When the 40 Days of Blogging Challenge assigned “Deborah,
the Judge of Israel” as today’s topic I was a bit nervous, as I am not well
versed in this aspect of the Old Testament. I quickly read the two chapters in
Judges 4 & 5 that discuss Deborah.
When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil
in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of
Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. And the children of
Israel cried out to the LORD; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and
for twenty years he harshly oppressed the children of Israel. Now Deborah, a
prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. And she would
sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of
Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. Then she sent
and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to
him, "Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you
ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 'and
against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his
chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into
your hand'?" And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I
will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!" So she said,
"I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in
the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a
woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak called
Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men under his
command, and Deborah went up with him. Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of
Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and
pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, which is beside Kedesh. And they reported
to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. So Sisera
gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the
people who were with him, from
Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon. Then Deborah said to Barak, "Up!
For this is the day in which
the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before
you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following
him. And the LORD routed Sisera and all his
chariots and all his army
with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot.
But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and
all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber
the Kenite; for there was peace
between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael went
out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to
me; do not fear." And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she
covered him with a blanket. Then he said to her, "Please give me a little
water to drink, for I am thirsty." So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a
drink, and covered him. And he said to her, "Stand at the door of the
tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man
here?' you shall say, 'No.' " Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and
took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his
temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So
he died. And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said
to him, "Come, I will show you the man whom you seek." And when he
went into her tent, there lay
Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple. So on that day God subdued Jabin king
of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel. And the hand of the
children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan,
until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. Then Deborah and
Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying: "When leaders lead in
Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the LORD! "Hear,
O kings! Give ear, O princes! I, even I,
will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
"LORD, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of
Edom, The earth trembled and the heavens poured, The clouds also poured water;
The mountains gushed before the LORD, This Sinai, before the LORD God of Israel.
"In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, In the days of Jael, The highways
were deserted, And the travelers walked along the byways. Village life ceased,
it ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Arose a mother in Israel. They
chose new gods; Then there was war
in the gates; Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. My
heart is with the rulers of
Israel Who offered themselves willingly with the people. Bless the LORD!
"Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, Who sit in judges' attire, And who
walk along the road. Far from the noise of the archers, among the watering
places, There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, The righteous
acts for His villagers in
Israel; Then the people of the LORD shall go down to the gates. "Awake,
awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and lead your captives
away, O son of Abinoam! "Then the survivors came down, the people against
the nobles; The LORD came down for me against the mighty. From Ephraim were those whose roots were in
Amalek. After you, Benjamin, with your peoples, From Machir rulers came down,
And from Zebulun those who bear the recruiter's staff. And the princes of
Issachar were with Deborah; As
Issachar, so was Barak Sent
into the valley under his command; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great resolves of heart.
Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the pipings for the flocks? The
divisions of Reuben have great searchings of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the
Jordan, And why did Dan remain on ships? Asher continued at the seashore, And
stayed by his inlets. Zebulun is a
people who jeopardized their
lives to the point of death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.
"The kings came and fought,
Then the kings of Canaan fought In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; They took
no spoils of silver. They fought from the heavens; The stars from their courses
fought against Sisera. The torrent of Kishon swept them away, That ancient
torrent, the torrent of Kishon. O my soul, march on in strength! Then the
horses' hooves pounded, The galloping, galloping of his steeds. 'Curse Meroz,'
said the angel of the LORD, 'Curse its inhabitants bitterly, Because they did
not come to the help of the LORD, To the help of the LORD against the mighty.'
"Most blessed among women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed
is she among women in tents. He asked for water, she gave milk; She brought out
cream in a lordly bowl. She stretched her hand to the tent peg, Her right hand
to the workmen's hammer; She pounded Sisera, she pierced his head, She split
and struck through his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; At
her feet he sank, he fell; Where he sank, there he fell dead. "The mother
of Sisera looked through the window, And cried out through the lattice, 'Why is
his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarries the clatter of his chariots?' Her wisest ladies answered her, Yes,
she answered herself, 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoil: To every
man a girl or two; For Sisera,
plunder of dyed garments, Plunder of garments embroidered and dyed, Two pieces
of dyed embroidery for the neck of the looter?' "Thus let all Your enemies
perish, O LORD! But let those
who love Him be like the sun
When it comes out in full strength." So the land had rest for forty years.
The first thing that occurred to me was how this might be
used by those who seek to turn against their enemies. People have often accused
“The Church” and “Religion” to be the main cause of “most” of the world
violence. They turn to such stories in the Old Testament to make the case that
God can be violent to prove His point. To this I say, “Let God do what God will
do. As for us, we should turn the other cheek”
The other thing that came to my mind was positive for
women in positions of authority. Although FEW women have been in such high
levels of authority in the history of Israel, they are not absent. And women
should not be absent in our contemporary society either. Of course, there was,
and still is, a difference between religious leaders and what I might call
civic leaders, but ALL are called to be obedient to the will of God.
And it is the obedience, or lack thereof, where my two
points come together today. As the open verse of Judges 4 states, Israel was
doing evil against the will of God. They were therefore subject to turmoil.
Today’s society continually moves further and further from the will of God, and
THEN wonders why we struggle. The Old Testament is filled with stories of
Israel obeying and disobeying God, and being blessed and struggling. One thing
we can grasp, among many, from this pattern is that when we stray away from God’s
will, we place ourselves at risk of suffering at the hands of His enemies. Away
from Him, He cannot protect us. Close to Him, He can shelter us with His arm.
So why would we, lead by men or women, continue to stray from the will of God?
Your guess is as good as mine.
In the meantime, let’s strive to be the New Israel we
have been called to be, and live for the will of God. If that includes Godly
women, so be it. And when we find ourselves suffering at the hands of His
enemies, let’s quickly JUMP back to His side and beg His forgiveness.
This post is written for the 40
Days of Blogging Challenge sponsored by the Preachers Institute. You may find other blogs participating in
this challenge. I hope you enjoy this year’s Advent journey.
