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Judges 4:1-10
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. On July 4thwe celebrate our nation’s independence; on Memorial Day we remember those who gave their lives for our country; this past Friday, on Veterans’ Day we honor all those who have and are serving in our Armed Forces. I think it necessary to remember those “forgotten veterans” who were never awarded any medals for their services, but they were and are just as crucial as all those men and women “on the front lines.” I’m talking about the wives (and now some husbands), fiancé’s, and significant others who “serve on the home-front!” One veteran told me “until you have experienced aforced separation because of a war or overseas tour, you don’t understand.” Most every soldier whose ever gone to war wants that last kiss and hug to last forever, because it may be the last one forever! The soldier goes to war and their days are filled with the burden of staying alive. Often that last hug/kiss and look flashes across their mind and is a driving force for them to “make it out alive” and go home! On the other hand the wives, husbands, others must return to their daily routine that’s now without their partner. Every day, 24/7 they are surrounded with the memories of life before war! In Judges 4 Deborah, the only woman judge of Israel, demonstrates three of the character qualities many of these forgotten veterans displays.
- COMPASSION. You see Deborah’s compassion in 5:6, 7. Often the meaning of compassion used in Scripture means suffering with another. We get our word sympathy from one of its forms. Here Deborah showed compassion by taking action to relieve the sense of hopeless and despair that infected Israel because of the Canaanite oppression. She didn’t turn a deaf ear to the concerns of Israel, but took action. Many women who stayed behind while their man went to war stepped up to the plate by going to work in the factories that manufactured the machinery of war. They had to leave the safety of their “nests” and get involved. Deborah also was
- MAGNANIMOUS. She was willing to put herself out for the cause of Israel. She could have said no to Barak and let him go it on his own. Instead, Deborah acted! It would have been easy especially during WW’s 1, 2 for the women to say “working in factories is men’s work!” Many (maybe most) put their lives on hold to go do what they could to contribute to their husband’s chances of returning! Deborah also demonstrated
- LITERARY ABILITY. Read chapter 5. One writer says of it “it’s the finest masterpiece of Hebrew poetry, deserving a place among the best songs of victory ever written. If you ask, many soldiers will tell you they still have every letter they ever received while on the battle field. Actually, that would work both ways. Finally, Deborah reveals her
- SPIRITUAL COMMITMENT! In song God gets all the credit, not her. Like Deborah many of the women of our nation’s fighting men who received no ticker tape parades, no medals of honor or valor prayed their men home. They were a vital part in the lives of their men, but gave God all the credit for seeing them home. Many gave/give God the credit for giving them the strength to carry on – even when it is alone!
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