Strong Women of the Bible: Deborah (4/6) - H
Deborah: Misjudged
Judges 4
I'll admit that at first I was hesitant to add Deborah to this series. I knew next to nothing about her, and I was afraid I wouldn't have enough material to use. Boy, was I wrong! God works in mysteries ways, folks; He made me put Deborah in this series for a reason. Not only did I find more than enough material to use, but I also discovered a great deal more about this marvelous woman of God! Let me tell ya about her! ✨
Hop on into my time machine, and let's travel back in time to ancient Israel during the time of the judges. For those who might be a little rusty on their Bible history, this is after the Israelites finally got their act together and claimed the Promised Land. Now they're all well and settled down, but obviously they need a leader. That's where the judges come in. The judges of Israel were God's hand-chosen leaders to oversee the tribes of Israel, and there was one for each tribe at any given time. Obviously they held court and settled disputes like modern-day judges, but they also acted as military leaders in times of war. The most key aspect of being a judge, though, was that you had a very open communication with the Big Man Himself.
I find that the whole God-ordained thing is crucial to the authority of the judges. A lot of skeptics can't figure out how the judges gained their position; they theorize that it was inherited from their family, or that the judges may have been elected to their position. They also can't explain how the judges' authority is recognized by the other tribes beyond their own. I have a quick and easy answer to this: God gave them their authority, and other tribes took them seriously because of it. 😁
Anyway, now that we have the history lesson out of the way, we can talk about the woman of the hour: Deborah! Did you know that Deborah is the only female judge mentioned in the whole Bible?? That alone is cause for a "HOORAY! GIRL POWER!" But it's more than that: it shows that God does not discriminate.
Let me say it again for the people in the back: GOD 👏 DOES 👏 NOT 👏 DISCRIMINATE! 👏👏👏
If God was a misogynist, why would he have chosen Deborah to be a judge, instead of a man? He had his pick of the whole of Israel, and he picked our girl Deb. That has to stand for something! (I'm not going to get into the whole women-as-pastors dispute, at least not in this blog post, but this post should definitely give the traditionalists something to think about . . . # not hatin', just statin' 💜)
Something else wonderful about this? Deborah was married! I wonder if her hubby was a stay-at-home dad. I mean, as a judge Deborah had to be pretty busy most of the time, right? 😂 Regardless of the parenting situation, I think it's great that the Bible gives us this example of a woman being having both a husband and a job. Girl, if you like the kitchen, you go right ahead; but if you have dreams to do something else, don't be afraid to pursue them! God gives us our dreams for a reason. 😊
I feel I should mention this about Deborah's husband, Lappidoth: in some of my sources, it was implied that Lappidoth may have meant something else. You know, like the name was symbolic and that it didn't mean she was married, but that she was from a certain region, or held a certain duty in the temple or something. They say this because "Lappidoth" wasn't a typical name back then. What do you think? Personally, I'm choosing to take it literally; if it says she's the wife of Lappidoth, then I'mma believe she's the wife of Lappidoth. But that's just me. If you wanna believe something else, go right ahead; just do your research first, okay, boo? 💕
Okay, so I think it's time we got into the real story. Obviously, Deborah's not just a passing mention in the Bible. She's part of a whole complicated tale which is so involved that we won't even get to it all before this blog post is finished! 😲 Let's jump right in, shall we?
So at the time of Deborah's incumbency, Israel was being oppressed by this guy named Jabin, whose army commander was a pretty scary dude named Sisera. The Israelites didn't like being oppressed, so they cried out to God for help. God heeded their cries. His answer to them came through none other than our girl Deborah. Through her, God told this guy Barak to gather an army of Israelites because the Lord was about to deliver Sisera's army into his hands.
Barak was a little uncertain, and tbh I would be too. I mean, that dude Sisera was one scary guy! He had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron, and with his leader Jabin's permission, he had "cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years" (Chapter 4, verse 3, NIV). Twenty years?!? That's older than me!! And Barak the Israelite may not have been that old; even if he was older than twenty, he may have been young enough to have spent the majority of his formative years living in fear of Sisera and his army. And Deborah may have been the same!
But where Barak expresses fear, Deborah expresses faith, and that is the crucial difference. This doesn't mean boys are stupid and girls are awesome--that's NOT what I'm saying at all! There are some awesome boys out there, and some pretty stupid girls too. What I'm saying here is that two people can be faced with the same problem, and they may react to it differently. It wasn't that Deborah didn't know the risks Barak would have to face. She knew the risks, and despite them, she chose to have faith.
And that is why Deborah is such a stellar example to us all. Not because she overcame gender discrimination or she was chosen to be a judge (though admittedly those are both great and admirable traits). But more than that, Deborah looked fear and doubt straight in the eyes and said, "I choose faith."
What do you choose?
Barak says he'll do it, he'll gather the army and march to fight Sisera. But only if Deborah comes too. And the funny part is, Deborah is totally down for it! 😂 She basically says, "Of course I'll go too! But by the way, Sisera himself will be defeated by a girl."
What's this? Another female hero in the same story?! And people say there aren't any women in the Bible. 😂😂😂 However, I can't go any further into detail on that particular aspect of the story until the next part in the series! Stay tuned; the next woman featured in the series is my favorite! (Though I have grown attached to each of the others as I study more about them. 😍)
What happens to Deborah, you ask? She stays true to her word, accompanying Barak to the battlefront. She even gives him a pep talk before he leads his men into battle, saying, "Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?" This was one faith-filled woman, let me tell ya! She was sure God had already won the battle. And she was right.
Guess what? God's already won all of our battles too. Whether it's your grades in school, drama with friends, or any other anxiety you may feel in your life--God has already won that battle. If you keep Him close, girl, you ain't got nothing to worry about! "Hakuna matata" that sucker up outta here!
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7 NIV)^^ I need that verse tattooed on my forehead, anyone else? 😂 I need that reminder every day. And you know what? That's okay. Faith isn't something you get instantly; it's developed and strengthened over a lifetime. Do you really think Deborah just woke up one morning with that faith to move mountains? No, girl! She probably had to face many struggles and learn a lot of hard lessons before it became second nature. And even after it came naturally, I'm sure some days even Deb needed to be reminded of it.
And it all paid off! Both Deborah and Barak stepped out on faith, and that day Sisera was defeated! God is good, amen?? Not only that day, but in Judges 5 we can read on to see that afterwards Israel saw peace for 40 years! So God not only destroyed their oppressor of twenty years, but he blessed the land with double that time of peace! What a mighty God we serve!!
One last thing I feel the need to reiterate before I wrap up is the fact that Deborah was not a one-woman show. Throughout this passage in the Bible, Deborah is always working with somebody, whether it be her husband, Barak, or even God. She exemplifies to us that it is not weak to need one another. Self-sufficiency can prove to be foolish and even dangerous, especially when it's God that's taken out of the equation. This also proves that God is not advocating complete male authority, neither complete female authority. Humans I think have a tendency to make everything into a competition, and in so doing we can lose sight of the fact that we have the same goal: to know Him, and to make Him known.
"Not enough material." HA! Between you and me, I think I had more than enough material. In fact, I could even go on, I still have more I could talk about! But I think I'd best reserve that for the next part in the series . . . it's gonna be a good one, so stay tuned! 😁 I'm so grateful I got to discover more about Deborah. How come more people don't talk about her?? Personally I think I totally misjudged her from the start. I thought there was only going to be a verse or two about her, but as usual God proved me wrong in the best way possible! I'm so glad I got to raise awareness about this underappreciated Bible character. She definitely had a lot to share with me, and I hope with you too. 💕
With all that said, I hope this blog post was relatable for you, or at least that you learned something new. 💘
Until next time,
much love and God bless!
H ✨💗
*Resources used for this blog post include The Bible Reader's Companion by Lawrence O. Richards, Young's Literal Translation by Robert Young, Matthew Henry's Unabridged Commentary on the Bible, and the New International and King James Versions of the Bible. Great insight, would definitely recommend checking them out!
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