This is a teaching from a Bible Study at New Canaan Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia from the Book of Judges.
Deborah, a prophetess was leading Israel. She told Barak that God commanded him to go fight the oppressors because He had already given Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army into his hands. The only thing Barak had to do was to GO. God had already taken care of everything else.
Barak said to Deborah:
"If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go" (Judges 4:8).
Barak did not trust God, but he trusted God working in Deborah. Barak adjusted God's commandment. Barak put a condition on God's commandment. Deborah agreed to go with Barak, but she warned him, "I will go with you, but because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." Just as Deborah had prophesied, Sisera did meet his death at the hands of Jael who drove a tent peg through his temple into the ground and he died (Judges 4:21).
Life Application
The life application in this message is that when God says to do something, He has already worked out the logistics. There is absolutely no need to ask someone else to go along with you while you do what God has called YOU to do. When you adjust God's commandments, His blessings for you are also adjusted.
So why did Barak insist that Deborah go along? Because Deborah was so anointed, Barak wanted her to go along as insurance that God would go with him and assist him in defeating the oppressors. Barak lost his honor that day because he adjusted God's commandment.
When God gives you something to do, do it without making adjustments. Partial obedience is disobedience. Trust that everything God commands you to do has already been approved by Him first. Therefore, leave it up to God to work out the details!
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