As we get into today’s passage we finish looking at the battle between Deborah and Barak, and Jabin and Sisera. We will see the great victory that God gives the children of Israel under Deborah’s leadership.

Does God allow women to be a leader over His people? In the passage today, Pastor Mark looks at the men in Israel and the lack of true leadership. The men were cowering in fear to stand up and do what was right, so God raised up a woman by the name of Deborah.

With our first judge Othniel we saw the importance of the Holy Spirit coming upon us for power to defeat the enemy. In this teaching we see the nation of Israel in the same mess they were in before Othniel, repeating that same cycle of sin. Once again Israel is put under the judgment of God. As we look at our next two judges, Ehud and Shamgar, we will see the importance of God’s Word or the “sword of the Spirit”. We will see that we need to trust God to use us with whatever He has placed in our hand.

Last week we began the story of Israel’s first judge in Othniel. Although God used Othniel to deliver the children of Israel, it was done by the power of His Holy Spirit. How did the Holy Spirit do it? He came upon him and Othniel received power to lead them and conquer their enemies. Pastor Mark guides us through the Scriptures as we look at the different works of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life in the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament.

As we get back into the vicious cycle of Judges today, we will see the people refuse to confront evil and repent, and God turns them over to their enemies. This is a sobering truth that we all need to grasp. The Bible says if we continue to live in sin individually OR as a nation, God will eventually turn us over or sell us to our enemies. Simply stated He will allow our enemies to have victory over us until we repent and cry out to Him.

In this teaching, pastor Mark shares what the Bible says about God being a “Man of War”. Although there are numerous misconceptions about God and who He really is, we will learn today that there is a balance between a righteous and just God and a God of love.

In this study we learn how God dealt with Israel and the consequences they faced for not operating in truth with God. After the death of Joshua and that generation, they started to follow the false gods of the land. Their actions resulted in provoking God’s anger. And what was the consequence of getting the Lord this angry? He allowed them to be plundered and He gave them over to their enemies.

It seems like every generation talks about how it was in their generation and typically how much better it was morally for the nation. And there is a reason for that. It probably was! Mankind by our sin nature is always heading downward in morality. If our parents or the generation before us does not point us to the Lord, we will naturally go the other way because we are naturally corrupt. And this is not only what we will see with the children of Israel over the next two weeks, sadly it is what we see happening in American today.

Nothing grieves the heart of a parent more than a child that has gone astray, especially when the child has been taught the right way and has still chooses to fall away. This is exactly what we are going to see today with the children of Israel. Although God had shown them the right way, AND loved them like a faithful husband, they decided to go their own way instead and their love for God had grown cold. And the same thing can happen to us on an individual level, but also on national level as well.

Last week we began looking at the different types of sin that we all have to deal with and conquer once we give our lives to the Lord. In the continuation of this teaching Pastor Mark explains why we shouldn’t be afraid of the iron chariots of sin or the giants of sin in the land. If so, we will walk in constant defeat and never experience the joy or true freedom in the land God has promised. There is no giant too big for God, so we should never find ourselves running or afraid.