Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Should We Resist or Embrace the Cultural Moment? | Judges | Judges 4

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. I'm Tanya Wilman. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we're going through the Book of Judges. If you haven't subscribed to our new podcast, Truth Over Tribe, I'd encourage you to take some time and go do that right now. We've got interviews about culture, politics, and the things you really care about with people like John Mark Comer, John Tyson, Oz Guinness, and many, many others. It's going to be a great podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:33 I've been excited about the interviews and the topics that we've taken on. So stop right now. Go subscribe to Truth Over Tribe on your podcast player. When you compare the Hebrew Bible to other ancient literature, it's remarkable how different it is. A different set of values, a different way of seeing the world. It's full of resistance to the idolatrous practices that ultimately lead to injustice. Now, one way that the Bible is different includes its orientation towards patriarchy. Now, on the one hand, the Bible was written.

Starting point is 00:01:03 during a period where patriarchy was the norm. Patriarchy, if you don't know what that means, is basically the universal control of men over society, family, households, and over all women in general. Men were the arbiters of right and wrong, whereas women were essentially property that could be dealt with as such. Men dispensed or they withheld justice. Women usually had no role in the court.

Starting point is 00:01:30 Men told people what to do and to think, whereas women were expected to be submissive and hold their tongue. Men led their community from the smallest units to the largest units. And this meant that ancient literature was basically by men, about men, for men. While women sometimes showed up in the stories, they were rarely main characters, and they were mainly objects to be used, traded, fought over. You can think of Helen from the Iliad, for example. In the story, she's the most beautiful woman in the world.

Starting point is 00:02:01 And because of her sexual allure, the Trojans abduct her. Now, the Greek armies, they respond by following a guy named Agamemnon, and they sail to Troy to try to take Helen back. So you could say that the entire story of the Iliad, one of the classics of the ancient world, is about a woman. And yet it's not really, is it? It's about seeking after an object. And this object, Helen, she exercises very little decision-making power. Helen's destiny is ultimately in the hands of men at war who do with her as they please. Now juxtapose that story to the story of Deborah and Judges 4.

Starting point is 00:02:39 Let me set up the context here. Israel is being oppressed by a Canaanite king whose name is Jabin, and he has a general, a great general named Cicera. After 20 years of this, Israel finally can't take it anymore, and they turn to Yahweh. And verse 3 says, they cry to Yahweh for help. How does God answer? Well, as it turns out, God had already been working. He already had someone in place. But it wasn't a man. It was a woman. It was a judge named Deborah. Now, put yourself into the patriarchal world of the Bible where men are in charge, make decisions, dispense justice, and women are on the sidelines. Put yourself in that world and now read what God's word says about Deborah. Judges chapter 4 verse 4. Now Deborah, a prophet, a prophet, a prophet, a prophet, the wife of Lapidoth was leading Israel at the time. She held court under the palm of Deborah between Rama and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went to her to have their

Starting point is 00:03:40 disputes decided. This is crazy, isn't it? Do you see how revolutionary and subversive these few verses really are? Who is leading Israel? Explicitly, it says that Deborah is the one who leads Israel. And she's not just a normal leader. She's also called a prophet. A prophet. A prophet was God's mouthpiece. They spoke the words of God directly to God's people. So if you lived in Israel at this time and you wanted to hear God's word to you, what was the best place to go? Well, you go to the palm tree of Deborah. You go and you listen to a woman. But it's not just that. The author says that Deborah held court and the people came to her to dispute their legal cases. Again, this is totally wild. A woman is the single officer of Israel's Supreme Court at this time.

Starting point is 00:04:27 Now, we know that cases in this day were disputed on the basis of the laws which are found inside the Torah. That's the first five books of the Bible, which means that Deborah was the most well-known and respected Bible scholar of her time. She knew the Bible so well that people came to her to have her determine what was right and wrong, to have her determine the right outcome in challenging cases. Her husband, Lapidoth, is mentioned once, but he has no other role inside of the story. Apparently, her actions were not subversive or controversial to her husband. She was the family's prophet, legal expert, Bible scholar, teacher, and spokesperson for God. But it's about to get more amazing because when the Israelites cry out, Yahweh, he wants to rescue them.

Starting point is 00:05:14 And he goes about this rescue by working through Deborah. As you'll see, Deborah is the one who seeks out and actually commands Israel's best living military leader, a man named Barack. Pick up in verse 6. She sent for Barack, son of Abin-Oam, from Kadesh and Naftali. And she said to him, Yahweh, the God of Israel, commands you. Go, take with you 10,000 men of Naftali and Zebulin, and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Cicera, the commander of Jabin's army with his chariots and his troops to the Qishan River and give him into your hands. Again, pause for just a second.

Starting point is 00:05:54 In this story, Deborah is the analog to the king of Kishton. Canaan, a guy named Jabin. So the two people in charge are Deborah and Jabin. And Barack is the analog to Cicera, Jabin's lead generals. So the two lead generals are Barack and Cicero. So when Barack shows up at her command, she doesn't say to him, well, finally a man's here so I guess I can step down. And again, that's what people in a patriarchal world would have expected. But it's not how Yahweh works. Instead, we see the inverse. Barack refuses to go to war without Deborah's help. And he's being incredibly smart. In the ancient world, you don't go to battle without your prophets. For example, the prophet Elijah was called Israel's horse and chariot. A chariot was the best,

Starting point is 00:06:39 most strong weapon that was known in those days. Let's pick up in verse 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. And she said, I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road which you are going on will not lead to your glory, for Yahweh will sell Cicero into the hand of a woman. Then Deborah arose and went with Barack to Cadesh, and Barack called out to Zebulun and Naftali to Cadesh, and 10,000 men went up at his heels and Deborah went up with him. As if this subversive message in this entire chapter wasn't clear enough already,

Starting point is 00:07:15 Deborah actually pushes it one step further. She makes it clear that a man won't ultimately be responsible for killing Cicera. It will be another woman. If the literature of the ancient world was by men, about men, and for men, this story flips it all upside down. It's a story by women, about women, for women. And the events go exactly, as Deborah says. Barack leads his force, and he routs Cicero's army, and a woman named Jael ultimately kills Cicera. And then, as we'll look at tomorrow, Deborah actually leads the entire congregation of Israel in a worship song celebrating the victory.

Starting point is 00:07:54 of Yahweh over Jabin, the king of Canaan. What can we take away from this story? Well, first, God rarely works in the ways that our culture expects. If you aren't resisting the way our culture works in meaningful ways, you can't possibly be following Jesus fully. Deborah was a resistance to the patriarchal culture of her time. How do you resist the cultural moment that we live in? Second thing, this story reminds us that Yahweh works through unexpected people, people just like you. We're called to take responsibility and leadership in our lives that God can work through us. He graciously condescends to empower and work through ordinary, sinful people like you and me, so that he can bring about his grand and amazing and glorious purposes.

Starting point is 00:08:42 Jesus wants to use you. I hope you know that. Jesus wants to use you to be his rescue plan for other people. He gives you the grace and the strength you need to do this. You know you don't have it, but he'll give it to you because he has a plan for how he wants to work through you. Third, it's a reminder that despite the fact that the Bible subverts patriarchy, Christians are often guilty of redeploying it. When we do this, we end up becoming like our culture. We end up becoming like the culture of the ancient world and like parts of our culture today. Christians shouldn't be patriarchal.

Starting point is 00:09:17 All women can be like Deborah. voices of God in their community, Bible experts, teachers of His Word, dispensers of wisdom and challenging situations. And God will often work through women to lead communities and to call other people into action. If you're a woman, don't forget this. If you're a man, look around you and don't forget the amazing women that God might be trying to lead you with today. Pray today that you would be like Deborah, that you would allow God to use you for the sake of your community. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Should We Resist or Embrace the Cultural Moment? | Judges | Judges 4

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