Judges 4:6
And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, 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?
Deborah was a prophetess and judge of Israel whom the people sought for counsel, and in a time of crisis she summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali with the command of the Lord God of Israel to gather ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor against Sisera and Jabin's power. Israel had been oppressed by Jabin king of Canaan for twenty years and lay scattered, disheartened and unarmed under spreading idolatry, and Naphtali and Zebulun nearest the danger were chosen for a plan laid out so plainly that trust would have brought success. Barak was God's chosen deliverer with assurance that God would go with him, yet he was timid before the strength of the foe and would not lead unless Deborah went with him for influence and counsel, so the honor of the victory over Sisera was appointed to a woman. Though Sisera held nine hundred iron chariots fitted with scythe-like knives and Israel looked with terror on his vast well-equipped host, Barak charged down from Tabor at Deborah's assurance, the Kishon swept the Canaanites away, Jael slew Sisera, and twenty years of oppression were broken because God alone discomfits the enemy and the victory is His. God thereby bestowed public honor upon a woman and showed that women may lead and speak publicly for Him in modesty without usurping authority, so that the silence enjoined in 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35 and 1 Timothy 2:12 forbids only ruling and disorderly assumption of authority, while the battle at Megiddo stands as a lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague.
The Summons and Setting
Deborah was a prophetess and judge of Israel who dwelt under a palm tree, and the people came to her for judgment, counsel and instruction. She actively guided the nation in crisis by summoning Barak and conveying to him the Lord's command for the campaign against Sisera. Her prophetic counsel thus directed Israel's leaders and prepared them for victory over Sisera's forces.
She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh in Naphtali. To him she delivered the command of the LORD God of Israel to go and draw toward Mount Tabor and take with him ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of Zebulun. He was directed to gather that force at Mount Tabor and to lead Israel against Sisera's forces and Jabin's power.
The summons came when Israel had been oppressed by Jabin king of Canaan for twenty years and was distressed under Canaanite power while Baal worship had spread. The people were scattered, disheartened and unarmed. Naphtali and Zebulun were chosen because they lived nearest the danger, and the campaign plan was laid out in such detail that Barak could have known where Sisera and his army would be captured if he had trusted God's word and gone in faith.
Barak had been designated by the Lord Himself as Israel's chosen deliverer, with assurance that God would go with him and subdue the enemy. Yet he was timid and distrustful, doubting that Israel would obey his call because of the strength and skill of the foe. He refused to undertake the work or lead the army unless Deborah went with him to support him by her influence and counsel. Because of that lack of faith Deborah said the victory would bring him no honor, for Sisera would be betrayed into the hands of a woman.
Deborah and Barak are real historical persons, and the account of her sending for him is solid trustworthy ancient history. It is not a legend borrowed from pagan mythology. The meanings of their names, Deborah as bee and Barak as lightning, do not make it myth, and the Bible stands as the most trustworthy book of ancient history against conjecture meant to discredit it.
The field of the command is the plain of Esdraelon, also called Jezreel, the great triangle of plain lying between the hills of Samaria and those of Galilee. It is entered by the pass of the Kishon, the glen between Tabor and Nazareth, the valley south of En-gannim, the entrance from the Jordan Valley at Jezreel, and the entrance from Sharon at Megiddo. Through Barak and Deborah's victory the Israelites first gained possession of this largest plain in Israel's mountain country, whose trade routes connecting Egypt with the coast, Tabor and Damascus, and Samaria with Galilee made it a continual cause of strife. It is extremely fertile but boggy and almost impassable in winter, with almost no towns upon it because it is defenseless, and it continued to be traversed by foreign war and traffic as the classic battlefield of Bible history.
Victory and Prophetic Meaning
In carrying out the direction, Barak marshaled ten thousand men and marched to Mount Tabor, across the plain of Jezreel from the waters of Megiddo where Sisera assembled his army. The mountain gave Israel a strong position where they waited for a favorable opportunity to attack. Beneath them Sisera assembled an immense and well-equipped force expecting to surround the Hebrews and make them an easy prey.
Though Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots and oppressed Israel, the Israelites under Deborah and Barak defeated him because they had faith, and iron chariots did not prevent God from giving Israel victory. They were poorly prepared and looked with terror on the vast armies, implements of warfare, and dreaded chariots of iron fitted with large scythe-like knives fastened to the axles to cut enemies down like wheat before the sickle when driven through their ranks. Encouraged by Deborah's assurance that the very day for signal victory had come, Barak led his army down from Tabor into the open plain in a bold charge, and the God of battle fought for Israel. The Kishon swept away the Canaanite forces, the hosts became panic-stricken and sought only escape, vast numbers were slain, Jael killed Sisera, and the strength of the invading army was utterly destroyed. Their response to God's call brought victory and broke the oppression that had lasted twenty years.
The triumph God wrought for His people in Deborah and Barak's victory over their oppressors is celebrated in the song of Deborah and Barak, in which Jael plays a notable part. That victory is associated with the rise of Israel's earliest poetry among the hills of Galilee. Israel must act with courage and promptness, but neither skill in warfare nor superiority of numbers and equipment could withstand them, for God alone discomfits the enemy and the victory belongs to Him alone.
Barak's victory over the Canaanites is one of the great battles associated with Megiddo, the Old Testament battlefield where Israel fought the enemies of God's people. Through it the Israelites first gained possession of the Plain of Jezreel, or Esdraelon, the largest plain in Israel's mountain country, also called a valley and the great plain. Its important trade routes connecting Egypt with the coast, Tabor and Damascus, and Samaria with Galilee made it a continual cause of strife, though the Canaanites retained Megiddo, Ibleam, Taanach, and Dor until the time of the kings.
The battle fought in Deborah and Barak's day at Megiddo is presented as an object lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague. The account is important for studying the sixth and seventh plagues.
Leadership Women and Faithfulness
Deborah's prophetic counsel directed Israel's leaders in crisis, summoning Barak and conveying the Lord's command to gather ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor to prepare them for victory over Sisera's forces. Her authority as prophet and leader extended to the army, so that the captains listened to her and would not go to battle without her, a service and standing honored by the name mother in Israel.
God bestowed honor upon women by using a woman in public capacity to His glory in all ages, sending Deborah to call Barak son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali and deliver the command of the LORD God of Israel to go toward Mount Tabor with ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun in prophetic and national leadership. Her example in helping Barak shows that women could lead and serve publicly in God's work and may speak publicly for God without usurping authority over men when they do so with modesty. She stands among those by whom God honored woman in all ages by leading the hosts of God in war, her leadership standing with the good works of woman in the Bible from Dorcas making coats for the poor and needy to courageous Jael, proving woman is placed as a beacon-light in every avenue of life.
The silence enjoined upon women in 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35 and 1 Timothy 2:12 does not forbid women from taking part in the worship of God, bearing testimony for Christ, helping in His work, and proclaiming His truth in womanly, Christian ways. Man and woman are equal but their spheres are different, with the ruling position given to man as the stronger, so the silence refers only to governmental matters in the church, to ruling, controlling, and assumption of authority to teach and rule in an unwomanly and unscriptural way that causes blameworthy disorder. Women in humility, modesty, and faithfulness may share in godly service and win and mold hearts by godly life and modest demeanor.
Deborah's firmness, decision, and determination to lead in warfare against the hosts of evil from individual accountability to God is not for the field of worldly strife today but is the pattern for mothers to lead if necessary in the home. That home is the limited but mighty province where the greatest battle of the universe is being waged against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.
God may communicate His will through a chosen instrument whom some might resent, and the right response is humble, obedient faith when Deborah as prophetess conveys God's command to Barak to gather at Mount Tabor. In the account of Sisera's defeat the leaders took the lead and the people offered themselves willingly, bringing victory and a song of joy. Deborah's summoning of Barak to lead Israel's forces, especially the men of Naphtali and Zebulun, to gather at Mount Tabor was a call for the tribes to join the fight against Jabin's power, with Deborah directing the way and Barak leading, the victory presented as God's work testing the people's courage and their willingness to trust and call on Him. Barak leading ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun in the work God commanded shows their courage and the tribes' faithfulness as a model for God's people, so that refusing to help in a time of need is a serious failure while faithful service is required.