It is possible that our discomfort with these stories is a sign that we are getting closer to the heart of the gospel. The more intimately we follow Jesus, the more difficulty we have with the violence in these stories, the conflict in our world, and the hostility in our own hearts and lives.
During the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Methodist pastor Trevor Hudson led his white congregation on what came to be known as “The Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope” as a way of building relationships with black South Africans. It was not an easy journey. One day his daughter asked, “Why do you follow Jesus when he keeps getting you into so much trouble?”
The more closely we follow Jesus, the more deeply we engage in the values of the kingdom of God, the more we find ourselves out of sync with many of the assumptions of the conflict-ridden culture in which we live.
How might the story of Deborah speak to us today?
By an interesting twist of Providence, I was scheduled to preach on Deborah on the Sunday prior to the Fourth of July. As I reflected on the Song of Deborah in that context, I began to think that the Hebrew people repeated Deborah’s story and sang her song in a way that was similar to the way American citizens recite Longfellow’s version of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.”
Both poems contain details that are difficult to reconcile with what we know of the historical event. Their purpose was not historical analysis but to awaken people from their lethargy. The Hebrews passed Deborah’s story on to awaken their faith, stir their conscience, call them to action, and remind them of their identity as the covenant people of God.
In the same way, Longfellow concluded the legend of Paul Revere’s ride with a challenge to his readers.
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
Deborah aroused her people to go to war. Unfortunately, we had more than enough of that call in the decade following the 9/11 attacks; and the world has paid an awful price for it.
Perhaps we need the spirit of Deborah to arouse us to what the pilgrims called “the common good.” We need Deborah to remind us that our individual freedoms are bound up in what the preamble to the Constitution called “the general welfare.” My freedoms are restrained by my responsibility to others in my community and nation.
We need the voice of Deborah to awaken us to values that are wider than narrow self-interest, higher than the lowest common denominator of rampant individualism, and noble enough to lift us out of the paralysis of political polarization by uniting us in a fresh vision of who we are and who we have it in us to become.
That is what Abraham Lincoln did at Gettysburg. Historians tell us that the ground was soggy with the shallow graves of the dead from both North and South. The air hung heavy with the stench of decaying bodies when Lincoln delivered the 273 words that historian Garry Wills called “The Words That Remade America.”
Lincoln reminded a war-torn nation of the common roots out of which we had come. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
He named the horrendous cost of our conflict. “We cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”
In perhaps the greatest understatement in American history, he said, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”
He concluded with words that continue to arouse us from our lethargy and call us to go forward with the unfinished work we have to do. “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us . . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The truth is that there are times when we become discouraged or downhearted. The issues we confront and the struggles we face sometimes seem to overwhelm us. In those times, we need the Spirit of the God who spoke through Deborah to awaken us from our lethargy and to energize us for the still unfinished work we have to do.
QUESTIONS
1. What was the purpose of the LORD giving the Israelites over to King Jabin of Canaan in verse 2? What do we learn in verse 3 about the technological superiority of the Canaanites?
2. The Hebrew words translated “wife of Lappidoth” in verse 4 can also be translated “woman of torches.” Is this an accurate descriptor of Deborah? Why or why not?
3. Deborah was the only named female leader (judge) of Israel and the only named prophet in Judges. What circumstances do you think led to such an unusual appointment to a leadership position for a woman during this time period?
4. In verse 6, why does Deborah word her question to Barak in such a way? Why does Barak refuse to go into battle unless Deborah goes as well?
5. In verse 9, Deborah tells Barak that the LORD is going to hand Sisera over to a woman. Does this play out the way you expected? Why, or why not?
6. In verse 19, why does Jael give Sisera milk to drink when he asks her for water?
7. Were Jael’s actions in verses 17-22 faithful and heroic or deceitful and sinful? Give reasons for your response.
8. Compare and contrast Deborah and Jael. In what ways are they both exceptional among biblical figures?
9. In Judges 5:7, Deborah is called “a mother in Israel,” the only biblical figure to be given this descriptor. In what ways was Deborah a mother in Israel?
10. What qualities of leadership are exemplified by Deborah? What can Christians today learn about leadership by reading this passage?
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