Deborah and Mary: Mothers of God’s People

(Heb. 11:32, Judges 4-5)

[32] And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of… Barak… [Heb 11:32 ESV] [7]… I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel… [Jdg 5:7]

[1] And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. [2] And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. [3] Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. [4] Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. [5] She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. [6] She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. [7] And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river 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 arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. [10] And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. [11] Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in- law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. [12] When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, [13] Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. [14] And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. [15] And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. [16] And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. [17] But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. [18] And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. [19] And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. [20] And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.'” [21] But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. [22] And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. [23] So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. [24] And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. [Jdg 4:1-24 ESV]

[1] Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: [2] “That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD! [3] “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the LORD I will sing; I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel. [4] “LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water…
[7]… I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel…
[12] “Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, break out in a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam. [13] Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty…
[24] “Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed. [25] He asked for water and she gave him milk; she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl. [26] She sent her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet; she struck Sisera; she crushed his head; she shattered and pierced his temple. [27] Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; between her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell–dead…
[31] “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” And the land had rest for forty years. [Jdg 5:1-31 ESV]

[36] …there was a prophetess, Anna… [37] …She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer… [Luke 2:36-38 ESV] [17] “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; [18] even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy… [Acts 2:17-18 ESV]
[2] …some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, [3] and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. [Luke 8:1-3 ESV]
[1] I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant (deaconess) of the church… [Rom 16:1 ESV]

[28] …”Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” …
[30] …”Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] …behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” [34] …Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” [35] …the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God…
[37] For nothing will be impossible with God.” [38] …Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord…
[46] And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, [47] and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, [Luke 1:28, 30-35, 37-38, 46-47 ESV]