Deborah: A Prophetess and Judge

“Now Deborah a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at the time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountain of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment” (Judges 4:4–5, NKJV). Not only was Deborah a prophetess in a time when we didn’t hear much about women, but she was also a judge and a respected leader.

She emerged when the children of Israel needed her. If she was not obedient to God, then God wouldn’t have chosen her to be a judge or a prophetess. As a judge, she helped Barak raise up an army to defeat Sisera, the commander of King Jaban’s army. She was the only female judge.

According to the King James Bible Dictionary, a judge was “a chief magistrate, with civil and military powers. The Israelites were governed by judges for more than three hundred years. Deborah was called to deliver Israel but was already a judge.”

The judge before her was Ehud but when he died, the Israelites did evil which led to them being sold to King Jabin of Canaan. King Jabin had oppressed them for twenty years and for that the Israelites cried out to the Lord. God heard their cries and gave them to Deborah, the judge, and prophetess. Isn’t that like us today, when our life is great, we forget God but when there is a tragedy or something bad happens, we remember God and…