Judges 4:5, commentary and pictures

She lived simply beneath her named palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim, where the children of Israel came up to her to receive judgment, counsel, instruction and justice in sacred and civil matters. She was a prophetess raised up as judge and ruler after twenty years of grievous oppression under Jabin and Sisera, when Israel's idolatry left highways empty, villages deserted, life and property in danger, and forty thousand men without weapon. Under her leadership with Barak, who would not go against Sisera and his nine hundred iron chariots without her, Israel overcame by faith and sang for joy, showing victory comes when leaders lead and the people offer themselves willingly. God thus chose a woman to communicate His will and deliver Israel in a time of special trial, proving He uses women in public ministry to teach, prophesy and serve without arrogance, while those who held that man and woman have different spheres taught that truly humble women will not usurp ruling authority but serve in their proper place. Her battle at Megiddo stands as an object lesson for the gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague, and as a mother in Israel she is set forth as an example of firmness for mothers leading the warfare against evil in the home.

Deborah's Setting and History

Deborah dwelt simply beneath the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel came up to her there for judgment. The palm marked the place where she lived and served as judge, and coming up to her was how Israel received judgment, counsel and justice.

She judged after twenty years of grievous oppression under Jabin and Sisera brought by Israel's idolatry, about thirteen hundred years before Christ. In the absence of the usual magistrates, when Israel chose new gods and had war in the gates, the people turned with humiliation and repentance and cried to the Lord, and through her He chose to deliver them. Their distress was extreme: villages and lonely dwellings were deserted for walled cities, highways were unoccupied so people traveled by unfrequented byways, places for drawing water were sites of robbery and murder, and property and life were in constant danger. Among forty thousand men there was no sword or spear, and no shield or spear was seen among forty thousands in Israel.

The verse belongs to the record of Israel's backsliding and the suffering and oppression that followed, as well as God's forgiveness and deliverance. It belongs to the book of Judges, whose lessons run to chapter 21. The book is named for the leaders God raised up from time to time whose deeds it records, called to service in time of great national crisis when the nation had gone into captivity and for that reason called saviours, the last of whom was Samuel. It was written about the time there was a king in Israel, by Samuel or Nathan.

Deborah, whose name in Hebrew means bee, and Barak, joined with lightning, were real historical characters. The verse is solid, trustworthy ancient history, not a theft from pagan mythology about a bee totem and the lightning as the sting-fly of heaven. The fact that her name means bee and his is connected with lightning does not make their story a legend about a sacred bee and the sting-fly of heaven.

The scene is an example of sacred history also preserving the lives and settings of people outside royal and powerful circles. The site where she dwelt at Bethel is now a perished town with only dry reservoirs and hovels standing, with not even the ancient name remaining.

Leadership and Deliverance by Faith

Deborah was a prophetess and a judge and ruler in Israel, giving guidance in both sacred and civil matters. The children of Israel came up to her to receive judgment, counsel, instruction and justice, and she adjudicated disputes between them. She taught and served Israel in this public office, and her authority was honored by the people. She stands as an Old Testament example of a woman whom God used and blessed in Israel.

God raised her up to be not only a prophetess but a judge during a time of special trial, declension and disaster, when Israel was mightily oppressed. That was when Israel chose new gods and had war in the gates, with no shield or spear among forty thousand in Israel. Woman's relation to the work of God has not materially changed, for God calls women to the office of prophet when the condition of the people is especially trying. He chooses differently than man would choose, and fits them peculiarly for the place, even in striking contrast with the public men of their time.

Her office shows that God may choose a woman to communicate His will and to show care, mercy, blessing and deliverance to Israel. She is remembered among the faithful figures and events of Israel's past that demonstrate God's mercy to His chosen people. Those who resent the means God chooses lack the humble, obedient spirit needed to serve faithfully.

The record is one of Israel's victory under Deborah's leadership. Victory comes when leaders take the lead and the people offer themselves willingly, and the victory is followed by a song of joy. Led by Deborah and Barak, Israel overthrew Sisera and his nine hundred iron chariots and defeated his army because they had faith. This demonstrates that Israel's earlier failure to defeat enemies with iron chariots was not due to any inability on God's part.

Barak, named among the faithful worthies, refused to lead Israel's army against the Canaanites and meet the hosts of Sisera unless she went with him, so strong was his confidence in the Lord's appointment of her. She went with the army because its captains would not go without her. She thus served as deliverer in the nation's trouble as well as prophetess and judge.

She is called a mother in Israel, and that name is presented as the highest honor the people could give her.

Prophecy, Doctrine, and Application

The battle of Deborah and Barak at Megiddo stands as an object lesson for the gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague, and is important to study in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues. Their victory marked Israel's first gaining of possession of the Plain of Jezreel, though several Canaanite cities there remained in Canaanite hands until the time of the kings.

Joined to the wider account of her bearing testimony, helping in God's work and proclaiming His truth, she is proof that God has used women in a public capacity in all ages to His glory and an example of a woman whom God used in public ministry. Women may therefore take part in the worship of God and public service, speaking publicly in a proper, womanly, Christian way through Spirit-led work, teaching and serving Israel without acting arrogantly or usurping authority. The honor God bestowed by placing her in public service where Israel came to her for judgment proves the silence enjoined in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:12, 15 refers only to governmental matters and ruling in the church. The command for women to keep silence in the churches does not forbid such public service or speaking in the church, but only corrects blameworthy disorders of women out of place assuming authority to teach and rule in an unwomanly and unscriptural manner, for a woman publicly judging, prophesying and speaking for God is God's order.

Man and woman are equal but their spheres are different, with the ruling position given to man as the stronger, so truly humble, modest, faithful women will not assume to rule or control or usurp authority, but will serve in their proper place and win and mold hearts by godly life. As one who led the hosts of God in war, she is held up as one of the Bible's examples of the good works of woman, showing how God has honored woman in all ages and placed her as a beacon-light in every avenue of life. As judge and leader marked by firmness, decision and determination to lead in warfare against the hosts of evil, her example is not a call for women today to enter worldly strife, but for mothers to lead if necessary in that warfare in the home. The home is woman's natural and most favorable environment and mother's realm where her influence as wife and mother is most keenly felt, and there the greatest battle of the universe is waged against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness, as the closing struggle between good and evil draws on. Mothers with her firmness, realizing individual accountability to God, mold children's natures and characters for eternity by every word, look, thought and action.