"Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided."
- Judges 4:4-5
Before I decided to begin talking about the Uniqueness of God's People, I almost wanted to focus on Spiritual Gifts, but then decided against doing that. The reason why I wanted to though, is because I here so many people say, "Oh that's not my gift, I just couldn't do that because of my personality/age/gender/social standing/physical capabilities/sinfulness." So many of the problems that we have in applying God's word into our lives is because we don't think the DO apply to us. The other problem arises in that we don't know the proper way TO apply it to us. Spiritual Gifts are one of those things.
The story of Deborah is also one that many of us do not feel like it applies to us, or we simply do not understand the proper way to apply it. As men, we don't think it applies to us because Deborah was a woman so this passage is mainly directed towards them. As women, many do not think this applies to them because it has been taught as descriptive not prescriptive: the way things were not necessarily how they ought to be, OR Deborah is a spiritual leader and women don't feel like that is their role now.
Beyond our feelings as to if it applies to us or not, this passage has often been applied improperly. Most often, this passage is used to justify someone's own belief on women's rights and purposes while ignoring the main thrust of this passage which applies to all of us. The details of a story are important to understanding the main purpose of it, but the details themselves are not the lesson.
Beyond our feelings as to if it applies to us or not, this passage has often been applied improperly. Most often, this passage is used to justify someone's own belief on women's rights and purposes while ignoring the main thrust of this passage which applies to all of us. The details of a story are important to understanding the main purpose of it, but the details themselves are not the lesson.
When we look at Deborah, or any character in the Bible really, we need to first assess what details are included about the person: she is a woman, prophet, judge, and she is a leader. Then we look at the details around her: Israel was practicing evil, oppressed by the Canaanites, God called Barak to lead them in battle, Barak did not trust Deborah.
Deborah was unique among the judges first in that she was a woman and second in that she was a prophet. It is obvious when we read the book of judges and look at the characters that Deborah is the only female, but we would have to look a little closer to realize that the rest of the judges were warriors in some way. The closest person we can compare Deborah to is Samuel, "The Last Judge" in the sense that as prophets, they both advised a military leader that was not themselves. Deborah's purpose in the battle was to tell Barak that God was giving His enemy into his hands and then to pray, but she did not lead the men of Israel into battle, Barak did (for further reading, see Hebrews 11:32-34). But because of Barak's untrusting nature, Barak was not given the honor of killing the enemy commander, but instead a housewife killed the commander Sisera when he hid in her tent. As in all these accounts of great battles, it is God who ultimately defeats Sisera.
The main thrust of this passage is this: God will use who He wants, when He wants, to do what He wants. God is not limited in His scope and the Holy Spirit moves not in a way that we has humans can predict. We are only left to struggle with what we have been equipped with and then for what purpose. God's call will not contradict Scripture, and through reading them and wise counsel, we will be able to know what it is that God wants us to do and not limit ourselves by what we think we see when we look in the mirror.
Deborah was unique among the judges first in that she was a woman and second in that she was a prophet. It is obvious when we read the book of judges and look at the characters that Deborah is the only female, but we would have to look a little closer to realize that the rest of the judges were warriors in some way. The closest person we can compare Deborah to is Samuel, "The Last Judge" in the sense that as prophets, they both advised a military leader that was not themselves. Deborah's purpose in the battle was to tell Barak that God was giving His enemy into his hands and then to pray, but she did not lead the men of Israel into battle, Barak did (for further reading, see Hebrews 11:32-34). But because of Barak's untrusting nature, Barak was not given the honor of killing the enemy commander, but instead a housewife killed the commander Sisera when he hid in her tent. As in all these accounts of great battles, it is God who ultimately defeats Sisera.
The main thrust of this passage is this: God will use who He wants, when He wants, to do what He wants. God is not limited in His scope and the Holy Spirit moves not in a way that we has humans can predict. We are only left to struggle with what we have been equipped with and then for what purpose. God's call will not contradict Scripture, and through reading them and wise counsel, we will be able to know what it is that God wants us to do and not limit ourselves by what we think we see when we look in the mirror.
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