{"id":27307,"date":"2023-07-27T22:00:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T05:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-4_11-24-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-07-11T14:22:11","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T21:22:11","slug":"judges-5_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-5_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kind of People God Uses to Change the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judges 5:1-13 \u00a0 <\/strong>Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 5:1-13.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 5:1-3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people\u00a0willingly<\/strong>\u00a0offer themselves– praise the\u00a0LORD!
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!\u00a0I will<\/strong>\u00a0sing to the\u00a0LORD,\u00a0I will<\/strong>\u00a0sing;\u00a0I will<\/strong>\u00a0make music to the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 In celebration of their victory over the Canaanites, Deborah and Barak are described as singing a song.\u00a0 Welcome to Judges the Musical.\u00a0 In their song, which seems to be composed by Deborah, they praise the willingness of those who gave themselves to the cause, and follow up by expressing their own choice to sing to God.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0when you experience a victory, don\u2019t just move on, but give God the praise<\/strong>.\u00a0 Stop and take the time to thank God for the victory.<\/p>\n

Second,\u00a0something powerful takes place when we willingly give ourselves in service to God<\/strong>.\u00a0 God looks for people who are willing to give themselves toward the service of Him and His kingdom.\u00a0 Like Deborah and Barak, when you declare with faith \u201cI will sing\u201d, or \u201cI will serve\u201d, or \u201cI will choose to honour you, God\u201d, and you follow that up with action, that is you and the Holy Spirit working powerfully together to advance God\u2019s kingdom.<\/p>\n

Judges 5:4-5 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“O\u00a0LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The mountains quaked before the\u00a0LORD, the One of Sinai, before the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 4-5:\u00a0 Why is God described as marching \u201cfrom the land of Edom\u201d?\u00a0 It could be that the song is describing Israel\u2019s travels from Egypt to the promised land, which went through Edom.\u00a0 If that is the case, the picture is of God moving powerfully with His people.\u00a0 When God goes with you, it\u2019s like walking with an Avenger like Thor, except this Avenger is real.\u00a0 When you have by far the most powerful One beside you, what else should possibly make you afraid?<\/p>\n

Judges 5:6-8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-8:\u00a0 Now the song describes what life was like when Israel had descended into idolatry.\u00a0 Likewise, this is what happens when we choose to serve gods other than the LORD: we lose our way (\u201cthe roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths\u201d \u2013 v6), we become disconnected from real community (\u201cvillage life in Israel ceased\u201d \u2013 v7), and we become impotent and powerless to fight our battles (\u201cnot a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel\u201d \u2013 v8).\u00a0 Rather than giving life, idolatry sucks the life, purpose and strength out of our existence.<\/p>\n

Judges 5:9-11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0My heart is with Israel’s princes, with the\u00a0willing<\/strong>\u00a0volunteers among the people. Praise the\u00a0LORD!
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the\u00a0LORD, the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-11a:\u00a0 After praising the willing volunteers among the Israelites once again (v9), Deborah and Barak address those \u201cwho ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets\u201d (v10).\u00a0 According to scholars, Deborah and Barak here are addressing the rich Canaanites who lived in great comfort, as evidenced by their fashionable white horses and saddle blankets.\u00a0 Deborah and Barak ask these rich Canaanite elite, as well as the poorer Canaanites (\u201cyou who walk along the road\u201d \u2013 v10), to consider the Israelite singers who are reciting the LORD\u2019s righteous acts (v11).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0You may live in a comfortable bubble, but know this:\u00a0 God\u2019s Word is going out and being proclaimed.\u00a0 The question is: do you perceive it, do you consider it, do you respond to it?<\/strong>\u00a0 If you ignore God\u2019s Word, you do so at your own risk.<\/p>\n

Judges 5:11b-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u2026”Then the people of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0went down to the city gates.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0‘Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.’
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me with the mighty.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11-13:\u00a0 In this song, rather than Deborah and Barak being pictured as the ones who stir the rest of the people to action, the people are pictured as waking Deborah and Barak to action.\u00a0 This is once again possibly Deborah giving credit to the willing volunteers among the Israelites.\u00a0 What a refreshing change in a book that focuses a lot on the exploits of individual leaders.\u00a0\u00a0Judges 5 is a reminder that ordinary people can make a difference just by being willing, courageous and proactive.\u00a0 You don\u2019t need a title or a position to make an impact.\u00a0 What you need is the willingness to offer yourself for a cause bigger than yourself.\u00a0 Those are the kind of people God uses especially to change the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, thank You for willingly giving of Yourself for the Father\u2019s cause.\u00a0 Since You willingly gave Yourself for me, may I willingly give myself for You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 5:1-13.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 5:1-3 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people\u00a0willingly\u00a0offer themselves– praise the\u00a0LORD!
\n3\u00a0\u00a0“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!\u00a0I will\u00a0sing to the\u00a0LORD,\u00a0I will\u00a0sing;\u00a0I will\u00a0make music to the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-3:\u00a0 In celebration of their victory over the Canaanites, Deborah and Barak are described as singing a song.\u00a0 Welcome to Judges the Musical.\u00a0 In their song, which seems to be composed by Deborah, they praise the willingness of those who gave themselves to the cause, and follow up by expressing their own choice to sing to God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27307"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27310,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27307\/revisions\/27310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}