Tag: KOSTA

Judges 4-5: Barak’s Fear to Faith Journey

Are you interested in reading one of the examples of a person in the Bible who went through a journey of fear to faith? Continuing on with KOSTA’s theme of fear to faith this year, a relevant story, which you can perhaps empathize with, can be found in the story of Barak in Judges 4-5.

Content Summary

After Ehud’s death, the sons of Israel fell back again to committing evil acts against the LORD, and they were given to be oppressed by Jabin king of Canaan and his commander Sisera, who had nine hundred iron chariots. Debora, a prophetess, who was judging Israel at that time, relayed God’s message to Barak to gather men of Zebulun and Naphtali to fight against Sisera. Barak obeyed with the condition of Deborah’s accompaniment, gathered 10,000 men and marched against Sisera from Mount Tabor to the plain field near the Kishon river. As the LORD promised, He routed Sisera with the edge of the sword, along with torrential rain and the overflow of the torrent of Kishon, before Barak. Sisera fled to the house of Heber the Kenite. While he was taking refuge in the tent of Jael, a wife of Heber, Jael drove a peg into his temple and he was killed. Barak came later to see the dead Sisera. 

Barak’s Reasoned Response 

In response to God’s command to go against Sisera (Judges 4:6-7), Barak told Deborah that he would go only if Deborah would go with him (Judges 4:8). Barak is often discredited because of this response of a conditional obedience. Many commentaries and sermons state that Barak should have obeyed the command of the LORD with full trust. ESV Study Bible goes as far as stating that this response from Barak demonstrates his cowardice. 

I disagree. Barak’s response did not demonstrate his lack of courage. First, his request for Deborah to come along to a crucial battle was reasonable as Deborah was the leader of Israel as judge. Similarly, this request also showed Barak’s respect to his leader. Second, Barak needed everything – crucially Deborah’s presence and her direct word of God – to persuade 10,000 men of Zebulun and Napthali to go against a fearsome army of iron chariots by Sisera. As fighting against Sisera’s iron chariots on a plain field is a suicide mission, this would be an incredibly burdensome mission for the leader. If Barak were to lose all 10,000 men from the battle, that would result in 10,000 sorrowful families in Israel – this would be a very fearful situation for Barak. For him to instill motivation and courage to these men to go on an extremely risky battle, he would need every confirmation from God. Bringing Debora, a respected judge and prophetess, would make his case easier.  

God Gives Honors to Whomever He Wants 

“I [Deborah] will surely go with you [Barak]; 
nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, 
for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.” 
Judges 4:9 (brackets added to enhance clarity)

This verse spawned many thoughts and gentle debates with the bible study group. Often, this verse is interpreted as because Barak asked Deborah to go with him, the honor (which would have been given to Barak) was taken away from him to be given to a woman, who eventually turned out to be Jael. 

I disagree with this interpretation. A close, objective examination of this statement by Deborah shows no causal link between the recipient of honor and Barak’s request for Deborah’s accompaniment. Debora simply stated that the honor shall not be Barak’s. There is no reason to believe that Barak would have been honored if he obeyed by going to battle alone without Deborah. All honor and glory ultimately belong to the LORD, therefore, Barak not receiving honor can be considered natural. 

Let’s remember that God gives honors to whomever He wants. Similarly, God told Moses that “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion” (Exodus 33:19). God decided to sell Sisera into the hands of a woman under His sovereign will. God’s decision to sell Sisera into the hand of a woman is not because of Barak’s (timid) request for Deborah’s presence in his fight against Sisera. Also, this may have been God’s plan from the beginning – God wanted to use the weak to shame the strong. 

Suicide Mission…

Personally, I would like to give my utmost respect to Barak for his bold obedience. When Deborah said to Barak to march ahead against Sisera (Judges 4:14), Barak obeyed by marching down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men from Zebulun and Naphthali. This was a suicide mission as they were going against 900 chariots on a plain level field, which gave a decisive advantage to iron chariots over infantry. The extent of the danger of this mission was also portrayed by Debora’s song, stating that “Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death, and Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.” (Judges 5:18). Despite knowing that honor would not be his, Barak and his 10,000 men were ready to lose their lives with their full trust in the LORD their God. For this reason, I give a high mark to Barak and men from these two tribes. Barak was a man of faith. 

…Turned into Victory by God’s Intervention

God is the creator of the heavens and earth. Nothing is impossible with him. Chapter 5 provides a few clues on how Israel was able to achieve victory against an army of iron chariots led by Sisera. The earth quaked and the heavens and the clouds dripped water (Judges 5:5) and  the torrent of Kishon (a river near where the battle took place) overflew (Judges 5:21). Soaked, muddy condition of the field would have rendered iron chariots useless. With the LORD’s help, 10,000 infantry led by Israel was able to convincingly defeat the fearsome army of iron chariots of chariots. 

Jael and Sisera: Peg into Temple

Chapter 4:17 to 22 provides a detailed account of a gruesome killing of Sisera. Some of us wondered why Jael decided to kill Sisera in a cruel way? This is a good question, and my initial response is not to interpret this event with too much “spiritual” implication. The following is a summary from relevant commentaries. 

Especially in the nomad communities, a man entering into another woman’s tent was considered a serious trespass. If found, both the man and woman were to be condemned to death by the community. Let’s unfold this event from Jael’s perspective. Jael may have been surprised that Sisera decided to come into her tent to escape (Judges 4:18). Although surprised, it would not be wise for her to confront Sisera because if he was refused, Sisera could have harmed Jael. For Sisera, Jael’s tent may have been an ideal place to hide from the Israelite army because women’s tents would be one of the last places for them to raid for search. With Sisera in her tent, Jael faced a stark choice. If other people saw a man other than her husband in her tent, she could be stoned to death. If Sisera regained his strength afterward, he could harm her anytime later. Therefore, Jael made a choice to end Sisera’s life while he was asleep. She did it quickly by driving a tent peg into his temple. 

We do not need to interpret all the stories of the bible as if they need to be applied. These events sometimes are just described to provide the context of the society and character of the LORD. The killing of Sisera by Jael may be showing God’s character and His sovereign will to shame the strong with the weak. This may be for us, the reader now, and also for Debora, Barak, and all the Israelites that the LORD works with the weak to defeat the strong of this world.  

God honors Jael based on His Sovereign Will

Although it may have been possible that Jael killed Sisera solely for her safety, God decided to honor her anyway (Judges 4:9 and 5:24). God gives honor to whomever He wants to honor, and God decided to honor Jael.

Barak’s Journey from Fear to Faith

Although the immediate honor belonged to Jael, Barak was listed as one of those “faith heroes” by the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:32). 

In one aspect, Judges 4-5 portrayed Barak’s journey of fear to faith. A thought of facing Sisera must have spawned a large degree of fear in Barak. However, in faith, he and 10,000 men obeyed the command of the LORD to march against Sisera. The LORD gave victory and their trust (faith) in God was manifested. 

I hope that you will live out a victorious, “fear to faith” life. 

KOSTA 2020: Two Sides of Faith

KOSTA conference made its debut online for the first time this year from July 2nd to July 4th (yes!). Before the outbreak of the pandemic, KOSTA has been a 5-day Christian conference that takes place in July every year near Chicago. Because most of the main and seminar speakers deliver their messages in Korean, almost all participants are those who understand Korean. Despite being online this year – or perhaps, because of it – the total number of participants reached nearly 900 people, significantly more than last year’s total participants of 500. This year’s theme was Fear to Faith with a hope to instill courage of Christ to everyone in such a time as turbulent as this.

Faith is a mysterious word. It is used very often in the Christian circle, and the use of it varies widely for many reasons. Faith is usually considered something that depends on our will to follow Christ. We may think we know the word, but the comprehensive biblical understanding of the term seems to require a series of herculean overnight meditations, research, and thoughts – at least, that was my impression from the main session by Pastor Song of Good Stewards Church and one of the seminar sessions by Pastor Kim of All Nations Church Seattle during the KOSTA conference. Thanks to their insights, many KOSTANs were able to obtain a more holistic understanding of the meaning of faith. Here’s my attempt to unfold my renewed understanding of the word “faith.” 

Faith In the Son of God vs. Faith Of the Son of God

20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 2:20 New American Standard Bible (NASB); underlined added for emphasis

According to this NASB version of the underline phrase, “I live by faith in the Son of God,” the main subject of faith is “I,” which is Apostle Paul. If we were to apply this verse in our walk, we become the main subject of the faith. In other words, it is us that need to decide to place our trust in the Son of God and follow Him. For this reason, we hear this statement often: “I need to have more faith!” According to this translated version, faith is something that we must attain, and this has been the common understanding.  

Both Pastors Song and Kim pointed out that the NASB version would be masking a very important aspect of the meaning of faith. Their assessment of the Galatians 2:20 based on the examination of the grammatical structure in the original Greek concluded that a better translation would be “I live by faith of the Son of God” not “faith in the Son of God.” The King James Version also maintains “faith of the Son of God.” In this version, the meaning of “faith” changes with a major shift of the subject: The faith of the Son of God empowers Apostle Paul to live. The main subject and the source of the empowerment is the faith of the Son of God, not Apostle Paul. A change of a single word – from “in” to “of” – can render a dramatically different meaning of the word “faith.”  

Therefore, in summary, the word ”faith” in Galatians 2:20 points to the faith of Christ, not the faith of Apostle Paul. It was the faith of the Son of God that empowered Apostle Paul to live. 

Then, what is the “faith of the Son of God?” I think the easiest way to describe the “faith of the Son of God” is to point to His main character – His character of steadfast pursuit of His people in His Love. Therefore, the last portion of Galatians 2:20 can be paraphrased as “the steadfast pursuit and love of Christ empowers me to live.”

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.
Romans 1:17 NASB; underline added for emphasis

With this understanding of the faith, we are able to correctly understand the phrase “faith to faith” better in Romans 1:17. The first faith indicates “the faith of the son of God” which is God’s steadfast pursuit of His people in His love. The second faith – which we are more accustomed to – indicates our response to the faith of the Son of God to place our trust in Christ. Therefore, the phrase “faith to faith” can be interpreted as “God’s steadfast pursuit of His people in His love spawned our response to place our trust in Christ.”

Conclusion

Our typical understanding of the word “faith” has been from a single side. The message by these two pastors allowed us to see the other side to have a holistic understanding of faith. Faith starts with God from His character. To His steadfast love, we simply respond in faith. Faith works two-way. Although this remains a difficult concept, it is a very hopeful, encouraging one because it spawns from God’s love.