When Your Faith Feels Too Small - Judges 4:1–16 (Session 5)

Judges 4 begins another cycle of Israel’s rebellion, oppression, and deliverance. After Ehud dies, the people once again do evil in the sight of the Lord. God allows Jabin, king of Canaan, and his commander Sisera to oppress Israel cruelly for twenty years with an army supported by nine hundred iron chariots.

The problem, however, was not the strength of the chariots. Israel had already seen God defeat powerful armies and fortified cities. Their weakness came from turning away from the Lord and losing the protection and blessing that came through obedience.

In this session, Glenn and Steve introduce Deborah, a prophetess and respected leader who judged Israel beneath the palm of Deborah. She summons Barak and reminds him that God has already commanded him to gather ten thousand men and confront Sisera’s army.

Barak hesitates and agrees to go only if Deborah accompanies him. His response reveals a mixture of faith and doubt. Yet Deborah remains faithful, holds him accountable, and goes with him. Together, they demonstrate how God can use believers with different strengths: Deborah provides spiritual confidence and accountability, while Barak ultimately obeys and leads the army.

The passage reaches its turning point when Deborah declares, “Arise! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Behold, the LORD has gone out before you.” God had already declared the victory before the battle began.

This study encourages believers who sometimes feel more like Barak than Joshua. Faith may be mixed with fear, hesitation, or uncertainty, but God can still work through those who ultimately trust and obey Him.

Scripture: Judges 4:1–16
Series: The Book of Judges — An RTTB Study

Questions discussed in this session:  

• What do we do if we find ourselves with doubting God?
• When God commands us to do something, do we need experience before we trust Him? 
• Do we have to be in perfect obedience before God can bless us? 
• Does God give us signs that He is with us? 

Transcript

Disobedience and Deliverance in Judges

Speaker 1 0:20

Here we are with the next session of Reasoning Through the Bible . We're working our way through the book of Judges , or I might say we're slogging or slugging our way through the book of Judges . And I tell you what Steve doing this study has driven home to me just how unpleasant this book is , if I could say so . If you're really studying it and looking at the things that are in it , as a teacher it forces you to kind of look at all these passages and confession time . I've never really looked verse by verse and looked at where it's really meaningful manner in the book of Judges . And I tell you what there's just a lot of horribleness in this book . It demonstrates what happens when people don't follow the Word of God .

Speaker 2 1:04

Judges is actually one of my favorite books , not because of what you just described , but because it gives us a view , a microcosmic view of our lives or what our lives can be , of that cycle of where we kind of stray from God . We get ourselves in trouble and then we cry out to God and he's faithful to deliver us one way or another , and then we kind of get back into a relationship with Him again and then sometimes a little bit later we stray again .

Speaker 1 1:35

To me , it helps remind us not to get into those type of cycles , and it also helps me in the sense that all these people are flawed , and I know I'm flawed . If God can even work through these people with some of their feeble faith , then He'll . He could work through , work through us too . He doesn't turn His back on people as long as they'll humble themselves and come to Him . So just a summary of where we are .

Speaker 1 2:00

Of course , book of Joshua was a lot of victories . People had faith , they came into the land and they were pushing out the enemies . In the Book of Judges it's just the opposite . Book of Judges , people left the Lord and they forgot the Lord . They began worshiping idols . They didn't teach their children about the Lord , god .

Speaker 1 2:20

Things just get worse and worse and there's a cycle that we've described , a cycle of when they would obey God , then God would bless them and there'd be a period of peace , and during that peace they forget about God , they start worshiping the idols and at that point God removes His protection from them and allows the enemies to come in . The pain and suffering that's caused by that cause them to repent and turn to God again , and God raises up a deliverer or a judge and then drives out the enemies . And the cycle continues . The cycle continues over and over again , at least six or seven times in the Book of Judges . So we have here again Israel in the land of Canaan . Israel has generally lost its way for this entire book . We're starting up in here in Judges , chapter four .

Speaker 2 3:09

So , steve , if you could read in Judges four verses , one through three , and it says and the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Eud died , and the Lord sold them into the hand of Yabeen , king of Canaan , who reigned within Hazor . The commander of his army was Cesare , who lived in Harashath Hagoian . Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help , for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for 20 years .

Speaker 1 3:46

Okay , so in verse one , what does it say ? Israel did .

Speaker 1 3:48

They did what was evil in the sight of the Lord Not only did they do evil , but it says they once again did evil in the sight of the Lord . There's a pattern here . It's the fourth time , by my count , in this book so far that it says Israel did evil and now they're doing it again . And there was this cycle as we just described . It actually brings it out in chapter two , verse 19 , explains this cycle . And here we are in chapter four , verse one . The cycle is continuing . After the judge dies , israel again does evil . Another one we're going to see . If you look at the end of chapter five , in the beginning of chapter six , the same pattern is there . They forget about the Lord and God punishes them for it . So chapter four , verse two what does God do ?

Speaker 2 4:34

in verse two it says that he sold them into the hand of Yabin , the king of Canaan . And Yabin here , by the way , through study come to find out that Yabin is a title much like Pharaoh or Caesar . It's the title of a king , not necessarily the name of the king . It's describing this and how . One of the reasons why is because earlier in Joshua it also talks about that Yabin was defeated years before , so that was part of the scholarship and the things that they found through archaeological finds . So Yabin is a title just like Pharaoh .

Speaker 1 5:12

Well , there's this cycle here , as we just mentioned , where God removes his power , he removes his blessing , and when that happens , the enemies come in . And this works through our lives as well . There's power in our lives that protect us from sin , that protect us from our enemies , protect us from things that we shouldn't be doing , and when we consciously go off and disobey God right now , today , with us , the same thing can happen . God can remove his blessing , can remove his power , and we find ourselves in a lot of trouble here . In chapter four , verse two , god allows the enemy to come in and conquer Israel . It says in verse three what do these people have ? That's a problem .

Speaker 2 5:51

And it says that they have 900 chariots , 900 iron chariots .

Speaker 1 5:55

I think it was our last session we mentioned these iron chariots . The problem's not the iron chariots . The problem is in verse one , where they disobey God , as we saw back in Joshua , city after city , dozens of cities , jericho , ai , all these cities . If they just humble themselves before God , then he can defeat these armies . But because they have disobeyed God and done evil in the sight of the Lord , then he allows them to be overrun by this enemy that has the iron chariots . And how long does it say there ? 20 years . So there's a 20-year period where this enemy's coming in . 20 years long time . You'd think somebody during that time would have turned to God and asked for repentance . But they don't .

Speaker 2 6:40

Especially when it says that they oppressed them cruelly . So it wasn't just that they were being a problem or being a pest . They were actually engaging and having cruel measures in oppressing the people of Israel that were around them . And , by the way , this is taking place in the northern part of the nation of Israel at the time , or the land of Israel at the time . What ?

Speaker 1 7:03

we find here is that these kings oppress Israel all this time . I'm reminded of when Joshua runs into AI the very first defeat , the very day he falls on his face and worships before God , begs God for an answer and God delivers him immediately , Doesn't wait 20 years . The next passage is in starting , at verse 4 . Steve , if you could read starting at verse 4 and go to verse 11 .

Speaker 2 7:29

Now Deborah , a prophetess , the wife of Lepidoth , was judging Israel at that time . She used to sit under the palm of Deborah , between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim , and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment . She sent in Semen Brak the son of Abenoham from Kadesh , not Thali , and said to him has not the Lord , the God of Israel , commanded you go , gather your men at Mount Tabor , taking 10,000 from the people of Naphthili and people of Zebulun , and I will draw out Cicera , the general of Yabeen's army , to meet you by the river Kishan , with his chariots and his troops , and I will give them into your hand . Barak said to her if you will go with me , I will go , but if you will not go with me , I will not go . And she said I will surely go with you .

Speaker 2 8:27

Nevertheless , the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory , for the Lord will sell Cicera into the hand of a woman . Then Deborah rose and went with Barak to Kadesh , and Barak called out Zebulun and Napthalim to Kadesh and 10,000 men went up at his heels and Deborah went up with him . Now Heber the Kenite , had separated from the Kenites the descendants of Hobab , the father-in-law of Moses , and had pinched his tent as far away as the oak at Zanananum , which is near .

Speaker 1 9:05

Kadesh . Okay , so we're introduced to this person , Deborah , and who is she and what's her job here ? Does it say ?

Speaker 2 9:14

She says that she's sitting as a judge under the tree in the land of Ephraim , so Ephraim is kind of in the central part there of the land of Israel and the judging that she's doing is not the judging in regards to God delivering up judges to deliver , like Barak here , samson Gideon , who we're going to look at . She's there being a judge apparently in regards to matters or business matters or items or things like that .

Speaker 1 9:44

In verse 4 , it calls her a prophetess . So she's really a leader here . She's a leader of Israel , leader at least her area of Israel , and she's in a position of leadership . She's a position of authority , a position of respect and she's one of the people . It's . One of the reasons people have named their daughters Deborah for many generations is because she's someone we can look up to . She's a faithful follower of God . It says in verse 4 , she's a prophetess . It also calls her a wife . Chapter 5 , verse 7 , calls her a mother . So she's someone who's kind of a multifaceted person . It says in verse 4 , she was judging .

Speaker 2 10:20

And then in verse 5 . There it says that people came to her for judgment .

Speaker 1 10:24

So we can be sure of a few things God lifted her up , as he did all the other judges . She was a prophetess , which is an exalted position . The Bible shows no bias against women . This is just one of the many examples of women who are in positions of respect and in positions where they can serve a great purpose for God .

Speaker 1 10:44

Her position as a judge was essentially like a leader of the country In verse 6 , what I find interesting is we're talking about this person , barak , in verse 6 , here's what's interesting who calls whom in verse 6 ?

Speaker 2 10:59

Well , it says that she's summoned Barak , but she's calling him and asking him hey , hasn't God already called you , Then told you you need to rise up against this oppression ? So the calling of Barak had already happened .

Speaker 1 11:14

Now Deborah is saying how come you haven't acted on it ? Who's actually following God here and who's kind of almost in disobedience ?

Speaker 2 11:22

Deborah , is he's actually holding him accountable ?

Speaker 1 11:25

What do we know from this guy ? About this guy , Barak . It gives a little bit of his background and where he was from . It starts in verse 6 .

Speaker 2 11:33

Well , it says that he's from the tribe of Napdoli , which is up in that northern area of Israel , the land of Israel . He has men because , it says , hasn't God told you to go gather your men ? So he's apparently a leader of men of war .

Speaker 1 11:47

So in verses 6 and 7 , look at the instructions that he's already told Barak . It tells him where to go , how many troops to take , where to get them , which tribes to get these people from , where the battle is going to be and who's going to win .

Speaker 2 12:04

So , once again , as we've seen , as in Joshua , god has a battle plan . He has specific instructions and orders that he's given the people in relation to what they should do . So it's not just a willy-nilly hey , go gather some people , I'm going to deliver them into your hand . He gives very specific things in regards to what to do .

Speaker 1 12:24

Just to reiterate Deborah is the one who's in the will of God and Barak is the one who's been dragging his feet and has not obeyed God as of yet . She has to go get him and say , has not God already told you to do this ? And kind of prodding and poking him along . So she's the one that's actually in obedience . The question we could always ask ourselves is why would Barak disobey in something like this ? And then the question is always why would anyone disobey ? Why would I disobey ? Because he had clearly gotten the word of God . So disobedience is just kind of hardwired into the human heart and we have to stay close to God to help us prevent disobedience . He either didn't trust God or he decided that his needs were more important . And it's the same reason as us . The same reason we sin and disobey is because we think , hey , I know better .

Speaker 1 13:16

Then in verse 7 , here God threw Deborah she was the prophetess gives Barak a sign he was to go to Mount Tabor and then God will draw this guy's saven to the Kishin River . And if the enemy did indeed go to the Kishin River , barak could see that God was working and he would know this before the battle started . So God's giving him a way to tell before you go into this battle , which is a life-threatening situation , you go into war . It's risky , right ? Well , he , god , gives him a sign that says if the enemy does this , then you'll know I'm with you and we're going to have victory . So does God ever give us signs today that he's with us ? Does he ever give us a sign that , hey , this is a God that's with me , that I can trust , that I can have faith with ?

Speaker 2 14:04

Yeah , and if we're Christians and followers of Jesus Christ and have asked Him into our hearts for salvation , we're promised and given the Holy Spirit as a comforter , somebody that's there to provide those signs to us and those easements in regards to the difficult times that we're going through .

Speaker 1 14:24

I think of people like David . Before he goes up to Goliath , he was keeping the sheep , and what does he say ? Well , when the lion and the bear fought the sheep , I could take care of them and I'll take care of this giant as well . And I've done a rather informal , unscientific study over the years , which is just ask people that it's been around me that have come to Christ , that have been non-believers , that have become Christians and it seems like there's a pattern in almost everyone's life is that God , after they become a Christian , puts them through a period where he's proving their faith , puts them a period where he in some sort of a trial where they can know hey , the only way I got through this is because of God's help . So I think God does give us signs that helps build our faith .

Peace and Trust in God's Guidance

Speaker 2 15:11

One quick story is that in my testimony of when I turned my complete life over to God , I was working in the grocery industry . I was working at a store that was 20 miles away , running the store , and I have been trying to do things on my own for all the years . And when I turned my life and control over to God , I had peace . But I was still working at that store and that wasn't a very good situation and I actually worked there for another three years and then I got a break to get into the corporate world , in the computer technology world , and I was blessed beyond measure from that point on in regards to my job and everything else . So it speaks to that .

Speaker 2 15:58

I call that sometimes my three years of hell , so to speak , because my work life I wasn't happy . My home life I was happy . My spiritual life I was happy and I was joyful in that . But I really didn't like going to work . But yet I had made that commitment . I'm tired of doing it on my own . I want to turn it over to you . God proved himself and proved him out through that and that has helped me in other situations since then . For me just to have patience and let God work instead of me .

Speaker 1 16:28

Kind of a parallel . The Apostle Paul had a three year period right after he was saved . And I know you and I aren't comparing ourselves to the Apostle Paul , but there's it's interesting a three year period because I had one as well when I was saved , when I was 25 . And right after that my job fell apart . And there was a three year period there where I couldn't find steady work . I would be in really bad shape and I , you know , financially , you know was trying everything I knew to find work and couldn't . And just when I would give up , a job would fall out of the sky , Somebody call me on something that I hadn't even looked for , and I'd get work just long enough to pay the bills and kind of get even again , and then the job would fall apart . Then I'd be back to where am I going to get money to live on ? And that happened for a three year period and it got to where I could trust God to take care of my needs . And just one last thing before we move on .

Speaker 2 17:20

I think possibly sometimes , as people might listen to us , glenn , as we go through and we talk about this that we have our life is all together and perfect and everything is great , but we have had these experiences and these ups and downs and the and the of life and of people . We're human beings like others , so don't want people to think that we have everything figured out or our life is just always hunky door . You're great , we're human beings like everybody else . But we are being consistent and saying that if you follow God and you follow his principles and if you've turned your life over to him and trust him , that your life is going to be better than what it is on your own .

Speaker 1 18:00

Correct . We're teachers and it doesn't mean we're always living the life of things that we show . I mean we we're like everybody else if we just fall on her face and repent . But I always tell people , as asked my wife , she'll tell you all of my flaws . Better yet , don't ask my wife , because she will tell you and they'll

Barak's Lack of Faith and Accountability

Speaker 1 18:18

find out . So , moving along , deborah goes to Barak and says how come you haven't been following what God already told you to do ? And in verse eight he replies what does Barak say in verse eight ? I'll go , but only if you go with me . Does that show faith or does that show lack of ?

Speaker 2 18:39

faith . It shows lack of faith because he wants somebody else to go . It's a conditional right . Even though God has told him that he'll give him victory and it's called him , he's still wanting somebody else to go with him .

Speaker 1 18:50

So was Deborah some sort of trained soldier ? Is she going to be able to military , add military strategy to this thing ? No , so why would he want her ?

Speaker 2 18:59

to go with them . Well , scripture doesn't say specifically . But she was there , she was a wise person , she had people of Israel that come to her for judgment . So I don't know exactly .

Speaker 1 19:09

I would think that it's not just like a good luck charm . Some people think if I bring a godly thing along with me then it's a good luck charm and God's going to be on my side . And I don't think it's quite that . I think it's more of God's blessing . He saw in her God's blessing and he wanted some moral support . He wanted guidance , he wanted somebody there that he could ask what would God have me do ? Well , I think that's why I don't think it's 100% lack of faith , but I do think it shows some . It shows some . He wasn't willing to go out on his own . He was a little hesitant , at the very minimum .

Speaker 2 19:47

And it could be also that she's the one that came and made him accountable . She's saying why haven't you done it ? God has told you and called you to do this . Why haven't you done it yet ? There's that association there that it could be that because she held him accountable , he wants her to go it sounds a little wishy-washy , charlie Brown right .

Speaker 1 20:06

He sounds just a little bit because he as you say wasn't following God's command , and now he's . He'll go . If this woman goes with me , it helps me Well . He's hesitant at the very minimum . So is it easier to go do a challenging task by yourself or is it easier if you have someone to come with you ?

Speaker 2 20:26

It's easier if it's somebody to go with you . If it's something that's like you said , it's challenging .

Speaker 1 20:31

What benefit is there to have somebody with you as opposed to doing things by yourself ?

Speaker 2 20:36

Well , you have an extra body , you have extra hands , you have extra muscle , you have extra brains and somebody else that you can bounce ideas on .

Speaker 1 20:44

It's a little more motivating right Keeps your attitude up , it's just a little easier when two people are doing things , so they seem to work okay together . She provides the strong faith and he provides the army , and often two or more people can get things done a little better . God had already spoken and told them , and now Deborah repeats it . So what does he do ? What happens here in the next couple of verses , starting in verse like 10 and 11 ?

Speaker 2 21:11

So he calls the two tribes that God had told him to nap the lie , which is he's a member of that tribe , and Zebulun to go up the Kadesh . So he musters his 10,000 men to go up there , to Mount Tabor .

Speaker 1 21:25

Can God use people that have some doubts ?

Speaker 2 21:28

Yes .

Speaker 1 21:29

Remember the man in the New Testament that came up to Christ and he says yes , I believe , help my unbelief . So I think we're all a mixture of some degree of faith and some degree of doubt .

Speaker 2 21:40

And also , as we're going through here , there's another thing in regards to Deborah she was faithful to call Barak to accountability . What would have happened if she hadn't been faithful , just like Barak hadn't been faithful ? Sometimes , maybe , if you're having a conviction that you need to hold somebody else accountable for something maybe a fellow Christian if God's speaking to you in regards to that , then maybe it's something that you should follow through with .

Speaker 1 22:08

So let me read the next few verses . This is judges , chapter four , starting at verse 12 . And they told Cicera that Barak , the son of Abinoham , had gone up to Mount Tabor . Cicera called together all his chariots , 900 iron chariots , and all the people who were with him , from Harash Hagoyam to the river Kishin . Deborah said to Barak arise , for this is the day in which the Lord has given Cicera into your hands . Behold , the Lord has gone out before you . So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him . The Lord routed Cicera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak and Cicera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot . But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harash Hagoyam and the army of Cicera fell by the edge of the sword . Not even one was left . So in verses 12 and 13 , this enemy does respond . He brings all his chariots and his men . And in verse 14 , what does Deborah say in verse 14 ?

Speaker 2 23:14

Get up because the Lord's this is the day that the Lord's given Cicera into your hands .

Speaker 1 23:19

And what's always interesting is the verb tenses . Always , when you're doing Bible study , pay attention to the verb tenses . So in verse 14 , what verb tenses she's using there ?

Speaker 2 23:29

Future that it's already happened . God has already given him into your hands .

Speaker 1 23:33

God has delivered past tense Cicera into your hands . So she speaks of it as if it had already happened , and we pointed that out . God declares things and speaks of them as if they're done . So in verse 14 , barak , he ultimately obeys , he ends up having some degree of faith . And how much faith did Jesus say we have to have in order to achieve Faith of a mustard ?

Speaker 1 23:57

seed A mustard seed Matthew 17 , verse 20 . Sometimes we may not feel like a Joshua . Sometimes we may feel like a Joshua . Sometimes I'm going out and I have all the confidence in the world , never doubt , always obey . And sometimes we're like a Barak , have lots of doubts or scared to go by ourselves or need somebody to go with us , but we ultimately know that we should obey and we follow God . I see here just the examples of life . There's times where I have full confidence in the world and my faith is solid as a rock and I'm like a Joshua . In other days I'm like a Barak . I have a mixture of faith and unbelief . So what do you do if you find yourself being a Barak and you have doubts and you're scared and you're up against an enemy that has 900 iron chariots ? How do we move forward in following God and with all faith ? What practical things can we do ?

Speaker 2 24:51

Well , just stay with the faith that God has already declared that it's a victory and that he's going to work the things out the way that they should be worked out .

Speaker 1 25:01

Has God been trustworthy to us in the past ? Yes , will he be trustworthy in the future ? Yes , he's always been with us in the past . Again , back to David and the sheep going up before Goliath . God always prepares us before he sends us in front of a giant . And if we just remember the times where God has been with us in the past as , steve , you've pointed out several times in our studies that God always reminds them hey , I was the one brought you out of Egypt , I was the one carried you through the wilderness , I brought you into this land . He reminds them of the good things he's done in the past and sometimes it's good for us If we just sit down and remind ourselves of all the other times that God got us through , then we'll know that , hey , this next problem may be big and bad and hairy , but we can have the confidence that God will be with us . At the middle of verse 14 , when we come to a scary situation , who has gone before us ? What does it say there in verse 14 ?

Speaker 2 25:57

The Lord , and again , that's all caps . So it's Yahweh Right . The God of Israel has gone before him .

Speaker 1 26:03

What happens when a very large army of men and 900 iron chariots go up against the one living God ? Who's going to win ?

Speaker 2 26:12

Well , obviously God is going to take control and win that .

Speaker 1 26:15

So what's your opinion , this final opinion of this guy , Barak ? What do you think of him ? Was he good ? Was he an example ?

Speaker 2 26:21

for us . I would say that he is an example of us , okay , in that we sometimes are timid and we don't heed the callings that God has sometimes on our life , and that we do get encouraged sometimes whenever other people , other Christians , call us out and hold us to accountability , and it does help us and encourage us . So I'd say he's maybe an example of us , not for us .

Speaker 1 26:46

You know and that's very accurate and I would support that . What's interesting to me , the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 11 was giving a long list of examples of people in the past that had faith , and Barak is listed in Hebrews 11 as an example to the church today of people that had faith , and I find this encouraging because of the things that you just said . He's an example of us . He's a mixture of people that are hesitant in some cases and in some cases have to be shown examples and reminded , but ultimately has faith and will follow God and has a victory and as such , even though he's not a perfect human being , not a Joshua that shows all signs of all faith all the time , he's just a regular human .

Speaker 2 27:33

He makes the Hall of Fame , the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11 , as an example that God holds up for us , and I am grateful for that chapter 11 , hall of Faith in Hebrews because there's several characters that are there , that it answers that question , that we're maybe left with open answers throughout Scripture and in the Hall of Faith their name there . So that gives a lot of encouragement to me .

Being Faithful and Challenged Like Deborah

Speaker 1 27:57

So , steve , you and me , if God asked us to do something challenging today or tomorrow , are we going to be like Deborah ? Are we going to be ?

Speaker 2 28:03

like Barak , always try and be like Deborah . Yes .

Speaker 1 28:08

Being faithful . Probably a good stopping point for today . We'll wrap up here . Just a reminder to all of our listeners go to our website reasoningthroughthebiblecom . There we have free materials . We have lesson plans that follow along with all of our sessions here that could be used to be taught in Sunday morning Bible classes or small group studies or individual studies . All of our materials are given away for free . We also have information there about how you can find other materials and as we work our way through Joshua , we trust you'll stay with us and be sure and send us questions . We'll be doing Q&A sessions periodically and that's it for today . We'll see you next time on Reasoning Through the Bible .