The Mighty Deborah

The Mighty Deborah

Judges Chapter Four

Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

I would like to give you the situation about Deborah. Her story is in chapter four and five of the book of Judges. I am sure you remember what Pastor Bob has said over the last couple of weeks. Some folks may have missed a week or so, let me repeat this. The book of Judges is a historical account of what happened between the time of the conquering of the land by Joshua and the time of King Saul.

Let us dig into our memory of our High School American history class. Remember when America won the revolutionary war, the 13 colonies, now states, set up a weak federal government. They had a document called the “Articles of Confederation.” However, each state basically stood by itself. When the Constitution was ratified, the states became a nation and the thirteen states worked together for the common good.

Depending on how you count the tribes of Israel, you can get to 13. The tribe of Joseph was broken into two subtribes, Ephraim and Manasseh when the Promised land was divided. There were twelve distinct tribes who got the land. The thirteenth tribe is the Levites. They did not get land for their tribe. Instead, they were placed into the 12 other areas. The tribes were loosely connected to each other. The tribes did not work together as a nation until King Saul.

Chapter four begins by describing the state of the Israelites. They had once again fallen into sin and idolatry, leading to their oppression by King Jabin of Canaan. Jabin's army, commanded by General Sisera, was powerful and cruelly dominated the Israelites for 20 years. I need to summarize the full story of what happened because if I don’t, we will be here for a while.

So, we then meet Deborah, a prophetess and the wife of Lappidoth, who served as a judge in Israel during this time. She held court under a palm tree in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites from different tribes came to her for judgment and guidance.

The sweet part of this story is that Deborah is called by God to free the Israelites from the oppression of King Jabin. This will sound crazy to us, but image the shock of the people when they found out that God called a woman to save the people. Let me remind you that this did not happen frequently in world history. I will come back to Deborah after I give you the rest of the story.

Deborah summoned Barak, a military leader from the tribe of Naphtali, and told him that God commanded him to gather 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon to confront Sisera's army. She assured Barak that God would deliver Sisera into his hands. By the way, the territory of Naphtali and Zebulon became known as the Galilee in Jesus’ day. A nice fact to know when you play Bible Trivia.

Barak expressed reluctance and was hesitant to go into battle unless Deborah accompanied him. Deborah agreed to go with him but warned that because of his hesitation, the honor of victory would go to a woman instead of him.

Barak assembled his forces, and they confronted Jabin’s army. Sisera was leading this army when the two armies met near the Kishon River. With God's intervention, a torrential rain caused the river to flood, hindering Sisera's chariots and giving the Israelites an advantage. The Israelites defeated Sisera's army, and Sisera fled on foot.

Sisera sought refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, who was at peace with King Jabin. Jael welcomed Sisera into her tent, provided him with milk to drink, and covered him with a rug. When he fell asleep, Jael took a tent peg and a hammer, driving the peg through Sisera's temple, killing him. A cultural item is that women were responsible in those days for setting up tents. Therefore, women would have tent pegs (which were used to secure the tents) available to them. Another cultural item is that only a husband was allowed into a woman’s tent. Sisera found out what happens when you violate that cultural expectation. It is an interesting twist in the story because Sisera knew better. Wow, was Sisera scared to be caught.

Barak arrived at Jael's tent and found Sisera dead. The victory was confirmed, and Barak and Deborah celebrated their triumph over Jabin and Sisera.

Judges chapter 4 showcases the leadership of Deborah and the bravery of Jael in the context of a military victory orchestrated by God to free the Israelites from Canaanite oppression. The narrative ends in chapter 5 with what is called the Song of Deborah. It is a victory song.