The Woman Who Led Israel: Deborah's Tale of Courage and Faith

Have you ever wondered why some of the most powerful biblical stories remain largely untold? Today we unpack the remarkable journey of Deborah, the only female judge who ruled Israel for 40 years, yet her story spans just two chapters in the book of Judges.  The story offers powerful lessons about listening to God's direction, finding bravery when we feel afraid, and maintaining faith even when we can't see the complete picture. We are reminded that God works through unexpected people in unexpected ways to accomplish His purposes.
What might God be calling you to do today that requires courage and faith? Remember, as Deborah's story shows us, God hasn't brought you this far to leave you now. He will continue to work in your life as you pursue His purposes.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Starting Right

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. Today I want to talk about one of the most influential women in all of the Bible, but her story is not as well known as it should be, probably because it's recorded in only two chapters, back in Judges, chapter 4 and 5. This lady, of course, was Deborah, who was the only female judge of all of Israel.

Speaker 1: 0:40

Now let me just give you a little bit of background about the judges. The judges were primarily active before Israel ever had a king. In fact, it was God's plan that Israel wouldn't have a king, that God would use and guide the Israelites through the judges. Israel had this cycle that they continually went through, where they served God, they loved God, but then they would start to wander away from his principles and, in many cases, began worshiping other gods. And when they walked away from what God wanted, they opened up the door for other enemies to come in and to conquer them, to rule them, when the people were ready to repent and cried out for help. God would then raise up judges. He would use those judges to help Israel get back on track. He would use them to remind the people of the covenant. They would act as God's spokesperson. They would settle disputes and judgments. They would be temporary leaders in battle. They were God's prophets to speak direction and correction to the people and they basically ruled over Israel on behalf of God. And Deborah was one of these judges who ruled over Israel for about 40 years.

Speaker 1: 1:43

So let's pick up her story in Judges, chapter 4. Verse 1 says Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Herosheth Haggaiim, because he had 900 chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. They cried to the Lord for help Verse 4. Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, was leading Israel at the time. In verse 6. She sent word for Barak, son of Abinoam, from Kadesh in Naphtali and said to him the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera the commander of Jabin's army, and his chariots and his troops, into the Kishon Valley and will give him into your hands. Barak said to her If you go with me, I will go, but if you don't go with me, I won't go. She said Verse 9, certainly I will go with you, but because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. So Deborah went with Barak to Kadesh. I'm sure that when Barak heard these words from Deborah, he believed that she was saying that she, deborah, was going to have the victory over Sisera, but in fact that's not what happened. Israel had a mighty victory, but Sisera escaped. He ran on foot to the tent of a woman by the name of Jael. There he wanted something to drink and to have a rest, but while he slept in the tent, jael killed Sisera in a very nasty way by using a tent peg. So Israel had the victory and was once again free, and the victory was because God used these two women, deborah and Jael, to bring that victory.

Speaker 1: 3:37

There are some important things that we can learn from Deborah's story. First is that we need to be listening and then be willing to take the direction that God gives to us. If God is telling us to do something or to go somewhere, we need to overcome our fears and just be obedient and do what he says. Our fears should not stop us from listening to the call of God, because he's got plans and purposes that we can't understand and so we need to trust him and to believe him and purposes that we can't understand, and so we need to trust Him and to believe Him. And secondly, sometimes that obedience means that we have to suck it up, that we have to be brave. When we don't feel like it, we have to take steps that we are uncomfortable with. That can be terrifying, but we are never promised that it's going to be easy. We need to do what God tells us, not for our glory but for His.

Speaker 1: 4:24

And the third lesson we can get from this story of Deborah hang on to your faith. We rarely know all the details of what's coming next in our lives, but the old saying says he hasn't brought us this far to leave us what God has begun in your life. He's not going to leave you hanging at some point in time. He will continue to work with you and guide you and lead you all the way, and his purpose and design for your life will not be revealed immediately, but it will be revealed as we continue to pursue what he has. Deborah was not only a great woman, she was a great leader of Israel, and far too often her story is left forgotten or buried in scripture. I hope you have a great day, my friends, remember God is with you and God loves you. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday, right here, on Starting Right with Danny Mac.