Judges 4:9, commentary and pictures

Deborah agreed to go with Barak to Kedesh, but warned him that the march would bring him no honor because the Lord would deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman. Barak had been chosen to deliver Israel and promised that God would go with him, yet knowing the weak and disheartened state of the Hebrews and the strength of their enemies, he was timid and would not fight unless Deborah went with him for counsel and influence. His faith was genuine but incomplete, and his refusal to go on God's word alone cost him the honor, which passed to a woman. The word was fulfilled when Sisera fled the battle and was slain by Jael the wife of Heber in her tent. The account shows that God bestows honor upon women and calls them to public service as prophetess and judge, and that the command for women to keep silence forbids only assuming ruling authority in an unwomanly and disorderly way, not bearing testimony, proclaiming truth, and taking part in worship and work.

Story and Setting

Deborah agreed to go with Barak to Kedesh, warning that the journey would not be for his honor because the Lord would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. The woman to whom the honor would belong was Jael, who killed Sisera in her tent after he fled the battle. The episode places Deborah as the one who tells the way and Barak as the leader of the troops gathering for battle, and the victory is God's work.

The account belongs to Deborah as prophetess, judge, and ruler in Israel, whom the people sought for judgment and received counsel and instruction from, judging beneath a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim. Barak had been chosen by the Lord himself to deliver Israel and had been promised that God would go with him and subdue the enemy. Knowing the scattered, disheartened, unarmed condition of the Hebrews and the strength and skill of their enemies, he was timid and distrustful and feared Israel would not obey his call, so he refused to fight alone unless Deborah accompanied him to support him by her influence and counsel. Accepting such guidance through a prophetess required humility and obedient faith, and those who resented God's chosen instruments would have made poor leaders in Barak's day. Her leadership was so esteemed that Barak and the army would not go to battle without her, and she went with the hosts whom Israel honored as mother in Israel.

Deborah, whose Hebrew name means bee, and Barak, whose name means lightning, were real historical characters whose story is solid, trustworthy ancient history, not stolen from pagan mythology nor borrowed from it. Deborah kept her word to go, and Barak marshaled ten thousand men and marched to Mount Tabor as the Lord had directed. Sisera gathered nine hundred iron chariots, fitted with scythe-like knives, near Megiddo, while Barak assembled his ten thousand on Mount Tabor, and their forces met across the plain of Jezreel where Israel won a remarkable victory. Encouraged by Deborah's presence and assurance that the very day for signal victory had come, Barak led his poorly prepared army down from its strong position in the mountains into the open plain against an immense and well-equipped force. There the God of battle fought for Israel and destroyed the strength of the invading army, so that neither skill, numbers, nor equipment could withstand them and the victory could be ascribed to God alone, showing that Israel acting in faith could overcome even nine hundred iron chariots. Barak's descent from Mount Tabor against Sisera and the Canaanite force ended in the defeat in which Sisera was killed by Jael.

By this victory of Barak and Deborah the Israelites first gained possession of the Plain of Jezreel, though the Canaanites retained several towns there until the time of the kings. The victory was followed by a song of joy. The prediction was fulfilled when Sisera, fleeing the battle, was delivered into the hands of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, and the captain of the opposing bands was delivered into the hand of the courageous woman. Jael's part in Israel's deliverance from Jabin's oppression is celebrated in the victory song of Deborah and Barak, which Barak had to share with Deborah.

Faith and Victory

Barak's faith was extraordinary yet not as strong as it might have been, for he would not go in pursuit of the enemy unless Deborah the prophetess went with him. His reluctance to trust God's word cost him the honor, for Deborah agreed to accompany him but warned that the expedition would not be for his honor because the Lord would give Sisera into the hand of a woman. People receive according to their faith, and the man whose faith would not let him go to the conflict without the help of a woman was excelled by a woman. The warning came to pass when Sisera was delivered into the hands of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, who killed him, so that Barak had to share the victory song with Deborah.

The episode places Deborah as the one who tells the way and Barak as the leader of the troops gathering at Tabor for battle, and presents the victory as God's work. It illustrates that victory comes when leaders take the lead and the people offer themselves willingly, a triumph followed by a song of joy. Israel, acting in faith, could thus overcome the enemy even though Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots.

The battle of Deborah and Barak was fought at Megiddo. That battle serves as an object lesson for Armageddon, the final gathering of the nations under the sixth plague. The account is therefore important to study in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues. The same campaign warns that refusing to help in the Lord's work is wrong and can bring disgrace.

Women in Ministry

God bestows honor upon women and has used them in a public capacity to His glory in all ages. Deborah was His appointed judge and prophetess who went with Barak to Kedesh to lead Israel in war and to lead the hosts of God, an example of a prophetess leading Israel's armies. Her word that the Lord would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman was fulfilled when the opposing captain was delivered into the hand of the courageous Jael, who killed him, giving woman a conspicuous part in the defeat and leaving Barak to share the victory song with Deborah. In this God honored woman in all ages and set her as a beacon-light in every avenue of life, establishing her equality with men in Israel and her divine calling, virtue, influence, and high distinction in His work. The commands for women to keep silence in the churches do not forbid bearing testimony for Christ, helping in His work, proclaiming His truth in womanly, Christian ways, and taking part in the worship and public service of God. They refer only to ruling and governmental matters in the church where man holds the ruling position by strength, and forbid women to be out of place by assuming authority to teach and rule in an unwomanly, unscriptural, and arrogant way. They correct blameworthy disorders, leaving women to serve and to give testimony publicly for God in humble, modest, faithful godliness without usurping authority or assuming rule and control. Israel honored Deborah as mother in Israel, whose leadership was so esteemed that Barak and the army would not go to battle without her and who went with the hosts. Her firmness, decision, and determination to go and to lead if necessary in warfare against the hosts of evil is needed today not on the field of worldly strife but in the home. The 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, and where mothers must lead in the closing struggle between the forces of good and evil.