By the Hand of a Woman

By Dan & Brenda Cathcart

The video version of this teaching is available at: https://youtu.be/6FW7iyoKXyQ

The scripture reading for this teaching is Judges 4:1-5:31

The book of Judges is many times overlooked by the casual Bible reader.  We tend to go for the prophets like Daniel, Ezekiel and Jeremiah seeking out relevance for our theological understanding and looking to support our preconceived notions about biblical prophecy and the return of Messiah. But doing so is a serious mistake.  The Book of Judges offers us the necessary historical background and cultural insight that guides our understanding of the later kings and prophets.

Certain women of the Bible play a key role in the history of the Children of Israel. These women are far more than just support for the men. They provide a kind of glue which holds the pieces of society together.  They not only bear children, bringing new physical life into the world, in many cases, they also bear a kind of spiritual life that only they can provide.

This is true of our Haftarah reading this week with Judges chapters four and five with the story of Deborah. This Haftarah tells the story of a powerful Canaanite leader who severely oppressed the Children of Israel for twenty years, and Deborah, who was both Judge, or ruler of all Israel, and a prophetess of God, who led her people with her chosen army commander in a great battle to deliver them from this oppression.

With the story of Deborah, we not only have a woman who ruled Israel, but who also wrote a portion of the scriptures. This is the only place in the Bible where this is found.

One very striking thing that we observe about the Book of Judges is that in nearly every chapter it is written that the Children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. But, yet again, in this book we see example after example of God dealing with Israel and offering grace and forgiveness, and the opportunity for repentance. Deborah comes on the scene at a time of great repression.

Judges 4:1-4 NKJV 1 When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD. 2 So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. 3 And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he harshly oppressed the children of Israel. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

the name Deborah is #1682 in the Strong’s Lexicon meaning the bee. It is from the primitive root #1696 daw-bar’ meaning to arrange, to say, speak or command. Deborah, as a prophetess was to say, speak, and command the words of the LORD! Even though, throughout the time of the Judges the people continued to do evil in the sight of God, there was always exceptions and exceptional people who followed God and kept His covenant.

The time of the Judges is between the death of Joshua and when Saul became king of Israel. Scholars have a great deal of disagreement as to when each of the Judges ruled.  There is not much to indicate a precise time sequence in the scripture narrative, and it is entirely plausible that multiple Judges ruled at the same time. The Judges of Israel had two basic jobs: to settle disputes between people and to protect them from their enemies.  In many ways the period of the Judges can be viewed as a transitional time between the pure theocracy established in the wilderness and the monarchy later established by God at the request of the people.

Our Haftarah reading of the story of Deborah takes place somewhere in the middle of this time period. This section of scripture can be broken down into two basic areas.  There is the story itself, found in chapter four and then the Song of Deborah found in chapter five.  Both of these relate the same story in different forms and differing detail.

The story of Deborah opens with a statement about the state of the people. Jabin, the king of the Canannites was rising up against Israel. Deborah is in her place as a judge.

Judges 4:5-7 NKJV 5 And she (Deborah) would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 'and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand'?"

Deborah was speaking in her role as a prophetess, relating the words of God to Barak. It is unusual for a woman to rise to a position of power in ancient Israel, but not unprecedented. At the time of the exodus, there was Miriam.

Exodus 15:19-20 NKJV 19 For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

Later there was Huldah, a prophetess in Jerusalem.

2 Kings 22:14 NKJV 14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her.

There many other examples of women in prominent positions in Israel’s history; Naomi, Ruth, and Esther to name a few. And in modern times, Golda Meir served as Israeli Prime Minister.

Verse six of chapter four indicates that Deborah, faced with the challenge of the twenty years of oppression from the Canannite king, called on a capable military leader, Barak.  The scriptures don’t give us much detail about Barak except that he was from the tribe of Naphtali, originally the northern most tribe of Israel.  As such, Barak would have had a strong motivation in the coming battle with the forces of Jabin who reigned from the same general area. Deborah may have made a great choice in Barak, his name means lightning. It is derived from number 1300 in the Strong’s lexicon. It also means glittering sword. But contrary to his name, Barak seems to act with some reluctance to Deborah’s call.

Judges 4:8-10 NKJV 8 And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!" 9 So she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men under his command, and Deborah went up with him.

Why was Barak so reluctant to go?  Barak’s words echo those of Moses when God tells Moses to go to the Promised Land. Moses says he won’t go unless God goes with him.

Exodus 33:15-16 NKJV 15 Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 "For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth."

Perhaps Barak knew that his army would be vastly outnumbered, but also understood that Deborah was a prophet of the LORD. Perhaps it was Deborah’s words to Barak in verse nine which convinced him that her presence as God’s prophetess at the battlefield would be the deciding factor. Barak gathered his army and set out for battle. It is this ensuing battle where the two chapters of our Haftarah reading both merge and depart.

Deborah had laid out the initial battle plan as she had received the word of the LORD, and Barak gathered his army at Mount Tabor in the Galilee. Mount Tabor was in a strategic and convenient location. It was at the border of Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar, from which Barak was to gather his troops.  Mt Tabor also provided the perfect high-ground look out for the battle field, the Jezreel Valley.

Initially the army under Barak was small, only ten thousand men. However, the account in the Song of Deborah in Chapter five indicates the size of the army was increased.

Judges 5:14-15 NKJV 14 From Ephraim were those whose roots were in Amalek. After you, Benjamin, with your peoples, From Machir rulers came down, And from Zebulun those who bear the recruiter's staff. 15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As Issachar, so was Barak Sent into the valley under his command; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great resolves of heart.

The commander of Jabin’s army, Sisera, having been warned of the army of Barak, also gathers his much larger and more formidable army.

Judges 4:11-13 NKJV 11 Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, which is beside Kedesh. 12 And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.

Through the prophecy of Deborah, Barak was told that the LORD would deliver Sisera into his hands.  In verse seven, the Lord says that He will “deploy” Sisera at the river Kishon.  The Hebrew word used in this verse is “mashak”, #4900 meaning to remove or to draw out. God would cause Sisera to be drawn out into battle in a place not well suited for his nine hundred chariots, the area around the river Kishon.

This river is the primary water source for the Jezreel Valley.  In the dry season it is little more than a wadi, a dry riverbed. But in the rainy season the river and the surrounding land can become a large swamp. Sisera’s chariots would get bogged down in the mud and become useless.

God promised that Sisera’s army would be delivered into the hands of Barak and he would do so in the valley below Mount Tabor. The narrative in chapter four gives some detail of the ensuing battle.

Judges 4:14-16 NKJV 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, "Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.

Sisera’s army was soundly defeated in the flooded plains near Megiddo.  Seeing this horror, Sisera fled on foot and came to the tent of Heber the Kenite seeking refuge and a much needed rest.

Judges 4:17-19 NKJV 17 However, Sisera had fled away 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. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear." And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket. 19 Then he said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty." So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him.

We were previously introduced to Heber in verse eleven.  Seeking refuge in this tent would turn out to be a fatal error for Sisera.

Judges 4:20-21 NKJV 20 And he said to her, "Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' you shall say, 'No.'" 21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

In pursuit of Sisera, Barak also came upon the tent of Heber and was met by Jael. He entered the tent and found his adversary, Sisera, dead with the tent peg through his head.  God had acted just as Deborah prophesied and Jabin was soundly defeated.

Judges 4:22-24 NKJV 22 And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, I will show you the man whom you seek." And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple. 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Through Jael, Deborah’s prophecy to Barak came to pass. Barak had led the army to a great victory with the complete route where not one soldier was left standing, but the death of the opposing commander, Sisera, was at the hand of a woman!

The entirety of Judges chapter five consists of the Song of Deborah. It is the one passage of scripture which connects this Haftarah with the Torah Portion Beshalach where we find the Song of Moses.  One of the study questions for this teaching deals with the comparisons between the two songs so we won’t explore that aspect here. we will however, briefly look at some highlights that will help guide you in reading and studying this song.

The song contains many Hebrew parallelisms which are common in ancient Semitic poetry. The first type is synonymous parallelism where the first line is repeated in the second. Verse three is a good example of this type.

Judges 5:3 NKJV 3 "Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I, even I, will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.

An example of climatic parallelism, where the first line is repeated in the second line, but with new detail added to it. An example of this type is found in verse nineteen:

Judges 5:19 NKJV 19 "The kings came and fought, Then the kings of Canaan fought In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; They took no spoils of silver.

The Song of Deborah gives all the glory to God as the one who accomplished the victory! The name of God, the yood, hey, vav, hey is used seven times, perhaps signifying divine completion. This is the name of God used when referring to the covenant keeping nature of God.  Regardless of the state of the people of Israel, God was, and always is, faithful to His covenant with them.

There is another seven in the Song of Deborah which parallels the entirety of the events depicted in chapter four. The song of Debora recorded in chapter five can be broken down to seven components or stanzas. First, that the LORD is the source of victory which is found in verses one through five: Then Deborah is the prophet of victory, found in verses six through eleven: Barak is the commander of victory in verses twelve through eighteen: the army is the instrument of victory in verses nineteen through twenty three: Jael is the woman of victory in verses twenty four through twenty six: Sisera is vanquished in verses twenty eight through thirty: And finally, Israel is victorious in verse thirty one.

There is a richness and linguistic nuance contained in the Song of Deborah which cannot be experienced without reading it in the original Hebrew. For those who can do this, there is a blessing to be found in these words.

But beyond that, what lessons can we learn from this important historical account of this long-ago battle?  One: Make sure that God is with you, and two: The glory for the victory is not ours, it belongs to God!

I think that we can clearly see, that even though Israel was in a sorry state where everyone did what was right in their own eyes and practiced evil in God’s eyes, it was still a time when God worked miracles of grace for His chosen people. This story of Deborah is one such time among many that we have examined in our recent studies. These same lessons being shown to the people of Deborah’s time also apply to us today. God’s intervention is for the purpose of bringing His people back to Him through their repentance and serves as a reminder to them that all the glory belongs to God!

Study Questions:

1. Discuss the connection of this teaching to the Torah Portion Beshalach Exodus 13:17-17:16?

2. What are some of the specific similarities between the Song of Moses, or Song of the Sea, found in Exodus 15 and the song of Deborah in Judges 5?

3. The Song of Deborah gives more details that are not included in the narrative in chapter 4.  What are some of these details?  Are they in conflict with, or do they enhance the story in chapter 4?

4. Look up the meaning of some of the other names in this Haftarah.  How does the meaning of these names enhance the message of the story and Song of Deborah?

5. What can this Haftarah teach us about the role God has for women?

6. (Extra Credit) Two women of the Bible are called “most blessed among women;” Jael in Judges 5:24 and Mary (Miriam) in Luke 1:41-42.  How are these two women connected?

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