Scripture Read: Judges 4:1-5 Then the sons of
Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord,
after Ehud died. And the Lord sold
them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the
commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. The sons of
Israel cried to the Lord; for he
had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely
for twenty years. 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.
Application:
The story of Deborah has much to challenge us in the world we live today. Today
is very much like the day Deborah lived in – “Everyman did what was right in his own eyes”. When this condition in society is prevalent, the
question that arises is what can you do when the people in authority do not do
right? This is the first truth that is communicated in the story of Deborah.
First, we must remind ourselves the difference between “roles” and “essence”. In essence men and women are
seen as equal in God’s eyes – Paul makes it clear that in Christ this is true.
However, this is not so with “roles” God desires the man to be the leader in his
household – remember this is not about who tells who what to do, this is about who
God holds accountable for the condition of the family. It is clear from examples
and statements in scripture that God desired the men to also be the spiritual
leaders in society. This does not negate women being used as leaders; every
good mother I have ever known is a great leader. The point is that the normal
leader in Israel was a man, but what happens when none will step up? Here is
the first characteristic that we learn concerning Deborah. She was what she was
in spite of the circumstances. This is what a leader is! Notice – Deborah was doing what God had
called her to do, even though others had given into sin and brought judgment on
themselves. A true leader walks with God and that is what Deborah did. Despite
what anyone else was doing she was sitting under her palm tree and helping
those that came to her for counsel from the Lord. The important question that
we should ask ourselves no matter our role or status in this world is - Am I
taking responsibility for my own walk? We cannot allow the world around
dictate our walk with our Lord – that pace should be set by Him and each
individual!
No comments:
Post a Comment