DEBORAH—JUDGE AND PROPHETESS!!

WOMEN IN THE WORD!!

Judges 4:4-10 –“And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.  And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh”. 

She was a powerful woman of God and during that time there was none like her! She was the only female Judge in the entire Bible!   She dedicated her life to hear from God, while giving Him the glory and the praise for every decision and judgement.   She was fearless in sharing a word from God!!   She settled disputes between the Israelites.   She had an office under the palm trees and people would come and get advice and a Word from God and she was respected in her field!  Not only was she a judge, but she was also a prophetess.  She was the wife of Lapidoth!   

There is still a debate of who her husband was because the name Lapidoth means ‘flames’ and Barak means ‘lightening’, so some say that her husband was Barak!   Whether that is true or not, she was a judge, a prophetess and a wife!! 

I love the KJV of Judges 4:6, it says  “And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?”   

She knew what God said and that he said it to Barak, because that is what the text implies.  When Barak said if you go with me, I will go, but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go, some theologians said that he was fearful and some say he was being sarcastic with this words—but whatever the opinions were of his statement, I believe he knew exactly who Deborah was because of her stellar reputation and anointing! Without hesitation Deborah said, LET’S GO and while we are chatting, I want you to know that God will get the victory over Sisera—through a woman. But that did not deter him because after that they went to War!!! 

I wondered if he thought that the woman that she spoke of was herself—but it was not! God in his magnificence chose another unlikely soul to kill Sisera—a woman named Jael (and then there were two). I love how the Lord reigns!!

When Sisera and his army were losing the battle, he ran for his life before going into the tent of Heber’s wife, Jael. As she made him feel comfortable, quenched his thirst and he feel asleep, she took a nail and hammer and drove it right through his head!!! 

Judges 4:17-21 —-”Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’” But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died”. 

Many times, God’s strategy may be unpredictable, but it is always perfect, and HE never makes mistakes in His Judgement! He chose two women to help bring victory to a people that had been persecuted for 20 years and now would have 40 years of lasting PEACE!!! 

To my sisters, think about how God has or wants to use you in a way that others wouldn’t think twice about! But know that as long as we Seek God, His Kingdom and His Righteousness—–HE CAN AND WILL USE EACH ONE OF US IN EXTRADINARY WAYS!!!

LEAH AND RACHEL–WHO LOVED GOD?

Two sisters, one man—-that is bound to cause trouble!

But the truth is that Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah.  When he saw Rachel first and all of her beauty, his heart was swept away.   Did she say anything special to him, did she help him with anything, did she give him directions, was there anything that she did or said that captured Jacob’s heart?   This is what the bible says:

Genesis 29:9-18 While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd. When Jacob saw Rachel, daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So, she ran and told her father.  As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood. After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”  Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak[a] eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”

What was interesting to me is that Jacob was sent to the same place that Jacob’s grandfather Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for his son Issaac.  The difference is that Rebekah worked and served Abraham’s servant by sharing water with him and watering ALL OF HIS CAMELS.   However, the opposite happened with Jacab and Rachel.  She was a shepherd coming to water her sheep, but when Jacob took one look at Rachel, he rolled that stone away from the well and watered the sheep for her!  It would seem that the only thing that was required of Rachel was her lovely figure and beauty.  She probably had many admirers, got many compliments, love gestures and she probably never had a problem with someone rolling the stone away for her so that those sheep would be watered.   I am sure it was much more than ‘weak eyed’ Leah received! 

But although Jacob loved Rachel, GOD enabled Leah’s womb and she had 3 sons and Rachel was jealous of her because of it, because she was barren!  This had to be difficult for Rachel, this was probably the first time in her life that the attention was not on her!!!

Unfortunately, the rivalry between women was something that was common during those days because having children meant having WORTH!!!  So, when some could not have children, they probably felt that their life was not viable and the emptiness would consume them, just as it did for Rachel!   I believe she was so consumed that she completely lost any love that she may have had for Jacob in the beginning, if she had any. The bible never states that Rachel loved Jacob!!! The one yearning for his heart was Leah.

So, in all of this jealousy, hurt, pain and confusion, who had a heart for GOD?  After years of desiring her husband’s heart and not receiving all of it, Leah had her 3rd son and she named him Judah. She began to realize who really loved her and she gave her heart to the LORD!!!  GOD knew LEAH’S HEART EVEN BEFORE SHE DID AND HE BLESSED HER BY ALLOWING JUDAH TO BE A PART OF THE BLOODLINE OF THE MESSIAH—JESUS!!!

So, did Jacob finally love Rachel with his whole heart? We will let Pastor Chrisman tell us about that next week!!!!

Hello Everyone,

Below is my new book entitled 31-Love Letters… from Above and will be published on Kindle this Friday 3/11/2022!!!!

Please go on to Amazon and purchase a copy. If it blesses you in any way, big or small, and I am sure that it will—-then it will be a well-purposed memoir. Thanks so much from your Sister in Christ— at The Heart of Women!!!

Rachel and The Unloved One!

In a plot, Leah was married to Jacob first, then a week later he was able to marry Rachel! Genesis 29:30—“And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.” Genesis 29:31–‘And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren’.  Who was Leah hated by—Rachel or Jacob?

Bearing children during that time gave women hope, status and a future, so even though Leah wanted Jacob to love her, GOD made sure that Leah had a future by bearing children.  But Leah’s heart was still grieved because with every son that she bore, she hoped that her husband Jacob would finally love her, until she bore Judah and declared her love to the Lord!  She switched her focus to the ONE WHO ALWAYS LOVED HER!   

I relate to this story well, because it took me losing a child with a man that did not love me the way that he should have, while I continued to pray that his heart would somehow change in my direction, to GOD opening my womb again and me giving Him Honor and Praise for that Blessing.    Even though my situation was not optimal, I knew and loved an optimal GOD that loved me and blessed me again with Love that resulted in a Future.  

In the meantime, while Rachel was barren and witnessing the sons that Leah birthed, she was so broken that she permitted her husband to bear 2 children with her maid.   During that time frame, if a woman was barren and had a maid, this was an acceptable practice to have the maid bear children who then became the women’s property.  

However, Leah has stopped having children and when she saw Rachel’s children by way of her maid, she allowed Jacob to lay with her maid as well to bear 2 sons—–WOW!!!  What a web that jealousy and envy can weave!  

This continues with Leah’s oldest son bringing home mandrakes (a plant that helped women to conceive).  Rachel asked Leah for part of the plant in exchange for her ALLOWING Jacob to lay with Leah, (I am sure that Jacob was not visiting Leah’s side of the tent willingly), resulting in Leah conceiving 2 more children and when Rachel consumed the herb and laid with her husband, finally bearing a child for the 1st time and then she bore one more time, but this last time, she DIED IN CHILDBIRTH and it is interesting to note that Rachel did say this to Jacob—…….“Give me children, or I’ll die!” (Genesis 30:1)–Did she love the idea of the gift, more than the GIFT GIVER??

We have to be careful with desires that produce unhealthy practices causing our hearts to get dark, moving us away from GOD’s Light!! We have more to consider than just our selfish desires.  I wondered how well the children got along with each other—can love exist in the hearts of these children in such a hostile environment??  We will see later when one of the brothers is dropped in a pit!!

First, Leah was jealous of the love that Jacob had for Rachel, but she bore 3 sons.

Rachel was jealous of Leah being able to bear children, while her womb was closed—having her maid bear 2 children with Jacob.

Then Leah became jealous of the children that Rachel’s maid bore for her, so she allowed her maid to lay with Jacob to bear 2 children.

However, it wasn’t enough that they both had their maids lay with their husband, but this time they both decided that they were going to completely bypass GOD by bearing children through a fertility apparatus—-resulting in death!  For the 2nd time I say—-what a web of jealousy and envy we can weave that will only RESULT IN DEATH!!

When we find ourselves in situations where love has not yet fully shown its face, the best thing that we can do is to Pray and ask GOD to point us in the direction where LOVE LIVES–we may find that LOVE DOES EXIST, it has just become faint/dormant through life and all of its circumstances, but GOD’s altar will ALWAYS REVEAL!!!

Jacob loved Rachel and Leah wanted Jacob’s love; however, no place in the Bible is it stated that RACHEL LOVED JACOB!!  

Next week—–Who Loved GOD???????