From the time of the Judges, we get the stories of Samson, Gideon, and others that God raised up to get the children of Israel out of their troubles. Within the stories of these great deliverers is the story of a woman, a mother in Israel, a mother for the children of Israel. Her name was Deborah.
The Bible tells us that King Jabin of Canaan was the cause of their distress this time and Sisera was the commander of his army. He had nine hundred iron chariots and for twenty years he harshly oppressed the children of Israel.
Years before, God through Moses, gave his people many rules and regulations in order to establish them and to prepare them for times like these. Among them, is one clear direction telling them that when they go out to battle and they see that the enemy has horses and chariots and people more numerous than themselves, they were not to be afraid because God would be with them, the same God that brought them up out of Egypt was with them to fight for them.
Yet, here they are, for twenty years in oppression and defeat. In Judges 5 we read that village life had ceased in Israel until Deborah arose as a mother in Israel. Have you ever seen a mother rise up to protect her child? We who are mothers know that instinct, that drive, that power to protect our children. Deborah, our mother in Israel, was the Judge at that time as well as a prophetess. She would sit under a palm tree in the mountains of Ephraim and the Israelites would come to her for judgment in the affairs of their lives. The palm tree in the mountains sounds wonderful but I am not so sure about the other part. She was a woman of strength to consistently day in and day out, and faithfully year after year, listen to the complaints and issues of the errant children of Israel. God indeed was with her to strengthen and sustain her.
