Participants: Kelly Mowrer
Series Code: HWAL
Program Code: HWAL000513
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00:15 Hi, and welcome to HIS WORDS ARE LIFE.
00:17 I'm Kelly Mowrer, and thank you for coming to read the word 00:20 of God with me today. When we were last together, we were 00:23 reading about a song of praise that Deborah and Barak 00:26 were singing to the Lord for his deliverance. 00:28 And we're going to pick up in the middle of that song, 00:30 but before we start let's pray together. 00:33 Dear God, thank you for bringing us through so many things 00:38 in each of our lives. You have delivered us safely to 00:42 this point to sit in your presence, and now 00:44 tune our hearts to hear your word and to sing your praise, 00:47 and may we learn from the example of what we are reading 00:52 to praise you at all times and to bless your name. 00:55 We love you so much and thank you for loving us. Amen. 00:59 We're reading in the book of Judges, chapter 5, 01:02 and we're beginning in verse 14, as Deborah and Barak 01:06 are singing to the Lord. This is the King James Version. 01:10 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; 01:15 after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir 01:19 came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle 01:22 the pen of the writer. And the princes of Issachar 01:25 were with Deborah, even Issachar, and also Barak: 01:27 he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of 01:31 Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. 01:33 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, 01:36 to hear the bleatings of the flocks? 01:38 For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings 01:41 of heart. Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain 01:46 in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, 01:49 and abode in his breaches. Zebulun and Naphtali 01:53 were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death 01:56 in the high places of the field. The kings came and fought 02:00 then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach 02:02 by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. 02:06 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought 02:10 against Sisera. The river of Kishon swept them away, 02:14 that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast 02:17 trodden down strength. Then were the horsehoofs broken 02:22 by the means of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty 02:25 ones. Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, 02:29 Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; 02:31 because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of 02:34 the Lord against the mighty. Blessed above women 02:38 shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be 02:42 above women in the tent. He asked water, and she gave 02:47 him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. 02:51 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the 02:53 workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, 02:57 she smote off his head, when she pierced and stricken through 03:00 his temples. At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: 03:04 at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, 03:07 there he fell down dead. The mother of Sisera looked out 03:11 a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot 03:14 so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? 03:17 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer 03:22 to herself, Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; 03:27 to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers 03:31 colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, 03:34 of divers colours of needlework on both sides, 03:36 meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? 03:39 So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: but let them that love 03:45 him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. 03:48 And the land had rest forty years. 03:52 We're continuing in the book of Judges, chapter 6, 03:55 and this is the King James Version. 03:57 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: 04:02 and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 04:06 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of 04:10 the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens 04:13 which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. 04:16 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came 04:21 up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they 04:25 came up against them; And they encamped against them, and 04:29 destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, 04:32 and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, 04:36 nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, 04:40 and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they 04:44 and their camels were without number: and they entered 04:46 into the land to destroy it. 04:48 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of 04:52 the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. 04:56 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried 04:59 unto the Lord because of the Midianites, that the Lord sent 05:02 a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, 05:06 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up 05:10 from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of 05:13 bondage: and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, 05:17 and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and 05:19 drave them out from before you, and gave you their land: 05:22 And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; 05:27 fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land 05:30 ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. 05:34 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak 05:38 which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash 05:42 the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat 05:47 by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 05:49 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, 05:52 and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man 05:57 of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord 06:03 be with us, why then is all this befallen us, and where be all 06:08 his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, 06:11 Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord 06:14 hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the 06:18 Midianites. And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this 06:23 thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the 06:27 Midianites: have not I sent thee? 06:30 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save 06:34 Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, 06:37 and I am the least in my father's house. 06:39 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, 06:44 and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man 06:47 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, 06:53 then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. 06:57 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, 06:59 and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. 07:01 And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. 07:05 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, 07:09 and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put 07:13 in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it 07:15 out unto him under the oak, and presented it. 07:18 And the angel of God said unto him, 07:20 Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, 07:23 and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. 07:25 And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end 07:29 of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh 07:33 and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire 07:37 out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened 07:41 cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. 07:44 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, 07:49 Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel 07:56 of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said unto him, 08:01 Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 08:05 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, 08:08 and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet 08:12 in Ophrah of the Abiezriets. 08:14 And it came to pass that same night, that the Lord said 08:20 unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second 08:23 bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal 08:28 that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: 08:31 And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of 08:35 this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, 08:38 and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove 08:42 which thou shalt cut down. Then Gideon took ten men 08:46 of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: 08:49 and so it was, because he feared his father's household, 08:53 and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, 08:56 that he did it by night. And when the men of the city 09:00 arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal 09:02 was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it. 09:05 and the second bullock was offered upon the altar 09:08 that was built. And they said one to another, 09:10 Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, 09:15 they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. 09:18 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, 09:22 that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, 09:25 and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. 09:28 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, 09:32 Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? 09:35 he that will plead for him, let him be put to death 09:39 whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead 09:42 for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. 09:45 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, 09:51 Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down 09:54 the altar. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites 09:57 and the children of the east were gathered together, 09:59 and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. 10:04 But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a 10:07 trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. 10:11 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; 10:15 who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers 10:19 unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; 10:23 and they came up to meet them. And Gideon said unto God, 10:26 If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 10:30 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; 10:34 and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry 10:39 on all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save 10:43 Israel by my hand, as thou has said. And it was so: 10:48 For he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece 10:51 together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full 10:55 of water. And Gideon said unto God. Let not thine anger be hot 11:00 against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, 11:04 I pray thee, yet this once with the fleece; let it now be dry 11:08 only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 11:15 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, 11:19 and there was dew on all the ground. 11:22 We're continuing to read chapter 7, the book of Judges, 11:27 this is the King James Version. Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon 11:33 and all the people that were with him, rose up early, 11:37 and pitched beside the well of Harod: so the host 11:40 of the Midianites were on the north side of them, 11:42 by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. And the Lord said 11:46 unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many 11:49 for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel 11:53 vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand 11:57 hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the 12:02 people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, 12:05 let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. 12:09 And there returned of the people 22,000; 12:14 and there remained 10,000. And the Lord said unto Gideon, 12:19 The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, 12:24 and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, 12:27 that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, 12:30 the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say 12:34 unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go 12:37 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord 12:42 said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water 12:46 with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou 12:50 set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down 12:53 upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, 12:57 putting their hand to their mouth, were 300 men: 13:01 but all of the rest of the people bowed down 13:05 upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, 13:09 By the 300 men that lapped will I save you, 13:13 and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: 13:17 and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 13:21 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: 13:25 and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, 13:28 and retaineth those 300 men: and the host of Midian 13:32 was beneath him in the valley. And it came to pass the same 13:36 night, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down 13:39 unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 13:42 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant 13:47 down to the host: And thou shalt hear what they say; 13:51 and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down 13:55 unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant 13:59 unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. 14:03 Thank you for joining with me today, to read the story, 14:06 we'll pick up the story of Gideon when we return, 14:10 but I was struck as we read, how patient God is with us 14:15 in our fears and in our anxieties 14:18 and in our insecurities and how He longs to reassure us 14:21 each one of us, where we're at, of His love and His care. 14:24 And how the things that look impossible to men are always 14:28 possible with God. Until next time, thank you, 14:31 and may God keep you and us in his hands. |
Revised 2014-12-17