Judges 4:1-7
1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. 3 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years.
4 At that time Deborah, a prophet, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Position yourself at Mount Tabor, taking ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. 7 I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand.’ ”
Supercalifrag-harosheth-ha-goiim-ex-peealodocious! Whenever folks ask me how to pronounce tough-to-pronounce passages from scripture, my answer is always the same: “No one knows how to pronounce those names, just sound confident and no one will question it.”
Perhaps that wisdom pales in comparison to the judgement of Deborah. Although, I don’t know how much wisdom there is any more these days in promising a battalion of troops on a battlefield that their enemy will be delivered into their hands. Since every military out there these days feels they are righteous in their reason for war, God will certainly give all their enemies into their hands.
Despite their title, judges like Deborah were tasked with work much like prophets in bringing important messages to God’s people on behalf of God. They had to lead their people through tumultuous times, relying on the wisdom God provided through them to see themselves through.
With the midterm elections just behind us, it seems apt that to remind ourselves of the wisdom that God will see us through any time we may consider tumultuous or not. But more than that, God calls us back into community whether such results brought you hope or concern for the future. Because in God’s community, in Sioux Falls as in Heaven, God’s mission is to bring us together whether we are in deep despair or great hope in our current circumstance.
– Pr. Kyle
Wise & eternal Lord, continue to inspire us in your mission to unite the world that keeps coming up with every excuse to divide itself. Help us trust that you never abandon us, nor do you let us sit on our hands in order to extend them in friendship and welcome to all. Amen.