20140224 Monday, February 24 2014
Judges 04: Deborah

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time"

The book of Judges is an accounting of the time from the passing of the generation of Joshua (see Joshua 23: Joshua's Farewell, Joshua 24: The Covenant Of Shechem and Judges 1: Why Did The Jews Burn Jerusalem?) to the establishment of the Israelite monarchy (see the Fact Finder question below). Judges is a two-century record of Israel's cycles of apostasy, then defeat, and then deliverance by battle leaders that the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) provided to them - after they repented. The Judges were not simply typical tribal warlords with personal political ambitions; they were servants of the LORD.

"4:1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead (see Judges 3: Othniel, Ehud and Shamgar).

4:2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 4:3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel." (Judges 4:1-3 KJV)

Deborah was very unique in that women rarely rose, during that more barbaric time (although some can rightfully debate that the world is just as, if not more, in some places, barbaric today) in the level of service, to the LORD, in Israel as she did. The results however were the same as for the men. The area where Deborah resided, "between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim," was the same where Samuel was later given to establish the kings of Israel (see the Fact Finder question below).

"4:4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 4:5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 4:6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 4:7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand." (Judges 4:4-7 KJV)

Barak recognized the presence of the Holy Spirit in Deborah - the reason that he requested that she accompany him into battle.

"4:8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.

4:9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 4:10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

4:11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.

4:12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 4:13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.

4:14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. 4:15 And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. 4:16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left." (Judges 4:8-16 KJV)

Other women were more direct in their battle involvement. In the incident of the killing of Sisera, "Jael the wife of Heber" drove a tent stake through his head while he slept, "so God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel."

"4:17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

4:18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.

4:19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

4:20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.

4:21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

4:22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.

4:23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 4:24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan." (Judges 4:17-24 KJV)

Fact Finder: How did the era of the Judges end - with a civil war?
See Israel In History and Prophecy: Samuel, Israel In History and Prophecy: Saul and David, Israel In History and Prophecy: The Civil War and Israel In History and Prophecy: Jerusalem