The Woman Who Led Israel: Deborah's Tale of Courage and Faith

Have you ever wondered why some of the most powerful biblical stories remain largely untold? Today we unpack the remarkable journey of Deborah, the only female judge who ruled Israel for 40 years, yet her story spans just two chapters in the book of Judges.  The story offers powerful lessons about listening to God's direction, finding bravery when we feel afraid, and maintaining faith even when we can't see the complete picture. We are reminded that God works through unexpected people in unexpected ways to accomplish His purposes.
What might God be calling you to do today that requires courage and faith? Remember, as Deborah's story shows us, God hasn't brought you this far to leave you now. He will continue to work in your life as you pursue His purposes.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with
Danny Mac.
I'm going to be here everyMonday to Friday to help you get
a great five-minute start toyour day.
So grab your cup of coffee, sitback, relax and let me help you
start your day right.
Today I want to talk about oneof the most influential women in

(00:25):
all of the Bible, but her storyis not as well known as it
should be, probably because it'srecorded in only two chapters,
back in Judges, chapter 4 and 5.
This lady, of course, wasDeborah, who was the only female
judge of all of Israel.
Now let me just give you alittle bit of background about
the judges.
The judges were primarilyactive before Israel ever had a

(00:47):
king.
In fact, it was God's plan thatIsrael wouldn't have a king,
that God would use and guide theIsraelites through the judges.
Israel had this cycle that theycontinually went through, where
they served God, they loved God, but then they would start to
wander away from his principlesand, in many cases, began
worshiping other gods.
And when they walked away fromwhat God wanted, they opened up

(01:08):
the door for other enemies tocome in and to conquer them, to
rule them, when the people wereready to repent and cried out
for help.
God would then raise up judges.
He would use those judges tohelp Israel get back on track.
He would use them to remind thepeople of the covenant.
They would act as God'sspokesperson.
They would settle disputes andjudgments.
They would be temporary leadersin battle.

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They were God's prophets tospeak direction and correction
to the people and they basicallyruled over Israel on behalf of
God.
And Deborah was one of thesejudges who ruled over Israel for
about 40 years.
So let's pick up her story inJudges, chapter 4.
Verse 1 says Again theIsraelites did evil in the eyes
of the Lord, so the Lord soldthem into the hands of Jabin,

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king of Canaan, who reigned inHazor.
Sisera, the commander of hisarmy, was based in Herosheth
Haggaiim, because he had 900chariots fitted with iron and
had cruelly oppressed theIsraelites for twenty years.
They cried to the Lord for helpVerse 4.
Now Deborah, a prophet, thewife of Lapidoth, was leading

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Israel at the time.
In verse 6.
She sent word for Barak, son ofAbinoam, from Kadesh in
Naphtali and said to him theLord, the God of Israel,
commands you, take with you tenthousand men of Naphtali and
Zebulun and lead them to MountTabor.
I will lead Sisera thecommander of Jabin's army, and
his chariots and his troops,into the Kishon Valley and will

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give him into your hands.
Barak said to her If you gowith me, I will go, but if you
don't go with me, I won't go.
She said Verse 9, certainly Iwill go with you, but because of
the course you are taking, thehonor will not be yours, for the
Lord will deliver Sisera intothe hands of a woman.
So Deborah went with Barak toKadesh.

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I'm sure that when Barak heardthese words from Deborah, he
believed that she was sayingthat she, deborah, was going to
have the victory over Sisera,but in fact that's not what
happened.
Israel had a mighty victory,but Sisera escaped.
He ran on foot to the tent of awoman by the name of Jael.
There he wanted something todrink and to have a rest, but

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while he slept in the tent, jaelkilled Sisera in a very nasty
way by using a tent peg.
So Israel had the victory andwas once again free, and the
victory was because God usedthese two women, deborah and
Jael, to bring that victory.
There are some important thingsthat we can learn from Deborah's

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story.
First is that we need to belistening and then be willing to
take the direction that Godgives to us.
If God is telling us to dosomething or to go somewhere, we
need to overcome our fears andjust be obedient and do what he
says.
Our fears should not stop usfrom listening to the call of
God, because he's got plans andpurposes that we can't

(04:01):
understand and so we need totrust him and to believe him and
purposes that we can'tunderstand, and so we need to
trust Him and to believe Him.
And secondly, sometimes thatobedience means that we have to
suck it up, that we have to bebrave.
When we don't feel like it, wehave to take steps that we are
uncomfortable with.
That can be terrifying, but weare never promised that it's
going to be easy.
We need to do what God tells us, not for our glory but for His.

(04:24):
And the third lesson we can getfrom this story of Deborah hang
on to your faith.
We rarely know all the detailsof what's coming next in our
lives, but the old saying sayshe hasn't brought us this far to
leave us what God has begun inyour life.
He's not going to leave youhanging at some point in time.
He will continue to work withyou and guide you and lead you

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all the way, and his purpose anddesign for your life will not
be revealed immediately, but itwill be revealed as we continue
to pursue what he has.
Deborah was not only a greatwoman, she was a great leader of
Israel, and far too often herstory is left forgotten or
buried in scripture.
I hope you have a great day, myfriends, remember God is with

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you and God loves you.
We'll talk to you againtomorrow.
Thank you for listening todayand I invite you to join me
Monday to Friday, right here, onStarting Right with Danny Mac.