Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here's Adrian Rogers. We've been in a series of messages entitled Champions of Faith. And in Hebrews Chapter 11, we have God's Hall of Fame.
And the people who are listed in God's Hall of Fame were listed there because of one character quality. And that is faith. And so we're going to study today about a man named Barak. Most of us have never heard of him, and uh. Although that is a famous name in Israel, and one of the former prime ministers' names was Ehud Barak.
Whose name we're going to find in Judges chapter 4 in just a moment, both parts of that name. But be that as it may, Barak was known for his faith. Let's read about him. Look here, if you will, in verse 32. And the Rite of Hebrews says this.
And what shall I more say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak, just underscore that, that's the one today, and of Samson and Jephthah. And David also, and Samuel. and the profits. Who, through faith, subdued kingdoms.
Wrought righteousness. Obtained promises. stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, Escape the edge of the sword. out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, Turn to flight. The armies.
of the aliens.
Some years ago, right after the implosion of the Soviet system in the Soviet Empire. The Soviet Union, we call it. I was invited to go to Moscow to preach. And the Cold War had come to a conclusion. The Iron Curtain had come down, and I found myself in Moscow preaching in Red Square on the Orthodox Easter on nationwide television across the nation.
A remarkable experience. But even more remarkable than that, or at least parallel in the Mount of Remarkability, was the fact that we had a briefing. with a Soviet naval Captain? and a Soviet general. Both of these met with us in the Cosmos Hotel in Moscow.
And there were some American military men there, and these Soviets Former Soviets. and about 15 in this briefing. And These other men had become Christians. The general had become a Christian. And the naval captain had become a Christian and was talking with American Christian service people.
I had the privilege to be there to listen. And uh it was a very interesting conversation. One of the American military men asked this question. To the general, the Soviet general. Said, General, I want to ask you a question.
What effect did SDI have on the implosion of Soviet Communism? SDI, you will remember, is the Strategic Defense Initiative. Ronald Reagan said, we need a shield against incoming missiles. And we need missiles that will shoot down those missiles. And so that was called SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative.
But nicknamed Star Wars, you remember that? Star Wars because A man named Lucas had produced a film about that time that was very popular and seen in all the theaters about intergalactic war. And so SDI was nicknamed Star Wars. This American military man said to this Russian general, what effect did that have? He said, It devastated us.
We were not able to stay up. We were already spending an immense amount. of our national income on the military. And then when you came up with SDI, That was it. We were not able to stay up and everything caved in.
on its self. It caused us to implode. And then here's what he said.
Now listen to this. He said, We told you that you did not need SDI because all of our weapons were defensive. We didn't have offensive weapons. And then he said, Of course, we were lying. I thought, good night.
This man dare say this in Moscow and in the Cosmos Hotel. But he said, of course. We were lying.
Now, the devil wants to tell you a lie about another Star Wars, because the title of the message today is this. Star Wars. And I take the title of my message from Judges chapter 5 and verse 20. which says, and the stars in their courses Fought. Against Sisera.
Now, I'll tell you what all that means in just a moment. But that's the text, at least that's the kickoff. The stars in their courses, Fought. Against Sisera.
Now, let me give you a little background, and by the way, be turning over to Judges chapter 4. Would you do that? Judges chapter 4, because here we're going to learn the lesson of this man Barak and his story. Let me give you a little background. Israel had gone through a senseless cycle, and they went through it over and over again.
First of all, there would be rebellion, and then there would be retribution, then there would be repentance, and then there would be restoration, and they'd go around for a while and then start up all over again.
Well, they had been, Israel, under the judgment of God. Had been under subjection to the king of Canaan. for 20 long years. And the king of Canaan had a general whose name was. was Cicero.
He was a man who was a very successful general. But the important thing about this man was this. He had 900 chariots of iron. And Barak was the Israeli general. He had a contingent of 10,000 men.
and they meet in a battle there at the foot of Mount Tabor. And there comes a battle that I'm going to tell you about. Cicero, who should have won the battle, lost the battle. Barak, who Who was greatly outgunned, won the battle. And over there in Judges chapter 5, verse 20, a woman named Deborah explains it all in a song that she wrote.
And she said, the stars in their courses, But Against Cicero. That is, the fight was fixed. It was over before it began because here was Cicero who had a collision with the stars. Canaanite general.
Now, there are four things I want you to learn about this today, and we're going to take these from Judges 4 and 5 as we talk about Star Wars and Barak, a man of fate. First of all, I want you to see what I'm going to call the woman that God chose. God chose a woman to kick all of this off. Look, if you will, in Judges 4, verses 4 and 5. And Deborah A prophetess The wife of Lapidoth She judged Israel at that time, and she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim.
And the children of Israel came up to her. For judgment. There was a woman named Deborah. Her name literally means bee. Like a honey bee.
And she was a judge. And a prophetess. She was judging Israel at this time. She was a godly woman, and she had a great impact. For God.
Now, you may or may not know that in the Bible there were women, women of God. Who were named and called prophetesses. For example, Miriam. Moses' sister was a prophetess. Another woman in the Bible named Hulda, who was a prophetess.
Anna in the New Testament was a prophetess. The Bible tells us there was a man named Philip. Who had four daughters, and they were prophetesses. And over here in Judges chapter 5, verse 7, Deborah is called a mother in Israel. May I tell you, I thank God.
For women, down through history. Who have been called of God. And mightily used of God, chosen of God, for very special purposes. Henrietta Mears was a godly woman of yesteryear who had a great impact. Own Bill Bright.
Bill Bright, who incidentally was the man who engineered the whole Moscow thing where I preached, invited me to come and preach.
Now, we think that perhaps Billy Graham has brought more people to Christ. than uh any other man. But I dare say Bill Bright. has been used in our generation. to touch more people for Christ than any man.
But what got Bill Bright started? There was a woman named Henrietta Mears. Who prayed for him, who guided him, who instructed him, who encouraged him in the things of God. And in a very real sense, Henrietta Mears was a mother in Israel. I think of the women today whose lives have been challenged and encouraged by a woman named Beverly LaHaye.
And I thank God for Beverly LaHaye, who has stemmed the tide in many ways against sexual perversion and abortion and immorality and so many things. I am glad for this mother in Israel. I think of Corotin Boom. Many of you may not know the name, but Corey Tinboom, a remarkable woman who stood up against the Nazis, spent time in the Nazi concentration camp, has impacted the world by her faith. Corey Tinboom, I had the privilege of having lunch with her one time.
What a grand experience. I thank God for these women. We today are blessed by the songs of Fanny Crosby. When you sing Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.
You're being blessed by a woman. Fanny Crossby. I thank God for my own dear wife, I believe, is the mother in Israel. Before I came out to preach today, I kneeled and she laid her hands on me. and prayed for me.
I thank God for that. That means much to me. You know, the Bible speaks of prophetesses and up until this day, Acts chapter 2, verses 17 and 18. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy.
Well, Pastor, does that mean that you believe in women preachers? No. Women pastors? No. A pastor is to be a man.
The Bible teaches that very clearly and very plainly. In 1 Timothy 2, verse 12, Paul says, But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over a man. But to be in silence, that is to be in quietness. The Bible says that a bishop must be the husband of one wife. I've never met a woman who could be the husband of one wife.
The Bible's clear about that. But the Bible does speak of the ministry of women and women who are gifted and wise and called of God. Deborah was such a woman.
Now, here's the second thing I want you to see. Not only the woman that God chose, but I want you to see the warrior that God called. There needed to be a battle. God was going to deliver Israel, and so he needed a man to lead the charge, a warrior. And his name was Barak.
Notice, if you will, in Judges 4, verses 8 and 9, and Barak said unto her, that is to Deborah, if thou wilt go with me, then I will go. But if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee, notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor, for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh.
Now, Deborah knew the limits of her position. She knew there's going to be a war. She knew that she was not fitted in her call for the battle. She knew that she needed a man.
Now in this time, the men had failed. By the way, may I say that the problem in America today that we call militant feminism. And domineering women. is primarily a tribute to the failure of men. Slacker.
Sharker. failing men who failed to take the place that they ought to take. There are times There are times when a woman has to do a man's work, but that is not God's norm. Not God's ultimate plan. If there's a woman on the frontier and her husband dies, she may have to go out and chop wood.
She may have to go out and plow the fields. She may have to take a gun and defend her family from intruders. But that is not God's intended plan, His perfect plan. When God made Adam, God made Adam to tend the garden and to keep it. That is, He is to be the provider and the protector, He is to keep it, He is to guard it.
God made the woman. To be the nurturer. God gave her the soft feminine side.
Now, it doesn't mean that they're not equal, it means they are not. The same. The devil tries to make men and women the same, and radical feminists are telling us today that women need to be put on the battlefield in the front lines in hand-to-hand combat. That's a lie out of hell. Friend, it doesn't take much imagination and much common sense to show you that women.
are not fitted for that. God did not make women For battles, he made them for having babies and for nurturing and caring and loving. Doesn't mean that that's all that they can do. But I'm saying. that God did not make a woman Fit her for battle.
Think about a woman prisoner of war. Think about what may happen. Think about the atrocities and the indecencies of a woman having to march side by side, use the same latrines, use the same facilities as a man there. That is not God's plan. You ought to know better than that.
As a matter of fact, when God spoke of His judgment upon a people, He would say that their soldiers were like women. The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight. They have remained in their holes, the H-O-L-D-S, that is their hiding places. Their might hath failed. They became As women.
Now God is not putting women down in that verse. What he's saying is that here are men. Who are not fit for the battle, they're like women. God never intended for a woman to be in the battlefield. Deborah knew that.
And so, though Deborah was a woman of wisdom and a woman of leadership, greatly gifted of God, greatly used of God, she got this man Barak. to be the general to lead the army of Israel. And the man Barak is listed in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, as a man of faith. And let's look at his faith. Let's look at the origin of his faith.
What was the origin of his faith? The word of God. Look in Judges 4, verse 6. And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoim out of Kadesh Nephthili, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded? She is speaking for God.
She is a prophetess. The origin of his faith was hearing from God. You cannot have faith. No one ever has who's not heard from God. The Bible says in Romans 10:17, and I've referenced this in almost every one of these messages: faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
You must hear from God to have faith. Faith is hearing God, believing God, and acting on it. That's what faith is. And so the origin of his faith is the Word of God. What was the object of his faith?
It's in that same passage of Scripture. And said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded? The object of his faith was the Lord God of Israel.
Now, sometimes people say, well, Just believe. Have faith. I say, believe what? Have faith in who? Believe God.
Have faith in God. That's what it's all about. Jesus answering and saith unto them, have faith in God. Mark 11, verse 22. Just having faith is positive thinking, and positive thinking is not faith in God, it is faith in yourself.
And what is the origin of faith? The Word of God. The object of faith, the God of the Word, and the operation of faith is obeying the Word of God and the God of the Word. And Barak said, I will go. Faith is not mere intellectual assent, it is obedience.
Faith is belief with legs on it. Our English word believe comes from an Old English word, by live. What we really believe we live by, the rest is just religious talk. Don't tell me your creed without your conduct.
So here was a man of faith.
Now, here we go. There is the woman God chose. There is the warrior God called.
Now, I want you to see the warfare God conducted.
Now, there's some people. who believe that all war is is evil and wrong.
Well, they better go back and read the Bible. Judges chapter 4, verses 12 through 16. And they showed Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, was going up to Mount Tabor. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even 900 chariots of iron, and all of the people that were with him from Heresheth of the Gentiles unto the river Kishon. And Deborah said unto Barak, Up.
For this is the day in which the Lord, notice that on the score of this, the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand. Is not the Lord gone out before thee?
So Barak went down from Mount Tabor and 10,000 men after him, and the Lord discomfited Sisera. Underscore that, the Lord did this, the Lord did this, and all his chariots and all his hosts with the edge of the sword before Barak.
so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot and fled away on his feet. But Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host unto Heresheth of the Gentiles. And all of the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword, and there was not a man left.
Now here's the battle, how it's ensued. Barak, anointed of God, called of God, goes out with 10,000 men of Israel. But he is coming up. He's coming up against 900 Chariots of iron.
Now you have to understand this time. This would be like a group of infantrymen. going up against a battalion of tanks. How are they going to fight 900 chariots of iron? It looks hopeless.
Had you been there that day, you would have said there's no hope for Israel. There's no hope for Rach to win this battle. Number one, Sisera is a gifted and a seasoned general. Number two. He has been victorious for 20 straight years.
Number three, he has 900 chariots of iron. There's no way. But of course, as you know the Bible The Bible says the stars and their courses fought against Sisera.
Well, what happened was this. That day, just before the battle was joined, there came a rainstorm. I mean a big one. Go over to Judges chapter 5 and look, if you will. In verses 4 and 5, Lord.
When thou winnest out of seer, When thou marchest out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled.
Now that's speaking of Thunder. And the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. What that is speaking of is the bottom falling out. That is speaking of a stump-floating frog-strangling rain. The mountains melted.
That's talking about a mudslide from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God. of Israel. There came a storm. A thunderstorm. There was a brook there, Kishanis, normally a dry brook.
And what we would call in Israel today a wadi, W-A-D-I. But there come flash floods sometimes. This time there came an enormous flood, so much that there were mudslides, so much that the water began to gush down there, right there at the battlefield. And notice, if you will, in Judges chapter 5, verses 20 and 22. They fought from heaven.
The stars in their courses fought against Sisera. The river of Kishon swept them away. What happened there was That the battlefield was turned into a swamp. And rushing torrents of rain came down from Mount Cabor. And here is Sisera out there with all of his chariots of iron.
Ready to join the battle. And it rains. He's not prepared for this. What good are chariots of iron in a swamp? Josephus, who was a historian.
Wrote about this. And he said, They joined the battle, and as the ranks closed, a violent storm came on with much rain and hail. The wind drove the rain against the faces of the Canaanites, darkening their outlook, so their archeries and their slings were rendered useless. Their heavy-armed soldiers, because of the cold, were unable to use their swords. But since the storm was behind the Israelites, it caused them less harm, and they further took courage from the belief that in God's assistance, so that driving into the midst of the enemy, they killed most of them.
Now, what I said again is that fight was fixed. That's the reason Deborah. Who, after the battle, wrote this song that we find in chapter 5, has this wonderful verse in chapter 5, verse 20: The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
Now, what does that mean? Here's the crux of the message: we call the message Star Wars. Can you imagine how many stars there are in the glory? No, you can't imagine it. None of us can even begin to imagine how many stars there are.
Now here's one little puny Canaanite general. And all of those stars were lined up against him. As I say, the fight was fixed. It was impossible for him to win because he was battling the stars. He had a collision with the stars.
What is the message here? The message is very plain, and I want you to listen to it and don't miss it. All the universe. Is against the man. who is against God.
That's it. All of the universe is against the man. Who's against God? What this is, is Romans 8:28 in reverse. You know what Romans 8:28 says, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to his purpose.
What this verse says is, all things work together for bad for those who don't love God. who are against his purpose. Friend, if you are not with God, Ultimately, you are destined to fail. The God who runs those stars, the God who created the universe and flung those stars out into space, programmed everything against Sisera. There was no way that he could win because sin can't win and faith can't fail.
And this was a battle of faith, and God gave the victory.
Now, friend, when you love God, I want to tell you, God is on your side and you are programmed for victory.
Now, it may not seem like it, it may not always be there according to your naked eye. But if you wait. You'll learn what an unknown poet wrote when he said on the far reef, The breakers recoil in shattered foam. Yet still the sea behind them urges its forces home. Its chant of triumph surges through all the thunderous din.
The wave may break in failure. But the tide. Is sure to win. Oh, mighty see thy message in changing spray is cast within God's plans of progress. It matters not at last how wide the the shores of evil.
How strong the reefs of sin The wave may break in failure, but the tide is sure to win. And God's purposes will prevail. Have faith in God, He cannot fail. Have faith in God, he must. prevail.
He can't fail. Satan. Can't win. The stars in their courses are against the man who's against God. The stars line up.
For the man who loves God. And if you go against God, you're going to stumble on the stars. You're going to have a collision with the stars. One of the greatest military men who ever lived was a little Corsican named Napoleon. Military strategists are still studying Napoleon, that little French general.
Full of ego. Napoleon marched against Russia. He had 500,000 hand-picked men. What an army. his finest.
He would have Moscow And he would have the world. And as he marched across the plains of Russia, a snowflake kissed his cheek. He brushed it off and laughed, and then another snowflake and a handful came, and then bushels of snowflakes, and then avalanches of snowflakes. And his Fine horses reared. and plunged and floundered in the snow.
Progress was impossible. Before it was over, Napoleon's finest lay frozen. on the plains of Russia. Napoleon retreated like a whipped puppy. Napoleon had boasted I want you to hear this boast.
Here's what he boasted before that fight. God is on the side of the heaviest battalions. And he was right. But he forgot that God puts his battalions in the skies. Amen.
And see, the stars in their courses fought against Napoleon. The stars in their courses fought against Sisera, and the stars in their courses fight against any man who fights against God.
Now, here's the fourth and the final thing I want you to see. Not only the woman that God chose and the warrior that God called and the warfare that God conducted, but I want you to see the wickedness that God cursed. The wickedness that God cursed. Look, if you will, in Judges chapter 5 and verse 23. Curtsy Moreau's.
Said the angel of the Lord. Curse ye bitterly. the inhabitants thereof. Because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
Now, what wickedness is this that God is cursing? Why did God put a curse upon Merose? Because Moreau's tried to be neutral. in a time of moral crisis.
Now other tribes were brave. Look in Judges 5 verse 18, Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death. in the high places of the field. That is, they laid their necks on the line. But not in the rows.
Moreau said, we'll be neutral. We'll fail to take sides. and by failing to take sides, they took sides with the enemy. That's what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 30: He that is not with me is against me. Dante said, The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Edmund Burke said, All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men. to do nothing.
Now there are many of us who love to watch other people fight battles. But friend, if you don't take a side. If you don't stand up in a time of moral crisis, the curse of God is upon you and the stars are against you. Kershim arose. He came not to the aid of his brethren.
What is the truth there? No man has a right to be at peace when his brothers are at war. Not until the war is over. There's an interesting verse over there in Numbers 32, verse 23. But if ye will not do so, you've sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.
What sin was that?
Well, when they were going into the land of Israel. The Jews coming out of Egypt. Uh there were two tribes. Who wanted to stay over there on The east side. of the Jordan.
Because the grass was tall and they had cattle. Joshua knew There's going to be a battle over there in Canaan. They said, can't we just stay here? He said, okay, you can stay here. But there's going to be war over there when we cross Jordan.
And when your brothers go to war, you're going to have to cross Jordan and go over here and help your brothers.
Now, if you don't help your brothers, you've sinned against the Lord. And be sure. Your sin. We'll find you out.
Now there are all kinds of sins. They're temperamental sins. They're moral sins. They're social sins. One of the greatest sins mentioned in the Bible is the sin of omission.
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. It is the sin of trying to be neutral when there is a battle to be fought. It's the sin of sitting on the sidelines. You see, the sin of omission is the great sin. When Jesus cursed a fig tree, He didn't curse the fig tree because it brought forth a poison fruit, but it brought forth no fruit.
When a man hit his talent in the ground and God judged him. God didn't judge him because he stole the money. But because he did nothing with it? He failed to be fruitful with that money when the priest and the Levite passed the man on the road to Jericho and left him wounded and bleeding and naked. Before the Good Samaritan came, those people, the priest and the Levite, did not beat that man up.
They didn't rob him. All they did was to do nothing. What did Morose do? Nothing. What do so many Christians do?
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
Now friend, listen to me. There's a battle. And it is more real. Than the battle that took place in that swamp that day. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places.
And God will use women. And God will use men of faith. God will bring the stars behind the man who's behind God. But don't you think it's time you stopped playing church? Don't you think it's time that you got into the battle?
Amen. Don't you think it's time that you said, Lord, use me? Don't be neutral. There's a woman. The woman that God chose, thank God, for women.
There's a warrior that God called. There's a battle. There is a warfare that God conducted. It was God who lined up behind faith. There was the wickedness that God cursed.
People who tried to remain neutral. in a time of moral crisis.
Now the main thing I want you to see is We need to put our faith in the one who put those stars in the heaven. Almighty God. And his Son, the Lord Jesus. who holds this mighty universe. in the palm of his hand.
If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.
