Lessons Learned: Deborah

Mighty Women

Judges 4 and 5

Deborah was the only woman judge in Israel at the time of judges, before Israel had kings.  The book of Judges tells how Israel would fall away from worshipping the Lord God and start worshipping other gods.  Then the Lord would allow other nations to oppress Israelites until they cried out to the Lord and He would save them again.  The judge’s role in this book of judges is one of leadership.  They are the ones who lead the people back to God.  They are close followers of the Lord and the Lord often spoke through judges during this time.  Deborah’s story will include scripture taken from the New Living Translation and is in italics.

Deborah’s Story

The Lord has always been close to me.  Unlike many of our neighbors my family has always worshipped the Lord.  When it came time for me to marry my father made sure my husband was also from a family who had not forsaken the Lord.  When Lappidoth asked my father if he would let Lappidoth marry me my father warned Lappidoth I was a strong woman.  “God is with her”, my father said, “and she is very wise”.  Lappidoth is a good husband.  We raised two sons and a daughter to be God fearing adults.

As I was raising my children, I became known as one with great wisdom to end disputes among our neighbors.  Soon Israelites from all over would come to me for decisions on their disputes.  I set up a place for people to come to me.  It was under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim.  Some even called the place the Palm of Deborah. 

It was a dark time in Israel.  The Israelites had, once again, turned their backs on God and were worshipping the gods of other countries.  These gods, while made of wood or stone, allowed people to behave any way they saw fit.  Israel abandoned God’s laws, made for their protection, so they could do as they pleased.  But the Lord continued to love Israel and sent King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king, to oppress them.  King Jabin had a commander named Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-haggoyim. 3Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots.  Sisera had been oppressing Israel for twenty years. 

God spoke to me as He often does and gave me specific instructions on how Israel was going to be saved from King Jabin.  The Lord told me to send for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in the land of Naphtali.  I sent my messenger to Barak and they both came back right away.  I told Barak I had heard from the Lord.  I told him “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. 7And I will call out Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him.”

Barak must have had more faith in me than he did in the Lord because he asked me to go with him into battle.  9“Very well,” I replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the Lord’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.”

We went together to Kedesh.  There Barak called together the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali and got together 10,000 warriors.  There we were on Mount Tabor looking done at Sisera and his 900 chariots and I said to Barak

 “Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.”

And I watched as Barak and his 10,000 warriors headed down the slope and was amazed!  Suddenly Sisera and his men were in a battle with unseen forces and I saw them die before any of Barak’s warriors got to them.  As I watched I saw Sisera head away from the battle as Barak and his men entered the battleground.  I yelled to Barak, but he could not hear me.  I saw Sisera head for a tent off in the distance.  As I watch I realized that was Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses’ brother-in-law Hobab’s tent. HeHeHe had moved away from the other members of his tribe and pitched his tent by the oak of Zaanannim near Kedesh.  I headed down from my safe point on the mountain to find Barak to let him know where Sisera was hiding.

Barak and his men chased any of Sisera’s men all the way to Harosheth-haggoyim, killing all of Sisera’s warriors. Not a single one was left alive.  I followed and as soon as I could I found Barak and told him where Sisera went.  We head to Heber’s tent.  We arrived and Jael, Heber’s wife, had just come out.  She was holding a mallet.  She said

“Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for.”

We went in the tent and there was Sisera dead with a tent stake pounded straight through his forehead.  I hugged Jael and told her we are all grateful for what she did that day.  Barak looked a little beaten, but I did warn him.  I reminded him he was still God’s mighty warrior.  He seemed to accept that praise from me.  I headed for home.  The Lord and I have always been close but after that day I felt a change for the good in our relationship.

Following the battle, I wrote a song.  One of the lines in the song is “March on with courage, my soul!”

23So on that day Israel saw God defeat Jabin, the Canaanite king. 24And from that time on Israel became stronger and stronger against King Jabin until they finally destroyed him. 

Lessons Learned from Deborah

Deborah reminds me of my sister-in-law Debbie.  They both are strong women who love the Lord and seek His face often.  Most of my stories about Bible women are about women who overcame challenges.  I do not see this here except maybe being a woman on the battle front was challenging?  However, my sister-in-law has faced some mighty challenges in her life.  I will not going into detail at all, but I admire her for how she has, and still is, handling her challenges in life.  There is a song I love which we sang in church this morning.  I cannot remember all the words but some of the chorus goes like “When you don’t move the mountain, I want you to move…I will trust in you!”  I am sure Debbie can relate to this song.  Even more I can relate.  This past week I went camping at Dells Christian Campgrounds (see  https://northwoodsgirlblogging.com/dells-christian-campgrounds-my-memories/).  I had bought a tent and had just set it up and tripped over the tent pole when I went to get my air mattress.  I landed on my face.  I was shaken the rest of the day, but I was not in pain until I went to work two days later.  I guess I injured or reinjured my left shoulder and have been in constant pain since then.  I work all week and my job causes me a great deal of pain anyways.  I want God to move the mountain of working at Walmart so I will not have to have so much pain, but I will trust in him!  I do not know what my future holds, I do know in seven weeks I will be 62 years old and plan on taking social security and working part time.  I know I can write.  I know Walmart wants to keep me.  But most of all I know I can trust God!  Do you trust him?

Note: You can read Deborah’s song in Judges 5

Here is a link from another blogger who gave some great insight on Deborah. https://bloggersforthekingdom.com/deborah-in-the-bible/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=grow-social-pro&fbclid=IwAR3TjY1WZcbvPnA3qLSrsXVNlk4pzK2_G1IevkSnZTZ0KFp8aycPArC7D-A

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The Deborah Anointing: Embracing the Call to Be a Woman of Wisdom and Discernment By Michelle McClain-Walters Women of God, it’s time to rise up and embrace the calling God has for you. Like the Old Testament leader Deborah, you can be a woman who defies the cultural and gender boundaries around you and fulfill God’s great destiny as a strategic intercessor, and prophet. As you learn about this judge and leader who lived many years ago, you’ll be emboldened to become a modern-day Deborah, walking in a lifestyle of prayer and worship, bringing others to Jesus.

The Prophetess: Deborah’s Story #2 By Jill Eileen Smith Outspoken and fearless, Deborah has faith in God but struggles to see the potential her own life holds. As an Israelite woman, she’ll marry, have a family, and seek to teach her children about Adonai–and those tasks seem to be more than enough to occupy her time. But God has another plan for her. Israel has been under the near constant terror of Canaan’s armies for twenty years, and now God has called Deborah to deliver her people from this oppression. Will her family understand? Will her people even believe God’s calling on her life? And can the menace of Canaan be stopped?With her trademark impeccable research and her imaginative storytelling, Jill Eileen Smith brings to life the story of Israel’s most powerful woman in a novel that is both intriguing and inspiring.