August 26, 2018
Judges 4 and 5 (Judges 4:4-23)
‘Hidden Figures and Super Heroes – Deborah – Lessons in Leadership’
The Rev. Martha M. Shiverick
When I turned 35 I began swimming again. I started it on a doctor’s suggestion, but found that I really enjoyed the activity and where many people hate getting wet, I still find my Zen swimming laps in a pool. I also found that while I was a mediocre swimmer in high school when all the events were long distance, my personality and perhaps my body was made for longer distances. I spent that first decade making Bo spend our vacation time traveling with me to 5 mile open water swim races in sometimes very exotic places. His job was to be at the shore when I finished. And in that decade of my life, I was a pretty decent swimmer. Not at the level of Ricardo Valdivia, Amy Bogardus’s husband that is once again this year the fastest long distance swimmer in the world…. But I was still decent. Unfortunately this is not the case now that I am in my 60’s but at the time I was usually the best swimmer in the pools where I swam. And one thing I learned during that first decade where I spent so many hours in chlorine was that some men in some of the pools did not like swimming with a woman that could swim faster than they could. Sometimes they could be downright mean. In one pool after I was kicked in the face a couple times, the life guard had to ask a man to leave and not to return while I swam.
That was three decades ago and things were different then. Many men’s egos were dependent on their physical prowess and to be a woman in any sport that was better than a man was a hard thing for some men to handle. It is different now….women in sports are accepted and looked up to by both girls and boys as role models and heroes. But what I found in my twenties and thirties, was that for women to be accepted by men in sports and, to be honest, in the workplace as well, is that you had to be careful not to hurt their male ego. Back in the 80’s if you wanted to succeed, if you were entering any profession that historically had been seen as a man’s, well, you had to be careful as a woman … really careful. No matter how good you were at what you did, you could be professionally finished by a man above you who deemed you to be a threat. It was a delicate dance. You had to be better than the men to get the job, but you could not pose a threat or you would not have that job for long
And if I have seen and experienced such chauvinisme in my lifetime, I can’t imagine what it was like for the women who came before. The stories of the women of ancient Israel, living as the property of first their fathers and then their husbands and finally their sons paint a reality of what living without any human rights is like. Women were like cattle, there for breeding purposes only. A handmaiden’s tale of its own.
But, throughout this summer we have heard stories of the few who broke the mold. And today we are focusing on a woman who was centuries before her time…. a woman who won the respect of her community and leaders. Although our series on Hidden Figures and Super Heroes in the Old Testament has one more Sunday after today, this is the final woman of the Old Testament we will be learning about. And what a woman on whom to end! There is nothing demure or retreating about this woman who is a prophet, a sage, and a military leader. Deborah, a strong and fearless leader with great wisdom and intelligence, breaks the mold of women in the ancient Israel society and sounds more like the powerful women of our day!
Listen to the story of Deborah, found in the 4 and 5th chapters of Judges. I will just be reading from verse 4-10 of the forth chapter and will share the rest of the wonderful tale of this woman. You are welcome to turn to page 220 in the Old Testament of your Bibles and follow along with me.
(Read Judges 4:4-10) –
4 At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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.’” 8 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.” 9 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. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Oh my goodness… isn’t this about the most exciting feminist passage you have ever read in the Bible. A woman! Deborah! Is a prophet who sits under a tree and people actually seek her out and she gives them direction. It says that she is the wife of Lappidoth which could also be translated to mean torches of fire so some scholars translate this to mean that she was a fiery and spirited woman. And here, people are not only seeking out her advice, but she also summons people to come to her while she gives them judgement as well as direction.
Deborah summons Barak, a military leader and tells him to get his forces and go to battle against Sisera who was the general of the Canaanite army. The Canaanite king had oppressed the Israelites for 20 years and it was time to be free of them. But Barak was nervous. He says he will only go into battle with Sisera if she goes with him. And she says she will. In this age of male dominance, this man refuses to go into battle without Deborah with him. And she says that they will win, but the glory will not go to him but to another woman.
They go to battle and Sisera and his men are overwhelmed by the Israeli army. Sisera gets down off of his chariot and flees the battle. He runs into a tent of a Kenite woman named Jael and asks for her help as the Kenites were supposedly neutral in this battle. He hides under her rug. And Jael, after making Jael so comfortable even giving him warm milk when he only asks for a little water that he falls asleep. At that point, she proves that she is anything but neutral in this battle as she takes a peg and drives it into his temple until it went into the ground. Seriously…. it’s written in the Bible just that way!
Barak then shows up at Jael’s tent looking for Sisera and Jael shows him the dead body of Sisera with the peg in his head.
Chapter 5 is Barak and Deborah’s song of celebration of the victory over the Canaanites. Although it is said that the song was sung by both of them, the verb form sing in Hebrew is singular and feminine not plural, so it might be that Barak’s name was added to the song later. In the song, God is thanked for the victory and just as Deborah said, Jael and not Barak is glorified for her part in winning the battle.
Commentaries on this passage suggest certain themes the preacher might talk about other women throughout history, like the ones in the book I read for children’s message today and ask what gave these woman courage? How did their faith shape them and how did their work allow for other leaders to emerge? Another theme suggested was to consider why in the USA we resist women’s leadership in church and society? What is it about us that we have not yet had a woman president and when a woman does gain national stature, we discuss her clothes and hairstyle instead of their gifts? And, we must ask how the church can change this. And then I think of this church and realize that some of our children have never had a male pastor, that isn’t the issue here.
But, I want to talk about what was good here in this story as I believe that is a lesson we need to hear and the good news we can take with us into the community. Look at the relationship between Deborah and Barak. It was good. It was surprisingly modern. There was a mutuality of respect that ran all through it. Barak never questioned Deborah’s authority. He didn’t want to go into battle without her, but he never said she didn’t have the right to ask him to go. And she never made fun of him for needing her with him. She immediately agreed that she would accompany him into battle.
Barak also proved that he was a pretty cool guy when he did not balk that another women and not he, would get the glory and accolades for the success of the battle. Unlike those men years ago who kicked me in the swimming pool, he was fine with her being better than him. He along with Deborah sang of God’s wonder as the horses trampled the enemy at war and then sang praises calling Jael most blessed for killing the enemy and winning the war.
Deborah was a woman before her time but Barak was a man with a great respect for women. Deborah’s and Barak’s mutual belief in each other, of each other’s skills and abilities is admirable. They trusted each other. They did not use the other or see the other as not capable and did not try and do the other’s job. They did not second guess each other but discussed things through. And, they were not concerned with protecting their egos. They were in it together as mutual people.
Too often we get caught up in discussion what is wrong with things. There is so much negatively in our world right now that is good to point out the positive. How wonderful to be able to point to a relationship centuries before our time and say… there…. there, what those two people had as friends and co-workers – that is what God means for us when we are in relationship with one another. Their working relationship, their mutual respect for each other, their confidence in each other’s’ skills, is an example to us in what we strive for in our encounters with all people today. Thank you Deborah and Barak!
Amen.
