The Initiative of a Couple of Women: Answering the Call

Have you ever felt God calling you to do something, but ignored it? Have you ever known what needed to be done, but didn’t have the will to do it? God called Barak to rescue His people but he ignored the call until Deborah called him out. Then, because he doesn’t want to take full responsibility, he also isn’t allowed to take all the glory. He must share it with Jael, who is a woman and not another soldier. Are you willing to answer the call?

Deborah Judges Israel – Judges 4:1-5

After Ehud died, the people turned away from the Lord again, and He gave them over to another nation. But this time, the oppressors came from within the land, reminding them once again why they should have obeyed the Lord and rid the people from their land. The Canaanite king in the north, with his commander Sisera and their 900 iron chariots, were allowed to cruelly oppress the Israelites for 20 years because they betrayed the Lord.

In Joshua’s day, when the Israelites had finished defeating the southern kings, Jabin, the Canaanite king who lived in Hazor, gathered the northern nations against Israel. The Israelites swept across the north victorious and burned Hazor since they were the ones who had initiated the battle. Because this happened so many years before, it is unlikely this is the same man. So, most likely, Jabin is the king’s title, not his name.

Deborah was more of the type of judge that we would typically think of. She sat in the hill country on the southeastern border of Ephraim’s territory near Benjamin and Judah, where people came to her for judgments. She was also a prophetess, a title given to only five women in the Old Testament. So, God allowed her to speak to the people on His behalf, and the Israelites must have trusted her because they willingly went to her for wisdom and decisions.

Barak Fights for Israel – Judges 4:6-10, 12-16

Deborah was so well respected that when she called for Barak, he came to her all the way from his home in the land of Naphtali. When he reached her, she asked whether the Lord had commanded him to take troops against Jabin’s army. He did not verbally confirm that God had given him this command, but it’s pretty apparent that He did because Jabin agreed to do it as long as Deborah went with him. Now, if God told him to go, Barak should not have put any conditions on his obedience. It is bad enough that he was unwilling to go until Deborah called him out. But it is even worse that Barak still refused unless she was willing to go with him. First, he needed her prompting. Then, he needed her presence. Though God called him to lead the army, Deborah had to lead him.

Because Barak seemed satisfied to disobey the Lord and leave the Israelites in submission to the Canaanites, Deborah agreed to go with him. But she told him that because he wanted to share the battle, he would also share the victory. Not only that, but a woman would be the one to steal his glory and defeat Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army.

So, Barak did as he was commanded and took 10,000 men from Zebulun and Naphtali, and they went to Mount Tabor to wait for the Lord to draw Sisera to them. Mount Tabor is in north-central Israel just west of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, where the territory of Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar meet. The river Kishon is just south of Mount Tabor, and it stretches across the southern borders of Issachar, Zebulun, and Asher and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Sisera heard about the Israelite army, so he gathered the 900 iron chariots with his army and headed towards the river Kishon.

Deborah had to prompt Barak again to tell him that the Lord had indeed drawn Sisera, and it was time for Barak to take the troops to meet him in battle. Then, she encouraged him with a reminder that God would go before him and bring victory. So, he traveled south with the troops, and God pushed the Canaanite army toward the Israelites, who pursued them as they fled back to their base. Meanwhile, the king hopped off the chariots and ran away on foot. But God did not allow anyone to escape and gave the Israelites a complete victory over their enemies that day.

Jael Kills the Canaanite King – Judges 4:11, 17-24

Although the king was still on the run and he ended up at Jael’s house because there had been peace between her husband, Heber, and Jabin, the king. Heber was a descendant of Moses’s brother-in-law, Hobab, but he had separated from the Kenite tribe and lived on the eastern border near the tip of the Sea of Galilee.

Jael welcomed the army general and acted as a place of refuge for Sisera as he fled his enemies. He asked for a drink of water, and she gave him some milk and a blanket. He was tired and weary and asked her to keep watch and deter any Israelites who came looking for him while he slept. But after he fell asleep, she took a tent peg and drove it straight through his temple into the ground. Then, when Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael brought him inside to see the dead general of Jabin’s army. So, God strengthened the Israelites against the Canaanites and brought them victory, though the glory for the commander’s death went to Jael, a woman.