Fourth Judge: Deborah

For lack of information, I will be skipping Shamgar, the third judge, and moving right to Deborah.  Shamgar's entire judgeship is summed-up in a single verse, but the narrative moves speedily to the story of Deborah, Israel's fourth and only female judge.  Her story fill all of chapter four of Judges, while chapter five is comprised of Deborah's song, a beautiful testimony of God and how He has worked through her and through Jael, the other major character in her story.

An all-too brief summary of the narrative of Deborah: the people did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gives the people over to the hand of a Canaanite king, who rules oppressively over the Israelites for some twenty years.  The people then cry out to God for a deliverer, in the form of Deborah, who leads the army with Barak to overcome the Canaanites.  Simultaneously, Jael, the wife of a Kenite, hides the fleeing king in her tent and stabs him in the head with a tent peg.  Thus, the story of Deborah is actually about two woman: Deborah & Jael.

The story of Deborah and Jael is often employed to make a case for women in leadership; however, it must be said unequivocally that this story is more of a severe indictment on the absence of able-bodied, obediently-faithful, and courageous men to take the reigns of leadership in delivering Israel from their oppressors.  

This is really the key to this story.  As much as feminist and liberal theologians would like to make this a story about egalitarian leadership in the Church, this is really a story about God saving His people in spite of their doubting and courage-lacking faith.  This is, in reality, a story of admonishment to vacant men to grab the scepters and lead.  

Needless to say, both Deborah and Jael are more-than admirable women who stood up with courage and faith, believing that God would deliver Israel through the actions of their hands.  Deborah, in leading Barak and the army, and Jael, in murdering the king, both represent the dire time of the judges as well as the means necessary to garner peace in overcoming oppression and sin.  Let us then take the lessons of Deborah and Jael to heart, and step up to the plate when God asks us to take the reigns and lead in faith.  But praise be to God, who delivers us!