Deborah - A Woman of Faith and Courage

You've heard about more holy days, but I want to talk to you about a little flying creature.

And you have those creatures in your gardens. They're very helpful. They pollinate a lot of the flowers, and they also produce honey. And I want to talk to you about one of the great women in the Bible whose name is Honeybee, and that name is Deborah. And actually, our second daughter, Deborah, is named after this wonderful woman of the Bible that was a leader in her day. So it's not just men. God is not a respecter of persons. He can call also. Through the Bible, we see examples of very faithful and courageous women that stepped up to the plate when some of the men were not available at the time. They lacked faith and courage. And so we see it in the New Testament as well as in the Old Testament. But Deborah in particular is one that God had to call at a very difficult time in the history of Israel. The Israelites had already come into the land of Israel, but they had not obeyed God. And so God would occasionally allow the enemies to come and conquer them. And during that period of time, which is called the Judges in the Bible, we see the Judges being called to rescue Israel at a time. But what is very special and very telling is that there is one of the Judges that was a woman called by God, and that is Deborah. So why did God choose a woman like her? Well, he has done so throughout the Bible, especially when no brave men are around, no men that are close to God. And in the time of Judges, let's just show here in Judges 17.6, the circumstances, sometimes God has to resort to not only men and women. Sometimes He's had to resort to children like Samuel, who basically was called when he was around 10 years old. He's a little boy that was there helping Eli the priest. And Eli was disobeying God, and God called little Samuel. And actually, he was very special to God. And of course, he became the last judge of Israel, and also the first of the prophets that would continue on the lineage. And so in Judges 17.6, it says, in those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. There was no central government. There wasn't a person in charge of the 12 tribes. And so each tribe basically did what they wanted to. And so it was very difficult for people to be faithful when you don't have organization, and when you don't have different people trained, and be able to see things. And we know that even from church experience, that some people can just go off and take their Bible and go into a cave, and it's me, my Bible, and God. And so that can just break down. And we've seen the scattering of the saints throughout time. And so here in the time of Judges, there wasn't anybody in charge. And people did what they wanted to, but was right in their own eyes, their own opinion. And also, the second reason, very few people were faithful.

And no man was available that God could call. And Deborah was the closest to God than anybody else. She was the person closest to God. And notice in Judges chapter 5, and in the Bible we have two chapters dedicated to Deborah. Judges 4 and 5. And look what she describes herself in Judges chapter 5.

In verse 6, it says, "'In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, who was the judge before Deborah, in the days of jail, but also another previous judge, he said the highways were deserted, and the travelers walked along the byways. Village life ceased. It ceased in Israel because they'd been captured by the Canaanites. It says, until I, Deborah, arose a mother in Israel." So that's what she described herself as a mother that was going to defend her country, that was going to face the enemies. And it says what happened to the Israelites. They chose new gods.

Then there was war in the gates. This is when they were conquered, and we're going to go into that. Jabin was the Canaanite king who was in charge. He said, not a shield or spear was seen among 40,000 in Israel. They were all vassals. They were all conquered. And she says, my heart is with the rulers of Israel who offered themselves willingly with the people. Bless the Lord. And so again, God is not looking at the sex of the person. He's looking at the heart of the person. He used little David, too, to do great things. And he said, I don't care how impressive the person looks, it's what's in their heart. And he saw what was in Deborah's heart. And he said, you are the one that's going to step forward and save Israel. And so it's a very inspiring story because many times women don't think they've got much of a role in the church. And certainly that's up to you because we have women leaders in the church here. Most are deaconesses or ministers' wives that serve with the ministry. Certainly my wife is part of my pastorate in ministry. We are a team. And so we have a lot of women that step up.

Sometimes women wouldn't want to marry a minister because, oh, look at all the things that you go through. But it takes courage. It takes faith. And it works out that God is going to bless. As you serve God, you don't need some special patch or some bar to be able to serve God. We're all into business here. We're all part of that God's spiritual army. And so let's go into Judges chapter 4, verses 1 through 5.

And it says, when Ehud, the previous judge, the previous leader, he says, The children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. They didn't obey God. So the Lord sold them to the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hasor. This was the northern city. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harath Hagoyim. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. So what happens after you get discipline? What happens after you go through difficult times? Maybe you don't feel as close to God. You go through different circumstances. Then you say, why? I'm not going to do that again. I want to get close to God again. And so they cried out to him. He said, for Jabin had 900 chariots of iron. Now in those days, and they've seen in archaeology these chariots, they weren't made of iron, but they were reinforced with iron. They were still wood, but they would go ahead and reinforce. So it's almost like more, you talk about iron armor to cover, but it's still formidable, right? To be able to throw spears that things would bounce off those. So 900 chariots, and for 20 years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel that time, and nobody else stepped up. You know, God calls, and many people make an excuse. Not me, Lord. Not now, Lord. And Deborah was the one that God said, I'm going to use this woman. And she was a prophetess. Now we do have in numbers, I mean in Exodus 15 where it talks about Miriam, Aaron's sister, being a prophetess. So that was a position where God sometimes would send messages through a woman prophet, and this was one of them. Didn't look like there were even any men prophets around. Had gotten slim pickings because she was a double. She was a judge, and she was a prophetess. And you'll see the courage and why God chose her. It's as if she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Rama and Bethel and the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. So they didn't go to anyone else here in that whole region. They went to her. Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinam from Kedesh in Naftali and said to him. So here's the message that God had sent Deborah as prophetess. She had to communicate what God had told her. And I'd like to read it here in the contemporary English version. Makes it clear. It says, one day Barak the son of Abinam was in Kedesh in Naftali and Deborah sent word for him to come and talk with her. When he arrived, she said, I have a message for you from the Lord God of Israel. You are to get together an army of 10,000 men from Naftali and Zebulon, these are tribes, and lead them to Mount Tabur. And so she wasn't going to be the general. No, but she was the one that was receiving communication from God. She was the mediator there that was sending to Barak what was the message. And it says here, I'm going to read it now, verse 7, in the New King James Version, he says, 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. So you can imagine Israel wasn't well organized. It mentioned there weren't many that had swords or anything else. But God is saying, I'm going to take care of this. So you just have these men and show up here in Mount Tabur, and I'm going to intervene. And sometimes God intervenes directly like this.

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. So again, here's lack of faith. Why didn't God call Barak to be in charge? Well, he wasn't made of the strong stuff, spiritually speaking.

In the Bible knowledge commentary, says, regardless of his motivation, Barak's conditional reply to Deborah says, if you don't go with me, I won't go, was an unfitting response to a command from God. Perhaps Barak simply wanted to be assured of the divine presence in the battle, represented by his prophetess, Judge Deborah. It is noteworthy that Barak is listed among the heroes of faith, Hebrews 1132. Deborah agreed to go, but said that Barak's conditional response, in other words, kind of wishy-washy, to the divine command, he says, the way you are going about this is what she's saying, was the basis for withholding the honor of victory over Cicera from Barak. The Lord, she says, will hand Cicera over to a woman. So again, just slim pickings as far as men go. Why? Everybody's doing their own thing. When society, everybody's doing their own thing, and you see very effeminate men all the time in charge or whatever, it's pitiful. And it's very sad when you see that. But going on to the story, he said that the Lord will hand Cicera over to a woman. Barak, no doubt, thought she meant herself, but the statement was prophetic, anticipating the role of Jael. Notice in Judges 4.21. So I'm not going to go into the whole story because God intervened there, and he had this thunderstorm come just as the army with their chariots crossing over in the plain, and there was the river that was dry. And that thunderstorm just, where was it? That just in a couple of hours. It was in Texas, remember? In the campgrounds where just a few hours, I mean, the whole thing flooded. Well, this is what happened at that time in the Valley of Estrelon, the largest valley where this king had Cicera, the general, guiding them, and it flooded the plains. And so it got so muddy that the chariots were stuck. They couldn't go anyplace. And so then, okay, Barak with his army came in and defeated, but one was left, which was the general, Cicera.

And so in Judges 4, 21, it says, then Jael, Hebrew's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand and went softly to him, because he had fled into Cicera, you know, all hot and scared, because everything had gone wrong. Here, he had all the cards, and because of God intervening, now he was the only one alive, and he snuck into this tent of this Bedouin family.

And so she gave him some milk and said, well, you just rest here. If anybody asks for you, you're not here or anything. And she knew what God had done. And so he went to sleep, and he was completely out. If anybody's ever been in that situation of being in a battle and something, you are absolutely drained. And she came with a pimp, you know, tent peg, you know, a spike, and with a hammer, put the spike right here in the temple where he was asleep, and boom, and drove it through his head.

And that was it for him. And so everybody in Israel, Jael, this is the great heroine, and she's the one that got Sisera. And then there's an interesting story here where it goes on. And in chapter five is a poem written by Deborah, and it says here in verse 28, notice the mother of Sisera, the mother of this great general.

Oh, he's got 900 chariots of iron, and Israelites, they don't have any, and oh, they're going to take all the possessions of the Israelites, and they're going to bring it to me and my son, Sisera. But then time went on, and it says in verse 28, the mother of Sisera looked through the window and cried out through the lattice or the screen, why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why tarries the crafter of his chariots? Her wisest ladies answered her, yes, she answered herself. Are they not finding and dividing the spoil? Aren't they just having a great time? That's why they've delayed it. And to every man a gift of two for Sisera, plunderer, of dyed garments, you know, he's going to get the best, and he's going to bring it to you, his mother! And then verse 31 ends the story. Thus let all your enemies perish, O Lord, but let those who love him be like the sun when it comes out in full strength. And so Deborah did this very notable job. It says in Judges talking about the blessing about, let me, in chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, it says, Then Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinuam, sang on that day, saying, When leaders lead Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves, bless the Lord.

Yes, the leaders, Deborah and Barak, they were willing to have faith and courage, and the people that came and listened and believed what God had promised, because they knew if God did not intervene, they were going to get wiped out. They still went out.

They did what God says, and many times that's the faith that we need when people willingly offer themselves. Bless the Lord. And so in the New Testament, we have noteworthy women as well. In the Old Testament, we have Esther, who saved God's people. We have Ruth, who showed the true way of faith, and many others that are mentioned throughout Scripture. But in the New Testament, we have women such as Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.

We have Mary, the mother of Christ. We have Phoebe, the deaconess in St. Crea, in Romans 16, verses 1 through 3. I'm going to read in the New Living Translation. It's a bit clear. It says, I commend to you your sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in the house, in the church in St. Crea. Welcome her in the Lord. A deacon can mean deacon or deaconess, so I wanted to clear that up. It says, welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God's people.

So here, basically, Phoebe had this church congregation that she hosted, and there wasn't any men that could do it. I've had that happen in Latin America, where we got small little congregations, and sometimes we have to name a deaconess, as we did in this particular city in southern part of Chile. And she was the one that had everybody come to her house and take care of things, and they'd have a man ask the prayer. But she was the spiritual pillar, and we've had that happen many times. I know over here in the area of Barstow, and we have Jean, you know, the deaconess that was there, that little group that I remember meeting her.

And so we've had church groups, small congregations in that way. Notice it says, Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God's people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me. Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Jesus Christ. It's interesting that in Acts, it mentions first Aquila, and then it mentioned Priscilla. But toward the end of Acts, it's Priscilla and then Aquila. So it seems like Priscilla was the one that was guiding. Sometimes that's the way it works. And certainly Paul appreciated what both would do.

Notice in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1.

1 Timothy chapter 3.

Verse 1, it tells us a bit about the pastors and how ministers come into the church. It says, verse 1, this is a faithful saying, If a man desires the position of a bishop, which is the same as a pastor, he desires a good work.

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine. It means not given to too much wine. That's what the term means. Not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, nor covetous. One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. So let's give an example. Or if a man does not know, for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, not a newbie that still has to mature. And so we see it in the New Testament, as well as what the high priests, we never had a woman high priest in the Old Testament as well. But this is the rule that we have. Ministers are limited to men, but we do have deaconesses. They're ordained to be leaders. Notice in 1st Timothy 3 verse 11. And again, the term here, likewise, there are wives. The term here is, it can be women must be reverent. Let me read it here in the Amplified Bible, the Expanded Bible rather. It says, in the same way women, and then parentheses, or women who are deacons, or deacons wives, must be respected by others. They must not speak evil of others. They must be willing, they must be self-controlled and trustworthy in everything. So we take that part of it to also include deaconesses. That whole section is there, and Phoebe was an example of one. And so in the Bible, God is very fair, and we have wonderful examples of women leaders in the congregation that help, and the wives of the ministry as well, and many that they're not really ordained, but they're still women leaders. If you look at our congregational organizational chart, you're going to see there numerous women.

And so in the end, I'd like to focus that women are the same as far as receiving God's Spirit. Notice in Galatians chapter 3 verse 27, women should never feel left out. You have a role to do. Many times it has to do more with domestic things, but also women in the ministry there helping their husbands also advise about spiritual matters. It says in Galatians chapter 3 verse 27, it says, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We all receive God's Spirit. We all receive certain gifts of God's Spirit. Our job is to find those and develop them and serve the church as best as you can. He says, And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed. So we become part of Abraham's inheritance and heirs according to the promise. So Deborah was an outstanding example. That little honey bee that was busy and also productive is an example of faith and courage, especially for women.

And so please women, don't ever feel you don't have a role. You've got one, just like Deborah had her job to do and did a wonderful job.