13. Deborah
Deborah
Introduction
Once again we are confronted with something that is unusual. Previous to this record we found that the Lord raised up men to lead and to guide and to fight for Israel in their need, but here we find Deborah, a woman, a prophetess, sitting under her palm tree and judging the nation of Israel. This was a very, very unusual condition of things. It indicated that men were somewhat wanting in leadership, in courage and in direction from the Lord. An old brother in Port Seton often taught us that man represents position in Scripture, and woman represents condition. He often quoted Mary of Magdala at the sepulchre of the Lord on the morning of the resurrection. The disciples were found wanting, they were His servants, He had chosen them, but they were not at the sepulchre, they did not anticipate the resurrection, neither had they that intense love that Mary of Magdala had for the Lord. But she was found there because she was in the right condition; she loved the Lord, and because she was found there she received that wonderful message from the Lord, "go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God" (John 20:17). The Lord did not say to Mary, ’Now you go and get one of My disciples, they will go and carry this message’; she was available, she loved the Lord and she received this commission. Her condition was right.
Now similarly here, in the days of Deborah, we read a verse where it speaks about forty thousand men, "Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand of Israel?" (Judges 5:8). The inference is that among forty thousand men of war, there was not one who was prepared to stand up and represent the Lord and His interests in that evil day. "Until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel" (v.7), a woman with the interests of the Lord at heart. She was prepared to take this stand. Perhaps in the previous two addresses, in connection with Othniel, Ehud and Shamgar there was a great deal of encouragement for the brothers, but I would think that in connection with Deborah there is a great deal of encouragement for the sisters, that they too can stand up and be faithful to the Lord and do something for the Him for His interests.
Deborah - the Prophetess "And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time." (Judges 4:4)
Deborah is described as a prophetess. The study of prophetesses is an interesting study in the Old Testament and in the New. We have not time tonight but we will just mention them.
In Exodus 15:1-27, when Moses sang his song of exhortation and joy, we find it is said that "Miriam the prophetess..... took a timbrel in her hand" and she praised the Lord too (vv.20-21).
Josiah, wanting to know the mind of the Lord, went to Huldah the prophetess and she very definitely gave the mind of the Lord (2 Kings 22:14, 2 Chronicles 34:22). It was not a particularly encouraging prophecy because it indicated that the Lord was angry with those who were refusing to obey His word, but there was some encouragement for Josiah, that although judgment was coming, he personally would be spared.
We also find in Isaiah 8:1-22, the prophetess, the wife of the prophet, she bare two sons whose names represented different phases in the history of Israel.
Then we have Deborah, the prophetess, and I think these are the four in the Old Testament who indicate the prophetess character.
There is another one, Noadiah, in the book of Nehemiah (6:14), she is linked with Tobiah and Sanballat, the enemies of the truth of God, in their opposition to the man of God and his work.
When we come to the New Testament we find that
Anna is described as a prophetess in Luke 2:36. She prayed, she fasted, she sang praises and she spoke of the Lord to all those who waited for redemption in Israel. She was quite a remarkable woman and she was not young by any means, in fact she was very old, but we are impressed by the energy and the spiritual vitality and life that she had.
Then we find in the Acts of the Apostles that Philip the evangelist had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9). I would think they prophesied at home, because the Scriptures tell us plainly that women are to keep silent in the assemblies (1 Corinthians 14:34-38, 1 Timothy 2:11-12), so if they exercised their prophetic character then it must have been at home or in some private capacity by which they were able to convey the mind of the Lord to those who required it at any given moment.
I think that these six instances concerning nine women would cover the teaching concerning prophetesses in Scripture, it is a very interesting study, and I commend it to you.