OT Characters: Deborah

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas' website.

Hebrew words:

Devorah ("deVOrah") -- Deborah, Hebrew for beeAppears 9x in the Bible, and only in Judges 4-5 (if we don't include the other Deborah, Rebekah's nurse [Genesis 35].)

Further study:

Passages touched on in this podcastJudges 4-5Hebrews 11:32-34Galatians 3:28Judges 2:11-19a2 Timothy 2:21AdvancedNotice that Judges 4 is the prose account of the battle, while Judges 5 is the poetic version. How are they similar? Where do they diverge? What does this show us about the literary vehicles the Lord has chosen through which to convey his revelation?See the interesting book on women, Two Views on Women in Ministry. This is a careful exploration of the two major views, the egalitarian and the complementarian.

Some things we learn about God:

God raises up leaders in times of distress and repentance. Sidenote: This leadership will not be perfect, but it is leadership all the same. (Deborah emerges as one of the best leaders in Judges, perhaps if only because her weaknesses do not seem to have been recorded.)God cares about our pain, even when it is self-inflicted.If it suits his purposes, he can use women as well as men.We see this twice in our account: with Deborah and with Jael.Probably it is overstating to conclude that when men don’t, or won’t lead, God will use women. Though this may well be true, we aren’t given enough information in the passage to prove it. We do know, for example from 2 Timothy 2:21, that though we serve in different ways, the purity of the vessel is even more important than the type of vessel. God looks at the heart. This is not to say anyone can be anything he or she wants to be, rather that how far we go has much to do with the moral condition of our heart.

For kids

See the lesson suggestions (Deborah and Jael) at the Bible.org. link.For more ideas, click here.

Key verses:

Judges 4:4 -- Deborah a prophetess and a leader.Judges 5:1 -- Deborah writes a song (with Barak).Judges 5:7 -- Deborah a "mother" in Israel.Hebrews 11:32 -- Counter to expectation, though Deborah is better remembered, Barak is the one who receives the mention in the “Hall of Fame of Faith”

Next lesson: Gideon