Deborah The Wise Series

Everyone has heard of Paul Revere, but very few would

recognize the name of Sybil Ludington. Her father was a

colonel in the Revolutionary Army in Connecticut. One night

a messenger came banging on the door of their home. Sybil

let him in and went to get her father. She listened as her

father received the report that 200 British troops had over

run Danburg, Conn.

The British had taken advantage of the fact that the

American troops had gone home to their farms to plant their

fields. The British easily stormed past the guards, and they

began to loot and burn the town. Colonel Ludington realized

the messenger has to go out to the militia immediately, but the

messenger was too exhausted. Sybil volunteered, but her

father refused to let a 16 year old girl go riding into such a

dark and dangerous night. But Sybil insisted, for she knew

the country and there was no one else to go, and time was

running out.

Sybil got her horse prepared and off she rode. Through

the night she rode to every farm house and shouted the

message, "The British are burning Danburg. Meet at Colonel

Ludington's mill." She fought back many tears in the lonely

night and her voice gave out. Her horse was also exhausted,

but she achieved the goal, and the British were driven back to

their ships. Sybil became known as the female Paul Revere.

In 1975 a stamp was issued in her memory, and a statue of

her stands in Memorial Hall in Washington, D. C.

All through history women have played a major role in

war, and in the defense of their people. Women warriors who

actually led troops in battle are more frequent in history than

most of us would ever think likely. Probably the most famous

of all is Joan of Arc who lived from 1412 to 1431. This 19

year old girl led France to victory in a war they had been

losing to England for 75 years. Joan had no schooling, and

never learned to read, but she heard the call of God to save

France. She persuaded the French Commander to give her

the chance. They had nothing to lose, for it looked hopeless,

but this young girl rallied the French Army and won victory after

victory. She united a divided nation and reestablished

France as a major world power.

We want to focus our attention on Judges 4 where we see

the Joan of Arc of the Old Testament. Deborah also rallied

the forces of the nation of Israel, and she won for her people

freedom from what seemed hopeless odds. For 20 years Israel

had suffered oppression from Jabin the king of Canaan. He

had 900 chariots of iron, and Israel had a grand total of zero.

You talk about an uneven balance of power. This was like

trying to fight tanks with bows and arrows. In our world

today one of the key issues is balance of power, and who has

the most and fastest strike capability weapons. Israel was

certainly not the leader in that day.

When Israel did evil and developed life styles out of God's

will, the pagan nations around her won all the wars, and they

were slaves. When they repented and called upon God for

deliverance God would raise up a leader who would set them

free even though their weapons were inferior. Weapons were

never the key factor in the wars of the Bible. The key was

always the relationship of people to God. Unless God has

changed His ways of dealing with nations, the future for Israel

and America is more a matter of worship than of weapons.

When people turn to God, and call upon Him for His

guidance and help, then he raises up leaders to accomplish

His will in history. That is what the book of Judges is all

about. One of these judges that God raised up was this

female judge by the name of Deborah. Why God raised up a

woman to do what is generally considered a man's task,

I do not know. But its in the Book, and we have to face up to

the fact that God is an equal opportunity employer when it

comes to using the sexes to do His will in history. Every so

often God uses a woman to do what he usually does by means

of a man. This forces us to keep our minds open to God's

leading, and not be limited by custom or tradition. If God

gives a woman the gifts to lead men for their good and God's

glory, then let her lead. The legalistic Christian says, "We

never did it this way before." The biblical Christian says,

"God is always doing things like He never did before. If He