16. The Person of Deborah, the Fourth Judge

The Person of Deborah, the Fourth Judge "Sitting under the Palm Tree of Deborah"

"And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment." (Judges 4:4-5)

Now it says that she "dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah". Now when the Spirit of God writes things in the inspired Scriptures there is a particular reason for it. It could have been an oak tree, it could have been any other kind of tree, but the Spirit of God has indicated to us there is something special about this tree, it is not just a palm tree, it is the palm tree of Deborah. There is a particular reference to it. She sat there and she judged Israel. They came to her with their problems and she helped them. So what do palm trees represent? The first reference to them is in Exodus 15:1-27, where the Israelites came to the wells of water and the seventy palm trees (v.27). Now as far as Israel was concerned, that was a tremendous blessing. They were thirsty, parched, hungry perhaps they had travelled through the wilderness, and they came to this place of refreshment and fruitfulness, a place of shade, a place of rest. When Solomon built the temple for God, the palm tree was very prominent in the decoration (1 Kings 6:29; 1 Kings 6:32; 1 Kings 6:35; 1 Kings 7:36, 2 Chronicles 3:5). When we turn over into the New Testament, we begin to get some insight as to what this means. You remember when Jesus was entering into the city of Jerusalem, they cut down palm leaves and they strewed them in the way as He entered, the victorious Messiah into His city (John 12:12-13). But there is another reference which I think finalises this thought in our minds, the idea of victory. In Revelation 7:1-17, John the prophet is given a vision into the future of a vast company of people who are saved out of the tribulation, they are martyred in the tribulation but they belong to the Lord, and they are standing before the throne and are singing His praises and they all have palm leaves, or palm branches in their hands (v.9) - victory has been secured, the battle has been won, they are through all the difficulty and trial, they have remained faithful, and in their hands is the emblem of victory. We believe this is what the palm tree represents above all else, victory.

Now, if we think of that in our minds, here was a woman who had the spirit of victory in her heart, she was sitting under her own palm tree, and she was judging Israel. It is most remarkable that in the Bible we find many servants of the Lord who exalt and triumph before ever the fight had started. When Jehoshaphat saw the tremendous army that was against Israel, he prayed to the Lord and the Lord guaranteed him that there would be a victory and before ever they began to fight Jehoshaphat got all the army into position and he sent the singers in front and they began to praise the Lord for the victory (2 Chronicles 20:1-30) and the battle had not even started! Now that is faith. The apostle Paul, although he passed through tremendous exercises and problems could rejoice. Think of him in the prison at Rome writing to the Philippians is telling them to rejoice (4:4). ’Why, Paul? you are a prisoner, the enemy has overcome you, you are no longer the servant of the Lord, why do you exhort the people in this way?’ ’Well,’ he says, ’I am still serving the Lord, I am writing to the Philippians.’ I do not know if that dear man could look down the ages and anticipate the millions of Christians who would derive comfort from his letter written from a prison but there he was rejoicing in spirit no thought of defeat. He goes on to say in that epistle, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our lowly body, that it may be fashioned like his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (3:20-21). The tyrants of the future will all bow before the power of this glorious Man, who is at the right hand of God. Paul was not imbued in any way with the spirit of defeat, rather the opposite, "we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37).