 Again, we're in the workman's hammer part four in Judges chapter four. Welcome back It's our privilege to be back in the book of Judges And we've been working verse by verse through Judges chapter four and the Lord's deliverance of the nation of Israel under Debra Barak and Gile Now in our first look at this text we consider the ongoing need of the people point one the ongoing need of the people in Verses one through three the children of Israel are locked into a desperate Destructive and ongoing pattern of sin and rebellion that once again finds them under the judgment of God Their sin is the issue. Amen Jabin of the both the king of Canaan and the instrument of God's judgment now has them under a harsh and severe Oppression, but as harsh as that oppression is as harsh harsh as that oppression may be We've understood from their circumstances that the real destructive force in Israel is their own sin The thing that is wreaking havoc on them wreaking havoc on the nation is their own sin and rebellion against God Ultimately, Jabin simply is not the problem Sin has an unbroken and enslaving and an oppressive iron grip on the nation There's moral restraint as long as the judge is governing the people and that law is enforced But when the judge dies The intent of the heart is to do evil and the people revert back to their sin Even more so than they were in sin before and so the people need more than a mere moral reformation They need regeneration. They need a new heart They need to be delivered from their sin and that points us forward to our need today, doesn't it? We need to be delivered from our sin praise God in Jesus Christ We have been if you've turned from sin you were delivered both from the penalty of sin and the power of sin through Sanctification God is gradually separating you or delivering you from the presence of sin in your life and one day praise God Ultimately and finally delivered altogether from the presence of sin in glorification They need regeneration. They don't need a mere moral reformation Now in our second look at this text we consider the command of the Lord in verses 4 through 10 The Lord has heard the cries of his people and the Lord in grace and mercy has determined to deliver them And so we issued a clear command with the command came a promise and we see that repeated in verse 6 Where the Lord says go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor Take with you 10,000 men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun and against you I will deploy Cicera the commander of Jabin's army with his chariots and its multitude at the River Kishan And here's the promise I will deliver him into your hand Simply requires faith right Trusting in the word of God if they will trust in the word of the Lord they'll go down Mount to Mount Tabor They will take Cicera and the Lord will deliver them into their hands But the command goes unheeded The promise then goes unfulfilled There doesn't appear to be any faith filled men of God in Israel No faith filled men of God in the nation willing as yet to take the Lord at his word You read a story like this as you work through the narrative. You want to ask yourself, right? Where are the Joshua's? Right? Where are the Caleb's? Where are the Othnials and what you see if you consider that question for a moment Is the downward spiral of the nation of Israel as they plunge further and further and Further into their sin and now we get to the point where there are no faithful faith filled man Men in the nation no one who will take God at his word No one who will go out and confront the enemy. And so what does God do then in their place? The Lord raised up a faithful woman Deborah the prophetess Sits in the seat of Moses under the palm of Deborah and she's judging Israel at this time and in the leadership Vacuum that's left behind by weak and faithless men Deborah then sends for Barak and reminds Barak of the command has not the Lord God of Israel Commanded go and deploy your troops at Mount Tabor So then in response to Deborah What does Barak do Barak musters a little faith? Barak musters faith and he says to Deborah I'll go but I'll only go if you go with me and in our third sermon on this text We began to see the salvation then of the Lord the salvation of the Lord so point one We looked at the need of the people point two We considered the command of the Lord in point three we observed the salvation of the Lord So consider with me now in point four the conclusion of the matter the conclusion of the matter in verse 16 Barak Pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harisheth Hagoyim in all the army of Cicera Fell by the edge of the sword not a man was left Except one not a man was left but one verse 17. However Cicera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jail the wife of Heber the Kenite For there was peace between Jaban king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite Remember Cicera was the general of Jaban's army. He had come to the river Kishon to fight the battle We all know how the battle went. We studied that in sermon three, but now as we come to verse 17 a First time reader of the account if a first time reader were going through the book of judges We're reading through for the first time judges chapter 4 they would have come to verse 9 where the Lord makes a promise that he's going to deliver the victory Over to Israel, but he wasn't going to give Barak any glory in the victory the glory was going to be given to a woman He would deliver Israel deliver Israel by the hand of a woman so a first time reader might be thinking to himself herself Well, how's the Lord going to do this? It might have been thinking to herself It must be Deborah Deborah is going to get the victory we get to verse 17 We're introduced to another character in our account here Jail Barak is pursuing the defeated Kenite army and yet Barak pursuing the army is not going to get the victory Not going to get the glory. He's not going to gain glory for the victory Deborah and now in verse 17 is missing from the record She would likely be the candidate to fulfill the promise of verse 9 But now we're introduced to another woman in the narrative the Jail the wife of Heber the Kenite and the Lord's plan now comes into sharper focus Cicera flees To what he believes will be the safety and security of a known ally Barak is pursuing Cicera and Barak really isn't pursuing Cicera as much as Barak is pursuing glory in victory And that's already been determined the Lord is not going to give Barak the glory He's going to deliver Israel by the hand of a woman and so Cicera then flees to the tent of Jail the wife of Heber the Kenite He believes there'll be safety there believes there'll be security there believes it There'll be peace there because Heber the Kenite is a known ally of Jabin king of Hazor the term for peace in verse 17 Points to more than just a friendly relationship, right? The word is often used in a context like this for a covenant or a treaty The word suggests that a that an alliance has been formed an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and Heber the Kenite. They're more than just friendly. Okay now from here as Cicera flees Jail takes the inviting and enticing Initial initiative to set up Cicera for a stunning defeat stunning demise as you read through the the context read through the narrative Jail is the one directing the course of the narrative Jail is the one making the decisions She's setting this up Jail takes the initiative Jail sets the course She intended determines the intended outcome in other words. This is premeditated. This is premeditated Look at verse 18 in verse 18 Jail goes out to get Cicera's attention and Jail went out to meet Cicera She needs initiates contact She in its initiates the conversation and Jail think with me a married woman Invites this man not her husband into her tent She said to him turn aside my lord turn aside to me Do not fear Inviting enticing isn't it said the spider to the fly She reassures Cicera. She's inviting. She's pleasant. She's comforting right. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid and Jail here much like E hood drawing Blubbery king egg lawn close to him for the kill Jail is luring Luring Cicera in to her plot Jail lures the Unsuspecting Cicera into her tent and as Jail entices and invites. She's almost seductive, isn't she? He begins to trust her when he had turned aside with her into the tent He covered her she covered him with a blanket. It's certainly the blanket was meant to conceal Cicera Right, but it may have been that Jail had a different intention in mind. I seem to think that she does Cicera was weary. He was exhausted from battle. He's tired He has worn out and the blanket was warm and the blanket was comfortable Jail is a woman on a mission. She's a woman on a mission. And again, this is premeditated We see that even more clearly in verse 19 Then he said to her Please give me a little water to drink For I'm thirsty But Jail is not interested in quenching his thirst verse 19. So she opened a jug of milk Gave him a drink and covered him Cicera asked for water Which would have quenched his thirst. That's not what Jail has in mind. Cicera is exhausted He's lying down. He's warm under the blanket. He's beginning to rest and Jail gives him milk to drink She's Memorialized in song if you turn the page and look at chapter 5. She's memorialized in song for this in chapter 5 verse 25 Where in the song of Deborah? Our author records that he asked for water. She gave milk She brought out cream in a lordly bowl that word for cream there is translated. I think of the king James's butter thick cream sweet cream Not what you would think of Drinking or eating if you wanted to quench your thirst, but if you wanted to take a nap, that's exactly what you need Milk she brought out cream in a lordly bowl It tends it seems to appear That Jail and tends to put Cicera to sleep Jail wants to put Cicera to sleep literally And then permanently Jail is on a mission. This is premeditated right look at verse 20 So then he said to her Stand at the door of the tent And if any man comes and inquires of you and says is there any man here You shall say no That's interesting again. If you think about the culture at the time would have been Exceedingly abnormal not natural for Jail to have invited a man who was not her husband into her tent in the first place Right and then for her to stand guard so to speak at her tent and if any man comes to her and says you had a man in there She's to say no the whole thing is not right, right? This would have been said thought of as very counter-cultural Scandalous in this day, but that's what Cicera tells Jail to do Stand at the door of the tent if any man comes and inquires of you and says is there any man there you shall say no So Cicera now believes that he's safe. He believes that he's secure He is confident that he's out of danger and at peace think about Cicera's state of mind He believes himself to be at peace when the Lord Through the Prophet says there is no Peace for the wicked there's no peace for the wicked the wicked may think That no harm will come to him He may think that he is the master of his fate and the captain captain of his soul But you are never safe Standing opposed to God and in rebellion against him Like Cicera you may believe that you've got more time. You may think that you've got all the time in the world Right one more step. I'm gonna be in haze or I'm gonna be safe with my buddy. Jay ben, right? You may think that you're safe. You may think that no harm will come to you. You have all the time in the world You may be young You may be healthy You may be making a good living. You may have a good job. Things are going well for you Right things have been pretty smooth your jobs going all right schools going okay families going okay. Everything seems to be good With no thought whatsoever to the fact that Your life is in the hands of God whom you have offended with your sin If you've never turned from your sin to trust in Christ alone, you are not safe You are not secure. You are not at peace You are under the threat of harm every moment That's where gyle where cicera is Cicera believes that he's safe. He's not safe. He believes that he's he's at peace. He's not at peace Jonathan edwards said this of the wicked He said destruction Came suddenly upon most of them when they expected nothing of it And while they were saying peace and safety Now they see that those things that they depend on for peace and safety were nothing but thin air and empty shadows Thin air and empty shadows. We're not promised peace in this life. We're not promised security. We're not promised safety Things can get difficult. You can go through trials. You can face injury or harm. You can even die Obviously We're not promised peace and security But you are never so safe as in christ Right our savior our deliverer in christ You have the forgiveness of sins in christ. You've been given eternal life Outside of lord jesus christ outside of the lord jesus christ You are under the threat of eternal harm. You are under the threat constantly under danger Listen to what edwards goes on to say the god that holds you over to the pit of hell Holds you much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire that god Horses you and is dreadfully provoked His wrath towards you burns like a fire He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight How is it that our god who is three times holy Can even look upon you in your sin Only because you are in christ Only in christ can he look upon you with any favor only in christ He says you are 10 000 times so abominable in his eyes as the most hateful venomous Serpent is in ours You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince and yet his nothing But his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment Tis to be ascribed to nothing else that you did not go to hell the last night That you were suffered to awake again in this world after you closed your eyes to sleep And there is no other reason to be given why you've not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning But that god's hand has held you up You can imagine cicera in that tent right he goes into the tent of jail Thinking i'm just going to close my eyes just for a moment. I'm tired. It's been a long day I'm really exhausted got this warm blanket. I just had a full cup of milk I'm just going to give me a minute just give me a minute I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute and that would be the last time that he ever closed his eyes And when cicera opened his eyes the next time he opened his eyes in torment In everlasting fire You're not safe if you're outside of christ. You are not secure if you're under god's condemnation Oh sinner edward says consider the fearful danger that you're in Tis a great Furnace of wrath a wide and bottomless pit full of the fire of wrath that you are held over in the hand of god Whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the damned in hell You hang by a slender thread With the flames of divine wrath flashing about it and ready every moment to sing it to burn it asunder And you have no interest in any mediator Nothing to lay hold of to save yourself Nothing to keep off the flames of wrath nothing of your own Nothing that you have ever done nothing that you can do to induce god to spare you one more moment That is the reality that every lost Wicked rebellious sinner lives under the only hope That you have the only hope that I have is to be found safe In the arms of the lord jesus christ Through repentant faith in him putting your faith and trust in the lord jesus christ Cicera this Self-made man this general of jabon's armies cicera has been marked out for destruction now The plan has been set into motion Jael even unbeknownst to her is carrying it out. But whose plan is this? This is god's plan This is god's plan cicera's time is up And cicera doesn't even sense the danger that he's in doesn't sense the danger doesn't see it He believes himself to be at peace He believes that he's safe. He has bought into the deception. Do you see? In this life in cicera's life. He's bought into the deception. He's been lulled Into a false sense of security believing that everything's okay. I've got plenty of time when he doesn't have another moment Jael is going to drive the peg through his head and that's it and he is done He doesn't realize that as he closes his eyes to sleep this last moment It will be for the last time in his life and he will open his eyes in hell What about you tonight? What about you when you lay your head on your pillow tonight? Will you lay your head on your pillow apart from the lord jesus christ? Will you not wonder to yourself might this be the last time that I will ever close my eyes in this life When you get out on that highway might it be the last time you ever drive from this place Might this be the last time that you ever hear the gospel preach to you Before you close your eyes in this life and wake up in hell We are not safe apart from the lord jesus christ. You are not secure. There is no peace for the wicked says the lord our god verse 21 and jael Heber's wife she took a tent peg And took the hammer of god's justice into her hand. Do you see? She took the tent peg and took a hammer in her hand and she went softly to him. It literally means that she went secretly She nestled up to sissara She softly Secretly went up to sissara and Drove the peg into his temple and it went down into the ground because he was fast asleep and weary And so he died So he died This defeat think with me. This was a violent And bloody business You can imagine sissara's head Split wide open by the peg is jael pinned him to the ground with a hammer The peg would have gone in just behind the eyes that soft flat place on the head Went straight through his skull and into the ground The hebrou word for drove that verb in verse 21 indicates a blast of force It was a single blast of force with the hammer the point of the tent Stake the stake entering the soft flat area of his skull Just behind the eyes the ladies in this point in time this point in history Ladies and those they were days were responsible for putting up the tents They were responsible for putting up the tent. So jael would have been very efficient with the hammer She would have known exactly what she was doing with the peg There was no mistaking here jael was very experienced And jael took care of business. She was very efficient very efficient with the hammer and the supposedly great general of jabens armies The one who had Subjected the nation to such severe and harsh oppression The one with thousands under his command advanced weaponry at his disposal Is dispatched by a woman It's an interesting side note that in verse 20 Cicera tells her if any man comes and inquires of you and says is there any man here You shall say no the way that's worded in verse 20 is mocking the supposed manhood of cicera And the israelites would have gotten a particular delight out of hearing it read that way Is there any man in here? No, there's not a man in here Essentially the way they would have heard that is there a man in there? Nope No man in here All right, that's the way they would have taken it And at the end of it all at the end of it all cicera is a nobody Cicera is no man Cicera the word literally means nothing Nothing he's a nothing He's a nothing Cicera is a nothing at the end of it all cicera the mighty war warrior the general of jabens armies is Nothing in all his supposed might nothing in all his opposition to god Nothing not even a speck of dust on the scales to our god. They can align themselves together and what does god do? He sits in the heavens and he laughs and he holds them into region Cicera Amounts to nothing in the end amounts to nothing We are only something in christ, right only something in christ So verse 22 then As barric pursued cicera Jael came out to meet him and said come Come barric i'll show you the man whom you seek That's loaded with uh some sarcasm there also Jael's tone to barric come i'm going to show you the man whom you seek And when he went into her tent there lay cicera dead With a peg in his temple verse 22 says that barric pursued cicera We know that barric was pursuing glory and victory barric was pursuing ambition Would not be his victory would not be his glory god Had determined the end from the beginning And god had determined the means that he would use to bring about that decreed end And it would be the lord who would ultimately get the glory. This was god's victory. Do you see? God determines the end from the beginning and then god determines the means That he would use to bring about his decreed end He told barric through debra in verse 9 There will be no glory for you in the journey you're taking for the lord will sell cicera into the hand of a woman Now some people we read through judges for some people are put off by the fact That israel's deliverance Seems to come through the supposed treachery of jael sounds treacherous sounds scandalous Right that sounds all too seedy But consider with me consider with me jael was a woman Jael was a woman that's scandalous enough, isn't it? It would have been scandalous even shameful that israel was delivered by a woman That's the way they would have thought Not only that not only a woman jael was a gentile woman Even more scandalous not only a Gentile woman But the wife of a man who is no friend of the people of god heber the keenight He had left the people of god in the southern part of the country and moved north away from them And he makes a treaty becomes an ally to jaben king of hazor their enemy So not just a woman but a Gentile woman not just a Gentile woman But the wife of a man who is no friend of the people of god She seemed to be conniving even treacherous even seductive in her treatment of cissura She lured a man into her tent without her husband. This is all scandalous right scandalous Some would say that she plays the part of the flattering seductress of proverbs chapter seven With the attire of a harlot and a crafty heart Right she has cast down many wounded all who were slain by her were strong men Her house is the way to hell descending to the chambers of death Some might describe jael that way She would seem to uh, she would seem to show some contempt For barric in her words to him in verse 22 come i'll show you the man whom you seek He's here in my tent with a peg through his head And it's possible that the tone of the words there in verse 22 indicate The shame that she heaps upon barric for his failure in putting down cissura His failure to do the job himself So as we consider jael and the scandal that is jael Is jael the heroine of the story or is she just another villain? She's just another villain Far from there being any indication That debra condemned jael for her actions The song of debra commends Jael for her actions and israel will sing her praises look at judges chapter five turn a page to the right judges chapter five And listen now in judges chapter five as debra sings the song of debra And sings of god's Righteous act remember this is god's act Verse 10 look at verse 10 speak You who ride on white donkeys those are kings and people of importance right on white donkeys Speak you who ride on white donkeys who sit in judges attire and who walk along the road Far from the noise of the archers among the watering places there They shall recount the righteous acts of the lord the righteous acts for his villagers and israel Then the people of the lord shall go down to the gates remember these are the righteous acts of god look at verse 24 Most blessed among women is jael the wife of heber the kenite blessed is she among women in tents He asked for water. She gave milk. She brought out cream in a lordly bowl She stretched her hand to the tent peg remember where the israelites are singing the song of debra in praise of god for this act Right. She stretched her hand to the tent peg her right hand of the workman's hammer She pounded sissara. She pierced his head She split and struck through his temple and at her feet. He sank. He fell. He lay still at her feet He stank he stanketh after a while at her feet. He sank. He fell where he sank there. He fell dead A sum May feel uncomfortable with the account but scripture clearly vindicates jael Scripture commends jael sissara clearly Deserved his end sissara got what was coming to him He got what was coming to him and the saints should glorify god that jael staked his head to the ground That is the justice the righteous justice of almighty god the righteous justice of god. It is right It is right and just and good and true that god should dispatch Evil wicked rebels in just this way It's right And it's our humanistic Low view of god Low view of sin Our mindset in this day and age that would think otherwise But when you have an understanding of sin And you have some understanding some biblical understanding of god's holiness And you see god's justice against sin. You see this as a just and righteous act just as The lord does just as the people of israel did when god delivered him by the hand of jael one commentator said this The living god Rescued his people through this gruesome act Blessed spike When we gaze upon god's pristine holiness, we begin to see things clearly Jael's deed shocks those who are steeped in humanism But it rings true in the spiritual mind that sees god's righteous justice in it Not until we see the holiness of the good god and our unjust wickedness against him Will we also see the exquisite? Rightness of it all Amen But if cissura if cissura deserved death If he deserved the righteous wrath of a holy god, and what about these israelites? What about the israelites? God is delivering them by the hand of jael. What about them? Certainly, they've done worse Certainly, they've done worse than cissura. They've sinned against grace They've sinned against mercy god delivers them time and time again. God has entered into covenant with them He's become their god. They become his people and they've sinned against the covenant. They've sinned against great What great nation is there that has god so near to it? The israelites would say as the lord our god is to us For whatever reason that we may call upon him for whatever reason they may call upon him They certainly have they cried out to god for mercy and here god is delivering the people of israel despite their idolatry They've grievously sinned against god and repeated idolatry And if they deserve judgment if the israelites deserve judgment And what about you and i? What about you and i? All the grace and goodness that has been shown to us Many of you have multiple copies of the bible in your house You can go online. You can pull up 100 translations of the bible in a moment We're blessed with provision in this country like no other no other time in history All the goodness that we've been shown the care the mercy of god the provision of god If they deserve judgment, what about you and i? The real scandal here I would suggest to you the only scandal here The real wonder of wonders Is that we all don't end up like sissora with a tent peg through our head That's the scandal that we all don't end up like him The difference between sissora And the idolatrous israelite of the day Was that the israelites had cried out for mercy The israelites cried out for mercy Their covenant keeping god was near to them that they might call upon him And then he because he was faithful to his word he delivered them He was their covenant keeping god The difference between sissora and us Is that god has drawn near to us in the preaching of the gospel That if we will call upon him for mercy Through faith in the lord jesus christ then we too may be delivered Delivered from the misery of our sin. It's the only difference Is that through jesus christ god has drawn near to us in the preaching of the gospel and because of jesus christ You can cry out to god for mercy and be forgiven of your sin listen to me Young girl young boy listen You can cry out to god for mercy to be forgiven of your sin Listen to me older man older woman You can cry out to god for mercy and be forgiven. You can find grace You can find forgiveness in the lord jesus christ for your sin. You can be granted eternal life There's another woman Described in the bible as blessed among women. She was a highly favored one This gile seems to be in judges chapter five It was through her through this blessed among women that god brought forth the promised seed Who would crush the head of our ultimate enemy and deliver us from death? He would be the one to bear for us The hammered spikes of gulgotha The spike that we deserve He would bear that for us a violent And a bloody business It was a violent and bloody victory and you and i deserve that That's what we deserve. We deserve the spike And it's necessary that victory necessary because ours is a scandalous and vicious treason against god We are the ones who are scandalous in our sin against him This is the cost of our redemption The cost of our redemption Through his own death The death of the only begotten son of god Our victory our deliverance is secured our hope is sure And he gives us a new song to sing Just like the israelites judges chapter five. He puts a new song in our mouth We have a new song to sing worthy is the lamb who is slain To receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing Blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever So what is the means? Then through which our compassionate and merciful and gracious god will pour out his salvation blessing on us What's the means is it good works? I just have to do better. I got to clean my life up I got to try harder. I got to do better That we might earn it is that the means we have to earn it not possible Not possible. It is the cry for mercy It is repentant faith in his already victorious son Turn from your sin turn from your rebellion trust in jesus christ alone. He alone has won the victory Victory is one The stakes have been driven and the lord jesus christ is triumphant and we are always led in triumph in him So then our account of debra barric and jail then ends with a fitting summary look at verse 23 so on that day God subdued jaben king of kanan in the presence of the children of israel And the hand of the children of israel grew stronger and stronger against jaben king of kanan until they had destroyed jaben king of kanan And what's the conclusion of the matter the conclusion of the matter is that god is the hero of our story God is the hero of our story. How easy it is for god To destroy the wicked and to subdue our enemies. It's easy easy Easy, who do you think it is? Who do you think it was? Who strengthened their hand verse 24? Who do you think it was who strengthened their hand against jaben? God was the one who strengthened their hand against jaben. You turn to christ The lord will continuously strengthen your hand against your remaining sin It's called sanctification Having won the victory for us. He will certainly strengthen our hand through faith Will grow stronger and stronger against it until it is fully and finally destroyed All if we will cast ourself upon him all if we will trust in him All praise honor and glory to the victor our great god and savior amen Amen, let's pray Father in heaven, we praise you and worship you and thank you for this deliverance We praise you that you are our victor our deliverer our savior We thank you lord that Through the means of faith we can turn from sin to trust in christ for his finished work his perfect life his perfect sacrifice Trusting in him for the victory that has been hard one at the cross for us That we might be saved from our sin right with you made right with you justified declared righteous grateful to you lord for these Immeasurable unspeakable gifts of your grace and mercy to us in him And I pray lord there wouldn't be a single person here Who would persist in their treasonous rebellion against you? But would turn at your reproof Would turn from the condemnation that hangs over their head even now And would trust in christ for the salvation of their soul And that you lord in great grace and mercy would glorify your great name By saving many For the sake of the sun for the sake of your eternal praise and worship we pray all these things in his name amen