Deborah Obeyed God

Bible Text: Judges 4:1-5:31

The Children of Israel had disobeyed God again, so God let King Jabin of Canaan defeat them in a battle. King Jabin ruled over them for twenty years. The captain of his army was Sisera. Their army had nine hundred chariots of iron that were pulled by horses. King Jabin and Sisera were very mean to the children of Israel .

At that time, the leader of the Children of Israel was a judge named Deborah. She would sit under a palm tree by her house, and the people would come to her and she would tell them what to do.

God told her that it was time for the children of Israel to go to battle again against King Jabin and his captain, Sisera. God promised that they would win. Deborah called for Barak, a brave man, and told him to get together an army to go to battle. Barak said he would do it only if she would go with him. Deborah agreed to go with him. She said that the Lord would give the victory for this battle to a woman instead of to Barak, because Barak didn't believe God would help them win. Barak called together ten thousand men of the Children of Israel to go and fight against Sisera and his nine hundred chariots of iron. They camped on Mount Tabor so they could look down on Sisera and his army.

When the day came, Deborah told Barak to go to war because the Lord would be with them. Their army came down the mountain so fast that it surprised Sisera and his army. They didn't have time to get their horses hitched up to their nine hundred chariots of iron, so they ran away and the Children of Israel chased them. The Children of Isreal won the battle!

Sisera had jumped off of his chariot and ran away when he saw the Children of Israel coming. As he was running away, a woman named Jael was standing by her tent, and she called to him to come and hide. She told him not to be afraid, and she hid him under a blanket in her tent. He told her to stand in the door of her tent; if anyone asked if she had seen him, she was to say, No. He was thirsty and asked for a drink of water. Jael gave him a drink of milk, then she covered him up again, and he fell asleep. While he was sleeping, Jael killed him because he was so mean to the children of Israel .

When the battle was over, Barak came looking for Sisera. Jael called to him from her tent. She told him that Sisera was in her tent—dead. God had given Sisera into the hands of a woman and she recieved the honor instead of Barak. The Children of Israel won the battle just as God had told Deborah they would. Deborah and Barak sang praises to the Lord for helping them win the battle.

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