Deborah Who Declared God’s Truth: Women in the Bible Week 2

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Welcome to week 2 of Women in the Bible: Beautiful and Brave series! Each week for 10 weeks, we are studying the most beautiful and brave women in the Bible. At the end of this post, you will find the prior articles in the series.

This week our focus is on Deborah, the only female judge of Israel named in the Bible. If you are unfamiliar with Deborah, you can find her story in Judges chapters 4&5. We really don’t have a ton of information on Deborah, but I think she is one cool chick. We do know that as a judge, Deborah who spoke truth had to carry a load of wisdom. It is interesting to me that she had a special place where people knew to find her- a tree between two towns in the hill country of Ephraim. (Judges 4:5) I like to imagine the conversations between the people who appeared before Deborah. Believe me, Judge Judy has nothing on the woman who sat under a palm tree. Her discernment was well-known throughout the children of Israel.

Regardless of her wisdom, I’m sure it took an extra surge of boldness to call out Barak and let him know that she knew God had called him to gather 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun in order to defeat the difficult enemy. Essentially, she said, “Look, I know that God has told you to do this. Now get on with it.” As if that were not bold enough, Barak requests more of her brave heart. He says:

Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” Judges 4:8

This statement from Barak really makes me wish that I could have met Deborah. I wonder what her spirit was like and how she carried herself when she walked. It’s clear that Deborah loved God and she found favor in his sight and in the sight of fellow leaders. Reminds me of a statement I read in Your Life Still Counts by Tracie Miles this week:

…when we are real for God, God becomes real to other people. – Tracie Miles

So good. So true.

So Deborah agrees to go with Barak to battle, but isn’t it funny what she says in reply to him:

And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”

Basically, she is warning him that he is not going to get any rewards for this battle because he is not the brave warrior who will kill the worst of the enemies. In fact, God gave that job to a woman named Jael; the battle was indeed won. It’s an interesting story of tent pegs and trickery, but to keep the focus on Deborah today, we can conclude that she was indeed beautiful and brave, especially since her brief mention in the Bible ends with two treasures. The first is a song that she and Barak sing together. The song is one of beautiful storytelling (I wonder if the gory details were sung in a minor key?) and victory. The second treasure to ponder is that after Deborah’s bold leadership, the Bible gives the result of her courage:

And the land had rest for forty years. Judges 5:31

Deborah’s obedience resulted in peace and rest for all the children of Israel.

Obedience is always beautiful and brave.

So here’s our wrap-up for this brave-hearted woman:

• Name: Deborah
• Occupation: Judge
• Family background: Wife of Lappidoth
• Daily life: palm tree mediator
• Emotional baggage: None that we know of
• Weaknesses: None that we know of
• Beauty secrets: Believing God, Acting in Obedience
• Acts of bravery: Accepted the challenge of a leadership role, bravely declaring truth and boldly obeying God, in spite of the political setting.

What strikes you the most about Judge Deborah? Be sure to read her story in Judges 4&5!

Each week I want to highlight one of the posts linked up in the previous week. This week, I chose Jen’s awesome post, so be sure check out what she had to say about last week’s brave woman, Sarah!

Bloggers, I’m thrilled to have your 100% Christian encouragement  linkups this Whimsical Wednesday. If you have chosen to participate in the Women in the Bible series and link up your post about Deborah, then I plan to choose and highlight one of your posts here on the blog next week.

Rachel

Original Post: Women in the bible: 5 of the most beautiful and brave

Introductory Post: Women in the Bible: Beautiful and Brave series

Week 1: Sarah Who Remembered God’s Promise

Week 2: Deborah Who Declared God’s Truth

 

Disclosure: Post contains affiliate links; site may be compensated if purchase is made. See full disclosure policy here.