Deborah – Prophetess who Lead Israel:
Israel was oppressed by Canaan.
They cried out for help, and God sent…
A knight in shinning armour?
A man?
No…
A woman, named Deborah, who was married to Lappidoth. He did not send Lappidoth, he sent Deborah, who was actually leader of Israel at the time.
Yep the leader of God’s people was a woman for a while. She lead men and had authority over men.
Now the leader of the Canaan army was Sisera. He lived near a woman named Jael.
Deborah sent for Barak, who refused to go into battle unless Deborah went with him. She said “Very well, I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honour will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman.” Judges 4:9a
So Deborah, Barak, and 10,000 men went into battle with Sisera. Every man in Sisera’s army died, except for Sisera. Sisera fled to Jael’s tent because it was near by and he knew her. She fed him milk, gave him a blanket, and he fell asleep.
But…
He didn’t wake up. While he was sleeping Jael drove a tent peg through his temple and killed him. She then went out to meat Barak who was searching for Sisera, and told him what she had done.
“On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him.” Judges 4:23-24
That day Deborah and Barak sang a song, praising God, and telling of Deborah’s victory.
So what can we learn form this story?
1.) Men do not always have authority over women.
2.) God will not always choose a man to do his work.
3.) God can and does choose women to do his work, and sometimes men must follow.
4.) God choose a woman to lead Israel and to lead them into battle.
5.) God does not oppress women.
6.) Deborah was in athority over her husband. If he husband was in athority over her, than, he would have been in athority over Israel, but that was NOT God’s will. He choose Deborah, and NOT her husband to be the leader of Israel.
Think about it…
