Devotion 215

“Again the Children of Israel Did Evil”

Reference: Judges Chapter 4

Moses has passed on, and so has Joshua. This new generation of Israel has no concept of the LORD. They are not aware of His Word. The result is evil; men and women at the hands of other men and women.

This is the world we live in today; men and women without the knowledge of God. Light only comes by the Word. Without the Word, evil rules.

Darkness — the absence of the Word.

Let’s read:

Judges 4:1-2 “And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. [2] And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.”

Israel did evil. They stepped away from the Word and Way of God. When we walk outside the Word and Way of God, we are exposed to the Enemy (Satan).

The Word of God is Jesus Christ, the Way of God is faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work of the Cross.

This is the Way of perpetual victory.

We continue our reading:

Judges 4:3 “And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.”

The Lord did not depart from Israel. It was israel that had departed from the Word and Way of God. When they cried  back to the Word and Way of God, He was always there to deliver them.

Today, if we turn to the Word and Way of God, He stands ready to forgive and to deliver us.

We continue our reading:

Judges 4:4-6 “And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. [5] And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth–el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. [6] And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh–naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?”

How did Deborah have this information? She was in-tuned with the Word of God. She knew the promises of God, and  believed it — the Word and the Way. If we will express the same faith in the promises of God, as spiritual children of Abraham, the Lord will fulfill every promise made to us through the Seed of Abraham.

We continue our reading:

Judges 4:7-14 “And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. [8] And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. [9] And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. [10] And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. [11] Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. [12] And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. [13] And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon. [14] And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.”

The woman Deborah knew the Lord. She knew His Word. Lord, give us some women who know your Word and your Way.

We continue our reading:

Judges 4:15 “And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.”

The Lord will discomfit the Enemy for anyone who would believe Him. He defeated the Enemy for us on the Cross. If only we will receive the victory by simply believing it. That’s the Way.

We continue our reading:

Judges 4:16-23 “But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. [17] Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. [18] And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. [19] And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. [20] Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. [21] Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. [22] And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. [23] So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.”

It was nothing that Israel did but God subdued Jabin because a woman knew His Word and His Way.

Today, if we will go according to His Word and His Way, our Jabins of diseases are already subdued.

We conclude our reading:

Judges 4:24 “And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.”

Every problem that ails man is subdued at the Cross. We simply have to believe and receive it.

Let the Word of God bring you the promised victory. BELIEVE and confess Christ the Word as we’ve revealed Him from the First Adam. All jabins of sin and diseases are subdued, totally, in Christ!