If I may,
I want to hear more about strong women in the Bible like Deborah. I didn’t know about her until recently, but I have a new role model.
This is Judges 4.
(Warning: It gets a little gruesome at the end.)
“You hear a lot about how women were second-class citizens in the culture that you read about in the bible. It’s important to notice, though, that women were not second-class citizens in God’s eyes, ever. Deborah is a great example.
Deborah was a judge, a national leader, just like any male judge whom Israel recognized. She was even asked to go to battle. Know what she said? ‘I’ll go as long as you realize that everyone is going to know that a woman did the winning.’” -ncv
Are you serious? How kick-butt is that?!
Also, the second-class thing is untrue, especially for that time period…but that’s for another time.
Deborah
She was one of the first Judges. (Judges were a lot more important in ancient Israel than they are today. Not only did they decide legal cases, they acted as military leaders. Judges were responsible for inspiring the Israelites when they didn’t seem to care about God’s plan, leading them into battle against the people who were oppressing them and encouraging them to worship the Lord again.) She was married when she led the nation. She was a prophetess.
She would sit under a palm tree in the mountains as people came to her to settle their arguments. One day, she sent a letter to a man named Barak. She relayed the message from God telling him that the Lord commanded him to go and gather 10,000 men from Naphtali and Zebulun. God promised to hand over the captain Sisera, who had been cruel to Israel for twenty years under king Jabin (who defeated Israel when they fell away from God again).
“Then Barak said to Deborah, ‘I will go if you will go with me, but if you won’t go with me, I won’t go.’”
Deborah, in all her sass, responded, “’Of course I will go with you…but you will not get credit for the victory. The Lord will let a woman defeat Sisera.’” She went with Barak to gather the ten thousand men. When Sisera heard what was going on, he gathered his 900 iron chariots and all of his men from across the lands. He and his army went out to meet them.
“Then Deborah said to Barak, ‘Get up! Today is the day the Lord will hand over Sisera. The Lord has already cleared the way for you.’ So Barak led ten thousand men down Mount Tabor. As Barak approached, the Lord confused Sisera and his army and his chariots. The Lord defeated them with the sword, but Sisera left his chariot and ran away on foot.”
They chased his army. Not one of them was left alive. Sisera ran to the tent where a woman named Jael lived. Jael was the wife of Heber, a descendant of Moses’ brother-in-law….
Jael went out to meet Sisera and said, “’Come into my tent, my master! Come in. Don’t be afraid.’” She covered him with a rug and gave him milk when he asked for water. He told her to say “no” if anyone asked if someone was there. When Sisera fell into a deep sleep, Jael went outside. She grabbed a tent peg and a hammer. She hammered the tent peg through the side of Sisera’s head and into the ground.
“At that very moment Barak came by Jael’s tent, chasing Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and said, ‘Come. I will show you the man you are looking for.’ So Barak entered her tent, and there Sisera lay dead, with the tent peg in his head.
On that day God defeated Jabin, king of Canaan, in the sight of Israel. Israel became stronger and stronger against Jabin until finally they destroyed him.”
Judges 5 is The Song of Deborah.
I think I need reminding sometimes that I’m a strong woman of God because of He that lives inside of me. Being strong won’t ruin my chances of finding a husband. The right man will be drawn to me and the God that lives inside. There are higher things to set my eyes on than what lies on the horizon.
You are a pearl. Run your race.
Christie
Photo Credit: x
The Wandering Elephant 