Deborah and the Rainstorm

“Has not the LORD gone before you?” — Judges 4:14

After Joshua died, the Israelites lived in the promised land. But they kept forgetting God. They worshipped the false gods of the people around them. And every time they turned away from God, trouble came.

This time the trouble was a king called Jabin, from the land of Canaan. The commander of his army was a man named Sisera, and Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots. For twenty years he was cruel to the Israelites. At last they cried out to God for help.

In those days, God’s people were led by a woman named Deborah. She was a prophetess, which means God spoke to her and through her. Deborah used to sit under a palm tree in the hill country, and the Israelites came to her to settle their quarrels and to hear what God said.

Deborah sent for a man named Barak. “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you,” she told him. “Take ten thousand men and go to Mount Tabor. God will lead Sisera and his chariots to the river Kishon, and He will give him into your hands.”

But Barak said, “If you go with me, I will go. But if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

“All right, I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the way you are doing this, you won’t get the honour. The Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman.”

So Deborah went with Barak, and ten thousand men followed them up Mount Tabor.

When Sisera heard about it, he gathered all his nine hundred iron chariots and his whole army, and brought them to the river Kishon, below the mountain.

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?”

So Barak charged down the mountain with his ten thousand men. And God threw Sisera and all his chariots and his army into a panic. The song that Deborah sang afterwards tells us that the sky poured with rain and the river Kishon flooded. Those heavy iron chariots got stuck in the mud and swept away! Sisera jumped down from his chariot and ran away on foot.

Sisera ran until he came to the tent of a woman named Jael. Jael invited him in, gave him milk to drink, and covered him with a blanket. Sisera was so tired that he fell fast asleep. And while he slept, brave Jael made sure that Sisera would never trouble God’s people again.

So Deborah’s words came true. The honour for defeating Sisera went to a woman.

Then Deborah and Barak sang a song of praise to God. “May all who love You shine like the sun at its brightest!” they sang. And there was peace in the land for forty years.

Read it in your Bible: Judges 4–5

Dear God, thank you that you go ahead of your people. Thank you for brave women like Deborah and Jael. Help me to be brave and to follow you. Amen.