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The Woman Gives Birth to a Son
RV154-01© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1993)
We are studying "Tribulation Personalities. This is segment number eight in Revelation 11:19 through Revelation 12:6.
Satan
One of the all-time great lies that Satan (the professional liar) has been able to perpetrate on the human race is the impression that he doesn't
exist. If indeed he is merely a figment of some Bible author's imagination, he does not have to be given a second thought. Instead, in our society,
as you know, the devil is given a cartoon appearance: he has a tail; he is red all over; and, he has a pitchfork. Compare that, however, with what
we read about the appearance of Satan in Ezekiel 28:12: "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the
Lord God.'" God is speaking here to Satan, who is the power behind the king of Tyre. He is actually speaking to Satan: "You had the seal of
perfection, full of wisdom, and purpose and beauty."
Satan does exist, but he is not the ugly cartoon character that he is generally portrayed as. So, Satan has unobtrusively been able to rule the
world, and to destroy the lives of people by promoting immorality; self-centeredness; human good works from the old sin nature; greed; envy; and,
aggression. Society indeed recognizes and identifies the various social ills brought upon it by Satan. But it tries to solve them by ineffective
programs of old sin nature reforms instead of regeneration through Jesus Christ, in order to break the hold of Satan.
So, it is a favorite phrase of our society to say that what we need is more education. The way to stop AIDS is to give more education. That is
exactly the voice of Satan that you're hearing. It is impossible to reform the sin nature, when, in effect, the truth of the matter is that what
you need is the regeneration of the whole person.
Satan, of course, hates exposés of him by those who teach the doctrines of Scripture. The non-premillennial, non-dispensational churches are
very shallow in their instruction. They give minimal instruction, and they play right into Satan's hands. Most of you people are well-versed in
Scripture, and you could visit various churches; you could listen to a preacher; and, you could give me a very accurate evaluation of where that
congregation can go under the kind of ministry that is revealed in just a few church services. In general, it is shallow, and it leaves Christians
basically doctrinally ignorant.
Satan sends these doctrinally ignorant Christians tracing non-existent spiritual rabbits, as in the charismatic movement. They are always looking
for some exciting spiritual experiential gift that doesn't exist. Satan creates religious cults which direct people actually away from the Lord,
and from true salvation. Example of these include the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormonism.
The Allegorical Method of Interpreting Scripture
The use of a non-literal method of interpreting the Bible has produced the false view of the future which is taught by the amillennialists
and the postmillennialists – that there is to be no earthly kingdom, and that also plays right into Satan's hands, because churches are
shallow and incompetent in doctrine. Those who do teach the Word of God by the HICEE technique are the kiss of death to Satan. He tries in every
way to silence individuals who speak the Word in that way, and to silence organizations which support that kind of teaching.
What Satan does promote is anti-Semitism because of his hatred of the Jewish people who gave birth to the Messiah Savior Jesus Christ. Satan is
the governing power behind the nations of the world, and he creates in them a hatred for Israel. We see that mounting every day in our time. In
spite of his use of political and religious authorities, Satan has been unable to kill the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior that was promised in
Genesis 3:15 and in Genesis 12:1-3. What Satan has to do now is try to kill every living Jew in order to prevent Jesus Christ from being able to
return to the earth to set up a millennial kingdom of the Jews. If there are no Jews, there can be no millennial kingdom.
In Revelation 12, which we are currently studying, John sees the future climactic conflict between God and Satan which takes place during the
tribulation period. Satan is supported in his warfare with God by the demon angels who joined him in his original rebellion against God. We
saw in the previous session that the Bible, indicates that about one-third of all the angels which God had created joined forces with him.
Satan really hates to see the Christmas season come around every year because it reminds him very painfully of his failure to devour the Christ
child. As we saw in the previous session, what he was standing by to do was, as soon as this child was born, to try to devour Him; that is, to
destroy (to kill) Him.
The final confrontation that took place between Satan and the Lord was on the cross, and it ended in Satan's total defeat, because as Christ
paid the debt of sin for every human being, He wrenched from the hands of Satan the power of death. That was the one thing that Satan could
impose upon people. That was the fearful thing with which he controlled every human being – death, and what is beyond. Now, the power
of death and the fear of death has been removed from those who know Christ as Savior.
In Revelation 12:5, we go on reading concerning this woman. Satan has been watching her to see if the Christ child is about to be born.
Historically, we know that he failed in that. Verse 5 says, "And she gave birth to a Son." This refers to the historical Jewish virgin Mary.
It is the nation of Israel, but now, very specifically, the "she" is Mary, the mother of Jesus, through whom Christ was born. It was predicted
long ago in the Old Testament that this would happen, and therefore, Satan had a great deal of information ahead of time as to how this child,
who would be his nemesis, would be born.
In Isaiah 7:14, we have this revelation: "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child, and bear a son,
and she will call his name Emmanuel." This is the very thing that John is referring to – that historical event.
In Matthew 1:18, we have this additional perspective: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to
Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit."
Then in the gospel of Luke 2:6-7: "And it came about that while they were there (that is, Joseph and Mary, in the city of Bethlehem, the very city
in which King David had been born), the days were completed for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped Him in
cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
So, here John is seeing this woman giving birth to a son. This is a portrayal of the historical event that had already taken place at the time
that John was seeing this. Mary provided the humanity of the God-man Jesus Christ. That is all she provided. Mary is not the mother of God as
the Roman Catholics like to refer to her. She provided the humanity only, but it was by a supernatural conception. This supernatural conception
was the product of the work of God the Holy Spirit, so that Christ could be provided with a humanity through Mary, which was minus an old sin
nature. It was necessary that He be born in the same condition as the first Adam, so that He could now confront the issues of obedience to the
will of God, and to the directions and the plan of God, and demonstrate that God is fair. If you obey Him, He keeps His Word and brings blessing.
If you disobey Him, He keeps His Word and brings judgment.
So, Christ was born through the supernatural conception in the virgin Mary that produced a sinless God-man. In Luke 1:34-35, we read, "Mary said
to the angel, 'How can this be since I am a virgin?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power
of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the Holy Offspring shall be called the Son of God. That term "Holy Offspring" indicates
that Jesus did not have a sin nature.
The Immaculate Conception
The Lord Jesus Christ was not born without a sin nature because his mother, Mary, was sinless. This is what the Roman Catholics teach. The Pope
has proclaimed the doctrine which is known as the Immaculate Conception. The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that teaches that Mary's
mother conceived her without passing on a sin nature to Mary. Now, don't ask me what the logic is, and what the philosophy is behind all that.
I can tell you that when you don't treat the Bible literally, you can make it mean whatever you want it to mean. The Catholics to this day will
look you straight in the eye and say, "Mary never had a sin nature. Mary was not a lost person. Mary never was going to hell. Mary never needed
God to save her from her sins."
Yet, if you look again in Luke 1:47, in what we call Mary's Magnificat, her special hymn of praise to God, notice what she herself says: "And
my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." You couldn't be any more explicit than that: "My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." Yes, this
woman that John sees symbolizing Israel (specifically, the Jewish woman Mary) did conceive in a supernatural way, and produced a child who was
sinless, but it was because it was a Holy Spirit conception – not because the mother herself was sinless.
Human Reproduction
Every cell in the human body has 46 chromosomes except for two. Those are the sperm cell and the egg cell which produce a new human being. Each
of those only has 23 chromosomes. It's necessary for those two cells to get together to produce the 46, and when they do, God has arranged that
a mechanism is triggered that begins forming a new human being. From the moment that those two cells come together, and 46 chromosomes pop in
together, a human life is in the process of being formed. Any destruction of that life from that point on is an act of murder, because that is
a human being. It will never be a dog; it will never be a horse; and, it will never be an alligator. It will always be a creature in the image
of God.
Abortion
Therefore, the abortionists are a very gross kind of human being. Those who are without knowledge of the Word of God treat the conception of a
child (the act of these 23 chromosomes getting together) as nothing but a mass of tissue growing. Are they ever going to have a surprise when
they stand before the living God? And today, the state of Texas has degenerated to the point where it has put at the head of its state, a
governor who is determined to expand the base of the slaughter of unborn children as wide as possible, under the rallying cry that government
does not have a right to tell a woman how to use her body. Indeed, it does not. But government does have a right to tell you how you can treat
someone else's body. That's the subtlety. You have to frame it right. If your mother-in-law irritates you, you can't do her in. You do not have
a right to do what you want with your mother-in-law's body. Therefore, you do not have a right to do in the life of that unborn child.
What would have happened had Mary aborted Jesus? If everything we're being told today is true, then Jesus could have been aborted any place
along the line, and nothing would have happened. Nothing would have been lost. However, something was going to be lost. The 23 chromosomes of
the father's sperm carry the sin nature. The mother is free of the sin nature. If you could produce a baby with just the mother's egg, you'd
have another sinless human being. It is the transmission through the Father that God the Holy Spirit bypassed, and then produced, again, a human
being just as perfect as Adam was originally.
Mary's other Children
Once the Catholics got into the doctrine of the immaculate conception, the other thing that they say is: what if Mary had some more children?
They'd all be God-children. They'd all be divine, just like Jesus was. Well, the Catholics never have any problem. They know how to interpret
the Bible. And if the Bible doesn't come to their aid, the Pope knows how to make the rules just by sitting on his throne, and ex-cathedra
making a declaration, which he did. He said the virgin Mary never had another child after Jesus was born. She never engaged in sexual relations.
She was a perpetual virgin.
We have a little problem with that, because, in Matthew 13:55-56, we read about how the people of the city of Nazareth began listening to Jesus, who
was beginning His ministry. They knew this man. They knew this young man. They knew that he worked in a carpenter shop, as a carpenter, with his
father, and they knew his family. All of a sudden, this ordinary workman is talking as if he were a rabbi. He is proclaiming things about spiritual
things, like he was some kind of an authority. Their initial reaction was: where does he get off doing that? Just who does He think He is? And in
the process of expressing their disapproval, they give us some information about Mary; her perpetual virginity; and, other children born to her.
Matthew 13:55-56: "Is not this the carpenter's son" Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers (half-brothers, it is true) James and Joseph
and Simon and Judas, and His sisters (He had sisters too)? Are they not all with us? Where did this man get all these things? Now that sounds like
a very ordinary family of very ordinary human beings, except that it had an elder brother who was indeed in the position of some special respect
(authority), because he was the eldest, who was different. He grew up as a little boy, and He never gave His mother any trouble. He grew up and
never did anything wrong. He was never disobedient. He was indeed far above average. What a strange thing to have a child who was absolutely
perfect at all times – a joy to your heart beyond your imagination.
If we had a kid like that today, we'd all wonder, "What is wrong with this guy?" Let's send him to a psychiatrist who can figure out why he
doesn't do bad things. Let's send them to "Bad Things School" so that he can learn to be a normal human being.
John 7:3-5 is another reference to Jesus. He is about to go up to Jerusalem to the Feast of the Booths (the Tabernacle Feast). His brothers are
going ahead of Him, and He chooses not to go with them: "His brothers, therefore, said to Him, 'Depart from here, and go into Judea, that your
disciples also may behold Your works which You are doing, for no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If you
do these things, show Yourself to the world,' for not even His brothers were believing in Him."
Now that Scripture makes it very clear that Jesus had half-brothers. These were brothers born to marry and to Joseph subsequent to the birth of
Jesus Christ. But his brothers never took him seriously. His brothers did not believe in Him, and did not believe His claims that he was the
Messiah. After all, they worked in the carpenter shop with Him; they ate their meals with Him; they went out and pitched ball with Him; and,
they went swimming with Him in the Sea of Galilee. He was just an ordinary brother, yet He was different. You could always trust Him. He was
always clean-cut. He was the epitome of integrity, which they couldn't say about themselves. However, they couldn't quite get themselves to
believe His claims that He was the Messiah.
So, they were almost kind of half-ridiculing Him, saying, "Go on up to the feast. Everybody will be there. Do the things you've been doing, and
that we have heard you've been doing. Get up there and do it, and you'll get notoriety, and everybody will begin to accept you."
In Galatians 1:19, Paul says, "But I did not see any other of the apostles except James the Lord's brother." Here again is a reference explicitly
to a brother of Jesus Christ.
So, in Revelation 12, we see this woman, the nation of Israel, through the Virgin Mary, giving birth to a very special Son who is devoid of a
sin nature. This was what took place in Bethlehem of the child who was born that night to Mary. It says that she gave birth to a Son. The Greek
word here is the word "whios." This word "whios" refers specifically to the Lord Jesus Christ in the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 3:15,
that the woman (some woman) would bear a child who would become the Savior of the world. God decreed that the line of this Savior, the human line
of descent, would be through the Jewish nation from Abraham. We have this in Genesis 12:2, where Abraham is told that, through him, the world
would be blessed. We find later in Scripture that that's a specific reference – blessed because a Savior would be provided through his
posterity. In John 4:22, the explicit statement is made by Jesus that salvation is of the Jews.
Furthermore, this Savior was described as coming through the tribe of Judah and the family of David. Isaiah 11:1 indicates that when the Savior
came, he would not only be from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (through the Jewish people), but specifically through the tribe of Judah and the family
of David.
The seed that Genesis 3:15 refers to is identified in the book of Galatians as referring specifically to Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:16: "Now the
promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, 'And to the seeds' (plural) as referring to many, but rather to one, and to
your seed; that is, Christ." So, the woman's seed (singular), specifically, the Messiah Savior Jesus Christ, would conquer the devil, and take
away the authority of death that he had imposed upon people, and salvation would be provided.
Therefore, as we have seen here in our passage in Revelation 12, Satan had to be on the alert for centuries because he had no way of knowing
which Jewish woman would bear the Messiah Savior. One of these male babies would grow up to deliver the mortal blow to Satan. He only knew that
it would have to come through the tribe of Judah, and through the family line of David. Satan especially observed those male babies as they were
born. He tried to protect himself by removing all pure humanity from the earth so that Christ could not be born a bonafide human being, when he
intermarried demons and human women. But after the birth of Jesus, Satan tried to murder him as a child, and as a man. Then he tried to disqualify
Him by causing Him to sin so that he could not be the Lamb of God.
Furthermore, right to the very end, he tried to talk Jesus out of going to the cross, to dissuade him from that terrible agony, but he failed
completely. The Jewish religious leaders and the Romans civil authorities under Satan's influence simply proceeded to murder the innocent Lord
Jesus Christ on the cross. At that point, Satan was defeated. Christ had to pay the penalty of death for the sin of mankind. God the Father
raised Jesus from the dead to confirm the reality of salvation, and to seal Satan's destiny to the lake of fire.
All who are saved today, by trusting in Abraham see the God-man Jesus Christ, are actually in one respect the children of Abraham. We gentiles
are not the children of Abraham racially, nor are we the children of Abraham relative to covenant promises to the Jewish people. But we are the
children of Abraham spiritually. That's what the apostle Paul points out in Galatians 3:7-9: "Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of
faith who are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to
Abraham, saying, 'All the nations shall be blessed in you,' so that those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer." In that
respect, we are the children of Abraham.
I point that verse out to you because the amillennialists and the postmillennialists like to take this verse and say, "You see: Israel has been
set aside and the church (the Christian) has replaced the Jew in the program of God. But that's not what those verses are saying at all. They're
simply saying that Abraham was saved by free grace salvation – trusting in a Savior who was to come. And those who follow his example, to
trust in that Savior, will also enjoy the benefit of free grace salvation. In that respect, they are the spiritual children of Abraham. They are
not his physical seed with all the rights and privileges appertaining to physical Jews.
So, it is true that Christ has provided for the sins of all mankind.
The Bible is God Speaking
There is one other thing. Notice Galatians 3:8. There is something very interesting in the way this is phrased: "And the Scripture (the Bible),
foreseeing that God would justify the gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying." Isn't that interesting? The
Scriptures are presented as preaching the Word of God. The Scriptures are presented here as God speaking. That's exactly true. It is true that
what the Bible says is, in fact, the voice of God, and therefore it must be obeyed as absolute truth.
Where does that put most people in our society who are totally ignorant of the Scriptures? Where does that put the average church member who sits
under a shallow-teaching ministry that leaves him with no deep residue of doctrine in his human spirit? Those people are pathetic. If they could,
they would curse their preachers when they get to heaven and realize what it has cost them.
The Bible speaks for God. Therefore, when the Bible speaks, it is not subject to our evaluation and our consideration by reason whether to accept it
or not. John 10:35 says, "The Scriptures cannot be broken." 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Scriptures (the information) was breathed into the
authors by God the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us that the Scriptures were written down by men who were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is God's product through human agencies.
Therefore, my point is this – that no human society can ever ignore taking into account what the Bible teaches in determining what its laws
will be and what its conduct will be, if it is to be a stable, civilized, prosperous, moral, and peaceful nation. No nation can ignore the Bible
as the basis of its legal procedures and how it conducts its business.
Satan, the liar, tells people that what the Bible says about salvation through faith in Christ is just not true. Satan, therefore, calls God a
liar, and those who believe in Satan do the same. That's what 1 John 5:9-13 tell us – that if you don't believe what God has said about
Christ and salvation, you're calling God a liar. So, here is Satan telling the world that Jesus was a liar; that the Bible does not tell you
the truth; that the Bible is full of mistakes; and, that God the liar. The truth is that only the Bible speaks for God in order to deliver His
mind to mankind. So, we treat the Bible with a great deal of respect indeed.
"And she gave birth to a son, a male." Then there is an interesting word. Why in the world would God the Holy Spirit pitch in this word "male?"
Most sons are male. The Greek word is not even the usual word for "male." It's the word "arsen." The word "arsen" is a secular word. It is
emphatic upon the sexual difference between a male and a female.
Notice, for example, that Matthew 19:4 says, "And he answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning, made
them 'arsen" and female?" And this verse is emphasizing that there is a sexual difference between a male and a female, and thus a difference of
activity. What this word "arsen" stresses is the masculinity of the God-man Jesus Christ who was born to Mary. It is emphasizing in the most
precise way possible that there is no mother God, and that the deity of Christ is the deity of a God-man. It is not a God-woman, as the feminists
like to claim.
Women in Roles of Leadership
This is interesting – that this emphasis upon the maleness of Jesus Christ should be interjected here. The reason for it is what is going
to be said immediately following that word. That is because as soon as we are told that she has born this Son, and then stressing the masculinity
of this Child, we are told that He is to hold a political office – that of ruling all the nations of the world with a rod of iron. Maleness
is associated here with the role of Jesus Christ as the future political ruler over the whole earth as King of Kings. God does not put women in
positions of political leadership over men in a society, except at a time of discipline. When God wants to degrade and discipline a society, then
female leadership becomes dominant in that society, including in the political realm.
Before the recent election, I was sitting with a group of people, and they got to discussing the upcoming Texas election. I had observed that
the state of Texas had sent its people to primaries, and the people had put the two sorriest candidates probably ever seen in the state's history
up for election. One of them was going to be governor. One of the men sitting there said, "Well, I'm voting for the lady." He said, "Don't you
think that that's best, Dr. Danish?" What a question to ask me! And I said, "No, I'll tell you. I have a problem with that, because the Bible
forbids women in positions of authority over men." And he opened his mouth; hung it open for a moment; looked at me; and, said, "Oh, Dr. Danish,
that's;" and, then he used an obscenity. And he used it two or three more times before we were through. There were even lady sitting around this
group. I mean, he was so enraged that he caught me a little off guard, and that's kind of hard to do. But he did, because I didn't expect this
from him. He's usually a very nice, cultured gentleman. But there was something deep inside of him that boiled up in a rage over the concept that
God, when He blesses, does not put a woman in authority over men.
He said, "Well, what about Margaret Thatcher? I know you must agree that she has done wonderful things for England." Right. Margaret Thatcher has,
but she has done it as one who rules over men as a demonstration of God's disgrace upon the males of England who have deviated from the Word of
God; from ever attending church; and, from having any spiritual conception interest. The nation as a whole is a spiritual blob, where once it was
a great nation ruled by the Word of God, sending out great missionaries to all parts of the world – the great David Livingston, and all of
the other men and women that went out as missionaries. This was a mighty nation. The sun never set upon it. Now it's a third- or fourth-rate power.
It's a nothing. Yes, it's ruled by a woman, but are you trying to tell me that there is no man oriented to biblical principles in England who
would have ruled as well, and who would have led the nation perhaps even to greater blessing and strength? Obviously, there is. That doesn't mean
a thing. Just because you happen to get a good woman ruling, and not a Jezebel, that's a bonus. But that doesn't mean that God is honoring you. God
is disgracing you.
Unfortunately, I wasn't in the context with this gentleman to be able to sit down and have a Bible study, and he did not pursue asking why I would
think that. But let me give you a few pointers as to why I think this word "arsen" ("maleness," or "masculinity") is interjected just before this
child is identified as the future King of Kings and ruler of all the nations of the world.
In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul says, "But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet." What does that mean?
He is speaking here not on some personal opinion of his that may be right or may be wrong. It is recorded in Scripture as truth of God the Holy
Spirit.
Former President Jimmy Carter, who is a Sunday school teacher, at least had the integrity to say, "Paul is saying that he doesn't permit women to
exercise authority over men." But he said, "I completely disagree with Paul's viewpoint there." What was he saying? He was saying that Paul was
mistaken on what he was teaching, and because the Holy Spirit was so sloppy, He got this thing interjected into Scripture. But it says very
explicitly that women are not in positions of authority over men.
Verse 13: "For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman, being quite deceived, fell
into transgression." Paul says that the reason for this is because there is an order of authority in creation. Adam came first, like the oldest
child in the family bears some authority over the other children. Adam was the one who was created first. Adam was the one who was given dominion
over creation. Eve came in as his helper to assist him in whatever way she would be useful to him to reach the objectives of the will of God for
his life. It wasn't Adam who got sidetracked from the will of God. It was the woman, for whatever reasons, we may conclude, who was deceived, and
fell into the transgression.
1 Corinthians 11:8-10 gives us further insight on this concept and this divine arrangement: "For man does not originate from woman, but woman
from man. For indeed, man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man sake." Boy, wouldn't the feminists love this verse?
"Therefore, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels." Here it is speaking about women with short-cropped
hair instead of female-length hair. By the same token, he goes on later in this book and says that it's a shame for a man to walk around with
girly-length hair on him. It's a disgrace, and it shows that you have degraded yourself again from your "arsen" role – your masculine role.
When the males in the society become spiritually disoriented wimps incapable of manly and godly leadership over them, then God places a woman in
leadership on them.
When this man exploded like that on this occasion recently, I said to him, "Now, you misunderstood me. What I said was that it bothers me because
God said that. I didn't say that. You know that if it was up to me, I certainly wouldn't make an arrangement like that. But God has a little
problem getting His act together. And this is what He has recorded in the Bible. Blame him. Don't blame me. I certainly wouldn't make that kind of
an arrangement." He didn't know what to say to that, because I shoved him right back into the corner – that the Bible is the Word of God, as
we have just demonstrated. Paul quotes Scripture and says, "God said," and equates the two together – that what the Bible records is true
truth. You don't just give it the back of your hand and dismiss it as if it was nothing and God hadn't spoken.
One of the great examples of God humiliating a nation, when its males become wimps who cannot provide godly leadership, is way back in Judges 4.
Things were so bad in the nation of Israel at this time; the men were so engrossed in the Canaanite sex cult worship of the Canaanite deities;
they were so far astray from acting with manliness; and, they were into all kinds of immoral activities, such that God placed upon them the
judgment of giving them a woman to be their judge. This was the time before Israel had a king, when God would raise up judges to rule the nation,
and some of them were very magnificent men like Samuel and Gideon, who led the people back to God.
Deborah
At this particular point in time, a woman named Deborah has been placed in leadership over the nation as a humiliation to the Jews because of the
way the men are acting. Judges 4: "Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. Ehud was a good judge who held
things in check. Once he was off the scene, they couldn't wait to run across to worship in the pagan cults, and once more get into the phallic
cults. So, the males were into apostasy, and now God starts bringing judgment upon them. And they're calling upon God for some relief.
Notice verse 4-5: "Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at this time. She used to sit under the palm tree of
Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the full country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment." Israel was ruled by this
woman Deborah.
Verses 6-7: "Now she sent word and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-Naphtali, and said to him, 'Behold, the Lord, the God of
Israel has commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. I will
draw you out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariot's and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into
your hand.''"
Now, here you have Margaret Thatcher doing the best she can, ruling Israel, and God indeed does speak to her. She calls Barak the commander of
the troops, and the man who should be giving godly leadership. She calls him and says, "The Lord has given me a message. He wants you to go to
Tabor, and he wants you to take Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites to battle, and you will win."
Well, what a deal that is! Can you imagine what President Bush would do tonight if somebody gave him a deal like that? You can't beat that. Boy,
would he ever go to war tomorrow if somebody came and said, "Hussein is in your grip. Just go."
What was his response? Verse 8: "Then Barak said to her, 'If you go with me, then I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.'"
What a manly man! What a commander of the army! It reflects so clearly the degeneration of the male population by wanting this lady to go to war
with him, even though God had said, "You're going to win."
Verse 9: "And she said, 'I'll surely go up with you. OK. Nevertheless,' she said, 'I'm going to tell you what's going to happen because of your
wimpish attitude. You're going to be humiliated further because the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you're about to take. You're
going to win, but you're not going to get the honor for winning the battle. You're not going to get the honor for eliminating Sisera." That's
what God is after. He's going to cut Sisera out of the picture: "'For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.' Then Deborah arose
and went with Barak to Kedesh." She tells them ahead of time that God is going to humiliate them. He's going to humiliate the males. He will
give them victory, but it's going to come ultimately through a woman.
Verse 14-16: "And Deborah said to Barak, 'Arise, for this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Behold, the Lord has
gone out before you.' So, Barak went down from Mount Tabor with his 10,000 men following him, and the Lord routed Sisera, and all his chariots,
and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak, and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. But Barak pursued the
chariots, and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword, and not even one was left. They
had a tremendous victory, just as God had predicted. And Debora is there on the scene, holding Barak's hand. Sisera escapes, and he tears out
in fear because his army has been defeated, and he's trying to escape the pursuing Israeli army.
In verses 17-27, the battle ends with the glory of victory being given to a woman. A woman starts this campaign. They had female leadership at
the start, and female leadership guiding to the victory at the end. Sisera flees. He goes by the tent of a woman named Jael. She goes out to meet
him and she says, "Why don't you turn aside? Don't be afraid. Why don't you come in here into my tent, and I'll cover you with this rug," which
she does. He says to her, "Please give me a little water to drink. I'm thirsty." So, she opens a bottle of milk and gives him a drink. Then she
covers him again: "And he said to her, 'Please stand in the doorway of the tent. If anybody comes inquires and says, 'Is there anyone here?' you
say, 'No.'"
Verse 21: "But Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg, and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him as he slept there under the rug,
and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through, into the ground, for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So, he died." If there's one
thing that Jael knew how to do, it was how to drive a tent peg, because the women had to put up the tents. ... Therefore, she knew how to drive
a tent peg in firmly and securely, to make the tent stand. So, here's the woman who dispatches the enemy that God decreed was now going to be put
out of the way so that the people could hopefully be restored once more to godliness.
The battle was won by a woman.
Judges 5:6-7: "In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, and travelers went by roundabout
ways." This is a hymn of praise for God's victory. They're observing how you couldn't even travel on the roads when Sisera was alive. You had to
go sneaking around by byways to get to where you were going.
Verse 7: "The peasantry ceased in Israel until I, Deborah arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel." Isn't that sweet? God gave a mother to rule
the nation and to lead them into battle, and she says, "Things were really lousy around here until I got them straightened out." Didn't the men
come off looking wonderful with a lady like that ruling over them?
This is the point of God the Holy Spirit saying, "And she, the virgin Mary, gave birth to a Son, a manly Son. This is emphasizing His sexuality,
and emphasizing the fact that He was not a wimp, but that He was a godly, powerful, male leader that would bear the respect of the women he was
associated with. The passage goes on to say that He is going to rule, meaning that He will be the political leader of the nations with a rod of
iron.
A Shepherd
It is interesting that the word "rule" here is the Greek word "poimaino." "Poimaino" really means "to shepherd." It says that He is going to
shepherd the nations of the world. The Old Testament repeatedly presents that He is going to be this kind of a shepherd. Do you know what a
shepherd does? He is a benevolent dictator. He tells the sheep where to go; where to eat; and, where not to go. And if one of them wants to
challenge his authority, he's got the shepherd staff with the little crook on the end, and he goes over and puts that under that sheep's neck
and jerks it back, and the sheep gurgles and gasps and turns around and says, "I think I'll stay with the rest of you." And he soon loses his
rebellious nature. The shepherd is a benevolent dictator. The sheepfold is not a democracy. Jesus Christ is going to come into this world, and
when Satan is removed from the scene, He is going to become a political leader that is going to produce a world of peace, prosperity, happiness,
and well-being.
And, guess what, Christians? 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 tells us what we will be doing when He does that. Paul is telling us that
Christians should not take other Christians to a court of law, and he defends that and justifies that by saying: "Or do you not know that the
saints (church-age believers) will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law
courts? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more matters of this life." He is saying, "Can't you Christians get along with one
another? When you do have some kind of legal conflict, can't you get other Christians together and say, 'Give us a judgment on this, and work
this out?' You people are going to rule the world. In fact, the demon angels are going to be brought before you, and you're going to judge them,
and tell what's going to happen to them. You're going to be judges. You better start practicing now so you know how to do your job."
What a magnificent future is ours because this baby was born in Bethlehem, and the best is yet before us.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1990
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