Judges Part 1: DeborahShembull

Who was Deborah the Judge?

Deborah is a godly, anointed, gifted, and courageous leader serving the Lord faithfully in numerous spiritual and political roles. Deborah appears along with other notable women in the book of Judges. As we have already established in yesterday's study, this was a very dark period in the history of God’s people.

A Bible dictionary says, “The role of women in Judges is an area of scholarly interest; there are at least 22 individuals or groups of women, at least 10 of whom have speaking parts. These women include:

1. Achsah (1:10–16);

2. Deborah (chs. 4–5);

3. Jael (chs. 4–5);

4. Jephthah’s sacrificed daughter (11:1–12:7);

5. Samson’s mother (13:1–16:31);

6. Micah’s mother (17:1–4);

7. the Levite’s concubine (ch. 19);

8. the women of Jabesh-Gilead (ch. 21);

9. the dancing daughters of Shiloh (ch. 21). (1)

Unlike priests who were selected by their family origins (Exodus 28:1, Leviticus 21-22), prophets had only the call of God to legitimize their ministry. Their call was not predicated upon prior ministry testing or ability (Amos 7:14). Their call included not merely a new vocation but an entirely new way of life with new values and perspectives. Their eyes were opened to see a new reality, their ears were opened to hear the voice of God, and their mouths were opened to say what they heard and saw. The prophetic call was essential for their ministry since, in the face of opposition from the religious establishment, the prophets needed dramatic certainty that God had indeed selected them to speak.

In summary, the prophetic calling was the combination of two ministries. First, they received specific revelation directly from God. The Scriptures are clear that the prophetic message was not the result of human speculation, research, or opinion but was a completely miraculous revelation from the heart of God into the mouth of His prophets. Second, they spoke the revealed Word to the people God had called them to. The prophets were also painfully aware of the weightiness of their call since they consciously knew that they were the very mouth of almighty God and spoke for Him. For example, this is seen in Moses (Exodus 4:16, 7:1-2), Isaiah (Isaiah 1:20), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:7), Amos (Amos 3:8, 7:16), and Zechariah (Zechariah 7:12).

What makes Deborah unique is that she is referred to as a prophetess, or female prophet, and judge. Over the next few days, we will examine these leadership roles to help understand her incredibly fruitful service to God.

What did you know about Deborah before this study and what do you hope to learn from this godly female leader?

1. Trent C. Butler and Amy L. Balogh, “Judges, Book of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).