Deborah: Deborah trusts God
Consistent with the cycle of judges, peace among the Israelites is eventually disrupted because they turn away from God to follow sin instead.
Judges 4:1 | After Ehud’s death, the Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight.
The Lord turns over the Israelites to King Jabin of Canaan. The commander of Jabin’s army was Sisera.
Judges 4:3 | Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help.
During this time in God raises a judge and this time, it’s a woman.
Judges 4:4-5 | Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time. She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for judgment.
God gives Deborah his plan for rescuing his people from Canaan. She tells a man named Barak—
Judges 4:6b-7 | “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. And I will call out Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him.”
What an amazing opportunity for Barak! The Lord wants to use him to deliver the Israelites and has promised him the victory over cruel Sisera. Barak should be pumped to follow the Lord’s directions. But his answer is a little less enthusiastic than you might expect —
Judges 4:8 | Barak told her, “I will go, but only if you go with me.”
Barak doubts God’s promise and wants Deborah, God’s judge, to go with him. Perhaps he feels that her presence will ensure his safety. He may even trust Deborah’s relationship with God more than his own. But because of his doubt, Deborah explains—
Judges 4:9a | “Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the Lord’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.”
Deborah accompanies Barak to the battle. As a woman, she really has no place on the battlefield at this time, but surely she trusts God’s plan and that He will protect her, even against Canaan’s 900 iron chariots. The battle unfolds just as the Lord promised—
Judges 4:15a | When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic.
Not one of Sisera’s warriors was left alive. But during the chaos of the battle,
Judges 4:15b | Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot.
Sisera ends up at the tent of a woman named Jael. Jael invites Sisera in to take refuge in her tent. She gives him water, covers him with a blanket, and lets him rest. But then, we see the fulfillment of God’s second promise that was delivered by Deborah—
Judges 4:21 | But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died.
The ruthless Sisera is defeated by a woman, just as God promised. God’s people defeat King Jabin and —
Judges 5:31b | Then there was peace in the land for forty years.
When we think about Deborah’s story today, we should be challenged to have the same faith or trust in God that Deborah had. Even as a woman, Deborah was not afraid to go to the battlefield. She also wasn’t afraid to give Barak hard news when he failed to trust God.
We can also learn from Barak’s example -- his doubt made him miss out on being part of God’s plan to defeat Sisera. Basically, God wanted to use Barak and Barak said no-- he chose to trust his fear instead of trusting God. Remember, you can always trust God, even when it seems like God is leading you to a battle where you are outnumbered or unprepared for the task. Like Deborah--
Psalm 20:7 | Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
What seemingly impossible situation was Israel facing?
How do we see Deborah’s faith or trust in God in spite of Israel’s circumstances?
How can we tell that Barak didn’t have a strong trust in God?
What did Barak’s lack of faith cost him?
What lesson can we learn from Deborah’s story?