Deborah Pt 6: Barak and the 2nd Coming of Christ
Judges 4:6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
The literal battle fought by Deborah and Barak transpired several millennia ago, but its spiritual counterpart is set for these end times. It is a battle Christians have fought down through the ages, but only those of us living in the end times will experience the total defeat of Sisera (sin nature) and Jabin (natural mind). Believers have always struggled with their carnal nature and their natural mind, and even though Christ has given us the victory, it has not been time for us to live totally free from their influence. Jesus Christ is coming for a church without spot or wrinkle, a pure spotless bride prepared for her soon-coming King (whom we will see in type as Barak), and there is only one way we will come into this perfection–through the annihilation of the sin nature and our natural ways of thinking. Only Christ can do this in us, but as our study unfolds we will see that we have our part to do also. Those sensitive to the spirit of God can sense that even now He is drawing closer to us. He wants us to experience His presence in ever deepening ways as the events of these end times transpire. We will need to cling to Him as the days grow darker, for His time of judgment is here. We must learn to hear His voice and come into His presence or fear will overtake us. If we are led by the Spirit of God we will not find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the only thing that separates us from experiencing His presence is our own carnality (flesh).
Thus far in our Deborah study we have learned that we are all idolaters in that we turn to persons or things other than Jesus Christ to meet our need for love, security and identity. Because of our idolatry, Sisera (our sin nature) and Jabin (our natural mind) have ruled over us causing many problems and defeats. However, God is raising up Deborah (a type of the bride of Christ representing our desire to be that bride) to fight alongside of Barak to bring us to total victory. We know this warfare is an end-time event because until this time it was never possible for Sisera or Jabin to be annihilated as occurs in this battle. They have served God’s purpose for our lives. We have grown strong in the Lord as we have withstood them. We have demonstrated our love and devotion to Christ through these battles, but there is a new kairos (time) for us. (There are several NT Greek words for “time” but kairos means “a season, a certain period in time set apart.”)
Beloved, this is a new day and God is doing a new thing. Many of us have been hearing this prophetic word about a new day heralded throughout the church for several decades. I am saying in this Deborah study that that new day has arrived; in fact, we are fully immersed in it. It is time to rise up in Christ and enter into a dimension of victory and power never before seen in humankind–and we can do this because the kairos of God is here…and with this kairos God is giving us a deeper revelation of His nature and His ways.
Yes, this new day for the Church has arrived, and God is going to help us desire to enter into it. Many of us have become satisfied with this life and the pleasures afforded us by our affluence (particularly in America). In order for us to be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to arise as Deborahs, events of this world will become such that it will be obvious that to do otherwise would only result in defeat and death.
Barak Seen as our Returning Savior
Let’s examine verse six of Judges 4 in depth. “And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?”
In our previous articles we learned many things about Deborah and the conditions of the Israelites at the time she was judging, along with their spiritual counterparts for our lives today. In this article things get really exciting because God is going to reveal to us how we will gain the victory over our natural mind and our sinful flesh. He will also reveal hidden truths about the end times.
Here we will see without a doubt that the account of Deborah is not only about the bride of Christ coming to full maturity in the end times, but it is also about the second coming of Christ. Earlier we saw Lappidoth as a type of Christ thus making Deborah the Bride. Now in Barak we again see Christ, but in a different type–this time when He comes as conquering King. In order to see this, we will have to dig deeply into the Word, but once we have finished our investigation, there should be no doubt as to the validity of the aforementioned type. All of our information will come from the definition of his name along with a thorough examination of its usage throughout the whole Bible.
The man Barak of Judges Four and Five is mentioned nowhere else in Scripture except in the New Testament in Hebrews 11, the chapter extolling men and women of faith from the Old Testament and alludes to his victory in Judges. That doesn’t give us much information to go on. In Strong’s concordance the name Barak (baraq in the Hebrew) is exactly the same as the word baraq which is translated as “a flashing sword,” “bright,” “glittering sword,” or “lightning.” The Holy Spirit did not leave us without any clues! Since the words are identical, we can research the usages of baraq throughout the whole Old Testament where we will find there is much to be revealed in type concerning who this man is and what part he plays in our spiritual interpretation.
The word baraq, as apart from the man Barak, occurs 22 times throughout Scripture. All 22 occurrences refer to an activity of God or a manifestation of God. The clearest usage of baraq as relating to Jesus may be seen in Dan 10:6 where a vision of Christ appears to Daniel. “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning (baraq), and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.” Here the word baraq is describing the appearance of Christ’s face. In all the other verses His power is seen in the lightning and His judgments are executed with a glittering sword.
Christ, who came to earth as a servant to suffer and die for us, will return as a triumphant king. The Scriptures tell us as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be (Matt 24:27). Baraq is translated “lightning” 14 times in the O.T. in reference to God’s power. The New Testament shows us a connection between lightning and His second coming! Can there by any doubt that Baraq is a type of our returning king?
In case any are not yet convinced, the remaining usages of baraq in the Old Testament are in reference to God’s sword of judgment. The sword is frequently mentioned in the book of Revelation in descriptions of Christ’s return.
Rev 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
The word baraq is not just a sword but a glittering sword in five of its usages. “Glittering” according to Webster means “to shine with sparkling light; be bright, glisten, sparkle, to be strikingly brilliant.” These words are markedly similar to the description of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew tells us, And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Let’s look at the description of Christ in Revelation One, And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And lastly in 2 Tim 4:8 Paul states, Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. This word “appearing” in the Greek is epiphaneia, which means “a manifestation, i.e. (specifically) the advent of Christ” and is translated in English as “appearing” or “brightness.”
Epiphaneia is seen again in 2 Thes 2:8 – And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness (epiphaneia) of his coming. There can be no doubt that the second coming of Christ is connected to His brightness (remember a definition of glittering is “brightness”).
We will continue our study of Barak in the next article where we will see him as the “Son of Abinoam.” Also God has some exciting things to show us regarding the place he comes from…Kedeshnaphtali.
