The Judges: Deborah
Background
After the judge Ehud who was their deliverer died the people of Israel went back to their old ways and did evil in the eyes of God. Because of their ways they went under bondage for a long time and after twenty years they cried out to God and God is always good he heard their prayers. It is amazing how we can be stubborn enough to hang on to things that are harmful to us and keep us under bondage. In this time Deborah became the leader of Israel. Deborah was the fourth judge of Israel after Othniel, Ehud and Shamgar. The first thing to notice about Deborah is that she was the first and only female judge among the twelve judges of Israel. The name Deborah means bee.
According to Wikipedia bees have two distinct characters some are gentle and some are aggressive. They say that a person's name has a lot to do with their character and in our case, a person who is aggressive is assertive,bold and energetic. No wonder why she was a judge, she was a queen bee! Not only was Deborah a judge she was also a prophet and a seer ( a person who receives supernatural insight and can see future visions). Deborah was the wife of Lappidoth (meaning torch) and she also had a palm tree named after her! She had it going on.
Deborah under her palm tree
In between places
"She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel the hill country of Ephraim."
Deborah judged the people of God in between two cities. This reflects the spiritual state of the people at the time, it showed that they were a people who were lost and were in spiritual limbo , they had moved away from God and were worshipers of many Gods they had lost their sense of belonging. The names of the two cities were Ramah and bethel. The name of Ramah meant height or haughtiness. Height could be interpreted as literal height or the height of pride or arrogance. The second city Bethel means house of God or holy place. Sometimes in life we find ourselves drifting away from the laws of God that we know to be true and we get caught up in the things of the world. But just like the children of Israel cried out to God if we also cry out to God he is able to direct us in the right way.
According to bible commentaries the position of her seat of judgement signified the justice that she administered which thrived and grew against opposition just like the palm tree. During the time of Deborah she had two things against her she was a woman and secondly her people were under oppression. Despite these two factors Deborah thrived in her situation. God is able to bring to new heights even if all the situations around us dictate otherwise all we have to do is to trust in God and follow his direction. Another example of a woman who thrived despite her situation is Queen Ester. When we put our lives into God's hands he is able to perform the extraordinary in our lives and make our ending much better than our beginning.
According to bible commentaries the position of her seat of judgement signified the justice that she administered which thrived and grew against opposition just like the palm tree. During the time of Deborah she had two things against her she was a woman and secondly her people were under oppression. Despite these two factors Deborah thrived in her situation. God is able to bring to new heights even if all the situations around us dictate otherwise all we have to do is to trust in God and follow his direction. Another example of a woman who thrived despite her situation is Queen Ester. When we put our lives into God's hands he is able to perform the extraordinary in our lives and make our ending much better than our beginning.
Other articles
- The Judges : Ehud
This article is about the Judge Ehud who delivered the people of Israel through the hand of God. Based on Judges 3 vs 12-30 - The prayer of Jabez
This article is about the prayer of Jabez and why he was a blessed man