NINE HUNDRED CHARIOTS OF IRON
And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. (Jdg 4:2-3)
Sisera was a tough, skilled warrior and commander. The best. He commanded the most powerful army in the region which included nine hundred chariots of iron, superior weapons of war.
The iron chariots had been a problem before. It brings up the question: Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Can God take care of iron chariots or can He not take care of iron chariots?
Also, is there a contradiction between Joshua 17:18 and Judges 1:19? But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong. (Joshua 17:18) (The mountain is covered in trees and its farthest point will be yours because you are going to drive out the Canaanites even though they have iron chariots.)
Then we read in Judges 1:19: And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. (Judges 1:19)
May I suggest to you that Joshua was telling the Israelites that they had the power to drive out the Canaanites only if they followed God faithfully? It was a conditional promise. It is important to understand this.
And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. (Judges 2:1-4).
Judges was written for those who would later face conflict with the world, the flesh and the devil. The earth is a battleground between God and the forces of Satan and the other angels that rebelled against God with him. Satan was defeated at the Cross when Jesus took the keys of authority and rose from the dead. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (Rev 1:18)
In our text today, God is about to end twenty years of harsh rule by the Canaanites in Hazor because the people of God had decided to repent of their sin of independence from God. All sin is based upon our deciding to be independent of God. “I will be in God’s place! I will be God!” That is the nature of all sin. Isaiah summarized it best: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa 53:6)
And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. (Jud 4:4) She sent word to Barak to take ten thousand men of the tribes of Naphtai and Zebulon and that God would deliver Sisera and his chariots and his multitude into his hand. He would go if she would go with him. OK. But he wouldn’t get the honor of it. God would give Sisera into the hand of a woman. On those terms he went with Deborah. God apparently subdued Sisera and his 900 chariots of iron by sending a violent storm of rain upon them and miring their chariots of iron in the mud. Deborah sang about it in Judges 5 and said “The river of Kishon swept them away,” Sisera jumped off his chariot and ran away from the chariot.
And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. (Jdg 4:18) You know the rest of the story. She gave him some milk to drink and he was out like a light. Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. (Judges 4:21-22)
The point of the story is that when we humble our hearts and seek His face, in His own time and way, He will take care of the 900 chariots of iron. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
October 17, 2017 - TUESDAY
A.M. Isaiah 62-64 P.M. 1 Thess 5
(BIBLE GATEWAY will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verses to Memorize:
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (confess). (Isaiah 45:22-23)
Song for Today:
New Grace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTSJqcS4UzM (3:18) (Tom Hayes)
OR…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCGIJo5ht8M (3:37) (Carolina Boys Quartet)
(Wait a few seconds for it to come on.)
Prayer: Our Heavenly Father…
And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. (Jdg 4:2-3)
Sisera was a tough, skilled warrior and commander. The best. He commanded the most powerful army in the region which included nine hundred chariots of iron, superior weapons of war.
The iron chariots had been a problem before. It brings up the question: Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Can God take care of iron chariots or can He not take care of iron chariots?
Also, is there a contradiction between Joshua 17:18 and Judges 1:19? But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong. (Joshua 17:18) (The mountain is covered in trees and its farthest point will be yours because you are going to drive out the Canaanites even though they have iron chariots.)
Then we read in Judges 1:19: And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. (Judges 1:19)
May I suggest to you that Joshua was telling the Israelites that they had the power to drive out the Canaanites only if they followed God faithfully? It was a conditional promise. It is important to understand this.
And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. (Judges 2:1-4).
Judges was written for those who would later face conflict with the world, the flesh and the devil. The earth is a battleground between God and the forces of Satan and the other angels that rebelled against God with him. Satan was defeated at the Cross when Jesus took the keys of authority and rose from the dead. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (Rev 1:18)
In our text today, God is about to end twenty years of harsh rule by the Canaanites in Hazor because the people of God had decided to repent of their sin of independence from God. All sin is based upon our deciding to be independent of God. “I will be in God’s place! I will be God!” That is the nature of all sin. Isaiah summarized it best: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa 53:6)
And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. (Jud 4:4) She sent word to Barak to take ten thousand men of the tribes of Naphtai and Zebulon and that God would deliver Sisera and his chariots and his multitude into his hand. He would go if she would go with him. OK. But he wouldn’t get the honor of it. God would give Sisera into the hand of a woman. On those terms he went with Deborah. God apparently subdued Sisera and his 900 chariots of iron by sending a violent storm of rain upon them and miring their chariots of iron in the mud. Deborah sang about it in Judges 5 and said “The river of Kishon swept them away,” Sisera jumped off his chariot and ran away from the chariot.
And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. (Jdg 4:18) You know the rest of the story. She gave him some milk to drink and he was out like a light. Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. (Judges 4:21-22)
The point of the story is that when we humble our hearts and seek His face, in His own time and way, He will take care of the 900 chariots of iron. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
October 17, 2017 - TUESDAY
A.M. Isaiah 62-64 P.M. 1 Thess 5
(BIBLE GATEWAY will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verses to Memorize:
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (confess). (Isaiah 45:22-23)
Song for Today:
New Grace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTSJqcS4UzM (3:18) (Tom Hayes)
OR…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCGIJo5ht8M (3:37) (Carolina Boys Quartet)
(Wait a few seconds for it to come on.)
Prayer: Our Heavenly Father…
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