Like the story of that cool lady Deborah in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Judges . . . It is a story that has been around for over 3,000 and it is like a combination of CSI and The Mentalist and Dexter and The Good Wife all in one, with an added dose of reality tv thrown in just for grins. Here's the gist: AFTER the Israelites had been busted out of slavery in Egypt by God (and Moses), and AFTER they'd wandered around in the Sinai desert for 40 years, and AFTER they'd been led to the Promised Land by God (and Joshua), they still lived a tentative and relatively nomadic existence for 200 years or so. Each Tribe had its own territory and they didn't intermingle too much - - except when they needed each other. There were ongoing skirmishes with the native Canaanite peoples, and every so often, things got ugly. But mostly, every so often, they completely forgot about God, and turned their lives and focus to gods of their own: money, power, intrigue -- you get the picture. When things got really rough, God would raise up a leader, or 'judge' -- one who was empowered by God to lead the people through whatever rough patch they had encountered. You remember some of these Judges: Samson, Gideon and Jepthah. There were others, too, less notable. But perhaps the most notable was a mere woman, Deborah -- known as a prophetess and wise, 'fiery' leader in her own right. The people were oppressed by a Canaanite king and this went on for 20 years. Finally, they'd had enough. It was time to do battle with their oppressors. Barak was a general -- really the leader of a rag-tag bunch of Israelite guerrilla fighters -- and he was charged with taking on the Canaanites, under the leadership of another General, Sisera. The Hebrews were outmanned, out-armoured, out-spent, and out maneuvered. It looked to be a suicide mission. But Barak did not back away. He just asked Deborah to go to the battle with them. And she did. And, they won! Against all odds, the Israelites won. Not only did they win, every member of the opposing army was killed, except the General, Sisera. He escaped to the hills, and found refuge in the tent of what he thought was a neutral woman, Jael, a Kenite (not Hebrew, but a neighboring tribe). Jael offered him refuge, milk to quench his thirst, and a place to rest and hide. While he slept, she took a tent peg and put it to his temple and hammered it through his brain (yuk!). When Barak and his army came looking for Sisera, he found yet another woman, who had delivered the ultimate victory for them -- all of their oppressors were wiped out.
I think this is a very cool story, and not just because the heroes were actually heroines. The women shine in this tale of deliverance, but God shines brighter. What do we learn? That our God is constant through the ages, and hears our cries of despair. That God has a heart for those who are oppressed. That God provides, and is always vigilant.
All of the above.
But mostly we learn, I think, that God uses whoever God chooses, when and where -- for God's own purposes of mercy and deliverance.
People haven't changed much in 3,000 years. We, like the Hebrews, can be constantly distracted away from the True God. Yet God, fortunately, doesn't get distracted from us or our needs or care.
Yup. Cool story. And very, very important . . . still.
See you in worship this Sunday when we celebrate the story of Deborah, the fiery lady Judge, and her willingness to take part in God's work of redemption.
a.
Good Job Pastor Anna!
ReplyDeleteV.