# The Curse of Meroz

Key Passage: Judges 4
Date: June 7, 2024

Amen. Praise the Lord for His shed blood. Turn your Bibles to Judges, chapter number four, the book of Judges chapter four.

Judges chapter number four. Almost 11:30. As we’re getting up here, it’s…

Special days take a little bit more time, so we’ll try to get to the point fairly quickly this morning. Maybe a touch of a different type service, but Ministry Involvement Day. I felt like the Lord would have us go back to this truth, and really a place that is mentioned in the Bible only here, and maybe because it had a curse on it.

And just briefly, we want to look at it because anybody out there says, “I don’t want to have a curse on me.” Anybody like that? I don’t want a curse on me. I think this is just so very insightful what we’re going to study out a little bit this morning. You’re in Judges 4. Once you find that, if you just put a marker there, look up at me for a minute here, and let me kind of get us on board where we’re at.

Canaan, a country—a little city-country, if you will—had oppressed Israel for 20 years. Twenty years they had dominated Israel. They had somewhat made slaves out of them, made them pay taxes to them, what not, 20 years. And they had a more powerful military than Israel. And this was their thing. They had 900 chariots of iron. Now, that’s kind of like having 900 of the latest, greatest fighter jets. You know, you had military superiority because of that. Everybody knew that. Everybody knew that.

And I tell you what, look down in verse number 13. Chapter 4, verse number 13 right there of Judges. Look at verse number 13. It talks just to touch about it. And Sisera, that’s the general of Canaan. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even 900 chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him from Harosheth of the Gentiles into the river Kishon. Now let me just say a side note about iron chariots or metal chariots: they’re very heavy. They weigh a lot. Now, just kind of keep that in your mind, all right? We’ll talk about that in a bit here.

So the children of Israel for years said, “We’re not going to fight them. They’ll kill us in battle.” They just kind of took it from Canaan. And finally, there was a lady. Her name was Deborah, greatly used by God, a prophetess. That doesn’t mean she was preaching, but God used her to tell the truth. By the way, ladies, you can be used by God so very greatly. I think when it comes to witnessing, sometimes a lady can be much more effective in witnessing than a man. I mean, you get a total stranger. They don’t want to listen to this ugly, old, smelly guy, you know, but they get a sweet, godly lady, they’ll say, “I’ll listen to her.” God can use ladies in such a great way. And this lady was a great lady, Deborah. Everybody knew God had His hand on this lady, and a lot of the children of Israel would come to her and get advice and counsel, what not, from her.

She said, “We need—God will give us a victory. We need to go to battle; we need to break the oppression of Canaan.” In fact, she called one of Israel’s military leaders, Barak, up and said, “Hey, we need to go fight. We can win this thing.” And Barak said this: He said, “Look, I’ll go fight. I’ll lead in the battle only if you go.” And Deborah said, “Well, surely I’ll go.” She didn’t lead in the military fight, but she said, “I’ll go with you.” And Barak said, “All right, I’ll lead.” And they went. They fought in this battle, and the Lord—the Lord brought a great victory to Israel.

Now, let me just describe a little bit of the battle. We don’t know everything about it, but some of the things: Israel started winning, and these Canaan people and their chariots of iron began to turn around and take off running, retreating. The Bible says they went by the river Kishon. Look down in verse number 15, chapter 4, verse number 15. And oh, I want you to see this here. Oh, I’m in chapter 5, 15. That doesn’t work. Chapter 4, 15: “And the Lord discomfited Sisera, that’s the general of Canaan, and all—watch out—all his chariots.” Now, that’s very important. Let me give you what I think happens. We’ll finish the verse, and I’ll tell you what I think happens: “And all his host with the edge of the sword, before Barak, so that Sisera alighted down off his chariot and fled away on his feet.”

This is what I think happened when God discomfited the Canaanites and they took off running. They went down by the river, the lowlands down where the river is. And typically, when you get close to a river, especially if there have been some rain, it gets muddy. Remember we talked about how the chariots of iron, metal chariots, are heavy? I think—I don’t know, maybe God even sent some rain—but they began to sink down when they got close to this river in the mud, and they got stuck. Well, man, a stuck chariot is like, you know, a sitting target. The Israelites said, “Woo-hoo, we like this!” The Bible says every one of them fell on the sword; they all got killed, all besides this guy, Sisera. I think it’s very important he said he got off his chariot and fled. It makes me think they got stuck. They went over by the river, you know. He takes off running, and he’s the one getting away. As he’s running, he goes by, kind of out of the battlefield over here, kind of a wayside place, and there’s this lady outside her tent. She was for Jehovah and Israel. She sees Sisera; she says, “Well, that’s the general of the bad guys.” So he runs by her tent, and she says, “Hey, fella, you need a place to rest for a bit?” He said, “That sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I need some rest.” She said, “Come on in here. I’ll take care of you. Come on in here. I’ve got a cot just made. I’ve got it made up. I got it ready. Come on in here. Come on, big boy, just lay down here and just take it easy. I’ll make sure everything’s protected, you know.” He said, “Could you get me some water?” She said, “Oh, I’ll do better than that. I’ve got some warm milk over here. Here’s a cup of chocolate milk, you know.” I don’t know if the chocolate was in there; we’re adding that in, amen. He said, “Hey, drink that up, and you’ll sleep really good. Take a nap, you know.” Sure enough, he drank that milk, and he was just kind of whining. He was sort of sucking his thumb. But he was snoring away, you know. It’s amazing—Jael, the way I always remember it, it’ll help you out to remember that Jael with the nail, amen. He was sleeping down there, had his head on that pillow, and she got a big old nail out. I don’t have a nail, so that’ll work, amen, you know. Got a big old nail. And boy, she put it right there by his temple. And sure enough, man, she—I’m telling you, he had a major headache after this was over, I promise you. Ibuprofen didn’t take it away either. She took that nail and, boom, she came down with the hammer, boom, all the way through his temple, down into the ground. He’s dead, he’s gone. Aspirin doesn’t take care of those problems, folks. God brought a great victory to Israel.

The next chapter, chapter number five, is really a song of Deborah and Barak, where they’re praising the Lord and rejoicing in the victory God brought that day. But there’s one verse in this song of praise that is a little bit of a sad verse. It’s a very interesting little verse. I want you to see it. Really only one verse about it, but I think it just adds so much light to what happened on that day. If you would, would you please stand? We try to stand to show the Word of God in respect. We’ll read our text verse. They did that in the Bible, so we do that here. Chapter 5, look in verse number 23. They’re singing out on this one here. They would not get involved in the fight. Now look at verse number 23: “Curse ye Meroz,” said the angel of the Lord, that is Jehovah. “Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” When the battle was going on, they said, “Well, no, we’re not going to help God’s people. We’re not going to get involved. We’re just going to sit out of this thing.” The Bible here says the angel of the Lord pronounced the curse. Maybe that’s why we really don’t hear anything else about this little village because it was just cursed and went away. There was no longevity there—the curse.

Now, just for a bit, we want to talk about this thing: the curse of not being involved. I’m going to apply it to Ministry Involvement Day, but let me say this before I even pray and get going: You might not be able to be involved in one of these 12 ministries here, and that’s fine. Okay? You might be involved in a way that I’ll never know about, and that’s fine. I’m not preaching for you to look good to me or anybody else, but [it is about] between you and the Lord to be involved in some fashion for the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re going to pray. I’m going to give an illustration about it, just kind of jump into this thing pretty quick, but I want to clarify that. Yes, being involved in one of these is a wonderful way to get involved, but if you’re not involved in one of these ways, it doesn’t mean you’re not involved in other ways. I understand that. But you just be involved how the Lord leads you in the work of God.

My brother-in-law and sister, Javier and Helene, for years lived in Flint, Michigan. Anybody know anything about Flint, Michigan beyond the bad water? We know they have a water problem, but for years, Flint, Michigan was the murder capital of America per capita. It was just not the most pleasant place to live, and some of you can testify about that. They lived there for years. My sister now lives in Flushing, Michigan, just a wonderful little town. They got chickens. They live in the country now, a little bit different than Flint, you know.

But during that time, my sister went to Home Depot to get some paint. She went to the parking lot and turned down one of the lanes to find a parking spot. When she did, she saw some commotion down the lane. Literally, there were people down there fighting. She stopped right there in the lane. There were some young men—I’m not talking about just yelling—I’m talking about literally fighting. Then all of a sudden she hears this: pop, pop, pop. She saw one of the young men leaning up against the car, and blood was just starting to pour out. My sister, if anything is going to happen within a 200-mile radius, it’s going to happen to her. I promise you. She will get involved in anything.

She hopped out of her car and ran up there to where this man had been shot. She opened the passenger door, got him in the car, and she was trying to stop the bleeding. She saw a lady out there fighting with these men. Actually, what was going on was those men were trying to leave—the men that had shot him were trying to leave, and his mom was trying to keep him there. They were literally fighting. My sister was over in the car trying to keep this guy from bleeding out, and she was thinking, “I’m about to get shot out here. I don’t want to get shot in the back.” She was trying to put a tourniquet on the man to stop the bleeding.

A guy comes out from Home Depot, about to get in his car and leave. If he leaves, it’s going to let the bad guys go free, because she had stopped at the end of the lane, they were blocked in there. She was hoping the police were coming pretty soon. The guy was about to leave, and my sister yelled, “Hey, don’t leave! If you leave, don’t get out!” The guy didn’t pay any attention; he backed out, pulled out, and sure enough, the bad guys said, “Boom,” and they took off and got out of there.

My sister figured somebody surely dialed 911, but she was trying to get her phone out. Then a guy comes out and says, “Well, I’m a paramedic,” or “I used to be a paramedic.” She was like, “Praise the Lord! We’ve got somebody here that knows a little bit more than me. Can you help?” The guy looked in to see the tourniquet she put on there, and he looked down; the bleeding had slowed. She said the floorboard of the car was full of blood by now. The paramedic guy says, “Well, you did a good job,” and then he turned around and walked off.

My sister was trying—she finally got 911 and said, “Hey, this guy’s been shot. There’s a shooting at Home Depot,” and they were wanting all kind of details, you know, the color of her car and all these different things. She was thinking, “I’m trying to save this guy’s life, get here quick!” And she hung up on him. That’s my sister, Amy, you know. Sure enough, a little bit later, the police came. She said once they came, it was like the whole—it seemed like the whole police station—boom—they surrounded that parking lot, police everywhere. They got the guy, and literally, there was a good chance she saved the guy’s life.

Afterwards, the police were talking to my sister and said, “Hey, man, you’ve been through some major trauma here. A lot of times when someone’s been through trauma like this, they need counsel. Would you like, we’ll get a counselor for you that can help you deal with this situation?” She said, “Well, I think I’m okay.” She told me this several times since then when we talk about it: “If anything bothers me, the one thing that will bother me, I can tell even now, is that nobody wanted to get involved.” The police officer said this, exactly what he said, the best my sister can remember: “That’s the way it is always anymore. That’s the new norm.” The police officer said, “We understand exactly what you’re going through.”

Now, friend, I give that illustration and say, “Hey, our world is in the middle of a war between Satan and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The price of this war, this battle, is not over oil; it’s not over land. It’s not even over the physical life of a person for 60 years. It’s over the soul of someone that will live forever and ever and ever. Either that soul is going to go to heaven and walk on streets of gold and one day have no more pain and no more sorrow, or that soul is going to go to hell and burn forever and ever and ever, and they’ll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The battle is over the souls of mankind: either going to heaven forever or going to hell forever. It is not time for us to sit out and not get involved in the fight. If there is ever a time God’s people must get involved, it is now. By the way, do you realize there is a bigger population in our world now than there ever has been? Do you realize the need—the souls of mankind? Sometimes we are so caught up in our own life, doing our own thing, trying to get our next little bit of money there, that we are not spending our life wrapped up in the cause of Jesus Christ.

I think America has got a curse in many ways because we’ve got so many Christians that are on the sidelines. They are just saying, “Well, I’m sitting this one out, and I’m okay.” The sad thing is America right now is being pulled one way or the other. Right now, in the middle of a battle, friend, the political scene is so messed up. Our hope is not in the political scene. It’s important we’re involved in that, but our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Can I remind you of Sodom and Gomorrah, how wicked it was? Those two angels came in there, and they could not even walk down the streets and go over to Lot’s house before the Sodomites of that place wanted to commit a sexual act with those angels. That’s how wicked it was. God said if He could find ten—not eight, amen, but ten righteous men—if He could find ten righteous people, then Sodom and Gomorrah, that wicked place, had met the quota. In our spirit, I wonder how close America is to that quota. I wonder where we’re at.

Friend, I’m just saying, it’s not time for us to say, “Hey, I’ll just sit this one out.” You say, “I’ve got my burdens. I’ve got my problems.” I understand. I’m not trying to make light of those burdens and those problems, but sometimes when I get into the fight, it just seems like it adds a little bit of meaning to all the burdens I’m going through. Well, at least I’m on the offense. Give the devil a black eye somewhere. Amen. Just being involved some way, some form or fashion in the fight for good and right for the Lord Jesus Christ is so vital. Oh, what a sad thing when God’s people say, “Praise the Lord, I’m washed in the blood of the Lamb, I’m on my way to heaven,” but no, I won’t get involved.

So many churches in America—our church is better than the average, and I mean that. I’ve got a wonderful church. But they say this, and I think our church is much better than this, but they say the average: 10% of the people that go to church do 90% of the work. I think our church is much better than that. But, friend, I’m just saying that America is going down because God’s people must be involved in the fight. There’s a battle going on. Get involved. I don’t know how the Lord would lead you to be involved. Isn’t it amazing? A lot of people go to a big church for one reason: because you can slide in and slide out, and nobody knows you’re there. A lot of people just don’t want responsibility. They don’t want commitment in the work of God. The 10% that’s trying to carry the load are just worn out because so many are like the little village of Meroz; they just don’t want to get involved. Man, just get involved in some form or fashion.

Brother Tim Dempsey is living down in Alabama. He used to drive a truck, him and Miss Mary both. At times they would take gospel tracts and put them out as they traveled across the United States. I don’t know how you get involved, but everybody ought to be involved in some way. That would be a great way to do it, by the way. You say, “When I can’t get out and drive it, am I supposed to?” All right, well, you can sit at home and pray for somebody. Just some form or some fashion, just get involved. It may be your neighbor next door. It may be your coworker. Ask the Lord, “How would you have me be involved?” I don’t want to sit this one out. I don’t want the curse of not being involved on me. It is so vital.

You can’t build a great company or a great work, if you will, unless you have some faithful people. You just can’t do it. First Corinthians 4, verse number two says, “Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.” A steward is someone who is entrusted with riches, often finances. God says, “In my kingdom, the way my kingdom works, it is required of a steward—if I’m going to trust you with my riches—that faithfulness must be found.” It’s required: faithfulness. I heard a fellow years ago on Christian radio during Pastor’s Appreciation Month. The Christian spokesman, whatever, he asked this pastor, “What would you like from your people for Pastor’s Appreciation Month?” And he said, “The thing I would really love from my people… there’s one thing: faithfulness.” When he said that, I said, “Boy, that’s it right there: faithfulness.” Just someone, however it may look like in your life, who is just faithful to the things of God, to the house of God, and to being involved. That faithfulness is so key. You are not going to have a great company. You can’t build a great company on someone that shows up about 10% of the time. You are not going to be successful in business if that worker shows up 50% of the time. You can’t build a great company off of that.

Faithfulness—however it may be—and not just in church. I’m not just talking about that. Yes, that’s part of it: maybe reading your Bible, praying, whatever it is. Faithfulness, just being involved in the fight. I thought about Ms. Brenda Crossland. For about 20 years, she used to clean the church in the storefront, her and her sister-in-law. They just came in faithfully on Saturday and cleaned the church. I mean, they had to sweep up the pastor’s ashes from smoking—no, I’m joking about all that. She’s cleaned the church, and she does her yard sale every year. She’s on that yard sale team. VBS—she’s done crafts at VBS for about 250 years; it feels like it sometimes, you know, when you get that certain child in there. She taught Sunday school. She’s been out soul-winning with us many, many times. I’m just told about 20 years, just faithfully.

I thought about mentioning Mark Hardy. I didn’t know he was going to come before the service and say, “Hey, would you mind if I gave a testimony?” Mark Hardy, his faith—he’s already given a testimony. The Lord was in there. I got your notes, brother. I don’t have to mention it. But just faithful people. I could list a host of them. Praise the Lord for faithful people at our church. Amazing people. Faithful people. Rutherford County Baptist Church wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t be able to do what it does without just faithful people, just faithfully serving in the nursery. Wow, the nursery ministry, my goodness. Believe it or not, years and years ago, at the beginning of the church, I was a nursery director. I’d say, “Spare that kid, man! Don’t change that diaper, give it back to the mom! Make her change you!” One thing I remember honestly about being a nursery director is trying to fill out that list: who’s going to be in the nursery when? Because it’s always hard to fill in those slots, you know, how many babies, how many nursery workers do you need? Just the faithful people, all these years, just faithful to do what God wants to do. It is so very, very crucial.

Now, let me say this: everyone here can do something. I don’t know what it is for you. It might be one of those things that nobody else will ever know about. That’s all right. You’re not doing it for them; you’re doing it for Him. But let the Lord lead you to be involved in the fight. Serve in the Lord faithfully. That’s your post: “Lord, here am I. Send me.” I don’t want to be—I don’t want the curse of Meroz. I want to be involved.

By the way, when God gets involved, it doesn’t matter the odds. They had military superiority? That’s all right. God got involved in this fight, and they won a great victory. This little lady, nobody would have thought a little lady, Jael with a nail, would be the one that kills this five-star general, but when God’s people just get involved in it—it’s amazing how God usually uses the one that nobody else thinks He’ll use. God can probably use the weak ones better because He said His strength is made perfect in weakness. His ways are so much higher above our ways, as far as heaven is above the earth, you know. So many are faithful, doing what God wants to do. Faithfully be involved in the work of the Lord. I’ve skipped much, but I’m going to give you one last illustration just for the sake of time, and that way the Presbyterians won’t beat you to the restaurant too early.

A man had grown up in a church, a little country church. Back in the day, it was just a church where God was working; it was a lively church. He remembers the people of God gathering there. They would sing the songs of God and hear the preaching of the Bible, and the man of God was there. He just had such good memories; it was when God really had planted a seed of truth in his heart. He was a grown adult living for the Lord, and he just had such sweet, fond memories of that little church he grew up in. He went back to that town. He said, “I’m going to go by the old church.” He went in that old church and pulled into the parking lot, and he noticed it was kind of run down. Grass was growing up to the cracks. Paint was peeling here and there. It was unlocked, so he went on inside. He walked inside; boy, there were cobwebs, dust. You could hear the floor creak. He walked in there. Books were so covered in dust that dust came up when he touched them. It was so sad. His mind went back to when God was doing great work there because people had just been involved. He was reminiscent and so sad about it. He noticed the sign hanging up there. It’s found in Proverbs, the Bible verse where it says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” It was hanging from two chains, you know, how you hang a sign up there. One of the chains had broken or something, but it was hanging down. Somewhere in the fall, when it had fallen, the ‘W’ had gotten knocked off. It now read: “Here there is no vision, the people perish.” Oh, friend, when God’s people get a vision, say, “Let’s do something for God,” they get involved. God says He wants all the people involved, all the men of war involved.

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - The Curse of Meroz - Sunday AM 02182024