Scripture: Judges 4:1-16, Judges 5:1-3, 31
Today’s lesson #3 from the Book of Judges is focused on the
faithfulness of Deborah. One of the lessons that come from her dispels the myth that
God doesn’t want women to exercise authority over men. As a judge, she would have the unquestioned authority
and responsibility to settle all matters of disagreement and legal action,
including personal disputes, conflicts and questions over the law, and within
it all, she would be the intermediary between Israel and their Jehovah God.
We read that as long as each judge lived, the nation
knew peace, so it was a vitally important position for both the people
individually, as well as the nation in general.
The presence of a judge brought the truth of God into the communities,
and the divine word would guide them in faithful and fruitful living. It would seem that a faithful leader is what
every nation desperately needs to prosper – both then, and now, and throughout
all time.
Deborah was that kind of judge
– strong, faithful, spirit filled, and God led.
Read Judges 4:1-3
This is a fairly typical
turn of events, isn’t it! A Judge comes,
he or she serves, Israel listens, peace reigns, the Judge’s life ends,
and Israel returns to the old ways of sin, with another nation oppressing them
until the next Judge appears on the scene!
But in this instance, why
would the LORD “sell” the nation to the Canaanite king? Well, the word may not truly reflect the
condition that Israel had found themselves in.
In Judges 2:20-22,
we discover that Jehovah had allowed several nations in Canaan to survive, to
be used to test Israel’s faith and obedience to the divine will. This issue is repeated in Judges 3:1-6, and this text tells us that Israel failed
the test. Specifically, the men married Canaanite
women, and the women married Canaanite men, both of which violated God’s call
not to marry outside of the faith, and to never set up alliances with foreign kings.
And here, cruel oppression
became Israel’s plight once again. The
reference to “chariots fitted with iron” means that the enemy had the most
modern of military weapons for that day, and knew how to use them
effectively. Israel would have suffered greatly
under the heel of Jabin and his army, and this is the implication of being “sold”
to your enemy. You no longer have any
control or influence over your own life.
And after 20 years of
struggle, they finally began crying out to their Jehovah God for the only help
that could make a difference for them.
Read Judges 4:4-7
Deborah – a woman, a wife,
a prophet, and one who also would command the leaders of Israel’s army through
the word of God. And before anyone
thinks that it may be Barak who will be the judge, that he may be the one being
called to serve through the LORD, remember that God speaks through Deborah,
not anyone else!
And the entire engagement is
all laid out by Judge Deborah – gather an army from two specific tribes, go to
Mount Tabor and wait, for Jehovah would be leading the enemy general, Sisera,
to a specific place, where he, his chariots, and his troops would all go down
to defeat.
Now, it’s important to
understand that this isn’t Deborah’s plan for victory – it is the LORD
God Jehovah’s! But our question may be
this - why does God always seem to work through unusual and unexpected people,
instead of through recognized leaders? God
could certainly have spoken directly to the general, but how many times do
leaders want to take the credit for what God actually does? But if the LORD works through a person
who can never take the credit, then credit for the victory goes to the one who
deserves it!
That’s how God works! He wants to include the faithful in His great
plans, but He also wants us to give Him the honor for whatever may come our
way. And Deborah would.
Read Judges 4:8-10
Barak realizes that God isn’t
speaking to and through him - that Deborah is God’s choice. Deborah will be the field commander for the
battle, and it will be God’s plan that will win the day. And she tells the general that he will not be
the one who will capture or kill the enemy leader, that it will be a woman. But here’s a spoiler alert – it won’t be
Deborah either! (Judges 4:16-22)
Deborah agrees to Barak’s
request, that she would accompany him and the army of Israel to the
battle. By the words of his request,
Barak is acknowledging that he is certain that Deborah is God’s person, and he
wants the LORD’s guidance to be their hope and power for this
day.
There is a major degree of
faith at work here. Barak is confident
that God is at work through Deborah, and Deborah is trusting that all that
comes to her is divine will and word, and that nothing can happen to upset that
will.
How trusting are we when
the LORD
begins working through our lives, when the way seems uncertain to us, and the
outcome is in doubt? Do we move ahead,
confidently and certain that God’s way can and will always succeed? Do we completely trust in His way, even
though it seems out of the norm and out of reach? Barak and Deborah trusted completely. Why don’t we?
Read Judges 4:13-16
Sisera would be considered
the favorite of the day by any standard – he had the chariots, he had a large
army, he had the upper hand. But again,
God speaks words of encouragement through His chosen Judge Deborah, Barak steps
out against the odds, and when they do, they win the day.
And God’s word continues
to play out – the entire army is cut down, except for Sisera! He escapes on foot, heading for his obvious
encounter with the woman who was prophesized to be his downfall. When we trust in the LORD,
even the oddest turn of events will be our certain blessing.
When I was originally
invited to be part of a Kairos prison ministry team, I didn’t just hesitate – I
actually asked God to let me out of this.
I didn’t want to go to the prison, because I didn’t have a clue as to
how I could possibly be of any benefit to those men, and because I couldn’t
think of any way I could relate to their situation. But the LORD never gives up on us, and
the only way out of His way is to deny His authority and call, which I wasn’t
prepared to do. He reinforced His desire
that I join the ministry one morning during our prayer group meeting, and then later
on my way to work, and I grudgingly consented.
It was a decision that would bless me over and over again for 10 years.
Deborah and Barak would also
know God’s blessing that day – not for what they did, but for what the LORD
did through them.
Read Judges 5:1-3
These verses are the opening
phrase of a passage known as the “Song of Deborah”, in which they remember all
of the events that led up to Sisera’s demise at the hand of a woman, and every
word was offered as a praise to the one, and only, and Almighty God. And the last verse of Deborah’s reign as God’s
Judge for Israel is this:
31 “So may all your
enemies perish, Lord! But may all who love
you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.”
Then the land had peace forty years.
This is all we know about Deborah, but
there are some things that we can surmise about her and her life.
First, she lived another 40 years after this
victory, so she must have been a young woman when the LORD called her to be a judge.
Second, we hear nothing about her private
life, except that she was married. But
we can be fairly certain that she had several children, and grandchildren, and
even more.
Third, since peace reigned for 40 years,
this would probably have been her first and last major military involvement, so
the remainder of her term as Judge would have consisted of more routine matters,
nearly all of which required the obedience of the men who came to her for advice
and decisions.
Deborah was a pretty normal woman, who God
chose for a very important purpose. But
then, isn’t that what He does for each of our lives?
May the blessing and victory be so for all
who love Him today!
(You can read the entire story of the
victory for Israel, and the death of Sisera, at Judges 4:1-5:31)
