[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:17) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Access more audio, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.
Our topic is: "Who Was Deborah and Why Should We Care?" Here's Rick and Julie.
[Rick] (0:19 - 0:26) Welcome, everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a longtime contributor.
Julie, what's our theme scripture for this episode?
[Julie] (0:26 - 0:41) Judges 4:14: "Then Deborah said to Barak, Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?"
[Rick] (0:41 - 1:27) Deborah stands out as one of the inspiring figures in biblical history. As a prophetess, a judge and a courageous leader, she rose above all expectations in a society driven by patriarchal influence. Her story, recorded in Judges 4 and 5, recounts her reliance on divine wisdom as well as her decisive leadership and unwavering faith in God's promises as she rallied Israel to victory against their oppressors. Studying these chapters not only reveals the power of faith and obedience, but also highlights timeless themes of justice, leadership, and the importance of relying on God's guidance in challenging times.
Deborah's story serves as a reminder that spiritual and moral courage can lead to extraordinary triumphs.
[Julie] (1:27 - 2:03) Rick, my friend Deborah was born in the United States. She moved to Israel, and the letters "B" and "V" are the same in Hebrew. She quickly found out that her name in Hebrew is pronounced "Devorah." So to be authentic to the Hebrew, we're going to try to pronounce all the names like that throughout this episode.
Forgive us if we slip back into the American pronunciation. It's interesting because the name "Devorah" means "bee," and in Jewish tradition, bees are celebrated for their industrious nature, their ability to work collectively, and for producing sweetness from humble beginnings.
[Rick] (2:04 - 2:47) Even something small or seemingly unassuming can have a significant impact; that little tiny bee. We're going to see that potentially looked at little tiny Devorah, and what she ends up doing. We're going to see how these qualities are reflected in the biblical experiences of Devorah.
The account takes place during the time when Israel was ruled by judges and not by kings. This is before they had kings. They were under the rule of judges. We're going to begin reading this account in Judges 4 and we'll touch on chapter 5 from the New Living Translation in this episode, unless we state it otherwise.
Julie, let's get started, Judges 4:1-2:
[Julie] (2:47 - 3:00) "After Ehud's death (Ehud was one of the judges of Israel), the Israelites again did evil in the LORD'S sight. So the LORD turned them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king..."
[Rick] (3:01 - 3:40) The Canaanites were bitter adversaries of ancient Israel, practicing many, many, many forms of idolatry, including child sacrifice. So they're bad! This is a very, very heinous place to be captivated by and to be following after.
Once Ehud died--this was the judge, Ehud--once he died, Israel reverted to a time of idolatry. He kept them straight. He dies, and they slide back in. They were drawn into the practices of the Canaanites and worshipping other gods.
They became idolatrous in a very big way.
[Julie] (3:41 - 4:24) We continue the account with Judges 4:2-3. Remember, Jabin is the king, and his commander: "...The commander of his army was Sisera... Sisera, who had nine hundred iron chariots..." By the way, that's advanced military technology for the time.
The Israelites didn't have any of that. These nine hundred chariots under Sisera, they "...ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people cried out to the Lord for help."
This was brutal! To "oppress" here means "to distress--afflict, crush." This is the same word that was used to describe their years of slavery back in Egypt.
It begs to ask, why would the Israelites wait twenty years of this awful oppression before finally asking God to intervene?
[Rick] (4:25 - 5:40) That's a good question, and I think the answer lies in human nature, Israel included. Israel's stubbornness, even in this early time before the kings, their stubbornness was actually legendary. Judges 3 reveals a disturbing trend of forgetting God after being delivered.
There's this trend of going back and forth, back and forth. They forgot God and were punished by serving another nation for eight years. That's the first forgetting and punishment recorded in Judges 3.
Then they were delivered and in peace for many, many years, and then you know what happened? They forgot God and served another nation now for eighteen years. Here's what happens then.
They're delivered and they're in peace for many, many more years, and guess what? They forgot God and now served another nation, this time the Canaanites, for twenty years. Why wait?
Because it's likely a very generational thing. You start going down a bad road and you just think that you're going to be fine, and maybe the next generation comes along and says, this isn't right. This is not our heritage.
This is not where we belong. It's not that they hung around. They were stuck and they needed some to rise up and say, we are not where we need to be!
[Julie] (5:40 - 5:56) Yeah, so it's like a pattern of idolatry and then deliverance and idolatry then deliverance. It seems here that the Israelites had been so accustomed to this way of life that strayed from God that it took a full two decades of hardship before they even recognized the necessity of turning back to God.
[Rick] (5:57 - 6:30) That's a great lesson for us because you can get too comfortable with all the wrong things and just be going along your merry way until you wake up and say, this is oppression. This is no good. We need to get out of this.
It's interesting that Israel's previous two deliverances were led by their judges, Othniel and Ehud. Now, many years later, their deliverance would be led by their judge, Devorah. This is where Devorah comes into play.
You've seen the trend, and here's what we find in Judges 4:4-5:
[Julie] (6:30 - 7:11) "Devorah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time. She would sit under the Palm of Devorah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for judgment." In spite of the fact that the roles of women in Jewish society at that time centered really around the care of family and household, we have this beautiful woman, Devorah, serving as prophetess, judge and military counselor, as we're going to see.
She settled disputes, provided spiritual guidance. She was singled out as the only female for this work. That suggests that her wisdom and her skills were extraordinary.
[Rick] (7:12 - 8:01) It's interesting the way she is introduced to us. She sits under the Palm of Devorah. It's a very unassuming place to be, a very quiet place to be, and she is dealing with the issues of Israel.
They come to her, and she's got this wisdom. Again, very unassuming, but very powerful in that she's giving guidance. While Devorah was the only female judge in Israel--in all of Israel's history--she was also a prophetess.
There are only four other Old Testament women who were ever called prophets. Miriam, and that's in Exodus 15:20; Huldah in 2 Kings 22:14; and Noadiah who was evil in Nehemiah 6-14; and then there's this unnamed prophetess in Isaiah 8:3.
[Julie] (8:01 - 8:08) She's all these roles, but I think her primary function was to be a representative of God for the people.
[Rick] (8:08 - 8:45) That's really what a prophetess is supposed to be--supposed to be essentially the way the word of God comes to the people. She is going to be handling that, and we're going to see how important and how powerful her influence would become. When we look at this, let's start to build the account of Devorah by understanding the Leadership Lessons that we can get from her.
The first two things that we see here, just in these few words, are Wisdom and Humility. Very unassuming, but very wise and placed in a position of honoring and serving God, giving His will to the people.
[Julie] (8:45 - 9:04) While Israel wallowed in their ruthless oppression under the Canaanites, godly wisdom and humility were right there in their midst all along. Devorah positioned herself where God wanted her to be, and she humbly did the work that He wanted her to do. As the cries of the people towards God grew, she would be there to guide them.
[Rick] (9:04 - 9:37) That's a really interesting perspective. Here she is just doing what she's supposed to do. She's being faithful, even though many of the people for years around her were not.
Here she is in position, waiting until God's word comes, and then she will rise up and do something different and extraordinary. Unfortunately, the imperfect human nature is very predictable. Give us godly blessings and protection and then watch us as we eventually, I don't know, just wander away from it.
[Julie] (9:37 - 9:46) The stage has been set. After twenty years of hardship, Israel finally sees their need for God. How would Devorah respond with God's direction?
[Rick] (9:46 - 10:47) The whole purpose of having judges in the land was to give the people a way to work out the issues between themselves in a wise and humble way. The purpose of prophets was to give the people clear instruction from God Himself. As Devorah filled both of these positions, her humble wisdom would now expand into something else.
It would now expand into courageous leadership, and she would also become a stabilizing influence. Let's get our account in order. Israel has been oppressed for twenty years.
They're now going to begin to cry out. Jabin is the king, the commander of the bad guys is Sisera, and you've got this oppression, and this is hard oppression for twenty years. Enough is enough. In the very next verse of Judges 4, Devorah collaborates with Barak to battle Sisera.
Here's where the account really begins to unfold. Judges 4:6-7:
[Julie] (10:48 - 11:28) "One day she sent for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. She said to him, This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, commands you..." Now this is going to be a clear message.
It's time to go to war! We've had enough!) She says this: "...Call out ten thousand warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor.
And 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." This isn't merely a suggestion...oh maybe let's move everything over there...
this was a command she received directly from the Lord.
[Rick] (11:29 - 13:02) This command--I want to comment a little bit about the breadth of this command, because this is what the Lord God of Israel commands you. Call out ten thousand warriors from the tribes and so forth, get them together. Then in this command, it also says, I, the Lord God, will call out Sisera.
I'll get him to respond to you. I am going to set this up for you. He's the commander of Jabin's army and all those chariots and warriors. I'm going to get them to go to the place that they need to be.
This is important. Devorah received instruction, God's word, and therefore she gave instruction to Barak to gather an army of ten thousand men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun to confront Sisera at Mount Tabor. This was a dramatic command!
This was a dramatic proclamation, and it was fulfilling what the word of God told her to do. This is critical because this is who she was. She heard, she responded.
That's the methodology of a prophet. She just puts it out there, and there is no mincing of words in all of this. This was very, very, very straightforward.
Here we are, after twenty years of not seeking God, Israel is finally ready to come back to God. Faithful responses to God's commands sometimes require our faith to be reinforced as we pursue God's instructions. It doesn't mean that just because they heard it, it's like, Okay, great, let's all run.
Sometimes we need extra reinforcement, and that's what comes out in the next verses of Judges 4:7-10:
[Julie] (13:02 - 13:30) "Barak told her, I will go, but only if you go with me. Very well, she 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. So Devorah went with Barak to Kedesh. At Kedesh, Barak called together the tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali (as he was instructed) and ten thousand warriors went up with him.
Devorah also went with him."
[Rick] (13:30 - 13:33) "I will go, but only if you go with me."
[Julie] (13:34 - 13:35) Yeah, a woman.
[Rick] (13:36 - 13:59) Yeah, well, a prophet of God. The judge of Israel, who calmly, quietly sat under the Palm of Devorah, handling the people's issues. There's really, really wonderful lessons here. With the assured reinforcement of God's prophet secure--she's going to come, she said she would--
Barak now has the faith and the courage to do exactly as he was commanded.
[Julie] (13:59 - 14:42) Devorah has provided not only God's direction but she also provided the courage to follow it by her being...she's not even hesitating, her unhesitating willingness to go into this battle herself. I don't think a lot of women were on the battlefield these days, so she is that sure of this victory. That is great faith!
You heard the phrase "for the LORD's victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman." First of all, it's the Lord's victory. That's important.
That's humility. Remember this prophecy, because we're going to see how it was shockingly fulfilled. Our friend, a Bible scholar, James Parkinson said, "The chief honor goes to him who conquers the chief;
therefore, Barak would win the battle but not the full honor accorded the victor."
[Rick] (14:42 - 16:25) That is a fascinating sidelight to this whole thing. Barak is cooperating. I mean, he's doing everything he's supposed to, and yet part of her prophecy is, well, the Lord's victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.
It's like, huh?? Okay, just hold on to that. We'll come back to that in due time. What's going to happen here?
God has a battle plan. That's what happens here. God is going to...remember, it said He's going to call Sisera and his army to this specific place.
God's battle plan will be revealed in the strategic use of the geography of Mount Tabor. Again, in the prophecy, it says, I will call them out. I will bring them to this specific place.
What we're going to see is these nine hundred iron chariots--the best of the best, the highest technological advances in warfare at that time--those nine hundred chariots would be rendered ineffective. They would not be able to hurt the men who are going to be up on Mount Tabor. That's about eighteen hundred feet up.
The chariots, no problem there, but you still have to fight. The Kishon River lies beneath Tabor and runs out to the sea. Now, normally this Kishon River is a dry riverbed, but it becomes a torrent during the rainy season.
Let's see how this begins to unfold. Again, let's understand the role that Devorah plays in bringing all of these things together. This is interesting.
God is saying, I've got this set up. Now there's another key and yet seemingly insignificant detail that's going to be revealed about this coming battle between the Israelites led by Barak and the Canaanite armies under Sisera. Here's that detail;
Judges 4:11:
[Julie] (16:26 - 16:45) Now Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses' brother-in-law..." Rick, some translations say father-in-law. We're not sure, as the names of the relationships are related. "...Hobab, had moved away from the other members of his tribe and pitched his tent by the oak of Zaanannim near Kadesh."
That's a strange detail to drop in, isn't it?
[Rick] (16:45 - 17:37) It is. It's like, okay, so who is this guy and what does this mean? I mean, the Kenites were people who lived nearby.
Now they were at peace both with the Canaanites and the Israelites. They weren't troublemakers. They knew how to live in some kind of tolerance one of another.
Heber himself, separated himself and his family from the other Kenites and was living near Kedesh, close to the events of the battle. His tent was set there in an unusual place. The account tells us that and then it kind of goes away.
It's like it doesn't even come up until much later. Let's continue because now we've got the Israelites from the two tribes bringing out their ten thousand soldiers. Obviously, word travels and here's Sisera's response to Barak's military movements.
This is in Judges 4:12-13:
[Julie] (17:38 - 17:47) "When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, he called for all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all of his warriors, and they marched from Harosheth-haggoyim to the Kishon River."
[Rick] (17:48 - 19:04) Now think about that. Remember in the prophecy God said through Devorah, I will call Sisera out. I will bring him to the Kishon River area.
Here he's making the decision, okay, let's get together. We've got a fight coming. They're doing exactly what God said.
Now God didn't make him do that. God knew the mind of the man and said, I'll call him to where he needs to be and My plan will be unfolded. Sisera was informed that Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor.
He said, okay, enough! They have the gall; they have the nerve to gather ten thousand men to try to fight us?! His immediate response was to pursue crushing them into nothingness by using his most lethal weaponry.
They're going to gather ten thousand soldiers. We will make such a mess of them, you won't even be able to find them. Bring out everything.
This is Sisera's response. He's a military commander. They have the upper hand.
They have the technology. They are the oppressors. He is on top of it.
He is going to make this incredible, incredible statement. The battle lines are really being drawn here.
[Julie] (19:04 - 19:06) He's going to crush them, yes.
[Rick] (19:06 - 19:30) Yes, that's the intent. When you look at it, you say, Yeah, it doesn't look very even. Let's watch.
Okay, let's pause here though for a moment. Let's go back to some Leadership Lessons from Devorah. We talked about Wisdom and Humility at the beginning.
Now we're adding Courage and Stability because she is the one who is essentially going to bring them where they need to go.
[Julie] (19:31 - 19:51) Devorah's influence and direction as a prophet of God has caused Israel to obey and prepare for battle. This sudden and complete obedience to God's commands rests squarely upon the shoulders of Devorah's courage. She would lead them there, and in so doing, she would bring confident stability to those who followed her.
[Rick] (19:51 - 20:34) That's such an important point. She's not going to fight in the battle but she is the one who brought the word of God to them, and she is the one who's going to bring them to the place where the word of God told them to go because Barak said, I'll go if you come with me. She's going to bring that confident stability.
She's going to bring courage because if we're walking with God's prophet, we're in good shape. Again, if you're walking in accordance with the word of God, you have confidence to move forward. That's what Devorah is teaching us here.
The drama is now growing as the inevitable clash between God's people and those who are oppressing them. It's all now being prepared.
[Julie] (20:35 - 20:42) The armies are assembled, the battle lines are drawn. How will God deliver His people from the might of this Canaanite army?
[Rick] (20:43 - 21:30) God's deliverance of Israel had previously come in many, many different ways before this particular battle. The key ingredients in every fight are always the same. Three key ingredients: faith to follow, courage to stand, and confidence to follow through with whatever God directs.
Those three key ingredients. We see that it was Devorah's wisdom, humility, courage, and stability that would give Israel this confidence in God's coming deliverance. She supplied what they needed.
The intangible faith and confidence wasn't shown in a sword or a shield or a spear. It was shown in the leadership of following God's word.
[Julie] (21:30 - 21:50) I love how previously you said she was in position, and I think that's something that we can take. Are we in position so that God can use us in however we are to be used? You think about what people carry into battle;
weapons, flags, maybe food. She was carrying confidence. It was confidence in the Lord's word and will.
[Rick] (21:50 - 22:10) What a powerful example, because she had influence over ten thousand armed men. Now we're going to look at how God works this out. Let's look at God's intervention and the Israelites' victory.
Let's continue in Judges 4. Let's now go to Judges 4:14-16.
[Julie] (22:10 - 23:01) This is our theme text: "Then Devorah 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..."
Full stop. Think of that point of view! What confidence would you have making decisions in your life if you knew for sure, one hundred percent, that the Lord is marching ahead of you?
It continues: "... So Barak led his ten thousand warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. When Barak attacked, the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic.
Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot. Then Barak chased the chariots and the enemy army all the way to Harosheth-haggoyim, killing all of Sisera's warriors. Not a single one was left alive."
[Rick] (23:01 - 23:28) We have this battle unfold, and it's really not much of a battle so much as it ends up being a rout. It's not clashing and fighting against each other. It's the Israel's army descending upon them, and they're running because God had sent them into a panic.
It's a big thing. Remember what you said about the theme scripture--and really this is such an important point--"for the LORD is marching ahead of you."
[Julie] (23:29 - 23:29) Wow!
[Rick] (23:29 - 23:59) She represents the word of God. If we put the word of God before us as we face the trials, the difficulties, the experiences, the challenges, and the traumas of our lives, we can have the confidence that we're following the word of God. That's what she represented.
Devorah encourages Barak to attack, assuring him that God has delivered Sisera into his hands. She's like, just go do it! It's essentially a done deal already.
You just have to do the work. This reflects Devorah's faith, confidence, and leadership.
[Julie] (24:00 - 24:04) She's the motivation behind the general. The general is the one who leads them into battle.
[Rick] (24:05 - 24:23) Exactly. She plays this incredible role without picking up a weapon. This is how God's victories are done, because we've got the word of God, the wisdom of God, the humility through an individual showing us the way.
It says that the Lord confuses Sisera's army, leading to their defeat.
[Julie] (24:24 - 24:51) Notice what the cycle was not. It wasn't that the people are oppressed and God just wipes out the enemy and the people can go on doing what they want to do. They had to first realize the depth of their distance from God, cry out to Him actively, have faith in Devorah's commands, physically go into battle against this terrible enemy that was trained with superior weapons, and THEN the Lord gave them the victory.
There was a lot that they had to do on their part.
[Rick] (24:52 - 25:12) Remember, this is after twenty years of oppression. You are now standing up against the oppressor of twenty years in this one battle. Now you've got the courage to do it.
You've got to think that there is a lot of nervous energy like, this is huge! God has said, but we've never been able to stand up to these people.
[Julie] (25:12 - 25:17) This can't be an organized army that has been training every Saturday with weapons and helmets.
[Rick] (25:17 - 25:47) Here they are. Sisera now, he abandons his chariot and flees on foot while Barak pursues the fleeing troops, and every one of those fleeing troops was destroyed completely. There was not left a single survivor.
Now we've got to figure out, okay, what actually happened here? What did the Lord do to panic an entire army that was militarily so superior to Israel's army? The details of what happened are in Judges 5, which is called "The Song of Devorah and Barak."
[Julie] (25:47 - 26:19) Not only was she a prophetess, a judge, a courageous leader, but now we can add "songwriter" to her impressive resume! This Song of Devorah and Barak that we see in Judges 5 is one of the oldest poetic passages in the Bible. Because of its archaic language and its structure, it's thought that this was composed close to the time of the actual events, rather than being added later.
This makes it a valuable piece of early Hebrew literature, but the problem is some of the meaning is uncertain in some of the parts, because that's just been lost over time.
[Rick] (26:20 - 26:58) What we have in Judges 5 is a triumphant and poetic hymn celebrating Israel's victory over the Canaanites under Devorah's guidance. That's what this Judges 5 song is about. It praises God's intervention, it recounts the bravery of the tribes who fought and it puts it all in perspective.
Let's read a few of these verses, because out of these verses we can begin to glean what actually happened for God to confuse this amazing army that was so superior. Let's look at Judges 5 now. Let's just start with Judges 5:1-4:
[Julie] (26:58 - 27:26) "Then Devorah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying, That the leaders led in Israel, that the people volunteered, bless the LORD! Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! I--to the LORD, I will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.
LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the field of Edom, the earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, even the clouds dripped water."
[Rick] (27:27 - 28:03) You've got a couple of hints there. It says "the earth quaked." It's hard to tell exactly what that meant, but "the heavens also dripped, the clouds dripped water." This is a big hint to tell us what actually went on, because remember, God brought them to a specific place at a specific time to have this specific battle and said, I will deliver you here.
This is helping us to understand--begin to understand--how God panics Sisera's army. Now later in the song, it gets into further details that make this a whole lot more clear. Let's go now to Judges 5:19-21:
[Julie] (28:03 - 28:48) "The kings came and fought; then fought the kings of Canaan at Taanach near the waters of Megiddo; they took no plunder in silver. The stars fought from heaven; from their courses they fought against Sisera.
The torrent of Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength." Now we know a "torrent" is a large amount of water moving quickly like a flash flood. Bible Commentary from David Guzik on that phrase "the stars fought from heaven:" "The battle was fought from the heavens in the sense that God sent rain that made the Canaanite chariots of no use.
(the torrent of Kishon swept them away)."
[Rick] (28:48 - 30:28) It's interesting, in those verses it talks about, it repeats "torrent" again and again and gives you the sense that this is a centerpiece of what happened. The fact that you mentioned that "the stars fought from heaven." It came down from the heavens, whatever it was, and you have this torrent--this massive rushing water--that brings victory. Let's put this in order.
During this battle, God intervened by sending a sudden and heavy rainstorm. That's what this song of Devorah and Barak is telling us. The downpour caused the Kishon River to swell and to flood.
What did that do? It turned a battlefield into a muddy quagmire. Sisera's chariots, which were his greatest advantage, now were literally stuck in the mud, rendering them useless.
No more advantage here. This gives us the sense that God is stronger than any and all of the latest technology! I want to pause there because that's an important point.
Right now, the greatest technology breakthrough of all time, AI; Artificial Intelligence. God is stronger and bigger than any of the latest technology. Artificial intelligence is just that.
It's artificial. God's intelligence is eternal. It is bigger.
It sees from above versus collating what is around. It just gives you a sense that whatever the technology is, He is above it. Now, getting back to the torrent and the quagmire and the mud and the chariots. This storm, this big storm, allowed the Israelite forces to gain the upper hand and to achieve a decisive victory.
The Kishon River is described as "sweeping away" the enemy forces.
[Julie] (30:28 - 31:02) Now, if you look on a map, you're going to see that Mount Tabor isn't directly next to the Kishon River. The Jezreel Valley, where the battle took place, has multiple tributaries that feed into that river. When heavy rains occur, water from the surrounding hills, including Mount Tabor, rush down into the river, causing it to swell dramatically.
This would have turned the normally calm river into a raging flood. That's how they swept away Sisera's chariots and soldiers. Now, no one survived, it says--except one person.
[Rick] (31:02 - 32:03) One person. What happens here? They're all drowned except for Sisera.
Except for the guy who gathers the army, except for the guy who's going to crush Israel. He's the lone survivor. As Judges 4:15 stated, "Sisera leaped down from his chariot to escape on foot." At this point, you look at it and it says, so Sisera gets away. But everybody else...the battle is over. The army is vanquished.
Let's pause here for a moment and just take a look at Devorah's activity, her influence here. Now she's not fighting the battle, but here's what she did. The Leadership Lessons from Devorah;
the next lesson that we're seeing here is Confidence in God's deliverance. They attacked and they went and fought that battle. They obviously fought it very, very well.
"The Song of Devorah and Barak" talked about the valiant fighting of these soldiers. They had the Confidence in God's deliverance. Why?
Because she had been there.
[Julie] (32:03 - 32:25) Devorah's words to Barak to, "Get ready...for the Lord is marching before you" were a manifestation of overwhelming confidence in God's promise, even when its fulfillment was not in plain sight. Some would say it would have been impossible.
When a leader such as Devorah shows this unequivocal confidence in the Lord, others line up to follow.
[Rick] (32:26 - 33:01) That's an important lesson. That's what Devorah does for the armies of Israel here. She gives them the confidence to follow because she is willing to lead them there.
How? Not because of her personality, not because of her character; because of the word of the Lord that she believed in, that she heard, and that she expressed with such confidence that they said, we are with you! The turn of events here is remarkable.
That is, unless you already grasp the power of God and the surety of His words!
[Julie] (33:02 - 33:11) But here's a question: Why would God allow Sisera to escape the utter defeat of his army? Doesn't that seem inconsistent with the way the battle was prophesied to go?
[Rick] (33:11 - 34:07) It is absolutely inconsistent with the way the battle was prophesied to go. That's why we need to continue to read and understand the complete account of this battle. See, when it came to the protection of God's people against oppression in the Old Testament, God always clearly stated his sovereignty.
In every instance where God delivers Israel, his sovereignty is one of the biggest lessons that is stated in these decisive victories. Devorah, as God's messenger, had proclaimed complete victory over Sisera and that would come to pass.
Didn't come to pass in the way you might expect; it came to pass in a different way. Enter that weird detail that we talked about earlier in the story.
Remember the introduction of Heber the Kenite back in Judges 4:11, who kind of just set up his tent in this really strange place where nobody else seemed to be?
[Julie] (34:07 - 34:08) Yes.
[Rick] (34:08 - 34:32) When Sisera's chariot was stuck in the mud, in the scriptures, it said he escaped. Where did he go? Well, he ran several miles to his ally, Heber.
Sisera appeals to Heber's wife, Jael, to hide him. This is where Sisera goes. Now let's see how the rest of this begins to unfold.
Judges 4:17-20:
[Julie] (34:32 - 35:03) "Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber's family was on friendly terms with King Jabin of Hazor. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, Come into my tent, sir. Come in.
Do not be afraid. So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. Please give me some water, he said.
I'm thirsty. So she gave him some milk from a leather bag and covered him again. Stand at the door of the tent, he told her.
If anybody comes and asks you if there is anyone here, say no."
[Rick] (35:04 - 35:28) This general finds a place to rest. Now, obviously, this is exhausting. This is a man who is fearful for his life because his entire army has been wiped out and he needs to rest.
He goes here to this ally and he feels completely safe from his enemies. He tells her, just watch and if anybody asks, if anybody...just tell them, no, I'm not here.
Just let me be.
[Julie] (35:29 - 36:23) Jael is the name in Hebrew that means "wild mountain goat," specifically the Nubian Ibex. That's found in the Middle East and the African countries of Sudan and Egypt.
The name carries these connotations of strength, agility, resilience. It's a very popular name in modern-day Israel. A more poetic meaning that has been given to this name is "strength of God."
"Yah" being a shortened form of the divine name YHWH. Then "El," of course, is "God." Here's why you never heard this story in Bible class...
We continue with Judges 4:21: "But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died."
[Rick] (36:24 - 36:25) You think?
[Julie] (36:26 - 36:26) Yeah, gory!
[Rick] (36:27 - 37:00) Yeah. Okay. Tent peg, one side of his head, the other side of his head and fastened it to the ground.
Yes, pretty gross, but it's also very, very decisive. There is no middle ground here. His life has been taken.
This dramatic oppression that Sisera spent years perpetrating was now officially over. The Jewish Law says "a life for a life." Well, his life had cost many lives in the oppressiveness of their army,
and his life was taken as a result.
[Julie] (37:01 - 37:43) Judges 4:22: "When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. She said, Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for. So he followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying there dead, with the tent peg through his temple." Okay.
Barak's active faith was well-rewarded with victory, though not with the victor's glory. Do you remember we said the chief honor goes to him who conquers the chief. Therefore, Barak would win the battle, but not the full honor awarded the victor.
Devorah's prophecy came true, but when you first read this, you think it's because of Devorah. The Lord's victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.
It was Jael!
[Rick] (37:44 - 38:08) That's fascinating because when you heard it originally, you're thinking, Well, she's just being humble and talking about herself. Nothing to do with this aspect. She is not involved in the fight.
She's involved in bringing God's will to them and bringing them to the fight. Jael is the one who actually ends up having that victory over the commander of the opposing army.
[Julie] (38:08 - 38:21) Now, our account ends here, but it does leave a few unanswered questions. Why do you think God would allow Sisera to survive only to die hours later in this dramatic, gory story with Jael?
[Rick] (38:21 - 38:54) We don't have a definitive answer, but perhaps this accentuates the power of God over evil. You can run, but you can't hide. God's justice is always fulfilled.
Just because you think you're safe, if you have been standing against God and His way in the Old Testament, where the Law, the letter of the Law ruled, and you were bringing God's people down, there was a price for that. I think that it dramatically shows that even if it doesn't go the way you would think it goes, God's will is always done. God's justice is always fulfilled.
[Julie] (38:55 - 39:00) Okay. Why did Jael kill Sisera if the Kenites were allies?
[Rick] (39:01 - 39:38) That's a good question, but remember, it said that they were friendly with Israel and the Canaanites. The Kenites were kind of in between.
Here's an example: Remember Rahab? Remember Rahab,
she lived on the wall of the city of Jericho. She was an enemy of Israel. Her nation was an enemy of Israel,
yet she knew and respected God, Almighty God's sovereignty. She hid the spies and not only hid them, but then got them to go away.
Then she told her own people, oh, they went that way--when they went the other way. You can see that there's this sense of God's sovereignty in that individual. I think that's important.
[Julie] (39:38 - 40:19) I guess just because you had a tribal alliance didn't necessarily mean you had a personal one. She acted independently of her husband and her tribe under divine inspiration really to fulfill a prophecy. Our personal commitment to God is bigger than our own political leanings.
It's a good lesson that God can work using unexpected people or methods. We have to be "in position." One more question:
You know how Hebrews 11 is that long list of heroes of faith? They mentioned people by name like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses. Barak gets named in the chapter.
Why is he mentioned and not Devorah or even Jael to whom went the credit of killing the leader?
[Rick] (40:20 - 40:39) That's a good question. Hebrews 11 is a wonderful chapter. It lists many, many, many very faithful ones from ancient times.
Certainly, it's not a comprehensive list, but it gives us a sense. Why isn't Devorah mentioned? Look at those verses.
I think the explanation will begin to reveal itself. Hebrews 11:32-34:
[Julie] (40:39 - 41:05) "And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight."
[Rick] (41:05 - 41:42) What you have in this section where Barak is mentioned is, this is a section of warriors. Devorah was not a warrior. It names these individuals: Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David.
Then it talks about prophets. It says Samuel and the prophets. Devorah was a prophet.
She would have been included in that. You've got this section that's clearly focusing on those who actually did the fighting and the battles for God. It also mentions the many, many prophets who spoke the words of God that in many instances brought them to fight.
That's where we think Devorah would have been included.
[Julie] (41:43 - 41:58) OK, and I guess for the audience that would be familiar with these historical cultural events, the mention of Barak would bring to mind Devorah and Jael and Jabin and Sisera. She's a prophet. Why not Jael?
She wasn't a prophet. She wasn't a warrior.
[Rick] (41:59 - 42:28) She didn't bring the army to the fight. She didn't encourage them. She wasn't even a fighter in the army.
She was a role player in God's overall plan. Now, did that give her a sense of faithfulness? Yes.
Was she from Israel? No, she actually wasn't. We don't have any indication that she became an Israelite either.
The point is in Hebrews 11, you've got those warriors and you've got the prophets. Those are the two big areas that God is saying, These are important here.
[Julie] (42:28 - 42:32) OK, so she was more of a "hero of circumstance" than necessarily a "hero of faith."
[Rick] (42:32 - 42:45) Good way to put it. Good. So great was the triumph of Israel over Sisera and his army that King David would later remember it in one of his psalms.
This story, this account lived on. Psalm 83:9:
[Julie] (42:46 - 42:55) "Deal with them as with Midian (that refers to the Midianites, another enemy of Israel), as with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon."
[Rick] (42:55 - 43:25) Here you have the torrent again. You can really see that this torrent, this flood, was a key part in God's confusing the army. It just keeps coming up again and again.
David's psalm recalls Israel's ability to overcome enemies through divine intervention. It's not because they had the better army. It's not because they were better soldiers.
It's not because of anything like that, except that it was God's time because He heard their cries under the oppression and said, "Come back to Me and I will lead and guide you."
[Julie] (43:25 - 43:49) We've explored what we know about Devorah, and we asked this question, "Why should we care?" I know I care as a woman because of her quiet, steady, dependable leadership. Her obvious good temperament, character, and faith made her an important instrument of God. I don't have to be a prophet to want to emulate these qualities so the Lord can use me too in whatever way He deems my privilege.
[Rick] (43:49 - 44:21) That's a very, very, very comprehensive way of looking at this. This is important. She played a tremendous role on so many different levels.
When we look at the Leadership Lessons from Devorah, let's sum them all up. First, there was Wisdom and Humility. Then there was Courage and Stability.
The Wisdom and Humility were quiet. The Courage and Stability became public. Confidence in God's deliverance, that was the action built on those things.
Now finally we're adding a Messenger of God's will. She spoke the word, she lived the word, and they followed it.
[Julie] (44:21 - 44:49) Devorah's example, her influence, her actions were the lynchpin of the turning point victory that delivered Israel from the oppression of these Canaanites. This "mother of Israel" as she's called in Judges 5:7, indicates authority. She boldly spoke God's commands and honored and praised God in a song of victory that we read in Judges 5.
She lived up to the meaning of her name, "bee;" busy, patient, industrious, useful.
[Rick] (44:50 - 45:36) That is the story of Devorah. That helps us to see, in a dramatic way, the importance of seeing God's word and God's will and following through with wisdom and humility. Let us follow Devorah's example and make sound decisions, wise choices, and emulate courage and faith in the overruling providences of God as we show concern for the needs of others.
That's who Devorah was, and that's why we should care! Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners.
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