Barak: a man of little faith - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Judges 4:8,

"Barak said to her [Deborah], 'If you go with me, I will go; but if
you don't go with me, I won't go.'"

In this account, Israel's judge, or leader, was Deborah. She was also
a prophetess. Through her the Lord commanded Barak, a son of Abinoam
from Kadesh in Nephtali to take ten thousand men from Naphtali and
Zebulun to Mount Tabor. From there the Lord would lure Sisera, the
commander of Jabin's army, to the Kishon River and "give him into your
hands", verse 7. Jabin was a Canaanite king who had "cruelly oppressed
the Israelites for twenty years" and the Israelites had cried to the
Lord for help.

When commanded by the Lord to take the army of Naphtali and Zebulun
fighters to vanquish Sisera, Barak refused to go unless Deborah went
with him. Although the Lord told Barak he would provide him the
victory, he looked to Deborah. This is reminiscent to me of when the
tribe of Judah was told by the Lord to be the first to go to vanquish
the Canaanites and that the Lord would be with them. Their first act
was to ask the Simeonites for help. Judges 1:1-3. Both accounts speak
to me of a lack of faith on the part of those asked by the Lord to go.
The Lord said "go" and he would provide the victory, and apparently it
was felt further help or aid beyond what the Lord would provide would
be needed. We are also told, when the Lord excoriated Israel's
disobedience, they were at fault for making covenants with various
peoples in the promised land to aid in their conquering others. It
eventually led to their downfall as they embraced the idol worship of
these peoples, Judges 2:1-5. Again, a lack of faith, as they did not
need to make covenants with the inhabitants of the promised land. The
Lord would have provided the victory.

What did this cost Barak? Deborah told him, "I will go with you. But
because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be
yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." That woman, as
the story unfolds, would be Jael, the wife of Heber, a Kenite, that
is, a Gentile. She lured a fleeing and exhausted Sisera into her tent,
gave him milk to put him to sleep and then drove a tent peg through
his head.

The honor that would have been Barak's was squandered in his lack of
faith. Barak did lead the army (since Deborah went with him) and
Jabin's army was destroyed. But the real heroes of the account, in my
mind, are the two women of faith who stand out like shinning examples
to the rest of us, one a Jew and one a Gentile.

The Lord is truly worthy of all our faith and trust. May we all
emulate these great women of faith.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com