Week 6 (The Judges) – Day 2: Deborah Leads Israel

Day 27 – Deborah Leads Israel - Judges 4:1-5:31

My guess is not many have read this story before.  Here we see God intervene through a committee: Deborah, the female leader of the Israelites, Barak, her general, and a non-Israelite female, Jael.  This unexpected group is used by God to bring victory.  Certainly the events are gruesome and in the Hebrew even more graphic. 

We often think of God acting in individuals.  Here we see God acting through a group of people.  Is God calling you to act not just on your own, but with a group?

Note how the story is told two different ways.  First we have a narrative story in Chapter 4.  Then we have a poetic telling of the story in Chapter 5.  The poem is especially fascinating as this, along with Exodus 15, is considered some of the oldest written Hebrew we have. 

The imagery used for God in the poem presents him as the Divine Warrior, which is a common theme in the Old Testament.  As in this case, God as the Divine Warrior is the defender of the weak and powerless against the forces of oppression, death, and rebellion against God.  Does this image of God as Divine Warrior comfort you or bother you in any way?

In Christ,

Randy