The Song of Deborah
By Joy Mounts
February 1, 2004
Judges 4: 4-10
y the words of my mouth and the mediations of each heart here be acceptable in your sight, oh, God.
This Sunday marks the beginning of the
United Church of Christ's Women's Week. During this time, set aside to
celebrate all women of the church past, present and future, in all their roles,
I plan this morning to analyze the story of one of our spiritual ancestors. To
do this, we will delve into to the Old Testament. This is the story of a woman
that appeals to us today, despite her story taking place well over three
thousand years ago. Her tremendous faith in God's plan for her people can still
inspire us. This woman was Deborah, prophetess, leader, judge and wise woman of
ancient Israel. Wow! I don't know about
you but I am curious how one woman got so many titles.
Deborah's story is found in the
fourth and fifth chapters of the book of Judges. The narrative form of her story is found in chapter 4. Just to
make sure you get the message that she and her story are special, the famous Song
of Deborah which basically recounts the same story in poetic form is found in
Chapter five. It is one of the earliest known forms of Hebrew poetry and one of
the oldest texts in the Bible.[i]
I have always been personally fascinated by Deborah because she is a strong
woman who moved in the world of men as a respected leader but was not a queen.
That her story is found in Judges which is so dominated by men is in the words
of one scholar “culturally unexpected.”[ii] What is it about Deborah that is worthy of a
story and a song? While it is true that she led her people into battle that was
not her only role. It is the image of Deborah the leader, sitting under a palm
judging Israel that has always stayed with me. Here was a woman to be reckoned
with. She was a woman of strength and
conviction who brought order out of chaos.
Deborah's story is worth examining
because of the leadership she provided at a crucial time in Israel's
history. This is not Xena, Warrior
Princess, flashing swords, screaming and killing everyone in her path. Although
I am pretty sure Deborah's story would make a nice mini-series. This is a woman
raised to be a leader by Yahweh to encourage the oppressed Israelites to trust
in God's word. In a time in the world,
when who you were, was often determined by how much land you controlled,
Yahweh's direction was to take the land of the Canaanites.
Judges was most likely written
during the time of the kings of Israel since there are many references in the
text to “before the time of kings.”[iii]
These stories would have been a way of looking back at their past and trying to
glorify their present. Each of the stories in Judges is cyclical with the
people being oppressed, crying out for deliverance, being delivered and then
making Yahweh mad and ending up being oppressed again.[iv]
This cycle could only come to and end with the advent of a king. The pivotal
figure of a woman as leader and commander is out of step with the way things
were usually done in a patriarchal world. A woman in charge is not an image that readily comes to mind when we
think of the Old Testament world. And while it is true that there are many
other examples in the Old Testament of women who helped to rule their tribes,
Deborah is the one who “judged” - alone
among a host of male leaders.[v] A rose among thorns perhaps?
Judges recounts one after the other
the exploits of mostly military leaders. Along with the book of Joshua which
precedes it, Judges “extends the story of Israel by serving as a bridge from
the book of Genesis to the books of Kings.”[vi]
The story begins back in the time of Israel's captivity in Egypt and Yahweh's
promise to them of someday getting the promised land of Canaan.[vii]
Now, with Judges this promise becomes a reality as they were considered to be
“deliverers.”[viii] Even though they have been oppressed by the
Canaanites for, as the text says, “twenty years,” they are now going to fight
back and take over.[ix] They had cried out to God for help and God
was answering in the form of Deborah's leadership. Yet as each subsequent story
in the book shows, they were “no better caretakers of the land than the
Canaanites had been.” [x]
Eventually, all would fall into disarray and the people would no longer want
these types of leaders and clamor for a king. Back to Deborah!
Our knowledge of Deborah's story
begins with her sitting under a palm tree with the people of Israel coming to
her for advice and wisdom.[xi] Palms were not as numerous as you might
imagine so the location of “Deborah's Palm” would have been easy to find,
regardless of the huge numbers of people surrounding it waiting to speak to
her.[xii]
Men and women came to her for advice and to have their “disputes settled.”[xiii]
I love this image of her sitting in the shade patiently hearing each case, sort
of the Judge Judy of her time. She had authority and a voice in serious matters
when most women did not. This is indicated by the way she is pictured in the
text, “holding court under her palm with the Israelites” coming to her.[xiv] The use of the world “Israelites' indicates
that everyone, men and women, came to her to have their matters settled from
property disputes to home problems. Clearly this was not a “for women only” court. Because of this role her people would have looked to her to be a
kind of oracle concerning “political and administrative matters.”[xv]
After all they did not have CNN or MSNBC.
In keeping with patriarchal times
in which it was written, Deborah is identified by her husband Lappidoth.[xvi]
The interesting thing about this is his name. Lappidoth means fire.[xvii]
Deborah is close to the Hebrew for “she speaks.”[xviii]
It also means “bee” as in busy as a.[xix]
However, in hearing her story we have to ask - Did she speak fire? Or was it
just lucky she was married to fire? Or is that Deborah is remembered as being a
“fiery woman?”[xx] Her
husband, having identified her as being married and therefore not some single
woman trying to give advice, heaven forbid, promptly disappears from the text.
He has no role in this story.
So there she is, restoring order,
dispensing wisdom and helping the tribe of Israel to get back on it's feet
during its time of captivity. She is nurturing it as a mother would by bringing
order to the land. In this role as mother to her people, she is placed with the
other “mothers of Israel, Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel.”[xxi]
How did she get to be a leader? No
one knows for sure because other than her husband's name, no personal
information is provided for her. No Biography Channel Special on the Prophetess
of the week. However, there are clues in the Song.[xxii]
A time of chaos is described preceding her appearance on the scene when
“travelers took to the winding paths and all village life in Israel ceased.””[xxiii]
In other words, times were bad, folks
kept away from the main roads, left their villages and fled to the “protection
of walled cities” while gangs roamed the land.[xxiv]
People lived in fear. Then something wonderful happened. A leader rose up in
the Israelites time of need. And lo and behold, it was a girl. “I Deborah arose, arose a mother in Israel.”
The people were being reminded that God had not forgotten them. The people put
their lives back together and began to feel a stirring of hope. This led them
to want to throw off the oppression they were living under. So “the people went
down to the city gates and cried “Wake Up, wake Up Deborah, break out in song!
Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives.”[xxv] Enter stage left, Barak, the general. You know a man had to enter this story
sometime. With the people clamoring and with a word from God, Deborah sends for
Barak and says to him “Yahweh, The God of Israel, commands you: Go take ten
thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulon and lead the way to Mount Tabor!”[xxvi]
Deborah tells him that if he does this then Yahweh will deliver to him the
Canaanite General Sisera.[xxvii] It is interesting to note that Barak means
lightning.[xxviii] How
appropriate that fire and lighting should be working together to do God's will!
But Barak is more like summer
lightening. He does not quite believe her. He honors that she is a prophetess
and giving him a summons from God but he does not trust that the outcome will
be as she says. As a prophet she has
the right to call him. Deborah says to him “Yahweh has commanded” indicating
that perhaps this is not really news to Barak.[xxix] Yet Barak refuses to go without her. He is a
general. She is not. She cannot command the army. He can. Why this reluctance
to follow through with the plans being given to him from God. Perhaps the
Canaanites nine hundred chariots of iron might have something to do with it?[xxx]
Deborah knows that if the battle is lost she will most likely lose her life,
but she has no doubts in Yahweh and quickly agrees to go with him. Her bravery
is inspiring.
But it is Barak's uncertainly which
is essential to understanding the important of her response for suddenly Yahweh
is being doubted at a crucial moment.[xxxi] In the past, if Yahweh said I will deliver
you they believed. They might balk at it but they went. So Barak's insistence
that Deborah come with him to the battle seems cowardly. Yet was it? Why did he
not just say “Thanks Deborah, got the message now I will go do what I have to
do?” Does it seem fair that Deborah replies “Very well, I will go with you but
because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours for
Yahweh will hand over Sisera to a woman.”[xxxii]
Yes, she was doing her job. She wanted him to do his. Perhaps he simply wanted
confirmation that God was with him.
There is probably another reason
why Barak may have wanted her with him where the troops could see her. The role
of both prophets and women in battle at that time was crucial. Prophets “play
many roles in battle they muster and they inspire.”[xxxiii]
Deborah goes with him to where the troops are assembling and then watches the
battle. She does not fight. Yet she has a weapon just the same. Her words are
her weapons.[xxxiv] Her role
is to “inspire, predict and celebrate in song.”[xxxv]
After the battle is won, the song
of Deborah was composed and the battle celebrated. The people of Israel
continued on their rocky road as people of faith trying to continually prove
who they were and whose they were. Peace broke out for forty years. Deborah, judge of Israel is remembered
and honored as one who created order from chaos and kept firm her faith in
Yahweh despite overwhelming odds against her and her people.
Understanding our spiritual
ancestors helps us to more fully comprehend the spiritual journey of how we got
to where we are today. Deborah is one of these ancestors. She was a strong
woman who emerged in a chaotic time with spiritual gifts that enabled her to
successfully lead her people. She looked to Yahweh for help. One point of the
story is not that Barak was cowardly for asking Deborah to go with him but that
he did not trust Yahweh enough to go on faith alone. Deborah was the one who
did. When told if she did not come,
they would not go, she said, “Let's ride!” She knew what has been assured to
her people and had no intention of looking back. As she says in the Song of
Deborah: “March on my soul with courage!” [xxxvi]
Deborah is a woman who is defined
by her role as leader. Despite her husband's name, she stands alone. Strong
independent women who lead, like Martha, Phoebe, Priscilla and others, are a
feature of the New Testament where they are numerous and do not seem unusual.
Perhaps they looked to Deborah as an example of how a strong woman should
behave.
Deborah's faith never wavered. She
showed the way of Yahweh to a people starving to be redeemed. I like the fact
that Deborah is noted as first bringing peace though arbitration before she is
shown going into battle. If she were just: Deborah, Warrior Prophet, I do not think I would be so taken with her
story. But pushed to show where her
heart lay, she went where she felt God was leading. Faith was her guide and her
watchword. I think at the heart of this story is the message that we need to
have faith no matter what the odds. Too often we are fearful about letting
faith be our guide. Perhaps what we
learn from Deborah is that having a strong faith means we have to follow where God
is leading us knowing that if the valley gets dark God walks with us: even in painful
situations. We have all been in painful
situations that required faith above what we thought we could give. I know I
own faith was tested six years ago when the doctor told me that I had cancer. As I struggled to understand my situation, my
doubts surfaced and stared me in the face. It was not an easy time in my life.
However, I surrounded by family and friends who encouraged and prayed with
me. Through their presence and through
prayer, I knew deep in my heart, despite my fear and questioning that that God was
with me. It was something I never understood as completely as I did then. It is
something I now carry with me always. God is with me. God was with Deborah. God
is with us. Amen.
[i] Norman
Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, 1985
[ii] Ibid
[iii] Tikva
Frymer-Kensky, Reading The Women of the Bible, Schocken Books, 2002
[iv] Women Bible
commentary,
[v] Norman
Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, 1985
[vi] Carol A.
Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, Editors, Women's Bible Commentary, Westminster John
Knox Press, 1998
[vii] Ibid
[viii] Norman
Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, 1985
[ix] Judges, 4:
3
[x] Carol A.
Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, Editors, Women's Bible Commentary, Westminster John
Knox Press, 1998
[xi] Judges, 4:4
[xii] Judges, 4:
5
[xiii] NIV Study
Bible, Zondervan, 2002
[xiv] Judges,
4:5
[xv] NIV Study
Bible, Zondervan, 2002
[xvi] Judges,
4:4
[xvii] Tikva
Frymer-Kensky, Reading The Women of the Bible, Schocken Books, 2002
[xviii] Ibid
[xix] Carol A.
Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, Editors, Women's Bible Commentary, Westminster John
Knox Press, 1998
[xx] Ibid
[xxi] Ibid
[xxii] Tikva
Frymer-Kensky, Reading The Women of the Bible, Schocken Books, 2002
[xxiii] Judges 4
[xxiv] NIV Study
Bible, Zondervan, 2002
[xxv] Judges 5:
11 - 12
[xxvi] Judges
4:6
[xxvii] Judges,
4:7
[xxviii] Tikva
Frymer-Kensky, Reading The Women of the Bible, Schocken Books, 2002
[xxix] Judges,
4: 6
[xxx] Carol A.
Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, Editors, Women's Bible Commentary, Westminster John
Knox Press, 1998
[xxxi] Ibid
[xxxii] Judges,
4:9
[xxxiii] Tikva
Frymer-Kensky, Reading The Women of the Bible, Schocken Books, 2002
[xxxiv] Ibid
[xxxv] Ibid
[xxxvi] Judges
5:21
© 2004
Joy Mounts.
All rights reserved.
