Year 4, Day 265: Judges 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Up, Father, King

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.
• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  We get our identity through Him.  When the Father is in our life, obedience becomes clear.
• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

This is an awesome chapter through which we can be challenged about our perspective in this world.  Am I really obedient to the identity that comes from the Father?  Am I really living out the authority and power that comes from the king?  Is God really in my Up position?  Am I really willing to follow?

Look at Barak in this chapter.  God has told him to go up and rout Sisera.  We know that, because Deborah comes to Barak she says to him, “Has not God commanded you to go up against Sisera?”  God has already told Barak what to do before Deborah steps onto the scene.  The issue is whether or not God is truly in his Up position.  Is he willing to live out of the obedience that comes from the identity that God desires to give to him?  Is he willing to live out of the power and authority that comes from God the king?

The short answer is no.  Barak isn’t willing.  Even when Deborah comes to him, Barak is unwilling.  He tells Deborah, unless you come with me, I won’t go.  Essentially, Barak is saying to Deborah, “I don’t believe in the identity God has for me and I don’t believe that I can live out of His power and authority.  So hold my hand for me, please.”

That’s utterly pathetic.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that new people in the faith shouldn’t walk beside their spiritual mentors so they can train and learn.  That’s not what we have going on here!  Barak is already a leader of the people.  After all, how likely is it that an unknown person would be able to raise up an army of 10,000 Hebrews on a whim?  No.  Barak is trained to lead and the people know him.  He’s just being a wimp.  He’s not willing to see the identity that God has for him in order to live out of it.  He’s not willing to live out the power and authority that God has placed in his life.  He needs his hand to be held – or perhaps he needs to be dragged into God’s will kicking and screaming. 

Either way, the sad reality of Barak is that he doesn’t follow God until challenged and provoked to do so.  Even then he follows hesitantly.  So Deborah and Jael will get the glory that God desired to lavish out onto Barak.  Deborah and Jael get to live out the identity, authority, and power that God – our Father and King – intended to lavish upon Barak.  All because Barak was unwilling to have God truly be in his Up position.

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