Endeavoring Women of the Bible: Deborah
Hi Endeavorers! Thanks for checking in for the next woman we are looking at. This week is a pretty interesting because we are looking at a woman in leadership (which can be rare to find in the Bible) named Deborah. We read the first introduction of her in Chapter 4 verse 4:
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time”.
So she is this really unique character in the Bible who is a wife, but also kicks butt and takes names as she leads Israel. We also get a sneak peak in to a woman she gives a shout out to later in the book.
She shows us to be in in leadership as a woman, but also shows us how to lead by putting God first.. so let’s check it out!
Deborah & Jael
Location: Israel
Context: deborah is the fourth judge of the time of judges (the lord is raising up judges for israel
Passage: Judges 4-5
Okay, so as I mentioned, we jump right into Deborah’s story in chapter 4. We have at this point read about Israel and how they were conquered various groups and that’s kinda what this book of Judges is about. It looks into these cycles of the Israelites sinning, worshiping idols, and screwing up.. but then calling on the Lord. So God sends these judges through each of these periods to kind of guide the Israelites.
Deborah then is the fourth judge following Othniel, Ehud, and Shagmar. We start chapter 4 and learn in verse 1:
The Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Cannan, who reigned in Hazor. .. Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried for help to the Lord” (Judges 4:1-2)
So reading this at first I’m like.. yikes God. Like selling the to Jabin? Like, what are you doing? But we see throughout the whole book of Judges this kind of situation God is put in I compare it to being a father/mother. I don’t have kids, but I know even from our youth group, that kids can mess up. When you punish your kid or set in place consequences are you doing it for your joy? The answer should be no! We do it because we want them to learn. And do you ever kinda let some of the consequences slide just a little? Or throw a lifeline to your kid? That is what the Judges are. God wants us to realize our sins, but he also doesn’t abandon us. We see in that passage that the Israelites are crying out for help, so let’s look at what happens.
We meet Deborah and learn she is the wife of Lappidoth and leading Israel. She holds court and has the Israelites have their disputes decided. We then find in verse 6 she sends for Barak and says to him:
“The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.” (Judges 4:6-7)
Barak then says to her:
“If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
So we see thus far that Deborah is pretty good at delegating as she is holding the court and appoint Barak to go forward with this mission. We don’t know if Barak was afraid or if he just wanted support but we see that he is needing Deborah to go with him. We don’t know too much about his character but we can probably safely say that he is trusting human strength more than God’s strength and leadership. We also can see in to Deborah’s charter as a leader in that she did trust in God’s ability as she says the following in the next verse:
“Very well,” Deborah said, “I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman.” (Judges 4:9)
So we then enter this action scene. There’s like battle talk like “This guy is up here” “He’s here”, etc. Sisera (the bad guy here) has gathered the nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him. And so Deborah says to Barak in true like battle fashion:
“Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men. At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all this chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot”
(Judges 4:14)
Can you say actions scene?! So then all the troops of Sisera fall by sword and it says there wasn’t a man left. You can like picture this right? This “unbeatable” army falling and their leader sprinting across the desert fleeing? So he is running and runs to the tent of Jael (the wife of another king who they were in kahoots with). And enter power woman number two. It’s like honestly from an action movie, so let’s jump in:
“ Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’” But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.” (Judges 4:17-21)
Like, what?! Savage, but what a powerful and brave woman! So remember that time Deborah said to Barak “Um a lady is gonna steal your glory and thunder bud because you’re not trusting God”? Boom. Here she is. So where’s Barak? Well he just catches up and find’s Jael:
“Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.” (Judges 4:22)
And so the story ends saying that God subdued Jabin (the Canaanite king) and the Israelites grew stronger until they destroyed him. Wowza guys. Galz for the win in this chapter!
So chapter 5 then leads into Deborah’s song. Recapping the faithfulness of God, the events, how no other tribes came to help, and how they arose victorious. And it honestly is even kinda sassy saying “Sisera’s mom is like ‘Where’s Sisera'?’”. But we see that the song is praising God for his leading. And what we have learned about Deborah remains true, she gives God the glory. Here’s just a snippet from chapter 5:
“When you, Lord, went out from Seir,
when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook, the heavens poured,
the clouds poured down water.
The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.“
Isn’t that so beautiful.
Okay so we’ve come to the end of Deborah and Jael’s stories and it has excellently set the table for Gideon (another Judge you may be familiar with), Now people can have issues with women leading, and I think this is a beautiful passage showing that God uses us all. The view of women in the Bible varies and so much is due to context but I think Deborah gives us an amazing glimpse into leadership as a woman. So what are some lessons we can learn from Deborah?
leadership
We see that Deborah able to lead, plan, and guide her people. Good leaders know their team and keep priority on God. She trusts God before everything else and works with the people to go forward in what God is telling her. In verse 5 it says they have courts and that she’s involved so we can learn she’s organized and just like us girl bosses. Being a judge isn’t just a “figurative queen” status position, and it isn’t someone who just gets a title and can sit around being pretty doing nothing. Its hustling, getting involved, and doing the hard work. We see Deborah as an example of a working woman who learns to work with her team and lead well. We can learn that leadership means knowing your team and getting involved. We see her choose Barak and know his abilities. She listens to God above all else, but also takes those steps in logistical planning and team building.
God’s voice in the workplace
So Deborah wasn’t a manager, an accountant, or some operations director specifically. But she was leading people. As my Bible (Zondervan, 1997) talks about the fact that Deborah commanded respect. She not only leads the people into battle, but she also was able to direct them and influence them to lead God honoring lives. Talk about a task! My Bible’s commentary says “that her personality drew people together”, even the military directors! I think what a cool thing that is. As woman leading can be hard and gaining respect can be difficult. So how does she do it? Not only with her personality but as my bible says, she was a prophetess whose responsibility was to encourage people to obey God. I think this combination of leader and prophetess can show us that as Christian leaders we can’t overlook the spiritual situations that the people we are leading are in. An effective leader keeps God in priority and cares about those who they are leading.
JAEL
I want to point out ladies, this story can be an encouragement to you. Deborah is an amazing example of God using a woman to deliver his people. Take her life as encouragement that, as women, the context of culture can be difficult. It can feel overwhelming, but let me tell you … it doesn’t overwhelm God. And this is where I love Jael. God used this kind of “nobody” in the story to kill the bad guy! She obviously was a wife of significant guy at that time, but I love that God gives the final glory of the victory to her. As Deborah prophesied, God took the glory from Barak and gave it to Jael. We don’t know much about how Jael was feeling. Was she terrified? Was she planning this? We don’t know, but we know God used her in a major way. Be encouraged that he uses seemingly random people and even the smallest stories like Hagar and Jael and other wives in the OT to do big things.
Faith
So for the non business babes, or if you don’t feel like a leader there is so much you can learn form Deborah’s story. As we’ve seen in all the women in the OT, we can see faith in God play a key factor in this story. The people have turned from God, and we see when she instructs Barak to go forth he struggles with this faith. He puts more weight on man’s strength than faith in God. If you haven’t gotten anything from these women… please learn that God is faithful. Is it hard to see? Sure! Barak seems like a legit guy (Deborah chose her) but even he struggles. But the leaders in history we see have faith like Deborah. Be encouraged that he is a God we can have faith in.
If I had to pick a word to characterize Deborah’s story is follow. I think Deborah’s story stands out because she is an amazing example of what it looks like to lead people, but follow God. Deborah wasn’t power hungry, and we can see in her song she gives the glory to God. In that time she didn’t hide that she was a woman or a wife, but she also didn’t allow it to define her or be in the way. She simply led with God in mind. She teaches us to leaders with wisdom. She challenges us to think about the possibles with God rather than our fears. She shows us that we can accomplish things beyond our comprehension if we follow God and are willing to put him above all else.
I hope this week you can be encouraged by another kick-butt woman. That we are mighty and aren’t defined our womanhood, our abilities, or by who we are at all. That if we allow God to lead great things can happen!
Lord, I pray over the endeavorers this week that you will embolden them and give them courage. That they are might warriors of God who have an influence on the world. We thank you that we aren’t defined by anything we do but that if we follow you, you will use us for great things. Help us put away fear or selfishness and fully trust in your plans for us. We pray for all in leadership that you will bring wisdom. We repent for when we have been selfish or not trusted you but we praise you because you are beyond anything we can say or do. Amen.
Sources:
Life Application Study Bible - NIV. Zondervan, 1997.
