The other day I stopped by my granddaughter's house. She was dressed in a long, black robe and said she was on her way to children's church dressed as Bible character Deborah. She asked if I knew who Deborah was. I told her I thought she was a judge, but remembered little else about her; therefore, I would go home and look up more about her.
Deborah was found in Judges 4 and 5.
Deborah was the only female judge of Israel. She was a proophetess,. and people came to her to settle their disputes.
In Judges 5:8 the Israelites did evil in the sight of God (they chose new gods over the one true God), so war came to the city gates. There was no one there to fight the enemy because they were more interested in doing ungodly, fun things rather than protecting their city.
So Deborah sent after Barak to come to defeat the enemy. Barak would only do it, if Deborah - this woman judge - would go with him. Because Barak had no confiidence in his own God-given abilities, she told him that the final defeat would be accomplished by a woman.
The enemy leader took refuge in the tent of the wife of someone whom he thought was a friendly ally. He should have known something was up. He asked her for a drink of water, and she gave him curdled milk. (buttermilk?) (watery cottage cheese?)
Then when he went to sleep, the woman came in a nailed him. He was defeated by a woman just like Deborah prophesied would happen.
