I was a homemaker, the wife of an obscure man named Lapidoth. Our house was on the road between Ramah and Bethel, in the hill country of Ephraim where olive and palm trees flourish. I had responsibility as the keeper of the tabernacle lamps.
This was a time of great trouble. For twenty years the king of Canaan had oppressed the children of Israel. Our vineyards were destroyed, our women dishonored, our children slain. Many of my people had turned to the worship of idols.
I can't quite explain how it happened in a land where women are rarely leaders, but I became a judge. You see, judges are chieftains and usually heroes as well; their influence is felt mainly in war. And war was upon us. The enemy with 900 chariots of iron, while we had none, caused such fear that the men of Israel faltered in leadership. But I was so angry at the oppression of my people; I simply burned with indignation. I felt a call to rise up against such fear and complacency; in my heart I carried the great hope that God would come to my people's rescue if we would only honor Him.
I summoned Barak, one of Israel's most capable military men, from his home in Kedesh. Together we worked out a plan for action against the enemy. I told him that I wasn't afraid of Jabin's army commander Sisera, and that I wasn't afraid of his 900 chariots. I told Barak that the spirit that could animate an army was greater than either weapons or fortifications. I reminded him that God had led the Israelistes through the Sea of Reeds and had broken that mighty oppressor, Pharaoh. And with a God who had proved Himself to be mightier than Pharaoh, I saw no reason not to believe that He would be mightier than either Jabin or Sisera. Barak's answer was, "If thou will go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go" (Judges 4:8). I knew then that he had confidence in me, and I answered, "I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman" (Judges 4:9). In these words, the people discovered that I am also a prophet.
Barak summoned the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali–ten thousand men, but none well armed, and none riding in chariots. We went forward to near where Sisera and his charioteers were. A storm of sleet and hail burst over the plain from the east, driving right into the face of Sisera and his men and charioteers. [Josephus and the song of Deborah] The slingers and archers were disabled by the beating rain; the swordsmen were crippled by the biting cold. With the storm behind us, we were not crippled by it. We pushed on, believing all the more in providential aid. The flood waters raced down the Kishon River and Sisera's heavy iron chariots sank deep in the mud, and many of his charioteers were slain. Sisera fled through the blinding rain and managed to reach the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite. He thought he would be safe there and fell asleep. But remember, I had prophesied that he would be delivered into the hand of a woman, and Jael was the woman! While Sisera lay sleeping, Jael took a tent-
Copyright ©2004. Beverly Whitaker
Deborah
Judges 4:4, 5, 9, 10, 14 – Judges 5:1, 7, 12, 15