The Story of Deborah and Jael, Part One

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The Story of Deborah and Jael, Part One

What if this story were made into a movie?

If the Book of Judges were a movie, this would surely be part of the trailer:

Judges, Chapter Two: (Judges 2:1, 11-15, 16-19)

  • God chose a people and gave them a promise
  • God's people abandoned him
  • God raised up champions and leaders to rescue his people

Judges Chapter Four:

  • Verses 1-3: Twenty years of cruel oppression
  • Verses 4-7: God raised up Deborah, "The Bee", "The Woman of Splendor", to be a judge
  • Verses 14-16: Deborah led an army to victory, killing 10,000 cruel, oppressive enemies
  • Verses 17-20: Jael, "The Wild Goat", faced a dilemma: Sisera - friend or foe?
  • Verses 21-22: Jael makes her choice

Judges Chapter Five:

  • Deborah sings
  • A mother wails in anguish

What are the lessons learned from this story?

  • God desires that we fully rely upon what he says
  • God desires that we fully love what God loves, and hate what God hates
  • God desires that we fully live with him

Why should we study the Old Testament?

The Old Testament reveals our sin, and God's hatred of sin. The Old Testament prepares us to receive God's salvation based entirely upon faith. And the Old Testament ultimately points us to Jesus. (Galatians 3)

Three Women: Deborah, Jael and a mother in anguish

If the Book of Judges were a movie, it would star three women.

  • Deborah: "Follow God and fight for what he fights."
  • Jael: "Trust God and deal ruthlessly with enemies."
  • A mother in anguish: "You do not want to be God's enemy."

Conclusion: Faith, Love and Salvation

Faith, Love and Salvation are three essential ways killing enemies, of putting to death the spiritual enemies, the arguments and lofty opinions that minimize God and exalt our own flawed hearts and minds.

  • God desires that we fully rely upon what he says
  • God desires that we fully love what God loves, and hate and what God hates
  • God desires that we fully live with him

The Book of 1 Thessalonians, Chapters 4-5 echoes the lessons learned from the story of Deborah and Jael:

  • 4:14-17 - God has made Jesus to me our Judge, our Rescuer, our Lord!
  • 5:2-6 - It is time to wake up!
  • 5:8-10 - Follow God and fight what he fights!
  • 5:11 - Encourage one another in the fight!

Next week:

Part 2 will imagine Deborah speaking to us directly, attempting to explain why her story is recorded in the Bible, and how it may connect to our modern, American-Christian story.

kynd_draw, for "justice" / https://flic.kr/p/egnoST / CC BY-SA 2.0 / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

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