Judges 4:4-24 "At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth,..."

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.
Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.
Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” But Jael wife of Heber took a tent-peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent-peg in his temple.
So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan. (Judges 4:4-24)

Comment:

The time of the Judges was a time in which the Israelites went through repeated cycles of being obedient and disobedient in their relationship with the Lord. When threatened by one enemy or another, they would call upon the Lord and a “judge”—a strong, spiritually centered leader—would arise to lead them to victory. In their gratitude they would fervently renew their allegiance to the Lord and promise to live according to his laws. But over time, as things calmed down, they would forget and begin to ignore the laws. And another enemy would rise up, and the cycle would repeat.

In this particular version of the cycle, the judge is a woman, Deborah, and the enemy is the Canaanite King Jabin and his general, Sisera. She calls Barak to her and tells him the Lord has chosen him to lead a victorious army against the Canaanites. Barak is willing but dubious; he agrees to go only if she goes with him. She agrees but, because of his hesitation, tells him that the day’s ultimate glory will go, not to him, but to a woman. And so it transpires. Barak conquers the army, but Sisera escapes and is later killed by Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite (and thus a non-Israelite).

If we metaphysically understand all these characters to be aspects of our own human consciousness, what does the story suggest? Deborah is our own intuitive knowing, our direct link to divine guidance. Barak is our masculine intellect, willing to act but suspicious of the spiritual guidance. That masculine strength can accomplish much. Indeed, Barak conquers the great army. But sometimes the final victory demands not might but gentle persuasion. And so Sisera is vanquished, not by armed might, but by the gentle energy of Jael, our more creative and emotional nature. The events may seem unattractively gory, but we know that death is an illusion, that spiritual energy may be transformed but cannot be destroyed. So what dies here—and what dies for us in the conflicts we face in our own lives—is the fear-based belief that power and might are the ultimate answer. When we are connected to our innate creative Power, we can easily and gently accomplish what might alone cannot.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed