There comes a time in life when you need to step forward in faith. That might be a small thing, like trusting that a chair will bear your weight. Or a big thing, like trusting someone to do what they say when you’re not in control.
So here we are in another gruesome chapter of Judges, but even here you’ll see something of what it’s like to step forward in faith in God. You’ll see why you really need to, why God is worthy of your trust, and what that looks like for you every day as a Christian.
But first you really need to understand your greatest problem.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in August 2025. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Hate your sin
Last time we looked at how there’s a repeating cycle of activity in Judges: The people sin, God hands them over to enemies, they cry out, and God raises up a Judge (a deliverer) who will rescue them and lead them in peace. After the Judge dies, they sin worse than before. It’s a downward spiral.
So read Judges 4:1.
They key thing is that they did evil “in the sign of the LORD.”
God alone is our good Creator, and he determines what is good and what is evil. Every society likes to decide for itself what’s good and what’s not, and so cultures differ from one another a lot. But God is not like us. He is perfect, and he cannot change. So what he calls good is good forever, and what he calls evil is evil forever.
When he created everything, he made it good. He communicated his own beauty and goodness in Creation. But sin is when you choose for yourself what is right for you.
It’s repugnant, repulsive to God. When you sin, you’re refusing his good rule for you. You’re refusing his good gifts, saying you’d rather go alone. That’s a personal offence to him; you’re rejecting his love. He is hurt and angry, like a married person who has discovered their spouse has been sleeping around.
The thing is, God would have you enjoy him. To know him and be with him is the highest bliss a human can know, and he wants that for you.
The enemy of your soul
But if you prefer sin, he’ll do what he did to ancient Israel in the book of Judges: He’ll hand you over to your sin. Your short-term sinful pleasures will separate you from God, who is eternal ultimate bliss. And you’ll be handed over to hell, to eternal ultimate torment.
Make no mistake: Your sin is the enemy of your soul.
The wages of your sin is death – eternal separation from God. So hate your sin. With a passion.
Naturally you’re born sinful. It’s your nature. No-one had to teach you.
In Bible language, you were born “in Adam”, in sin by nature. You prefer your way, not God’s. You’re at enmity against him in your mind because you prefer your way, not his. That’s the road to hell, and you can’t get yourself off.
But the eternal Son of God, who is God, became human. He did that so that he could live a perfectly sinless life (imagine!). He did not deserve death. Jesus, Son of God, chose to die to take the punishment your sins deserve. He’s a substitutionary atonement, a sacrifice that atones for (makes up for) your offence to God. And he can do that because he is God.
So the curse of your sin (death) is put to him, while the gift of life and righteousness is given to you.
And all you need to do is ask him! Turn from your sin, ask God to forgive you, trusting in Jesus’ work for you. Then you’ll no longer be “in Adam” but “in Christ”. You’re a new creation; the old has gone. Forgiven.
Eternally changed, you’ll be in union with the Son of God, Jesus. Your sin credited to Jesus; his righteousness credited to you. His death is your death to old self; his life is your new life.
You’re eternally secure, held in his hand.
Time passes, sin remains
For some of you, you experienced that long ago. Praise God.
But then time goes by. You’re obviously still aware of your sin. You want to live for God, but you find a law at work within you that draws you to sin like gravity. You still sin, and that robs you of joy, peace, and close fellowship with God. Never stop hating your sin! It will always be the enemy of your soul – an enemy within, all the days of your life.
So test yourself!
Test your heart, your affections: Do you find yourself growing weary of the Christian life?
- Does it feel like a chore being on the rotas at church? Is it too much effort to get along to pray with God’s people?
- Maybe you love something more than you love God.
Or test your mind, your thoughts:
- Do you work at reading and meditating on the goodness of God? Do you plan your prayers, or your witnessing, or think about how you can avoid repeated temptations?
- If you drift in your thinking, you’ll drift away – like when you think you’re standing still on a down-escalator.
Hate your sin with a passion; be alert to its hatred of you.
Love your God
Let’s get back to the account in Judges 4. Deborah is the Judge and Prophetess in Israel. She gives word to Barak, the commander of the army. For some reason, he dithers: Read Judges 4:8.
Deborah says that she will go, but that that will be at a cost to Barak: Read Judges 4:9.
Things are prepared for battle, but then there’s a random intrusion in the story line: Read Judges 4:11. We don’t know what to make of it at that point, so we keep reading.
Read the battle account: Read Judges 4:12-16.
What happened to the chariots (very much the tanks of the ancient world!)? Chapter 5 is actually the song of Deborah and Barak. It’s a celebration song about this amazing rescue, and it poetically adds a little detail for us. So read Judges 5:20-21. There was rain! And the river flooded! The land became hopeless mud, rendering the chariots useless. At just the right time for Israel’s salvation!
Sisera, the commander of the enemy, fled on foot. He ended up at Jael’s tent, hoping for refuge. In the plan of God, Jael was in the right place at the right time.
Sisera was executed. It was brutal and instantaneous. Was that a bit over the top? Did he deserve it?
The song gives you some insight into what kind of man Sisera was: Read Judges 5:28-30.
“A girl or two” is literally “a womb or two”. He was a brutal rapist who saw women as objects and spoils of war. And his mother? “Boys will be boys, but at least I’ll get a new scarf or two for my neck when he gets home…” Despicable, cruel people. And they were judged for it.
Sovereign salvation
The Israelites saved by God would marvel at the sovereignty of God in bringing salvation! Love your God!
He literally moved heaven and earth to come to his people’s aid.
But the song ends with a prayer, realising that this was really just one instance of God’s sovereignty bringing salvation to his own: Read Judges 5:31.
“May all your enemies perish as Sisera did” – but who are they? Back in Genesis 3:15, God promised Satan (the serpent), that there would be an offspring born into humanity: “He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” “May all your enemies perish as Sisera did” – head crushed
We could fast forward a little to David crushing the head of Goliath (1 Samuel 17), or how Psalm 74 speaks of God crushing Leviathan’s head in the seas at the Exodus.
But Revelation 12 and 20 leave us in no doubt about the ultimate fulfilment of the crushed head of Satan, the serpent: Rev 12:9 speaks of how the great dragon was thrown out – the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan. Rev 20:10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur… tormented day and night for ever and ever
This is what Jesus came to do, in the plan of God that spans all time from Genesis to Revelation. As 1 John 3:8 puts it, The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.
So ancient Israel could love the Lord for his sovereign power and salvation – but you can do so so much more! Hate your sin. Love the God who hates it too, but who loves you enough to move heaven and earth to save you.
“May all your enemies perish as Sisera did” says the song. And Satan will be crushed by Jesus just as effectively. The devil’s utterly deserved damnation brings eternal hope and peace to you.
Hate your sin. Love your God, your saviour. And then:
Serve Your God
There’s another important serpent-crushing reference to take in from the New Testament. In Romans 16:20, Paul writes to the church: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Remember, 1 John 3:8 says The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.
As you serve Christ, Christ destroys the works of the devil through you. As you love Jesus, love others, and serve others, you extend the kingdom of heaven. Every sin you put to death is destroying the work of the devil. Every truth is a “non-lie” – one in the eye for the father of lies (the devil).
Hate your sin; love your God. Serve your God, and in doing so Satan is crushed under your feet by Jesus working through you.
Step forward in faith, in obedience to the commands you know he’s given you: Love one anther, go and make disciples, etc. You may well feel fearful. Barak certainly did! Read Judges 4:8 again. But then he did go: Read Judges 4:10.
His faith may have been weak, but it was faith.
Don’t measure the strength of your faith by your own feelings; faith is about the strength of the object of your faith!
Faith steps forward
Faith steps forward to take hold of all that God has promised. So Barak earned himself a mention in Hebrews 11, a chapter in the New Testament that lists loads of people of faith in the Old Testament.
And the culmination of the list is Jesus himself, who endured the cross and is now in glory with God the Father. As you are called to serve in the obedience of faith, run with endurance the race that lies before you, keeping your eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:1-2).
But be sure to serve him as you go!
Look at the help that came to the Barak from the various tribes around Israel: Read Judges 5:14-18.
- Imagine those verses as people in a church, when the church is called to love one another, to go and make disciples. To get on a rota, to join a prayer meeting.
- Imagine some church members leaping into action immediately, but not everyone.
- Some dither, with “great searching of heart”. No action.
- Others just decide not to help, not to get involved, giving no reason (like Dan and Asher).
But faith and obedience go hand in hand. If you have faith, it must show in obedience. Obedience is faith in action (unless it’s just pointless dead religion, when your heart will go cold very quickly).
So are you serious about the activities in this church? Will you continue as a spectator, or step forward in the obedience of faith?
- Specifically, will you be deliberate about your witness?
- Will you join with others here in prayer? Life Groups will make that easier than ever. No excuses.
- Will you get on a church rota and serve others?
Excuses often mask disobedience or faithlessness; be careful.
- Your sin is your enemy; it robs you and hurts you. Never lose sense of that; hate your sin. Do you?
- Watch and pray and work to be sure that there isn’t the first inkling of weariness with God or his service. Love your God; love his people. How’s your heart for him?
- Be careful to keep the whole of your life holy. Don’t be satisfied with a bit of Christian goodness only in one part of your life while you entertain sin elsewhere.
- Be Christlike in public, in private, in prayer.
- Meditate on God with God; think about the Bible as you read the Bible. Set beauty and spiritual excellence in your mind often – keep your eyes on Jesus.
- Joseph refused Potiphar’s wife’s advances by his thoughts of God: “How can I sin against God?”
- Remember Isaiah 40:31: “They that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength.” Hate sin; love the Lord. Keep close to him and serve him daily.