The song of Deborah is a song of jubilant praise for God’s deliverance of His people. God used men and women who were willing, but God is the One who fought for His people. And in this ancient song, we are reminded of an even greater victory won by the seed of the woman.

The Text: “Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying…”

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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The Bible teaches that God decreed the history of the world before it began (Is. 46:9-10), Eph. 1:11). This plan is for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28), and it is demonstrating God’s wisdom and power through the weak things of this world (1 Cor. 1-2).

This is one of those stories that highlights the goodness of the sovereignty of God. Calvinists should be the happiest, bravest people in the world.

The Text: “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. 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…”

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God created men and women to reflect His glory in particular ways, but sin distorts that glory. And we tend to sin against one another in ways that reinforce cycles of shame and dishonor.

But Christ came to break our cycles of sin, and Deborah is a judge who points us to the Church who calls men and women back to the glory of God.

The Text: “And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. 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…” (Judges 4:1-9)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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The Bible is not a book of sweet and pious aphorisms. It is the truest book because it tells the truth about our vile sin, and it tells the truth about the only way out of the shameful pits we have dug for ourselves. Ehud is a glorious picture of the Lord Jesus: a little savior who points to our Great Savior.

The Text: “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD…” (Judges 3:12-31)

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Despite human rebellion, God is determined to raise up a warrior people – nations trained for battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. In Christ, God has raised up the Great Judge of all the earth, who fights for us, and gives us His Spirit so that we may learn to fight evil like Him.

The Text: “Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known the wars of Canaan; only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof…” (Judges 3:1-11).

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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The people of Israel during the era of the judges largely failed, and they failed because they refused to seek God with their whole heart. They did not destroy their idols and the pagan nations around them, so they would have mild success during the lives of strong leaders and then immediately fall back into their idolatry over and over again. But Christ has come to call His people to true repentance.

The Text: “And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?...” (Judges 2:1-23)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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In God’s world, words and names matter. Your words are either echoing God’s Word and naming in faith and taking dominion, or else they are defying God’s Word, naming in unbelief, fear, and setting up trouble for yourself and your children. 

The tribes of Israel learned this the hard way. The lesson was clear: sin must be completely destroyed or it will eventually destroy you.

The Text: “And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)…” (Judges 1:22-36)

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Judges opens with the death of Joshua, and Israel calling on the Lord. The book of Judges is all about the radical difference between the Lord being with you and the Lord not being with you: the difference between God being your king and having no king and doing whatever is right in your own eyes. 

During the lifetime of Joshua, the Lord was with Israel and gave them victories over their enemies, but Judges will contrast that blessing with a declining cycle of God saving Israel, Israel forgetting God, not seeking God, and being oppressed by their enemies. 

But the story opens with a warm reminder of the blessing that is possible for those who seek Him. 

The Text: “Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand…” (Judges 1:1-20)

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It has been said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. Ecclesiastes says, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us” (Eccl. 1:9-10).

The repeated refrain of Solomon is that all is vanity or “vapor” and “vexation of spirit” or “striving after wind.” A better translation would be “shepherding the wind.” Ecclesiastes teaches that there is a kind of cyclical nature to time and yet there is a beginning and an end: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Eccl. 3:1, 11). The Christian view of history is more spiral.

We live in days of crisis and turmoil. It remains to be seen what kind of stability will emerge, whether it will be favorable to Christianity or not. Regardless, we are called to be “men of Issachar,” who have “understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chron. 12:32).

The Text: “For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow…” (Ps. 90:9-17)

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Matthew’s quotation of Hosea’s prophecy has often confused Christians. How is this faithful exegesis? But what we find in what might seem like almost a casual reference in passing is something that underlines even more of the glory of Christmas.

The Text: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt” (Hos. 11:1).

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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