Judges 4, Deborah: A Mother in Israel (2)

Having read the story of Deborah and Barak, let’s now review that story.  First, Deborah delivered 4 messages.  First, she told Barak that the LORD wanted him to gather troops from Naphtali and Zebulun against General Sisera, leader of the army of the city-state of Hazor (4:2,6-7).  They were to gather on Mt. Tabor.  Then the LORD would cause Sisera and his army to the River Kishon, which runs east to west in the western part of the Valley of Jezreel, at the base of Mt. Carmel.  Barak was from Kedesh which is not on the accompanying map (it would be further north of Hazor). 

Barak was hesitant to go into battle unless Deborah accompanied him.  Sisera’s army was much better equipped than Barak’s army, especially in that they had iron chariots.  Perhaps we can sympathize with Barak.  The presence of Deborah might have encouraged him since she was the prophetess who spoke for the LORD.  This led to Deborah’s second message, that she would go with Barak but the human glory for the victory would go to a woman (4:9).  With that, Barak gathered the 10,000 men from the two tribes, taking them to Mt. Tabor on the NE side of the Valley of Jezreel.  Sisera and his army was in the valley by the River Kishon.  The photos show the thickly forested Mt. Tabor as well as the land underneath.  Tabor provided a good place to hide as well as a good place to stay for a period of time.  The third photo shows the area of the River Kishon from Mt. Carmel.  The river runs right to left under the two highway bridges.

Deborah’s third message was to announce the day Barak was to head off Mt. Tabor and engage Sisera in battle (4:14).  Barak was obedient and the LORD indeed gave a great victory.  The woman who was honored in the victory, Jael, was a Kenite.  These were not Israelites but were the descendents of Moses’ father-in-law.  They had accompanied Israel through the wilderness wanderings after Moses promised that they would be able to experience the blessings God would give to Israel in the land (Num. 10:29-32). 

Deborah’s fourth message is the “Song of Deborah” in Judges 5.  It was sung by both Deborah and Barak but seems to have been composed by Deborah.  Deborah had the marks of a true prophet in that she led Israel to follow the LORD (Deut. 13:1-5) and her predictions came true (Deut. 18:15-22).

While Deborah, and of course Jael, were women of faith, we should note that Barak is mentioned in God’s “Hall of Faith” (Heb. 11:32) as one of the righteous who trusted God’s promise to send the Savior.  This is a great story of faith with some strange twists, the kind of thing common in Judges.