At this time in Israel's history they are being overseen by judges. Men and women whom God chooses to guide Israel - usually militarily - freeing them from their oppressors and then leading them by helping the nation return to the worship and fear of God.
In Judges four we are introduced to the first female judge of Israel, Deborah, and some interesting developments. I'll just list some things that I noticed about Deborah's term as Judge.
- We are first introduced to Deborah as she is convening some sort of court. Unlike the other male judges who are called to fight first Deborah appears to have been more of a mouthpiece for God.
- Deborah calls Barak and informs him, apparently as a word from God, that he is to go to battle for Israel against Sisera with 10,000 men and God will give them victory.
- With every male judge God instruct that person to do the fighting and gain victory over Israel's enemies, they never use someone else, they always lead the charge themselves.
- It seems that Barak either isn't sure that Deborah hears the voice of God, or at least he doesn't believe it enough to put his life on the line if she isn't willing to put hers on the line too and so he refuses to go to battle unless Deborah travels with them to see it through - not to fight but more like a good luck charm I guess.
- Deborah informs Barak that God will give commander Sisera into the hands of a woman instead of giving the victory directly to Barak, presumably because he did not trust Deborah, her status as judge or perhaps God.
- Barak goes to war with Sisera. Sisera's army is destroyed but Sisera himself slips away unnoticed and is killed by Jael, a woman, while she was offering Sisera a place to hide and rest in her tent.
It seems to me that while God's use of Deborah says a lot for the way He views women, the men of Israel had a difficult time following her. Remember, this is the first time EVER that a woman is seen in any position of power or authority over a man, probably in history - it was a male dominated world for sure. So God really is the first to elevate a woman to a position of authority and then He supported her by seeing to it that what He spoke to her was done exactly as she said it would be.
But also notice that Deborah didn't beat Barak down or send him away and find someone else, she simply let him know that she would go with him but because he doubted he would not have the satisfaction of killing Sisera himself (killing the king or commander of your enemy's army was seen as a great honor) and instead a woman would gain that victory and status was a low blow to Barak. Whenever the story was told of the routing of Sisera it would be Jael, not Barak who was discussed at length.
Still, it's interesting that God did not use Deborah to fight herself, she was the one who relayed God's message to a man who went and fought. And guess what, she doesn't fight for more rights. She doesn't yell at Barak or beat him down or talk down about men. She plays the role that God called her to.
In this way, Deborah is an example to us all. No matter what your position, gender, socio-economic standing or political affiliation God can use you, but only to the extent that you make your service about Him and not some political or gender discussion. Deborah didn't argue for the right to fight like the other judges, but she didn't back down either. She let God be God and she played the role that He called her to in a way that allowed God to get the credit, not her, not Barak even, but instead, God gave the victory to the wife of a man no one even knew about before.
Don't use your position or your spiritual muscle to go beyond what God has called you to. Whether your a woman or a man. Let God be God and you be His servant.
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