Deborah

Deborah was a unique figure in Israel's history—a prophetess, judge, and military leader. She held court under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel, where Israelites came to have their disputes settled. At this time, Israel had been oppressed for twenty years by Jabin, king of Canaan, whose general Sisera commanded 900 iron chariots.

God gave Deborah a message for Barak, a military leader from Naphtali: he was to take 10,000 men to Mount Tabor, and God would deliver Sisera into his hand. But Barak refused to go unless Deborah went with him. She agreed but prophesied that because of his hesitation, the glory of victory would go to a woman. Barak went with Deborah to Mount Tabor, the troops were mustered, and the battle was joined.

When Sisera's chariots advanced, the Lord threw them into confusion. A sudden storm (described in Deborah's song) may have flooded the Kishon River, making the chariots useless in the mud. Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, who invited him in, gave him milk, and covered him. While he slept, Jael drove a tent peg through his temple, fulfilling Deborah's prophecy that a woman would receive the honor.

Deborah's victory song in Judges 5 is one of the oldest Hebrew poems, celebrating God's deliverance and the various tribes' responses. The land had rest for forty years. Deborah's leadership demonstrates that God raises up whoever He chooses for His purposes.