BARAK THE RELUCTANT (Judges 4-5)

Barak son of Abinoam shows up in the Bible as a not very good role model. He's the commander God put in charge of the troops of Israel, when they rebelled against the Canaanites.

Barak's name means "blessed." But he didn't live like a very blessed man. His parents recognized blessing; what new parent doesn't feel blessed when first they hold a baby in their arms? (unfortunately some do, but not Barak's family.)  Somehow that joy and positive attitude didn't get passed on their son.

Deborah served as a judge in Israel. I couldn't but notice that her oak--her court-- sat in the same hill country that some years before, the Ephraimites were afraid to conquer. Now it's clearly under Israelite control, secure enough for her to hold court.

As judge, Deborah calls for Barak. She tells him "It has become clear . . . that you should prepare to battle."  Something about the wording suggests that Barak knew this as well as Deborah. She eases his fears as much as possible: I'll get king Sisera to you. I'll make sure you win. All you have to do is go and fight the battle.

With her words, "I'll make sure you win," Barak wiped his forehead with relief. "As long as you're coming along . . . I won't go without you."

Elsewhere in these two chapters we're told the Israelites volunteered "with abandon." (a subject I considered writing about.)  NOT Barak. Even in the 21st century, women have only recently begun serving on the front lines.  Imagine how strange it must have seemed back in Deborah's day.

She scolded Barak for his attitude. "With that kind of attitude, you won't gain any glory from the battle. A woman will kill Sisera."

That's what happened. The female assassin Jair alongside the female judge defeated King Sisera, the Canaanites, and their iron chariots.

A few concluding thoughts:

• Barak's name suggests his parents believed in the Lord High God. He had a good heritage.
• Barak was well known, unless God told Deborah to get in touch with a complete stranger.
• Barak's less-than-enthusiastic response didn't keep God from using him.
• It did prevent him receiving all the blessing God had for him.
• However, it doesn't appear that Barak was punished.
• God accomplished His will even when his "first choice" for the leader refused to do all of it.
• God called and used women in strong positions, as the supreme court for all Israelites and the assassin who killed Israel's greatest enemy.
• Both Deborah and Jair were married--talk about combining marriage and family with a career!

I'll end with a suggestion: the next time God calls you to a task, volunteer with abandon and joy. (Don't read this as a suggestion that you volunteer for any position within your church, community, ministry, etc.)

Othniel, the Bridge (Judges 1-3)

Today we start Judges, with its awful cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, deliverance, back to sin

again . . .

It didn't take much time at all.  Less than a generation, really, although in one of those all-or-nothing statements the Bible writers used to make their points, we're told "Eventually that entire generation [Joshua's lifetime] died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn't know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel." (Judges 2:10)

Joshua had had a lifelong ally in Caleb. He's the one who said "Give me this mountain!" and took it when he was 85 years old.  He looked for a man cut from the same cloth for his son-in-law: He promised his daughter Acsah (hey, she has a name!) to the man who took the town, Debir.

His nephew Othniel attacked Debir, took it. Acsah was a chip of her father's block, as well. She demanded farmland and water from her father--and he gave it to her. You might call Othniel and Acsah a power couple.

But while Othniel and Acsah were enlarging their territories and trusting God, Joshua and Caleb's generation died out. In spite of numerous warnings, the third generation removed from Egypt turned immediately to the idols of the surrounding nations. God brought the curses down on them. In some very sad words, we're told "Every time they walked out the door God was with them--but for evil, just as God had said." (Judges 2:15)

Enter Israel's first judge--Othniel, the same Othniel who had shown initiative

and courage and defeating Debir. The Israelites enjoyed peace during his lifetime, forty more years. He successfully bridged the gap between Joshua's generation and the next.

The people who were children during the conquest of Canaan rebelled against God. Somehow Caleb and his brother avoided that trap, and passed on a pure faith to their children.

I am blessed to be the daughter of a first-generation Christian. I clearly remember the before-and-after of change in my mother's life. Her change led me to receive Christ. A desire to share my faith with others burns brightly in me, and I am blessed to see it in my children.

I pray about my grandchildren, however. The children of Christians are blessed in that they hear the gospel from infancy. But they may struggle with it being blase, a culture and not a relationship.

Pray with me that our children and grandchildren experience the height and depth of God's love for themselves. That they will be spared the cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance that plagued the Israelites for hundreds of years.

In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye and Golde pray for their daughters, "May you be like Ruth and like Esther."  My son, who is a Messianic believer, prays for his son, "May you be like Ephraim and like Manasseh."

Perhaps a better prayer would be, may they be like Othniel and Acsah.

P.S.--I am battling some stomach virus or even possibly C-Diff.  I will publish these as I can. :)