Deborah's army the book of judges timeline

The israelites were treated very cruelly by sisera and his army, and israels spirits were. Introduction to the book of the judges ad dei gloriam. Likely fearful to comply with such a command, barak told deborah, if you go with me, i will go. The victory song of deborah and barak on that day deborah and barak, son of abinoam, sang this song. Deborah the prophetess from the tribe of ephraim deceased. Deborahs courage and wisdom in calling up an army to break. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess of the god of the israelites, the. Judges were charismatic political and military leaders who ruled over the tribes of israel in the approximately twohundredyear period between israels appearance in canaan and the formation of the monarchy under saul circa 12001020 b. He honourably slays the two kings of midian, judges 8. Deborah became judge at a time when israel was experiencing a spiritual and moral decline, partly due to the loss of their national leaders, moses and joshua.

It is considered part of the deuteronomic history that begins in the last book of the torah and ends with the second book of kings. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in harosheth haggoyim. Traditional jewish chronology places deborahs 40 years of judging israel judges 5. Their silence on such important matters is a reminder that neither the story nor the song was framed as a record of deborahs life. The book of judges follows the book of joshua which is the sequel to the five books of moses. Jabin, canaanite king amazing bible timeline with world. Being the only female judge in the vast history of israel, deborah led a successful counterattack against the forces of jabin, king of canaan and his military commander sisera. O lord, when you went out from seir, when you marched from the country of edom, the. Claiming that deborahs victory has been confirmed as taking place in 1216. Prophet deborah is the only female judge in the torah. He himself escapes on foot, while his army is pursued as far as harosheth of the gentiles and destroyed. The biblical judges are described in the hebrew bible, and mostly in the book of judges, as people who served roles as military leaders in times of crisis, in the period before an israelite monarchy was established.

Deborah and the book of judges by avi lazerson the story of deborah the prophetess which is told in the book of judges shoftim in hebrew is a story that has a special relevance for our generation. The military hierarchy recognizes her as supreme commander and in fact will only go to war on her personal command judg. Judges chapter 5 is known as the song of deborah, a text that exults in her victory over the canaanites. Deborah and her general barak lead the israelite army in a battle against the canaanite king jabin. The people recognize her wisdom and come to her for counsel and conflict resolution judges 4. Deborah is a judge before the battle, but the narrative does. One of deborahs judgments was to instruct barak to summon 10,000 men and attack jabins army. According to the book of judges, deborah was the fourth judge of premonarchic israel. Because of deborahs strong, confident, commanding words to barak and her presence with him, barak did take 10,000 israelite troops down from mount tabor as commanded. Deborah s courage and wisdom in calling up an army to break hazors control gave the israelites 40 years of peace. As deborah prophesied, a woman settles the score with sisera. Like other judges, her story focuses on her military conquests. The account in the book of judges describes a contest for control of the jezreel valley. Deborah told barak that god commanded him to lead an attack against the forces of jabin king of canaan.

Judge deborah was one of the rulers of the hebrews and the only female leader in the old testament. Her court was set up in deborahs palm between ramah and bethel in the hills of ephraim. The period of the judges is 50 1014 bc for a total of 336 years. Deborah, one of the most talked about women in the bible, tells barak they should take on the canaanite army. But he worries they dont stand a chance against canaanite commander sisera and his modern technology. We also learn from deborahs example that the prophetess role and the role of judge were more significant than the role of military leader or fighter. According to the book of judges, deborah was a woman from ephraim who served as a tribal leader and as a woman who was called to speak on behalf of yahweh. Clearly one of the bibles most outstanding figures, she served ancient israel as a prophet, judge, military leader, songwriter, and minstrel. This took place in the first year of deborahs reign.

In reading the book of judges, it is essential to note that the combined years of peace and righteousness far outnumbered the years of failure and persecution. He justly chastises the insolence of the men of succoth and penuel, who basely abused him judges 8. The biblical battle of mount tabor takes place during the time of the book of judges recorded in chapters 4 and 5 between canaanite forces of the king of hazor and the israelite army led by barak and deborah. I will draw sisera the head of yavins army and his chariotry and masses to wadi. Judges 4 niv deborah again the israelites did evil. The commander of jabins army was named sisera, and he had 900 iron chariots formidable weapons against israels foot soldiers judges 4. The judges became leaders by either selfappointment, the request of the israelite people, or the lords designation. Deborahs story offers us an important reminder of the power and freedom of god, and serves to rebuke us for our own cowardice and lack of faith. Also, failure to spend some time in this chapter robs us of reading one of the masterpieces of hebrew. And the lord routed sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before barak judges 4. How this happened, neither the poem nor the story records. After attending a lecture at the seminary where i teach, i saw a female student whom id not seen in months.

She sent and called for barak ben avinoam from qedesh. Before her were othniel, ehud and shamgar, the latter only for a short time after ehuds death the jews forsook the ways of the torah and adopted many of the idols of the people about them. Deborah judges 45 bible commentary theology of work. A role that originated back when moses appointed helpers to assist him in resolving arguments among the people. Deborah celebrated the victory by composing a famous song, which can be found in chapter 5 of the book of judges. The timeline begins with adam in eden, then on to noah and the flood and the birth of israel through abraham, isaac, and jacob. Our passage begins with a recounting of the theme of the book of judges. Learn about her courage and prophecy in this video, part of our judges series and curriculum.

Men in israel vowed to fight, and people volunteered for service. The book of judges was probably written after the reforms of josiah in 622 b. The fourth of the judges who ruled over the jewish people after the death of joshua, was not a man, but a woman, one of the most famous of all times, the prophetess deborah. Any list of the powerful leaders of ancient israel would have to include the kings and judges, and we cannot overlook the fact that deborah stood in the line of judges of israel.

Deborah is one of the most influential women of the bible. Gods prophecy had come to pass, as he had spoken through deborah. This section identifies the causes and consequences of israels apostasy, notes israels failure to properly complete the conquest, and provides a preamble summary of the entire book esp 2. Places that were associated with the judges of ancient israel. In doing so, we miss a poetic description of the preceding events as they recap gods deliverance.

Unsuccessful efforts have been made to determine the exact time and place of deborahs war within the general. Barak then pursued the fleeing chariots and army of sisera and killed them all. This was less than 200 years after joshua led the jewish people into the holy land in the year 2488. Oxford university press, 1988, 174 who observes that some elements of deborah and jaels story correspond with the realities of israel in the iron age, where localized and sporadic defense problems. She is cited as the primary author of the song of deborah ch. The book of judges is the second book in the deuteronomic history, a history that begins with the farewell address of moses in deuteronomy and ends with the exile of judah in 587 b. For the next 40 years the jewish people knew real peace. Deborah promoted the war of liberation from the oppression of jabin king of canaan judg. See more ideas about bible, bible mapping and bible stories. The story of deborah is in judges 4, and the song is in judges 5. Leaders are magnets, not bulldozers, and deborah was a magnet. Generally speaking, the women of the bible who achieve prominence do so through either marriage or motherhood.

Deborah tells barak to assemble his army for a battle that will take place at mt. But sisera fled away and ended up being killed by a woman named jael. Rather, deborah served the lord competently, with capability, and in confidence of her abilities. This poetry celebrates the hebrews victory over the canaanites and siseras army. Her governance is so good that the land had rest for forty years judg. The book of judges is the second book in neviim prophets, the second section of the tanach hebrew bible. These books tell of the israelites reign over the land of canaan and have a heavy focus on divine reward and punishment. There are valuable lessons to be learned in the book of judges. The use of judges to rule israel can be traced all the way back to the time of moses institution of the judicial system where judges ruled on decision made within the.

Deborah would become the only woman to judge israel. Deborah made good use of all the gifts and opportunities god sent her way. They were more like heroes, champions, or deliverers than what we think of as judges todaymany judges were chosen instead as military leaders to deliver israel from her enemies. Most of the major figures in the book of judges are acknowledged as leaders after military victory. Thus, this was the very first successful attempts of israel during the time of joshua. In chapter 6 of my book deborahs daughters, i quote from carol meyers discovering eve.

After greeting me, she enthusiastically told me about the exciting ministries god was allowing in and through her life. During deborahs 40 years of peace which ended in 1144 bc in northern israel, the philistines were establishing themselves in southern israel, but did not start oppressing judah until 1118 bc. The book of judges depicts a very dark hour in the history of israel, and yet the events of this book come so very soon after the golden years of the joshua generation. Deborah would settle disputes but she would not lead the army. It is not the kind of reading we do for pure enjoyment, but it is an important era in the history of israel, an era that we need to understand, and from which we. Deborah the prophetess leader from 2654 until her death. We first read about deborah in the holy book of judges as a. Deborah lived more than three thousand years ago, about the year 2650 after creation. The children of israel again did that which was evil in the sight of yahweh.

Deborah, prophet and heroine in the old testament judg. But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength. Deborah was the single female judge out of the that israel had. King jabin of hazor, sends sisera, his army commander. When deborah became judge, the israelites had been subjugated for 20 years by jabin, king of canaan. At no point do we see any of the judges rallying all of the tribes for battle. He bravely pursues the flying midianites, judges 8. In 1184 bc barak comes to deborah from kedeshnaphtali.