Judges 5:20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
This verse comes from the Song of Deborah and Barak. It is an account of the victory God gave Israel over Sisera and their King Jabin. Until this point in the book of Judges Israel had not faced a stronger enemy than this. In Judges 4:3 the Bible says “Israel cried to the Lord: for he[Jabin] had nine hundred chariots of iron, and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.” Before we focus on today's verse we need to see the theme surrounding these Iron chariots.
Chariots are first mentioned in Egypt and we see Satan type, Pharaoh, riding upon them with his armies following. Then again in Joshua 11 when Jabin and his allies ride in them against God’s people. In Joshua 17 the children of Joseph are afraid to take their inheritance because the enemy in their territory has iron Chariots, in Judges chapter one Judah could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron Chariots. Then going back to Genesis 4 we find that it was Tubalcain who began to work with Iron and create weapons. He was one of those fathers of that rebellious line of men who bred a generation of humans that preferred a world without God, which all perished in the flood.
We begin to see that it was how the enemy preferred to fight. They had learned this way of fighting from their fathers who learned it from theirs back for hundreds of generations. Tubalcain had learned murder from his father Cain, whose weapon was a stone, but he became industrious in the art of murder and became an “instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.” What we see is that our enemy is fighting from Earth. Iron is dug from the earth, like Cain’s offerings to the Lord and his weapon of murder. Once it is dug from the earth men begin their industry, they burn it, imagine wicked works for their creations, and mold with their hands' machines to fight against God’s people and his commands.
It is the same thing we have in this hour, these descendants of Tubalcain have crafted their wicked imaginations, and they have refined their father's wickedness to an unbelievable level. They have machines to carry out their most wicked desires. They murder babies in the womb with their devious contraptions. They carry out the most vile perversions on the innocent through their industries. Whatever lust a man may have they have crafted a machine or an industry to carry it out. All of these are the Iron chariots of our day. Many of God’s people have been oppressed by these devices, the internet has been an iron chariot that has trampled millions of God’s people under its weight. Television has proven an iron chariot, Social media, or a thousand other things in this life that we could draw this same illustration. While some of them are not evil in themselves they have the potential for great evil and most often were created by evil men for their evil purposes.
Our verse today should be an encouragement to all who have an “iron chariot," or 900 of them. Here lies the key to victory, “They fought from heaven.” Notice it does not say that “He fought from heaven,” but They. That is, the Lord did not deliver these Iron chariots and their riders into their hands while they rested but while they warred. People of God, Take the field, march against sin, don’t settle to be trampled under, fight the good fight of faith! Secondly, it says they fought from heaven, our strength does not come from our industry or our cunning. Our fighting does not engage the strength of earth and its men, but the strength of Heaven and our God. Indeed, these Iron chariots are strong, but they are no match for the soldier who fights from Heaven!
Pharaoh had his chariots and his armies but God had a red sea, and a fiery pillar, Jabin had his Iron chariots but God had his whole creation that he engaged against their strengths. Our verse says the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. At the beginning of this song we are told that in this battle “the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. The mountains melted from before the LORD.” We learn that all these iron chariots of Sisera were no Match for God’s river, “The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.” They ran toward God’s people with the strength of man but they met them with the strength of Heaven, with their shield of faith, their sword of the Spirit, their armor and weaponry were not seen but were certainly felt as the enemy was put to shame before them.
We are fighting from heaven, We have the power of the Highest that we can fight from! It reminds me of Paul's exhortation to the Christian soldier in Ephesians 6 “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might!” God has the power to sweep away those oppressive lusts in one day, in a moment. Christian Soldier, take the field and “Fight from Heaven,” and God can even set the stars into battle for you! Trust his power to overcome your most defeating, oppressive sins and enemies! He can! Put on the whole armor of God, and stand! No matter the strength of addiction you are oppressed under, he can wash it away, if by faith you declare war on it.
Rom 6:14 "Sin shall not have dominion over you!"
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