DEBORAH, JAEL – Part 1
Learn: Hebrews 12:11
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Read: Judges 2:1-23
Judges 2 gives a description of the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel following the days of Joshua. It gives a background for our study of Deborah and Jael.
1.What was God’s promise to Israel, that will never be removed, no matter what they do or how many years pass? v 1
2. What did the LORD command Israel? v 2a
3. Did Israel obey the LORD’S command? v 2b Explain.
4. There are ALWAYS consequences for disobedience to the LORD. What was the consequence to Israel for their disobedience concerning driving out the inhabitants of the land, and destroying all that pertained to the inhabitants’ false worship system? v 3
5. Once they had settled in the land of Promise, how long did the people of Israel serve the LORD? v 7
6. What happened after the death of Joshua and the elders of that generation that had come into the land? v 11a
7. What was the evil that the people did? v 11b
8. What was the reason that the Israelites so easily fell into the worship of false gods? v 10
9. We know that each person is responsible for the choices that they make, but one must wonder why the next generation in Israel did not even know the works that the LORD had done for Israel in the past. What command of the LORD appears to have been neglected by the elders and fathers in the nation? Deuteronomy 6:1-7 Especially note verses 6, 7.
10. What warning given by the LORD through Moses did Israel fail to heed, because they were not diligently teaching their children? Deuteronomy 6:10-12
11. What was Israel always to remember about the LORD? Deuteronomy 6:14, 15
12. Why is the history as recorded in Scripture, as well as our own history of God’s work in our lives with the next generation so necessary?
-Deuteronomy 6:12a
-Deuteronomy 6:20-25 Especially focus on verse 24, 25.
-I Corinthians 10:11, 12
13. List 4 specific things that Israel did as they served Ba’alim? vv 12, 13
14. What wages did Israel earn when they served the false gods rather than the LORD God who had delivered them from slavery in Egypt and brought into the good land that he had promised? vv14, 15
15. How did the LORD show Israel his great compassion for them and his faithful care in spite of their wicked ways? vv 16, 18
16. Did the people of Israel turn from their wicked ways when God sent judges to rescue them from their enemies? vv 17, 19 Explain.
17. What did the LORD say and do because of the constant corruption of themselves by the nation of Israel? vv 20, 21
18. How did the LORD test and chastise Israel because they continually turned from him and worshipped false gods? vv 22, 23
19. Judges 3:1, 4 gives us the LORD’S plan and the reason for it. What did the LORD want to be made evident? Judges 3:4
20. Judges 3:5 explains the living situation of the Israelites. What was it?
21. God had told Israel to drive out all of the Canaanites. They did not. What was the result? Judges 3:6
22. From Judges 3:7-31, Judges 4:1-3, what phrase is repeated 3 times?
23. What did the LORD do each time that Israel turned away from him? Using the same references of question 22, give a one sentence answer.
24. When did the LORD send the nation a deliverer to save them from their enemies? Use the references given in question 22 again as a basis for your one sentence answer.
25. From what we have learned in this lesson give a conclusion you have reached concerning; 1-The nature of God and his reaction to evil in his people.
2- The consequences to God’s people when they do evil in his sight.
3- The behavior of the LORD when his people, who have rebelled against his word, cry out to him for deliverance.
26. God has not changed. He continues to deal with his own in the same way that he dealt with the nation of Israel. What is the Lord’s reminder to us when we go through hard times because we have strayed from the Lord? Hebrews 12:5-7
27. If a person claims to belong to the Lord, but is not chastised when they continue to live a life of rebellion against the Lord’s commands, what does that indicate? Hebrews 12:8
28. What is the pattern that we see in our earthly lives to help us understand God’s discipline in our lives? Hebrews 12:9, 10a
29. God’s discipline may appear to be very hard, but according to Hebrews 12:10b, 11 what is the reason for it?
NOTE: Judges 4 begins the account of Deborah and Jael proper which we will study in the next lesson.