Tonight being week 4 we were looking at the character of Deborah, the Judge.
Looking at the narrative in the story in chapter 4 of Judges, then her subsequent song in Chapter 5. It was great to come to this passage afresh - my first time coming to it since college.
Deborah was a woman of her convictions who certainly stood up against the tide of the culture, bringing law & order as a (charismatic!) leader. Who spoke God's word to Barak, who could be seen as a weak leader (maybe) but maybe he thought having Deborah with him would ensure his soldiers would be more content with the messenger coming with them ...
She certainly made it clear that God was speaking and would not take no for an answer.
There is also the story of Jael and Sisera - and the tent peg! ... Jael knows what is to show courage and initiative. Sisera is there and she knows he needs to die, for the future of Israel so she does what needs to be done!
A few things come from this study
- The need to be faithful with what God has given us to do. - What if Deborah hadn't shared what God had told her to share with Barak? ... would Israel be conquered?
- The need to step out in faith ... the need to rely on him ... how do we know that God really said these things?
One image I shared which I have found very useful comes from a team I was on in Africa, when we were sharing what it means to be a Christian.
In African Culture, the father is head of the household, he gets the seat in the house, when important decisions need to be made, he sits on the seat and directs the household. The children and wife are kneeling. The question is if we need to make important decisions where are we. Are we head, are we sitting on the seat, or are we kneeling taking our direction from the Father, asking his advice, allowing him to be head of our household.
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