By Roy E. Ciampa, Ph.D.
S. Louis and Ann W. Armstrong Professor of Religion, Samford University
Deborah: Encouraging Faith
Judges 4:1–9; 5:1–5
This week we learn from the remarkable faith of Deborah, who was faithful not only in living out her own calling but also in encouraging others to be faithful in living out God’s purposes for them.
We influence others when we live out our calling. (4:1–5)
When Israel fell back into their idolatrous patterns the Lord carried out the discipline promised in the Mosaic covenant: He gave them into the hands of pagan kings. The Israelites had been oppressed by Jabin (and his commander, Sisera) for 20 years. We don’t know how long Deborah served as God’s prophetess under such difficult circumstances, but God raised her up to guide Israel in these dark times.
She lived out her calling in Israel’s midst at a time when assurance God would still speak to His people was a desperate need. Deborah ministered in a time of extended longing to see God bring relief from the suffering Israel had brought on itself.
As Deborah faithfully served God and Israel people learned to trust her judgment. While she was faithfully fulfilling her calling — and thanks to the way she carried out her calling — many in Israel turned to the Lord for help.
We can encourage others to live out their God-given tasks. (4:6–9)
Israel finally heard the news they had been longing for: God would give them victory over their oppressors. Deborah sent a message to Barak in the northern territory of Naphtali and delivered God’s order to him to gather a great army from his region at Mount Tabor (west and south from the Sea of Galilee).
Jabin’s army (led by Sisera) had superior military weaponry of iron chariots but God would lead them to take their chariots and their foot soldiers to the Kishon River where He would give Israel victory over them.
Barak was being asked to lead thousands of men in battle against a superior power that had been humiliating Israel for a generation. His faith was in need of bolstering. He probably insisted Deborah go up with him because he and the troops recognized her prophetic status and believed God would be more certain to give them victory if her life were on the line as well as theirs. Deborah was not only committed to fulfilling her own God-given role but to doing what she could to encourage others to fulfill their God-given callings as well. She went with Barak despite the potential personal cost.
God is honored when we live out what He leads us to do. (5:1–5)
In response to their dramatic victory Deborah and Barak sang a song of praise that reinforced the importance of each one willingly fulfilling whatever role God asked of him or her, with godly leaders stepping up to the plate and their people willingly offering themselves in God’s service as well. In this way God worked through the whole group to accomplish His purposes and bring glory to Himself. In this case God demonstrated to the people of Israel and to all who would see or hear of Israel’s victory that it was He, the Lord, who delivered His people.
The Lord is described in verses 4–5 using storm imagery the Canaanites associated with the power of Baal. The song’s references to the heavens pouring down water (5:4) as well as the plan to lead Sisera’s troops down to the Kishon River (4:7) may suggest God leveraged the iron chariots’ vulnerability in muddy terrain in giving Israel victory. The Canaanites thought of Baal as the god of storm, but it was the Lord who showed up in a storm theophany to bring victory to Israel instead. God triumphed over Baal and Israel over its enemies thanks to women and men of faith who lived out their callings in challenging times.
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