https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Neglect.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Judges 4:4-16<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. The story of Deborah and Barak is one that many remember<\/p>\n
A. In part it is because it involved a woman who was both a prophetess and a judge<\/p>\n 1. She didn’t fight the battle, that was left to Barak, but she did travel with\nthe army\n 2. Because of Barak unwillingness to go without Deborah, the blow that\nkilled the commander of the Canaanite army, Sisera, went to a woman\nmarried to a Kenite\n B. It was a tremendous because the Canaanites had the advantage in military\ntechnology\n
1. They had 900 iron chariots. The Israelites fought on foot.<\/p>\n
2. The Israelites won, totally, completely – Judges 4:14-16<\/p>\n
C. Deborah and Barak composed a song to commemorate the deed that is Judges 5<\/p>\n
1. There is additional information in the song<\/p>\n 2. Israel had an “army” of 40,000, but they had no shields or spears – Judges\n5:8\n
a. It was a volunteer army – Judges 5:9<\/p>\n b. It was composed of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali. These are the\nsmaller tribes of Israel. \n c. What happened to the large tribes that normally fought? – Judges\n5:15-18\n d. It appears they were just too busy to help their country men.\nPerhaps we can excuse them because it was far from their homes\n
3. But there was one town, Meroz, which had no excuse – Judges 5:23<\/p>\n a. We don’t know where this town was at, but it is believed to be in\nthe area of the three tribes.\n b. People were risking their lives to fight, and one town decided not\nto help\n
II. Those who do not join are against – Luke 11:23<\/p>\n
A. There are responsibilities which cannot be ignored or neglected.<\/p>\n
B. Jesus came to do battle against Satan – Luke 11:14-15<\/p>\n 1. The Pharisees tried to deny that God was involved. They tried to slander\nthe Lord’s character.\n
C. But notice that some wanted more proof – Luke 11:16<\/p>\n
1. He just cast out a demon!<\/p>\n
2. Because they did not support Christ, they were against him.<\/p>\n
3. They were indifferent to the Lord – Matthew 11:23-24<\/p>\n
D. Neglect to follow is not because of lack of evidence, but a denial of God<\/p>\n 1. Is that not what Meroz did? They didn’t answer God’s call through Barak\nand Deborah. It was a denial that God wanted them\n
III. It is so easy to let others do the work<\/p>\n
A. After all I have so much to do<\/p>\n
1. We have limited time, no denying that – Psalms 90:10-12<\/p>\n
2. But where we put our priorities shows our focus – Ephesians 5:16<\/p>\n 3. Our lives are not a sacrifice when all we offer is convenience – Romans\n12:1\n
B. We see neglectful indifference in the religious world<\/p>\n 1. Look at the membership numbers of any large denominational church in\nyour area. Now look at the attendance at the last worship.\n
2. Almost all denominations look at occasional service as pretty good<\/p>\n 3. Is it a wonder that the same lazy attitude creeps into the church? – Matthew\n12:30\n
IV. We have no fear of the result<\/p>\n
A. “I know I ought to, but …” – James 4:17<\/p>\n
B. Jesus pointed out that ignoring God won’t be ignored – Luke 12:42-48<\/p>\n
C. Jesus came to light a fire under people – Luke 12:49<\/p>\n
D. How dare we try to put a damper on it?<\/p>\n
V. Blessings come from doing – John 13:17<\/p>\n
A. We must be doers of the Word – James 1:21-25<\/p>\n
B. Will you be blessed because of your efforts or cursed because of you neglect?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Judges 4:4-16 I. The story of Deborah and Barak is one that many remember A. In part it is because it involved a woman who was both a prophetess and a judge 1. She didn’t fight the battle, that was left to Barak, but she did travel with the army 2. Because of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[511,1167],"class_list":["post-63086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-apathy","tag-neglect"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-we-told-the-story-of-jael\/","url_meta":{"origin":63086,"position":0},"title":"Why Are We Told the Story of Jael?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall There is only one woman in the Bible who directly killed a man. Her name was Jael. She hammered a tent peg into the skull of Sisera (Judges 4). Why are we told this story? Considering she is the only woman in the Bible to have killed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58307,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/neglect-a-way-of-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":63086,"position":1},"title":"Neglect: A Way of Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bill Humble in The Preceptor, Vol. 2, No. 5, March 1953 The church has always faced a host of formidable enemies, and the present generation of Christians is no exception. There is Catholicism, un-American as well as un-Christian in its basic teachings. There is modernism, whose demoralizing and deadening\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63193,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-we-do-with-deborah-as-a-judge\/","url_meta":{"origin":63086,"position":2},"title":"What Do We Do with Deborah as a Judge?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall Deborah is a conundrum. And we shouldn't be surprised because she is a woman! Joking aside, there is still the fact that Deborah is an aberration when it comes to judges because she is a woman. So much so is this true, that proponents on both sides\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23301,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-the-hebrew-word-for-bless-in-job-15-translated-as-curse\/","url_meta":{"origin":63086,"position":3},"title":"Why is the Hebrew word for “bless” in Job 1:5 translated as “curse?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My Bible has a footnote on Job 1:5 that says the word \"curse\" in this passage is actually the Hebrew word for \"bless.\" I don't understand this. Answer: \"So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27021,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-have-some-people-killed-if-murder-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":63086,"position":4},"title":"Why did God have some people killed if murder is wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: in Judges, some people were risen up by God to bring Israel out of the hands of other nations.\u00a0 But why do so many of them murder other people? Ehud stabs a king and Jael drives a post through Sisera's head.\u00a0 I thought God wasn't allowed to lead people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-jael-morally-right-in-killing-sisera\/","url_meta":{"origin":63086,"position":5},"title":"Was Jael morally right in killing Sisera?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering about Jael. Was what she did right? It's shocking to our modern sensibilities (or at least to mine) to read the story as presented in Judges 4. And yet Deborah and Barak (who seem to be relatively moral people?) praise her for everything she did in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}