Judges 5:7
The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
The villages had ceased and public life in Israel had ceased, until Deborah arose as a mother and leader in Israel. To be a mother in Israel is to exercise caring and influential leadership toward those in need. That caring leadership continues in a present-day servant of God's people whose service carries the same influence.
A mother in Israel may not be a warrior herself, but her work is to raise up warriors who take the whole armor and fight the battles of the Lord manfully. Her portion is self-denial and the cross. The self-sacrificing spirit needed in the final trials is not produced in a moment but must be blended with daily experience and infused into the minds and hearts of children by both precept and example.
The image of a mother in Israel lays on Christians the responsibility to care for the young, to guide them patiently and kindly, and to watch over their souls as those who must give account. Women who take a motherly role among God's people should show tender sympathy and personal concern for young people who are weak or erring, especially those far from home. They should patiently work to win and reform them rather than abandon them.
Being a mother in Israel includes recognizing a seeker's spiritual condition and encouraging her with the discernment that the peace of Jesus is with her, offering spiritual care to a young seeker. The description of Deborah as a mother in Israel applies to burden-bearing teachers and parents in Battle Creek who carry weighty responsibilities for the young. The verse applies to men and women who serve as educators in the printing work, who are to love and fear God, be filled with the love of Christ, and act as spiritual fathers and mothers in Israel.
The name mothers in Israel belongs to faithful women who must now lead out in God's work. Because the Lord is soon to come they must not invest their money in houses and buildings or tie it up where it cannot be used. They must place their means where it can advance the Lord's work in the world, since consuming needed means in buildings is what the Lord would not have them do.