Barak, Who Did Not Fully Obey

Deborah brings God’s command to Barak, and with it a promise: if he leads ten thousand men to Mount Tabor, God will give Sisera and his nine hundred iron chariots into his hand. Yet Barak is afraid to go alone, and he says he will not go unless Deborah goes with him.

Deborah tells Barak that because he has not obeyed fully, the glory of this battle will go not to him but to a woman. As Barak comes down from Mount Tabor, God sends a heavy rain that floods the Kishon River and overthrows the iron chariots. Sisera flees and is killed in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. The enemy Barak had searched for so hard is one he finds only lying dead on the ground.

God’s commands are not weighed by human judgment. Ability without resolve lets the reward prepared for someone pass to another. Obedience means stepping out without hesitation once God has answered.