The Spirit Through Deborah

Then Deborah said to Barak, Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you? So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men. Judges 4: 14

Who is Deborah? She is the wife of Lappidoth and the prophetess of God, who is the judge in Israel, at a time when the children of God are under the oppressively evil hand of Jabin, the Canaanite king.

Who is Barak? He is commander in chief of the Lord’s army, who has been keeping very quiet and low, in strength and morale, for he is unable to lead the Lord’s army against the oppressing Canaanite king. Barak is totally out of his depth as a soldier in the Israelite army and as commander of that army. Israel is in trouble! Israel is in an extremely poor and helpless state! Israel's troubles are getting worse and worse every day!

The Lord God hears the cries of His children in their helpless distress. They have sinned against God and now they are truly repentant and want deliverance from their place of hell and bondage. God has told the prophetess the way to their deliverance.

Before we proceed, we need to understand that although the Name Spirit, is not specifically mentioned in our text, we believe and know that the Spirit of God is with His prophetess Deborah. Is she not being guided and prompted by the Spirit of God in her God-given work? We know that God is Spirit, for Jesus said this openly to a Samaritan woman, who needed His teaching on the Holy Trinity. God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4: 24. To worship our Lord God, in spirit and in truth, is to acknowledge His Singularity, His Oneness and Unity in the Trinity: One God, One Lord, One Spirit. With agreed minds, we can continue in the Name of the Holy Spirit, using the Name of Spirit, One LORD.

Our eyes fall again on these words from the text, Has not the LORD gone ahead of you? Will you now hear it like this? Has not the SPIRIT gone ahead of you?

In this one phrase, gone ahead of you, there are four uncompromising facts about God, when He tells you that He, or His Divine, Holy Spirit, goes ahead of you, in whatever form or way He chooses. In our text, the Spirit’s word to Barak, through Deborah, comes to him in this most threatening, frightening and unsure situation. Barak is afraid. There is no denying this, for this Canaanite army, under the command of fierce and fearless Sisera, have had Israel subjected, suppressed and subdued for twenty years. The Canaanite army was undefeatable, with their nine hundred chariots of iron, and extraordinarily skilled fighting men. This is a particularly stressful and worrisome time for Barak, as leader of a defeated army. Listen! They are defeated physically, morally, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. However you take it, they are a defeated army. Indeed, it is in this impossible situation that the Spirit’s life-giving Word to Barak, is delivered through Deborah. Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?

Here’s is familiar sight. From it, we will grasp the four facts present before us. Look at the police outrider who goes ahead of the funeral convoy, for example.

Fact One. The outrider carries you. Has not God gone ahead of Barak? Has not the LORD gone ahead of you? Holy Spirit, as your outrider, is the Supreme Authority who goes ahead of you to carry you or take you to where you need to be. The police outrider is carrying or leading the convoy, and this in itself, brings comfort and assurance to all involved. To know that the Holy Spirit, as your outrider, is the One carrying you in this battle, will and must strengthen your faith and quicken your feet.

Fact Two.  The outrider clears the way for you. The Holy Spirit, as your outrider, goes ahead of you, first of all, to clear the road for you. The police outrider, regardless of how terrible the traffic is, is able to clear the path and make it free. The Holy Spirit is able to do this for you. When all odds are against you and you simply are helpless to fight what is before you, the Holy Spirit, who goes ahead of you, makes a way possible for you.

Fact three. The outrider controls laws for you. The Holy Spirit, as your outrider, controls all the laws, according to Him. This is a special occasion, therefore the laws of traffic, under the command of the one in authority, are put aside for you. For example, the traffic light may say red, which means by law that you are to stop. But under his authority, when the light is red, the outrider calls you on, and makes others, on a green light, stop. God, the Holy Spirit, is the Supreme and Superior Authority, who is never hindered by the laws of nature even. He calls things that are not, as though they were, does the impossible for you. 

Fact Four.  The outrider chooses the path for you. The Holy Spirit, as your outrider, chooses the best path for you to take, in this circumstance.  You follow, not your ordinary way of travelling, but the way of the one of authority, who is ahead of you. Oftentimes, the outrider does not go your accustomed path of travel. You may be taken through what is not very familiar to you. The Holy Spirit, as your outrider, knows the way He has chosen to take, and you follow His choice, not yours. He is the Omniscient Authority whom to follow, is always gain and victory.

Who is ahead of you today? Who has gone before you? He is the One and Only God, Holy Spirit, the Supreme Authority who, regardless of what you have to face, when all odds are against you; when your back is up against a wall; when fears, doubts, lost hopes and total despair enfold you, God, who is Spirit, has already gone ahead of you. Never forget that your outrider, He who has gone ahead of you, is singular in Authority, Might and Power.

When we believe and accept this truth, Has not the Spirit gone ahead of you, these unbroken securities, unremoved assurances and undeniable facts, cancel all the anxieties, worries and fears you have been carrying for some time. God, your Outrider: -

• Carries you.

• Clears the way for you.

• Controls laws for you.

• Chooses the best way for you.

God, Holy Spirit, continues to go before you, me and all who will put faith and trust in Him. He speaks peace into despairing lives, grants strength to weakening hearts, puts resolve in doubting minds, and lifts the bruised and fallen spirit.

Go! This is the day the LORD has given your enemy into your hands. The Spirit of the Lord has gone ahead of you.