Yesterday’s devotional looked at the respect generated by Deborah’s character and actions. With respect comes authority. Read Judges 4.

In general leaders exercise authority on five levels: Read more »

The story of Deborah is one of courage, singleness of purpose and quiet confidence in God’s revealed will. As a prophetess, Deborah led Israel with the strength and wisdom that came from a deep relationship with God. Read Judges 4.

Israel faced an intimidating enemy. Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, had 900 iron chariots and other armaments heavy enough to crush any and all of Israel’s weapons. From a human point of view, Israel didn’t stand a chance. Read more »

The book of Judges can help a leader understand a cycle that is repeated, even today, when there is no central leader to give voice and example to godly core values and goals. Read Judges 2-16.

Without a leader to keep them focused on core values and God’s central goal, the people of Israel went through a series of downward-spiraling cycles. The people found themselves oppressed by foreign powers because without the leader’s constant restatement of goals that kept them focused, they gradually forgot about their part of the covenant with God and became disobedient. Each of these downward-cycles is characterized by: Read more »

The leadership and life example of godly leaders focus people on godly principles and God’s word. Without godly leaders it is virtually impossible for any group to have centralized, agreed upon, godly core values and when godly values are compromised, kingdom advancing goals are non-existent or compromised. Read Judges 1:21-36.

After the death of their central leader, the Israelites disregarded God’s directions and decided to negotiate some deals and compromise with the inhabitants of Canaan. The people hoped by doing so they could make friends and avoid confrontation. Compromising their values led to compromising their goals and the lack of a leader to focus an entire nation on commonly accepted godly core values had disastrous results. Read more »

Without leaders the focus of individuals and teams quickly drifts or disappears. Joshua had a personal commitment to the unchanging standards God had given the people to live by, but within one generation after his death, the people abandoned the God of their fathers and worshiped the false gods of the surrounding nations. In spite of the established memorials to God’s work and the seven annual feasts, without the example and leadership and a strong central leader, the next generation was not raised in the training and instruction of the Lord. Read Judges 1 and 2.

Under the strong leadership of Joshua, Israel kept their covenant with God and completed their part of that covenant. Without a strong leader to hold them accountable, Israel’s conquest of Canaan was incomplete; God’s people disobeyed Him when they made covenants with the inhabitants of the land. Disobedience to God’s revealed word always causes regret in the long run. Read more »