At a time when the people of Israel were in trouble, there was a courageous woman named Deborah. Deborah was a judge, which means she helped the people to make good decisions and dispensed justice. She was also a prophetess, that is, God spoke to the people through her.
Deborah often sat under a palm tree called “Deborah’s palm”. People came there to get advice from her. The people of Israel were very afraid, because a king named Jabin was very angry with them. His commander was called Sisera, and he had a strong army with many chariots made of iron.
One day, God spoke to Deborah and gave her an important message. She called a brave man named Barak to her. “Barak,” she said, “God has commanded you to take ten thousand men with you and go to Mount Tabor. God will give Sisera and his army into your hand.”
Barak listened to Deborah, but he was a little unsure. “I will only go if you come with me,” he said to Deborah. Then Deborah bravely said, “I will go with you. But the glory of this victory will not belong to you, but to a woman.” Barak agreed, and together they went to rally the army.
Deborah, Barak and the Israelite army stood on Mount Tabor, and Sisera came with his mighty chariots and soldiers to fight them. But God helped Israel. He made sure that the iron wagons got stuck, and Sisera and his soldiers became very confused. Barak and his army defeated Sisera’s army, but Sisera himself ran away to hide.
Sisera came to a tent where a woman named Jael lived. She invited him to come in and rest. Jael gave him milk to drink and let him sleep. But when Sisera was fast asleep, Jael showed her courage and acted as predestined. Thus, Sisera’s threat was ended, and the people of Israel were finally free from King Jabin’s oppression.
Deborah and Barak sang a song for God to thank Him for the great victory. People rejoiced and knew that God is always with them, no matter how difficult the situation seems.
Message of history
God can call strong women to act boldly and carry out His plans. We can trust that God will guide us in difficult times and give us strength through faith in Him.
Bible passage
The story of Deborah, the courageous judge, is found in Judges 4 and Judges 5. Here is the relevant text after the Schlachter 2000 translation:
Judges 4:1-24:
“And the children of Israel did again what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. Then the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the chief of his army was Sisera, and he dwelt in Haroshet-goyim. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for he had 900 iron chariots, and he oppressed the children of Israel by force for 20 years. At that time the judge of Israel was the prophetess Deborah, the wife of Lappidot. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel, in the hills of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went up to her for judgment. And she sent and sent for Barak, son of Abinoam, of Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go and go to Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun?’ And I will send Sisera, the commander of the army of Jabin, with his chariots and with his crowd to the brook of Kison, and I will give him into your hand. Then Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go! She said, “I will go with you; but the glory shall not be yours in the way you walk, but the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Then Deborah set out and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and 10,000 men marched after him; Deborah also went with him. But Heber, the Kenite, had turned away from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses; and he had pitched his tent as far as the valley of the Terebinth, near Kedesh. Then it was reported to Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone to Mount Tabor. And Sisera summoned all his chariots, 900 iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Haroshet-goyim to the brook Kison. Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get up; for this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you? Then Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and the 10,000 men followed him. But the Lord brought Sisera and all his chariots and the whole army camp into confusion before Barak by the edge of the sword, so that Sisera jumped from the chariot and fled on foot. Barak, however, chased the chariot and the army as far as Haroshet-Goyim; and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword, so that not one was left. Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber, the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. But Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Come in, my lord, come to me, and do not be afraid.” And he went to her in the tent, and she covered him with a blanket. But he said to her, “Give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” Then she opened the milk-skin, and let him drink, and covered him. And he said to her, “Come to the entrance of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you and says, ‘Is anyone here?’ So say: No! Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent stake and seized the hammer with her hand, stepped softly up to him and drove the stake through his temple so that it penetrated into the earth. (But he had fainted and fell asleep.) So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man you seek.” And when he went in to her, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the stake was stuck in his temple. So God humbled Jabin, king of Canaan, before the children of Israel that day. And the hand of the children of Israel was heavier and heavier on Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.”
Judges 5:1-31 is the song of Deborah that sings of the victory over Sisera.
