111. Deborah the Prophetess

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Gia here.

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I'm this week's host of the Creative

Spiritual Journey podcast where Judy

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and I talk about those things that bring

us joy This week I want to talk about a

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woman from the Old Testament that I love.

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Her name is Debra.

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Debra.

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The prophetess here is the

pocket version of her story,

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Deborah known as a prophetess and judge

in the Old Testament, called for Barack

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the commander of the Israelite army, and

urged him to carry out the Lord's command

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to gather his forces and stand against

the Canaanite invaders at Mount Tabor.

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Barack refused to go unless Deborah

agreed to go with him, which she did

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when the Canaanite commander Cicero

advanced with his chariots, Barack

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led the charge down the mountain.

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When it became clear that the Israelites

were going to prevail, Cicero fled

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on foot to the tent of JL where he

fell asleep thinking he was safe,

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But while he slept, JL drove a tent

peg through his temple, fulfilling

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the prophecy that the honor

of victory would go to a woman.

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Many people don't even know Deborah,

and if they do, my brief recounting

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is probably the extent of it.

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Today I want to dive a little

deeper into this remarkable woman

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First, let me paint you

a picture of her life.

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I piece this together from the

biblical record and other texts

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as well as archeological findings.

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The main source being an amazing

archeologist named Cynthia Schafer Elliot,

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who specializes in household archeology

from the Hebrew Old Testament era.

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Here's what I found.

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Deborah lived in the Central Hill

country of Israel, a rugged land of

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steep limestone hills and narrow valleys.

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Life followed the seasons and

people depended heavily on

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what they could grow and store.

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Building terraces was required for staple

crops like barley and wheat, along with

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olives, grapes, figs, and pomegranates.

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Small gardens likely produce things

like lentils, beans, onions, and garlic.

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The people also kept sheep and

goats for milk, meat, and wool,

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while donkeys carried goods

along the steep village trails.

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Homes were built of stone and mud brick.

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Typically, houses had a broad

storage room across the back

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where large clay jars held grain.

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Three long rooms typically extended

in the front of the storage room, and

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were used for daily living and housing.

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Animals archeological fines, suggest that

many of the houses had a second story

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And the flat, usable roof.

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It is believed that the homes

opened into a small courtyard

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where many of the household

activities would've been performed.

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Grinding grain into flour was a

daily task and could take hours.

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Bread was baked in clay ovens with dough

pressed against the hot inner walls.

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Textile work was also essential.

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Women spun wool and wove cloth.

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The fabrics were valuable, so

much so that invading armies

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sought them as spoils of war.

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This was a patriarchal society where

men held the formal leadership roles

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and women left their homes to join their

husband's households after marriage.

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Life in this time was incredibly

demanding with every member

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of the household contributing

survival depended on shared labor.

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One reference said this type of

subsistence living meant that people

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didn't have the luxury of gender roles.

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I think that's interesting and

perhaps it contributed to Deborah

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becoming a judge and perhaps in this

time of shared responsibility, it

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wasn't as odd as we might think for

a woman to hold a leadership role.

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So I love to imagine Deborah as a

young girl out tending the goats and

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grinding wheat and spinning wool with

her mother, her sisters, and her aunties

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in the courtyard of her stone house.

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I imagine her being wise and always

having good advice for her friends

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and family, and that somehow

her reputation for wisdom grew.

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So that's a little about her

life, but what was she like?

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first.

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Let me talk about the name Deborah.

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We know how the Israelites

like their puns.

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Isaac's name meant to laugh

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Because Sarah laughed when she

learned she was having a child.

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Jacob's name means heel grabber or usurper

because he acquired the birthright.

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Esau means red because

he was red and hairy.

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The name Deborah comes from

the Hebrew name Deborah.

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It is got a V instead of A B, and Deborah

is directly translated to mean B and B.

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Oh my goodness.

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B has all kinds of rich

symbolic associations.

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industrious.

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Diligent wise, orderly, gentle nurturing,

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which leads me to see Deborah as

delightful like honey, with the

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potential for a protective sting.

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But this isn't it.

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Her name Symbology goes on.

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The King James version of the

Bible says Deborah was married

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to a man named Labrador.

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But the exact wording in

Hebrew says, A she Labrador.

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Labrador means torches or flame.

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A, she can mean wife of or woman of

the idea that that translation could

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be woman of in instead of wife of

offers us a very different picture.

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Instead of meaning Deborah was married

to a man with the name, flame, or

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torch, the word a she, Labrador gives

us more of a hint to her character.

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Perhaps she was a woman of fire or a

fiery woman that would tell us something.

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Or I can't help but see the word torch

as a bringer of light or giver of light.

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Was Deborah a woman who shared her light?

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Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised

if all these things were true.

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So I have come to see Deborah

as this fiery woman who shares

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a light, sweetness, one who

burns with conviction and warmth

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Illuminating others without

ever dimming herself.

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To me that's Deborah and personally,

I suspect that Deborah was married She

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lived in a time of arranged marriages

where women may have had some say,

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But marriage was mostly a

family and economic arrangement.

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It wasn't like today where

if you don't find the right

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person, you can stay single.

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At that time, your father simply

picked someone and given the economic

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incentive, it was almost certain to occur.

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So if she was married, she would've

had to leave her family and go

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join her husband's household.

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And that invites me to imagine

her sphere of influence expanding.

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Now she would have twice as many

people exposed to her wisdom.

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And connecting to more people

could have helped pave the

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way for her role as a judge.

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Now here is another thing.

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I think the scriptures show us about

Deborah's character, and I love this.

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Her story is told in judges four and five.

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Chapter four reads like a narrative,

but chapter five often called

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the Song of Deborah, is poetic.

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did Deborah write the song?

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This is debated among scholars, but

the Bible does say she sang the song.

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So I am going with the idea that it truly

represents her thoughts on the experience.

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And this is beautiful because it

feels as if it was written by someone

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who was really paying attention to

the role of nature in the story.

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Because the story reveals that God

doesn't fight battles the way humans do.

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Through Deborah's story, God

illuminates his power, not just over

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people, but over creation itself.

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Listen to how the song describes

the events on the day of the

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battle the earth trembled.

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The heavens poured rain.

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The mountains shook before the Lord.

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The stars fought from heaven and

the river Khan swept them away.

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Think about that for a moment.

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Who could possibly win a battle when the

stars themselves are fighting against you?

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What the song gives us that the

narrative doesn't is that while Barack

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goes out to fight Cicero, it's not

ultimately Barack who wins the battle.

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The rains came, the ground turned

to mud, the river overflowed.

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And those iron chariots, Cicero's greatest

strength became useless, through Deborah's

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story, we're left with this realization.

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It wasn't Barack who defeated Cera.

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It was God and Deborah, who I believe

knew God deeply, recognized his handiwork,

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which of course I love about her.

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And that's not even it.

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I've got another fascinating insight

from this story to share with you,

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but to get there, I want to talk

about Deborah being a prophetess.

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I mentioned Deborah in a primary class

years ago, and a little 11-year-old

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boy said Deborah couldn't be a PROEs

because she didn't hold the priesthood.

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Honestly, I didn't know what to say.

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Now, I'm not sure this is the only answer,

but here is one explanation I have found.

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It comes down to our

definition of a prophet.

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In the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter Day Saints, we only call

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the president of our church and the

apostles that serve with him prophets.

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But according to Latter Day Saints

scholar and historian Matt Bowen,

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the biblical use of the word prophet

had a slightly different meaning.

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A prophet was generally someone

who had an overwhelming experience

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with God and was then charged with

calling the people to repentance.

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Jonah would fit this category

from the book of Mormon.

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Lehigh would fit this category.

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Joseph Smith would fit this category.

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But Nephi or Brigham Young

would not fit this category.

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While both were priests and religious

leaders and they did preach repentance,

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they weren't called up to this bigger role

as prophet, this role of reestablishing

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the truth of Jesus Christ in a city or

to a people or even to the whole world.

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Does that make sense?

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Our definition has changed.

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I find this fascinating language

is a living, changing thing.

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if you are interested in a more

detailed explanation of this idea, I

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will include a link in the show notes.

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But the reason I'm making this point

is because in my mind it explains

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how Deborah was a true prophetess.

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We don't see Deborah's prophetic

call in the parts of her story that

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we have, but the Bible does clearly

state that she was a prophetess and

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we see her taking action in this role.

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She clearly speaks on behalf of God

and declares divine instruction.

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We see this when Deborah goes to speak to

Barack, the captain of the Israelite army.

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Here she appears to call him out for not

gathering an army and fending off the

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Canaanites, and I suspect in the process

of calling Barack to fill his role as

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captain, she was also calling not only

Barack, but all the people to repentance

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And then Barack says he will go to war

only if Deborah agrees to go with him.

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Now, I don't know about you,

but I suspect he was calling her

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bluff, and if he was, it backfired

because she said she would go.

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And to top that, she prophesied that

Barack wouldn't get the honor of

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defeating Cicero, that the victory

would go to a woman, a woman.

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Isn't that interesting?

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Do you think God was trying to

make a point here, like maybe he

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was weaving a woman's theme and

that he was doing it for a reason.

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We have a female judge and prophetess,

and now we have a female heroine,

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and I'm going to share with you

the third place I see a female

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theme coming up in this story.

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In Judges five, the poetic

version of the story.

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CSRA's mother, the mother of the Canaanite

captain, is waiting for her son to come

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home for more, and she looks out the

window and she cries through the lattice.

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Why isn't his chariot coming?

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What's taking so long Have they not

divided the spoils to every man, a

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damsel or two, and to cice a colorful

embroidered garments for my neck.

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Did you hear that alarming phrase

to every man, a damsel or two?

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What?

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That's horrific.

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I know women are often abused in war,

but hearing it here breaks my heart

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And I can't help but think this

fact, this fact of war was a great

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motivator for Deborah as a woman

leader in a patriarchal society.

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I can see her more sensitive to

gender violence, and it's possible

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she wasn't acting as a judicial leader

or even as a spiritual leader, but

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as a protector of the vulnerable.

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As a prophetess, she could see the

horrific consequences of not going to war.

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here's the irony.

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As CSRA's lamenting mother casually

reveals the fate of women resulting

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from this war, CSRA's Army is being

destroyed by an army, rallied and

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motivated by a woman, and ultimately

cice A is killed by a woman.

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It's a striking reminder that God

moves through the heart of courage

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and that the courage of women

can change the course of history.

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Now, to me, this story of a radiant

mountain girl shaped by God and

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his turning seasons, kindles my

courage and calls me to be braver.

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It lights the path and

dares me to walk it.

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It reminds me that I matter, that

my voice matters, and I hope it

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ignites the same spark in you.

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Deborah beseeches us to stand with

courage, not perfectly but faithfully.

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In ending, I have to tell you that

if you are listening to my Raven

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Crown novel, you might notice bits

and pieces of Deborah's song as the

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backstory to one of my characters.

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so if you are interested,

you can be watching for that.

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Thanks for listening.

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Until next week.

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Namaste.