Judges Chapter 4 Part Two (Verses 4-10)

2. (Judges 4:4-5) Deborah: a prophetess and a Judge for Israel
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.

Deborah: The Hebrew says Deborah is ishah neviah, which literally translates to "a woman of prophecy". This identification as ishah neviah is rare in the Bible and is attached to only Deborah and two other women--Moses' sister Miriam, and a woman named Huldah in the time of the kings. These women were true prophets of God and were greatly respected by men. In fact, when we are told that Lappidoth is Deborah's husband that is about all we know of him. All other information concerning Deborah's husband is apparently unimportant.

Lappidoth: Jewish tradition states that Lappidoth and Barak are the same person. The name Lappidoth is more of a poetic characteristic than an actual name. the Rabbis say that Lappidoth means torches, and Barak's name means lightening. The Rabbis believe these are descriptions of Barak. There is no evidence of this in Scripture, but it is something to ponder.

The sons of Israel came up to her for judgment: We come to a time when the nice, neat version of who a Judge was and what role they performed takes a detour. Deborah is called a Judge but is never called a savior or deliverer; however, Barak is. The definition of a Judge was not someone who held court and made judicial rulings. Yet, Deborah is an exception. Verse five explains that people came to her from far and wide for the purpose of judgment. The Hebrew word translated as "judgment" is ha-mishpat, which means "justice" as in a ruling of law. So, it appears Deborah had two roles. She was a judicial judge who decided cases, and she was a prophet who brought messages of God to whomever God directed her.

In the hill country of Ephraim: Verse five explains Deborah's location as being in the hills of Ephraim, meaning she operated among the northern tribes of Israel. What is hidden here is that by some non-stated reason, Deborah was revered by most, if not all, the tribes and clans of the north. They would come to her to settle serious legal disputes. This was not merely advice or suggestions that were being sought out by the people. It was binding legal rulings that resulted from Deborah's decisions.

Each tribe had an equivalent lower court which settled smaller matters. But, when a member of one tribe had a dispute with a member of another tribe, the matter became more complicated as tribal and clan loyalty overruled almost all other considerations. So, finding a neutral party to arbitrate and judge was never easy.


3. (Judges 4:6-7) Deborah calls Barak with a message from God
Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, "Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into you hand.'"

Now she sent and summoned Barak...and said to him: Deborah being a prophetess also played a role in her judging. It was likely this general acknowledgement that she had been anointed by God as His legitimate prophet gave her an uncontested position of authority to make legal rulings. In verse six, in typical prophet protocol, she announces an oracle from God by making it clear that this message is NOT her message, but that it is directly from God. This typical format is to say something to the effect, "the LORD says" or "here is what the God of Israel says", and then proceeds to speak what must have been a near (if not precise) word-for-word instruction from God that is almost never in the first person. In other words, if the instructions says, "I, the LORD", the "I" is NEVER the prophet, but it always is a direct quote from God.

The prophets of the Bible had to be infallible in what they proclaimed, with the consequence for error being death. While that might seem harsh, in fact it is completely logical. If one is going to pronounce to another a "word from the LORD", then if it actually IS a word from the LORD, it MUST happen exactly as stated. If it does not happen as prophesied, then whether the source of the oracle was from that person's own mind or prompted by an evil spiritual source, it was NOT from God. The prophet is false, and we are never to believe a false prophet.

One test for a person who publicly professes a gift of prophecy is infallibility. When a mistake happens and a prophecy does not come true, that person should realize that they are either not a prophet, or he is grossly misusing his position. Being a prophet is a dangerous business when you are a TRUE prophet. Being a false prophet can be fatal physically and spiritually. So, be very careful if you have developed the habit of telling people that you have a word from the LORD for them. Every last thing you say in that context better happen, or you are working against God even if you have good intentions. Being labeled a false prophet is one of the worst epithets the Bible can pronounce upon a person.

Go and march to Mount Tabor: In verses six and seven, Deborah simply relays the LORD'S message to the military commander, Barak, with the specific details that he is to take 10,000 Israelite troops with him to Mount Tabor. These troops are to be from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. In the valley below Mount Tabor, the LORD will cause the defeat of the enemy who will be led by the military commander Sisera.

Barak: Now the emphasis of the story shifts away from Deborah as being God's messenger to Barak, who is the one commissioned to confront the enemy forces and carry out God's promise to hand over the enemy to him. It is Barak, and not Deborah, who would be God's instrument to deliver the northern Israelites from the very oppression that God had influenced to happen as a means to punish his people for their rebellious idolatry.

Kedesh: Barak is from Kedesh. Kedesh was a common city name during the Bible era. This name was used for several different locations. This Kedesh was in the tribal territory of Naphtali; although, there was another Kedesh located near Mount Tabor which could have also been Barak's home.

Barak was probably from the tribe of Naphtali. Consequently, the passage immediately mentions the primary source of his army as Naphtali and Zebulun. (Although, we will find out later that other northern tribes also supplied soldiers for the battle against Sisera.) Additionally, the enemy's capital city of Hazor (Jabin, King of Hazor's royal city) was also in Naphtali. So, Barak was the logical choice to command Israel's troops. The Valley of Jezreel (which was a highly prized area to be had if Israel could conquer Sisera) was in Zebulun's territory. So, it was expected that Naphtali and Zebulun would supply the most troops and be at the forefront of the coming battle.

The river Kishon: The Kishon River at the foot of Mount Tabor was the second biggest river in Canaan, even though it was generally dry in the summer. It had the capacity to be a force in any battle depending on the time of year and the current conditions. Thus, we can guess that the LORD would supernaturally use it as all nature is under His control, and it is often a prime weapon in His arsenal. (We see this all the time when a blatantly evil anti-God affair comes about only to be "coincidentally" followed by some catastrophic weather/nature related event.)

If/then: There is a classic divine dichotomy set up here that we should be familiar with. It is the "if, then" dichotomy. That is, IF a man or a people will do a certain thing in obedience, THEN God will respond in a favorable way. Here is it is that IF Barak will lead 10,000 men to Tabor and attack at the river Kishon, THEN God will ensure victory.

There is an interesting word image here that is invariably masked by the English translations that adds to this "if, then" reciprocal action of man, then God. In verse six, the LORD instructs Barak not to "march" his men to Mount Tabor (as is often translated in many Bible versions), but to mashak to Mount Tabor. Mashak means "to draw" or to influence men to come. Barak's leadership and courage then would be the influential spark that would cause the oppressed Israelites to rise up, follow Barak and have hope for liberty put into action. 

In verse seven, God says in return, He will mashak (draw) Sisera and his troops to come and do battle at the place God has ordained for their destruction--the Kishon River valley. We Christians like to say to one another that the LORD never overrides a man's free will. But, in fact, we see something similar to it all the time in the Bible when the LORD determines to do so. We see here that from a strategical standpoint, Sisera would do battle with a large force of Israelites who held the high ground, Mount Tabor, usually a situation which is avoided militarily if at all possible. Later in the Book of Revelation, we will see God draw Israel's enemies from the north to this very same place to be annihilated by the Saints of the LORD as led by our Warrior/King Messiah at the battle of Armageddon. In between all these passages, we will find many places where the LORD influences or draws a man to do something that he would not ordinarily do.


4. (Judges 4:8-10) Barak will only lead if Deborah accompanies
Then Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go." She said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. Barak Called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and ten thousand men went up with him; Deborah also went up with him.

Barak said to her: Barak responds to God's call through Deborah by saying that he is a bit skeptical and has some preconditions if he is going to accept this assignment. No doubt, part of this skepticism is why a very good military commander like Sisera would irrationally put his troops in the untenable position of being 1000 feet below his opponents. His primary precondition is that Deborah accompanies him to the battle area. We should not interpret this as cowardice as Barak was anything but a coward. Rather, he wanted to be assured of God's presence; Deborah was that assurance.

She said, "I will surely go with you": Deborah tells Barak that she will indeed go with him, but as a consequence of his reluctance to simply believe God, the glory of victory will not go to Barak but instead will go to a woman! At this point, we all assume that this woman will be Deborah since she will now be at the battle and her notoriety will supersede even Barak's.

Even more, Sisera being handed over to a woman is more literal than it appears. In this context, the use of the word Sisera is usually referring to Sisera's army. Here, it means Sisera himself will be handed over to a woman. Such an occurrence takes glory away from Barak, but it also is greatly humiliating to Sisera, his army and his nation that a woman would be the agent of defeat.