Well, my dear friend, the account regarding Deborah is very well outlined in Judges, chapter 4. I’ll quote a few of what I feel are key verses in learning about this remarkable Old Testament woman of Israel. In Judges 4:4-5 we read: “And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.” Now by way of background, the book of Judges is a chronicle of a time of declension in Israel, in other words, the children of Israel during this time often were disobedient to the Word of God, so God judged them because of their sinful ways by allowing enemies to conquer Israel and to treat them harshly. At length, when the children of Israel finally cried out for mercy to the Lord, He would generally raise up an obedient man of God who would, by the power of God, deliver them. Deborah, however, was an exception in that, in this case, God raised up a woman to a position of authority in Israel. This may have been because perhaps there were not any men in Israel during the time of Judges 4 and 5 who would take the initiative to go up against Sisera and his 900 chariots. It took Deborah to order Barak to do his duty before the Lord.

William MacDonald in his Bible Commentary noted: “(It is not the norm for a woman to occupy such a place of spiritual authority, but this was a time of declension. She should not be used as an example of the woman’s role in the church today, since she is the exception and not the rule. Also, this was Israel, not the church.) Deborah commissioned Barak to go north and attack Sisera’s forces, but he refused to go unless she accompanied him. Because of his reluctance to lead he was told that the victory over Sisera would be given to a woman rather than to him.”

Thus, in verse 8 we see that Deborah was really the driving force to get Barak to face the enemies of Israel. Sadly, Barak was hesitant to go to the battle unless Deborah would go with him. In verse 9 we read: “And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.” As we read in the remaining verses of Judges 4, Deborah went with Barak, and he, by the power of God, was able to defeat the army of Sisera with all those chariots, just as God said through Deborah that Barak would do.  However, because Barak would only go to the battle if Debrah went with him, the honor of overcoming Sisera himself went to a woman named Jael rather than to Barak.

Perhaps a lesson that we might take from this would be that God can and often does use the weak to accomplish His purposes. God often uses the weak things of this world to overcome the mighty (1 Corinthians 1:27-31), and Judges 4 is a case in point. And where was the rest of Israel when Sisera came around? In Judges 5:15-18 we see that only a few responded to God’s call for courage, but it is always God’s mighty hand alone, and not the power of men, which can prevail against the enemies of God.  “They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.” (Judges 5:20-21). Another take-away might be that even one person of faith, though they may seem weak to the world, can be used by God in order to encourage those who may be timid or hesitant to stand up boldly for their faith, even in times of great danger.  (SF)  (722.3)