges 4.4 – 5, MSG)

While the cycle described in yesterday’s blog comes around several times, the particulars of each story are different. In this case, Deborah is already in place when the sin, servitude, and supplication phases are described:

The People of Israel kept right on doing evil in GOD’s sight. With Ehud dead, GOD sold them off to Jabin king of Canaan who ruled from Hazor. Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim, was the commander of his army. The People of Israel cried out to GOD because he had cruelly oppressed them with his nine hundred iron chariots for twenty years. (Judges 4.1 – 3, MSG)

So Deborah summons Barak to lead the Israelites into battle, giving him a clear promise from God:

She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “It has become clear that GOD, the God of Israel, commands you: Go to Mount Tabor and prepare for battle. Take ten companies of soldiers from Naphtali and Zebulun. I’ll take care of getting Sisera, the leader of Jabin’s army, to the Kishon River with all his chariots and troops. And I’ll make sure you win the battle.” (Judges 4.6 – 7, MSG)

But Barak trusts Deborah more than he trusts God!

Barak said, “If you go with me, I’ll go. But if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” (Judges 4.8, MSG)

So Deborah gives another promise: no honor for you – a woman will take care of Sisera:

She said, “Of course I’ll go with you. But understand that with an attitude like that, there’ll be no glory in it for you. GOD will use a woman’s hand to take care of Sisera.” (Judges 4.9, MSG)

And of course that’s exactly what happens in this well-known turn of events:

[Barak attacked and ] GOD routed Sisera—all those chariots, all those troops!—before Barak. Sisera jumped out of his chariot and ran…Sisera, running for his life, headed for the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite…Jael stepped out to meet Sisera and said, “Come in, sir. Stay here with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went with her into her tent. She covered him with a blanket. He said to her, “Please, a little water. I’m thirsty.” She opened a bottle of milk, gave him a drink, and then covered him up again. He then said, “Stand at the tent flap. If anyone comes by and asks you, ‘Is there anyone here?’ tell him, ‘No, not a soul.'”

Then while he was fast asleep from exhaustion, Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg and hammer, tiptoed toward him, and drove the tent peg through his temple and all the way into the ground. He convulsed and died. Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera. Jael went out to greet him. She said, “Come, I’ll show you the man you’re looking for.” He went with her and there he was—Sisera, stretched out, dead, with a tent peg through his neck. Judges 4.15 – 22, MSG)

Exciting stuff! And since Judges gives this story another chapter so that Deborah and Barak can sing a song about the victory, it’s only fair that we give it another blog. The song is instructive. Here’s a sneak peak: the hero is a housewife…in Judges 5 and Proverbs 31!

Most blessed of all women is Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of homemaking women. (Judges 5.24, MSG)

A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it. (Proverbs 31.10 – 11, MSG)

We are easing back into Judges, which contains, as I wrote a few days ago, a number of “cycles:”

• Sin
• Servitude (under a foreign power)
• Supplication (prayer for deliverance)
• Salvation (through a Judge – the savior)
• Serenity (e.g., “The land had peace for 40 years.”)

Repeating cycles, however, does NOT mean Judges is repetitive. Far from it. The particulars of each cycle are very different. For example, Othniel’s cycle gets five verses: Judges 3.7 – 11. Gideon gets three chapters. Deborah, whom we’ll look at the next two days, gets a chapter for the battle and a chapter for the song about the battle, both of which feature a lady driving a tent peg through someone’s head!

For Ehud, Judge #2, we don’t have any details of the battle, only that Ehud, described as left-handed, killed Eglon, Moab’s king, in a private meeting:

Ehud approached him—the king was now quite alone in his cool rooftop room—and said, “I have a word of God for you.” Eglon stood up from his throne. Ehud reached with his left hand and took his sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s big belly. Not only the blade but the hilt went in. The fat closed in over it so he couldn’t pull it out. Ehud slipped out by way of the porch and shut and locked the doors of the rooftop room behind him. (Judges 3.20 – 23, MSG)

The point is, that God rarely works the same way twice.

I knew a man who had a profound experience with God while playing the part of a soldier at the foot of the cross at the church’s passion play. Every year after that he played that same part, expecting the same experience, which never came again.

I observed this principle in Paul’s ministry a couple of years ago.

Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? (Isaiah 43.18 – 19, MSG)

When we moved to Colorado with the Air Force in 1984, we attended the same church as Air Force Academy football coach Fisher DeBerry and two of his staff. All three participated in a discipleship class I led. Fisher is a strong believer. I’ve seen him coach a night game away on Saturday night, fly into Colorado Springs around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, and be at the 8 a.m. service.

He retired from coaching at the Academy in 2006 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Now, at age 85, he lives in Tulsa, OK, with LuAnn, his wife of 59 years. Paul Batura, a local columnist, interviewed Fisher recently and wrote Coach DeBerry finds key to happiness and fulfillment, which was published in our local newspaper on January 15, 2024. It’s a good read in its entirety. Here are some snippets:

When settling on a day to talk, DeBerry stressed Thursdays were better than Tuesdays because of volunteer responsibilities at their church. DeBerry may have retired from coaching, but he clearly believes in the adage that to retire is to expire. The Fisher DeBerry Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to helping single moms and their children, plus numerous other charitable causes, also consumes a lot of the coach’s time. Hundreds of children will get to go to camp this coming summer because of the ongoing effort.

…

[Re leadership development] He even kept a sign in his office…“A coach’s success is not measured by wins and losses but by the men your players become.”

…

Coach DeBerry used to tell his players the same three things after every game. First, he’d remind them the next day was Sunday. “I’m going to church,” he’d tell them. “I hope you will, too.” Second, he’d encourage them to call their mom and dad and tell them they loved them. Finally, he’d urge his players to remember who they were.

…

According to Fisher DeBerry, life is a gift and an adventure. He loved his time in Colorado Springs but also believes in the truth found in Ecclesiastes: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” He intends to carry on until they carry him out.

Fisher DeBerry has found the key to happiness and fulfillment…: Stay busy. Stay engaged. Keep giving back and never give up.

A good word. Thanks, Paul, for the update on my friend Fisher.

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green. (Psalm 92.12 – 14, NIV)

Let’s do a feel-good story about an alert NFL tight end, Mark Andrews of the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens, top-rated team in their conference, were favored to win over the Kansas City Chiefs and advance to the Super Bowl Sunday, January 25. The Ravens lost, and on Thursday, Mark found himself flying home on a Southwest Airlines plane from Baltimore to Phoenix.

ESPN picks up the story:

About three hours into the flight, passengers noticed a woman sitting in the middle of the plane had a medical issue…she was in and out of consciousness and was quickly being attended to by a doctor and nurse who were also passengers…the woman’s heart rate, pulse and blood pressure were extremely low.

After hearing the doctor and nurse ask the woman numerous questions, Andrews popped up from his aisle seat and asked if they knew if her blood sugar was low.

Andrews showed the doctor and nurse how to administer the finger prick test kit. They then gave her orange juice, which helped her get through the remaining 90 minutes of the flight. The woman was able to walk off the flight. – Jamison Hensley, ESPN, February 1, 2024

In a statement released by the Ravens, Mark deflected accolades to others:

In addition to the fast-acting flight attendants, the real heroes are the nurse and doctor who also happened to be on the plane. Thankfully, they were able to provide the woman the quick assistance she needed.

Humility aside, it was apparent to some of the other passengers that it was Mark’s contribution of his diabetic testing kit that saved the day. It’s a classic example of “Be there, pay attention, do what you can,” which are three of four main points in my book Join the Adventure.

But beyond that, I’m excited about the way God took care of that lady:

• If the Ravens had won their game, Mark wouldn’t have been on that plane. He would have been preparing for the Super Bowl.
• Mark is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 256 pounds. His base salary in 2023 was $7.5 million. If I were that big and made that much money, I think I’d be flying with an airline that offered first-class seats.
• Finally, it would be hard to “be there, pay attention” if you’d just lost a chance to be in the Super Bowl. Some of us might be having a pity party.

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man… (John 9.1, NKJV)

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him. (Luke 5.27, NIV)

I don’t usually write about current events, especially about Senate hearings in Washington, but this story caught my eye. I heard it first on the radio, something about FaceBook’s Mark Zuckerberg apologizing to parents whose children were harmed or died allegedly as a result of using social media.

Apologized? Not so fast.

Wall Street Journal’s above-the-fold headline on February 1, 2024, shows Mark Zuckerberg addressing parents on January 31, some of whom are holding up pictures of their children. The article, entitled, “‘You Have Blood on Your Hands’: Senators Say Tech Platforms Hurt Children” starts:

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew and other tech CEOs faced withering bipartisan criticism on Wednesday from senators who said social-media platforms must bear more legal liability when children are harmed online. “You have blood on your hands,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) told the executives during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, eliciting applause from a packed audience that included many holding pictures of children. The presence of grieving families lent the roughly four-hour session an emotional charge, as lawmakers repeated stories of sexual exploitation, suicide and other suffering blamed on social media.

Here’s the “apology:”

At one point, Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) asked Zuckerberg to apologize to parents in the audience. The Facebook founder stood, turned, and said:

“I’m sorry for everything that you have all gone through. It’s terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have. This is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts…to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer.”

It doesn’t sound like an apology to me. He’s “sorry for everything that you have all gone through…” It actually sounds more like a commercial: “This is why we invest so much…doing industry-leading efforts…”

There are well-documented elements of an effective apology, including acceptance of responsibility and commitment to change. It’s somewhat like the elements of effective repentance outlined by the Apostle Paul:

Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Corinthians 7.9 – 10, NIV)

Not “I’m sorry I got caught,” but “I’m sorry, and I’ll change.” For a full review of the hearings with commentary, I recommend Peggy Noonan’s observations, similar to mine but in way more depth.

In the meantime, let’s pay attention to how we apologize and accept responsibility for our behavior. (It seems I’ve written about this before, but it’s been 4 years!)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1.9, NIV)

Yesterday we looked at Eugene Peterson’s well-crafted introduction to the book of Judges. Today, let’s look at the summary of Judges written right in the text.

Chapter 1 starts well with the people of Judah and Simeon taking land followed by “the house of Joseph.” But things start to go downhill beginning with Judges 1.27:

But Manasseh never managed to drive out Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo with their territories...Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer… (Judges 1.27 – 29, MSG)

Chapter 2 contains one of the saddest verses in the Bible:

Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn’t know anything of GOD or the work he had done for Israel. (Judges 2.10, MSG)

There follows a summary of the result of a generation “that didn’t know anything of GOD or the work he had done for Israel.”

The People of Israel did evil in GOD’s sight: they served Baal-gods; they deserted GOD, the God of their parents who had led them out of Egypt; they took up with other gods, gods of the peoples around them. They actually worshiped them! And oh, how they angered GOD as they worshiped god Baal and goddess Astarte! GOD’s anger was hot against Israel: He handed them off to plunderers who stripped them; he sold them cheap to enemies on all sides. They were helpless before their enemies. Every time they walked out the door GOD was with them—but for evil, just as GOD had said, just as he had sworn he would do. They were in a bad way.

But then GOD raised up judges who saved them from their plunderers. But they wouldn’t listen to their judges; they prostituted themselves to other gods—worshiped them! They lost no time leaving the road walked by their parents, the road of obedience to GOD’s commands. They refused to have anything to do with it.

When GOD was setting up judges for them, he would be right there with the judge: He would save them from their enemies’ oppression as long as the judge was alive, for GOD was moved to compassion when he heard their groaning because of those who afflicted and beat them. But when the judge died, the people went right back to their old ways—but even worse than their parents!—running after other gods, serving and worshiping them. Stubborn as mules, they didn’t drop a single evil practice. (Judges 2.11 – 18, MSG)

A standard outline of the cycle, repeated at least six times in detail in Judges goes like this:

• Sin
• Servitude (under a foreign power)
• Supplication (prayer for deliverance)
• Salvation (through a Judge – the savior)
• Serenity (e.g., “The land had peace for 40 years.”)

Rinse and repeat.

The story of the first judge illustrates this perfectly. Here is the text parsed out with the outline inserted:

• SIN The People of Israel did evil in GOD’s sight. They forgot their GOD and worshiped the Baal gods and Asherah goddesses.
• SERVITUDE GOD’s hot anger blazed against Israel. He sold them off to Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim. The People of Israel were in servitude to Cushan-Rishathaim for eight years.
• SUPPLICATION The People of Israel cried out to GOD and
• SALVATION GOD raised up a savior who rescued them: Caleb’s nephew Othniel, son of his younger brother Kenaz. The Spirit of GOD came on him and he rallied Israel. He went out to war and GOD gave him Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim. Othniel made short work of him. 
• SERENITY The land was quiet for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died. (Judges 3.7 – 11, MSG)

So here we go through Judges. There were 13 of them, ending with Samson in chapters 13 – 16. I don’t promise to write about them all. It’s messy, but as Eugene Peterson said, essentially, God is working through the mess. Some of the judges are included in the Faith Hall of Fame:

I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets… (Hebrews 11.32, MSG, people whose stories are in Judges are in bold, including Barak who was not a judge but led the army under Judge Deborah’s direction. Stay tuned.)

We’re moving right from the successes of Joshua to the failures of Judges, following our Reading Plan for the Historical Section of the Old Testament. I’m reading The Message this year, and the translation by the late Eugene Peterson is worth it for the book introductions alone. Here’s most of his introduction to Judges. Warning: the introduction is not child-friendly, but neither is some of Judges.

Sex and violence, rape and massacre, and brutality and deceit do not seem to be congenial materials for use in developing a story of salvation. Given the Bible’s subject matter—God and salvation, living well and loving deeply—we quite naturally expect to find in its pages leaders for us who are good, noble, honorable men and women showing us the way. So it is always something of a shock to enter the pages of the book of Judges and find ourselves immersed in nearly unrelieved mayhem.

It might not gravel our sensibilities so much if these flawed and reprobate leaders were held up as negative moral examples, with lurid, hellfire descriptions of the punishing consequences of living such bad lives. But the story is not told quite that way. There is a kind of matter-of-fact indifference in the tone of the narration, almost as if God is saying, “Well, if this is all you’re going to give me to work with, I’ll use these men and women, just as they are, and get on with working out the story of salvation.” These people are even given a measure of dignity as they find their places in the story; they are most certainly not employed for the sake of vilification or lampoon.

God, it turns out, does not require good people in order to do good work. He can and does work with us in whatever moral and spiritual condition he finds us. God, we are learning, does some of his best work using the most unlikely people. If God found a way to significantly include these leaders (“judges”) in what we know is on its way to becoming a glorious conclusion, he can certainly use us along with our sometimes-impossible friends and neighbors. – from Introduction to Judges in The Message by Eugene Peterson

“God does not require good people to do good work…God does some of his best work using the most unlikely people…He can certainly use us…”

That will preach! There’s another way to introduce Judges, and I’ll write about that tomorrow.

Here is a list of the nations the Lord left in the land to test the new generation of Israel who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. For God wanted to give opportunity to the youth of Israel to exercise faith and obedience in conquering their enemies… (Judges 3.1, 2, TLB)

Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. (Luke 10.1, MSG) – Ordinary people! We don’t even know their names.

It’s time to bring the book of Joshua to a close. I love the book. As I’ve said, along with Nehemiah, it’s a book where things generally tend to go well.

Here are a few highlights from Joshua 23 and 24 as Joshua speaks to the people.

God has done a lot, but there’s still work to do. Stick with God:

You have seen everything that GOD has done to these nations because of you. He did it because he’s GOD, your God. He fought for you. Stay alert: I have assigned to you by lot these nations that remain as an inheritance to your tribes—these in addition to the nations I have already cut down—from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west.  GOD, your God, will drive them out of your path until there’s nothing left of them and you’ll take over their land just as GOD, your God, promised you. Now, stay strong and steady. Obediently do everything written in the Book of The Revelation of Moses—don’t miss a detail. Don’t get mixed up with the nations that are still around. Don’t so much as speak the names of their gods or swear by them. And by all means don’t worship or pray to them. Hold tight to GOD, your God, just as you’ve done up to now. (Joshua 23.3 – 8, MSG)

My time is finished, but God has kept his promises:

As you can see, I’m about to go the way we all end up going. Know this with all your heart, with everything in you, that not one detail has failed of all the good things GOD, your God, promised you. It has all happened. Nothing’s left undone—not so much as a word. (Joshua 23.14, MSG)

He will also keep his promises to destroy you if you serve other gods:

But just as sure as everything good that GOD, your God, has promised has come true, so also GOD will bring to pass every bad thing until there’s nothing left of you in this good land that GOD has given you. If you leave the path of the Covenant of GOD, your God, that he commanded you, go off and serve and worship other gods, GOD’s anger will blaze out against you. In no time at all there’ll be nothing left of you, no sign that you’ve ever been in this good land he gave you. (Joshua 23.15 – 16, MSG)

We have a good history: Abraham (who was worshipping other gods when I called him!), Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Aaron, the plagues, the Red Sea, the wilderness, defeat of the Amorites east of the Jordan, Balak and Balaam, crossing the Jordan, defeating Jericho and others. (Joshua 24.1 – 12)

God has given you a good life. Now choose! (You have to serve someone or something.)

I handed you a land for which you did not work, towns you did not build. And here you are now living in them and eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant. So now: Fear GOD. Worship him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped on the far side of The River (the Euphrates) and in Egypt. You, worship GOD. If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship GOD, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you’re now living. As for me and my family, we’ll worship GOD. (Joshua 24.13 – 15, MSG)

Finally, a key concept: people tend to follow God if they have experienced his power for themselves:

Israel served GOD through the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him, who had themselves experienced all that GOD had done for Israel.  (Joshua 24.31, MSG)

This verse is repeated in the following book in our narrative: Judges. It’s repeated with a sad sequel:

The people worshiped GOD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the time of the leaders who survived him, leaders who had been in on all of GOD’s great work that he had done for Israel. Then Joshua son of Nun, the servant ofGOD, died. He was 110 years old. They buried him in his allotted inheritance at Timnath Heres in the hills of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn’t know anything of GOD or the work he had done for Israel. (Judges 2.7 – 10, MSG)

And that launches us into the sordid story of Judges. Stay tuned.

The People of Israel did evil in GOD’s sight… (Judges 2.11, MSG)