A Great Woman - Deborah

The 4th judge mentioned in the Book of Judges is Deborah. In verse 4 of chapter 4, we see that she was a prophetess and a judge. The children of Israel had gotten into one of their down cycles of unbelief and were experiencing 20 years of oppression. They cried out to God for help.

God's love extends to everyone. If a person or group turn out and away from God, they eventually fall into oppressive pressure traps, not because God ceases to love them, but because he can't reach them outside his boundaries. Many people blame God or diss him for all sorts of reasons when the only one to blame is really themselves. All of what God has created is meant to bless. People who stick up their nose at him are ignorant or have mistaken notions about love, sin, good and evil.

Some don't like boundaries, but God has boundaries. 'Sin' is defined as 'missing the mark' as it is an ancient archery term. There's a target and there is an area outside the target. Hitting the target is golden and has significance and reward. I like to define 'sin' as 'missing out on'. Actually, I looked at a frequent Greek word for 'sin' and it essentially means 'missing a share or a portion'.  'Missing the mark' connotes to me a 'performance condition'. Our performance is not the issue.  It is believing what has been provided for us.  The boundaries keep us within reach.

When Israel cried to God, he worked through a woman. A prophetess speaks for God. In order to speak for God, she had to have spirit upon her. In the Old Testament, this is how God worked through an individual to bless a group and rescue them out of the clutches of oppression.  In the New Testament, the spirit can take up residence in anyone who chooses God by confessing the Lordship of his son and believing that God got Jesus up from the dead.

This lady was also a judge:

4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. Judges 4:4-5

She didn't have to belong to any international or national organization for women's rights, she had God at her back. God's view of women has been so distorted by people throughout history. She didn't run around giving everybody a piece of her mind to show strength, she gave her heart. At the center of her heart was God.

She is an example of a great woman. In the New Testament, we have an even greater potential as women. The spirit of God has been made available to anyone (male or female) who chooses. We can truly walk in the love of God free from the coldness of sin and evil, to do good.  In that context, we can be anything we want to be!