Sermon preview, week of November 11, 2026
Unlikely Deliverers
This Sunday’s order
- Sunday
- Reading
- Judges 4:1-7
- Preaching
- Jonathan Balmer
This is a sermon preview for Sunday, November 15, 2026.
Preaching: Jonathan Balmer.
The readingJudges 4:1-7
“Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.” — Judges 4:1-7
Read Judges 4:1-7
1After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD. 2So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. 4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment. 6She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun. 7And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”
Berean Standard Bible, public domain
God often chooses the most unlikely people to deliver his people. Deborah stands out among the leaders in the book of Judges: she is a woman, and she is described more favorably than any other judge. She holds court under a palm tree and summons a general who refuses to go into battle unless she goes with him. Again and again, God calls and works through the reluctant and the unlikely – the ones who don't look like they came from central casting for "strong leader." As Paul says plainly in 1 Corinthians, God chose the foolish, the weak, and the lowly so that no one could boast, except in the Lord.
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