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??If you and I walked into a courtroom today, what would we see？Probably the most noticeable thing we would see is the big, important seat of the judge. A judge is a person who knows the laws and decides what is right according to that law. All kinds of people with all kinds of problems come before the judge to tell their story. The judge listens, tries to get all the facts, and then makes a decision based on the laws.
??Did you know there is a book of the Bible named Judges？That's because at one time the country of Israel was ruled by judges. Some of those judges were very godly people who helped Israel stay close to God by keeping His laws. But then when the judges died, the people of Israel would forget God and begin to worship idols. It seemed they never learned that when they forgot God, God always allowed their enemies to come in and kill and destroy their country.
??In our lesson today from Judges chapter 4, the people of Israel had turned to idol worship again. This time God allowed the very cruel King Jabin and his General Sisera to invade their land. For twenty years, Sisera led his army with their 900 iron chariots into the land of Israel to kill, to steal, and to destroy. Can you imagine how poor and oppressed Israel must have been when they finally cried out to the true and living God to help them？Do you think they deserved God's help after worshipping idols for 20 years？No, but God in His great love and mercy, heard their cry and was waiting to save them from their enemy.
??That's because God is love! He loved the people of Israel, even though they had sinned. Do you think God has changed？In Malachi 3：6, God says, "I am the Lord, I change not." Just as God loved the people of Israel, God loves you! As your Creator, He takes great delight in you and wants to help you. If you have never believed on the Lord Jesus, you are like the people of Israel. Your sin has separated you from God and year after year you are living without Him. From birth we begin to do, think and say those wrong things that displease God, like thinking hateful thoughts about people, or lying to get our way. Until we cry out to God to save us, we will remain in that sinful condition, separated from God. But God is waiting to hear you call to Him. In fact, He has already provided your help! Romans 5：8 says, "But God commendeth (showed) His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Christ Jesus, the perfect Son of God, was willing to come down from His throne in Heaven to suffer, bleed and die in your place, taking your punishment for sin. After three days, Jesus rose from the dead, and now He is back in Heaven. Because of what Jesus did for you, you can cry out to God to save you from your sin, and He will. God loves you so much, and He is waiting for you to cry out to Him.
??Even though the people of Israel did not deserve God's help, God loved them and was waiting to hear their cry for help. When He heard their cry, God spoke to their judge. Their judge was a godly woman named Deborah and everyone in Israel loved and respected her. When they had disagreements or problems that needed to be settled, they went to Mount Ephraim to a special palm tree where Deborah would sit to judge the people. The people of Israel could depend on Deborah to judge them according to God's laws. What a godly example she was!
??If you have already believed on the Lord Jesus, God wants you to be a godly example!
??When you do what's right according to God's laws, you will be a wise and godly example! Let's say our memory verse to remember the ways we need to be a godly example：I Timothy 4：12 says, "be an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." That means you should be a godly example in your words, in what you do, and even in the inward attitude in which you do it. Do you say unkind words to your family or others？Do you use the name of God in a wrong way？Even saying ？gosh or darn？or heck？are ways of swearing, because they are slurred ways of saying？God？or damn？or hell？
??Are you a good example in the things you do？Are your actions showing love or selfishness？Do you run to help others, and let them have their way, or do you insist on having your own things, your own way, and only help others when it is easy to do？Answer these questions honestly in your heart, and ask God to help you be a godly example, even though you are young.
??For years, Deborah was known in Israel as a faithful and godly woman, a great example. Everyone knew God had given her unusual wisdom. One day Deborah called for a man named Barak to come from the north part of Israel down to her southern part. She had a special message from the Lord："The Lord God of Israel has commanded, saying, "Barak, go to Mount Tabor and take with you 10, 000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. I will bring General Sisera with his chariots and his army and deliver him into your hands.？" ??After 20 long years of being defeated over and over again by General Sisera, God is now promising victory! Do you think Barak rushed off to gather his army of 10, 000 men？The Bible does not say why, but Barak hesitated. He said to Deborah："If you will go with me, I will go：but if you will not go with me, then I will not go." Barak knew one thing for sure：God was with Deborah! Deborah answered, "I will surely go with you, but the journey you are taking is not for your own honour, for the Lord will give Sisera into the hand of a woman." Boys and girls, do you think that woman is Deborah？You may be surprised!
??Barak gathered his army of 10, 000 and they went to Mount Tabor. Sure enough, down below the mount, by the Kishon River, General Sisera was gathering his huge army with their 900 iron chariots. It does not look like a fair battle, it does not look like Israel could possibly win. But the mighty power of God was there, though invisible to the human eye. Deborah knew God was there! She spoke bold, encouraging words to Barak："Up, for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand! Hasn't the Lord already gone out before you？" What a great example of faith and purity Deborah was!
??If you are a child of God, He wants you to be an example of faith and purity to other believers. Remember our Bible verse today from I Timothy 4：12, and remember our four power words we？ve been learning through the previous lessons：Think：Am I being a godly example by what I'm doing'say：I Timothy 4：12 Pray：for God to give you power to do what's right so you are an example that others can follow. Obey by doing what's right! Do you see other believers who are being tempted to do wrong？Encourage them by not only doing the right thing, but tell them a Bible verse that will help. I recently heard about a father whose young son reminded him of the Bible verse to keep the Lord's Day holy. That father was so encouraged to do the right thing, just because of what his young son said. Even though you are young, you can be a good example by encouraging others to do the right thing.
??Deborah was encouraging Barak to go on down and fight as the Lord had commanded!
??Barak and his army charged down that mountain, cheered on by Deborah's words of faith. And God had gone before them, just as Deborah said! In fact, God sent a thunderstorm that turned the ground under Sisera's chariots into sticky mud. What do you think happened to those iron chariot wheels？Because the chariot wheels got stuck, Sisera's soldiers jumped out of the chariots and ran, but not fast enough. God was helping Barak's soldiers to defeat this mighty army! Even Sisera jumped from his chariot and ran. He ran to what he thought would be a safe hiding place. After all, he knew that Heber was at peace with King Jabin, so surely Heber's wife Jael would hide him in her tent. Sure enough, Jael welcomed the very frightened, very tired General Sisera into her tent. She gave him milk to drink and covered him. Sisera was so tired from running, that he quickly fell sound asleep, " and never woke up. The Bible tells us that Jael took a tent peg and hammered it through Sisera's head, killing him.
??When Barak came by, Jael stopped him."Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for." Do you remember what God had spoken through Deborah？" God will give Sisera into the hand of a woman." Through God's power, Barak and his army defeated King Jabin's army that day. Israel grew stronger and stronger until finally King Jabin was completely destroyed.
??When the battle was over, Deborah and Barak led the people of Israel in songs of praise to God. They had cried out to God, and He had given them great victory! Judges 5：31 ends by saying, "And the land had rest forty years."
??If Deborah had not been a godly example, do you think God could have used her to be such a great help to her people？No, because they probably would not have respected her enough to believe and follow her counsel. If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior from sin, will you this week be a godly example？Be watchful in your words, actions, love, attitudes, as well as in your faith and pure life. Remembering your four power words will help! Think, say, pray, obey! Think：Am I being a good example in what I am saying and doing right now'say：I Timothy 4：12. Pray：Asking God to show you and help you do what's right. Obey：Then do the right thing! When you are doing right, you are being a good example!
??If you have never believed in the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you cannot be a good example of Someone you know nothing about. But Jesus wants you to know Him, for He is the only One Who can save you from sin's dreadful punishment. There's time for you to go to ？How to Be a Child of God？right now and get to know Jesus.
