Judges 4 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
Judges 4 Summary - A Quick Overview
WHEN:
Most scholars place the period of the Judges somewhere between 1450 B.C. and 1000 B.C.
The events in Judges 3 were spread out over at least 145 years (3:8, 11, 14, 30).
In Judges 4, the king of Canaan oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.
CHARACTERS:
Ehud – The 2nd Judge of Israel. God used him to deliver Israel from the oppression of the Moabites (Judges 3).
Deborah – The 4th Judge of Israel. She was the wife of Lappidoth. She sat under a palm tree in the hill country of Ephraim and judged the people of Israel.
Barak – A man from Kadesh-naphtali. He led the Israelites army in their victory over the king of Canaan.
Jabin – King of Canaan.
Sisera – The commander of Jabin’s army.
Jael – A Kenite woman who killed the commander of the Canaanite army in her tent.
WHERE:
Barak gathered the Israelite army at Mount Tabor and fought the Canaanites near the river Kishon.
Jabin ruled over Canaan from the city of Hazor.
OUTLINE:
DEBORAH AND BARAK GO TO WAR WITH THEIR CANAANITE OPPRESSORS (4:1-16):
After Ehud died, the people of Israel started worshiping idols again.
God allowed Jabin, king of Canaan, to subjugate them for 20 years.
Deborah, Israel’s 4th Judge, called a man named Barak to her and told him to gather an army of 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun and go to war with Jabin.
Barak agreed to do as the Lord instructed, but he wanted Deborah to go with him.
Deborah agreed to this condition but told Barak he would not receive the glory for the victory, the glory would belong to a woman.
Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, met the Israelites for battle with his 900 chariots of iron near the Kishon River.
God routed the Canaanites and their chariots, but Sisera escaped on foot.
SISERA IN THE TENT OF JAEL (4:17-24):
Sisera fled to the house of Heber, where he thought he could find some allies.
A woman named Jael invited him into her tent and gave him something to drink.
Before laying down to sleep, he told Jael not to tell anyone he was in the tent.
But Jael was not the ally Sisera thought she was. When the commander was fast asleep, Jael took a tent peg and hammered it into his head, killing him.
Later, when Barak was passing by in pursuit of Sisera, Jael met him and showed him the body of the man he was chasing.
The Israelites continued their war until they had “destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.”
APPLICATION:
You can’t underestimate the motivational factor of good leadership.
Ehud motivated the people to serve God.
Deborah motivated Barak to obey the command of God and gather the army of Israel to finally win freedom from their oppressors.
In my lifetime, I’ve noticed one of the most needed leadership qualities in the church is the quality of a motivator and an organizer.
There are a lot of people in the church willing to work, but they need someone to get them started, they need someone to take initiative.
Good elders are more than just doctrinal watchdogs. Good elders are those who can take the commands of God from the word of God and motivate people to turn those words into actions.
