DEBORAH THE PRPHETESS AND BARAK In every era, the Lord shows how women can have a positive role; so that they would not lead a negative life, but carry out an important role among the congregation. As a matter of fact, Deborah the prophetess and the judge was superior to many male judges. 1- Israel falls into evil 1 - 3 2- Deborah provokes Barak to act 4 - 9 3- Jail kills Sisera. 10 – 24 1- ISRAEL FALLS INTO EVIL: “When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel” (1 – 3) The word ‘Hazor’ means (a fold of beasts), or (fenced). It was a kind of stronghold close to the lake ‘Merom’, known nowadays as the lake ‘Hola’ (Joshua 11: 1-5); a ruin, known nowadays as ‘Tel-el-Kadah’. …… https://coptic-treasures.com/ ‘Jabin’ was most probably a title of the Canaanite kings, like ‘Pharaoh’ to the kings of Egypt. ………Sisera, the commander of his army, his name, according to St. Augustine, means (the loss of joy). As Israel repeated their evil, God sold them to be chastised by ‘Sisera’, namely by the loss of joy, which is the harshest way of chastisement; for by it, man loses the company of the Lord, the Grantor of joy, to come to have an inner anxiety and a depression of heart; that would never go away except through the return of the heart to God, to approach Him as His sanctuary, or as a heaven to carry him by the spirit of joy and exultation. ‘Jabin’, king of Canaan, whose name means (Chaos) or (lack of peace), reigned in Hazor, his capital, as though in a (stronghold), and sent Sisera to destroy every joy in the hearts.. Sisera dwelt in ‘Harosheth Hagoyim , namely (a place of the Gentiles) (2); a location in northern Palestine, so called because of the diverse races of its inhabitants, mixed together to form an independent nation. There, Sisera, namely (the loss of joy) dwelt, among such a mixture of Gentiles; Namely, man would lose his spiritual joy when his heart turns into a dwelling place for a diversity of pagan nations; namely for abominations and sins. 2- DEBORAH PROVOKES BARAK TO ACT: https://coptic-treasures.com/ “ Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment” (4, 5) God worked by the left-handed Ehud; and by Shamgar who had nothing in his hand by which to fight except an ox goad. Now, He works by a woman, or, according to St. Ambrose, by a widow; to tell all, men and women, married, widows and virgins, that everyone has his spiritual role in the life of the holy congregation. According to St. Ambrose: [Deborah showed that a widow is not in need of help from man, as long as she is not handicapped by her sex, and takes upon herself the commitments of a man……….. As a matter of fact, Deborah did far beyond what she promised to do. When the Jews found no one to judge and to defend them by manly righteousness and strength; and found that war kindled around them on all sides, they chose Deborah, a widow, to judge thousands of men in the time of peace, and to defend them against the enemy in the time of war. That was the first time the children of Israel had a female judge, whose work as a judge made history, to exhort women not to refrain from brave work with the excuse of their natural weakness. ………. A widow judged the people; a widow led armies; a widow appointed leaders; a widow chose war and had conquests…….. It is not sex that creates power but courage]; And St. Augustine ends his talk about Deborah the judge, by saying: [O women,; you have no excuse because of your nature; O widows, you have no excuse of having lost the help of your late husband; For every man has enough protection within himself, if his soul does not lack courage]. If we see, in the judges diverse portraits of the Person of the Lord Christ, and His salvation work; Deborah, on the other hand, bears a living portrait of the church of Christ, on many aspects, among which are: https://coptic-treasures.com/ (1) Name-wise, .she was called ‘Deborah’, namely (a bee). It was said about the church, likened to a bee: “Your lips, O my spouse, drip as the honeycomb; honey and milk under your tongue” (Song 4: 11); and, “The bee is small among the flying creatures, but what it produces is the best of sweet things” (Sirach 11: 3); And according to St. Gregory of Nyssa: [The bee is beloved and appreciated by all. In spite of its weakness, yet it bears a high wisdom, and perpetually seeks the life of perfection ……… It is befitting of us, therefore, like the bee, to fly among the gardens of the inspired teachings, to gather from them what we would fill ourselves with the honey of wisdom, and of the diverse teachings, to form in us what is like a storehouse like un-perishable cells of wax. We are committed to have, like the bee, both sweet honey, and a harmless sting; to be preoccupied, like it, to turn the labor of this life into eternal blessings; and to present the fruit of its strife for the sake of the well being of kings and peoples. So will be the soul that draws the Groom, and admired by the angels; who consummate her weakness by the strength of the honored wisdom]. (2) The name of Deborah’s man was ‘Lapidoth’, meaning (shining lamp or flame). ……... The Groom of the church, is He who said about Himself: “I am the Light of the world” (John 8: 12; 9: 5); who shines in His church to make her, as well, the light of the world (Matthew 5: 14); …………..According to St. John Chrysostom, on the tongue of the Lord Christ: [I truly turned on the light; but for it to endure will only be realized through your strife …….I assure you that no calamity would be able to hinder your splendor, if you persist on walking the righteous life; to be the cause of changing the whole world. You should, therefore lead the kind of life, befitting of His grace; so that when you preach anywhere, this light would shine on your face]. https://coptic-treasures.com/ (3) Deborah used to sit under ‘the palm tree of Deborah’ between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim” (5). What is this palm tree, called by her name, under which she sat for all to comefor judgment, but the tree of the cross, about which the church says: “I sat down in His shade with great delight; and His fruit was sweet to my taste” (Song 2: 3). Deborah used to sit under the tree of the cross between ‘Ramah’, namely (heights) and ‘Bethel’, namely (the house of God), in the mountains of Ephraim, namely (the mountain of the increasing fruits). It is as though, sitting under the cross, granted her an increasing fruition; ………Sitting on the heights (Ramah), she came to be above the worries and seductions of the world; ………Sitting at Bethel, namely (in the house of God), she perpetually enjoyed His company. ……….How much we are in need of being, like Deborah , to work unceasingly within the circle of the cross; with our hearts soaring up to heaven, to set forth to the eternal house of God, to enjoy the increasing fruition of the Spirit. Describing the condition of Deborah as a judge, before she sets forth to war, St. Ambrose says: [In the time of peace, we find nothing wrong in that woman; when most of the male judges were the cause of serious sins committed by the people]. (4) Deborah refers to the church who provokes her children to the spiritual strife against the devil and his evil works, namely the abominations and sins. Deborah sought from Barak the son of Aminoam from Kadesh Nephtali, to attack Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men from the tribe of Nephtali, and the children of Zebulun, to fight against Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army. https://coptic-treasures.com/ According to St. Ambrose, Barak was Deborah’s son; while according to the Jewish Rabbis, Barak was, himself, Lapidoth her husband; on account of that the word Lapidoth means (moves like lightning, which is very near to that of the word ‘Barak’, by which he was called because of his great energy and swift movement in war. According to St. Ambrose, Deborah was successful in her work as a judge, through her success in her family life; for she raised her son Barak to be the leader of the army, despite the risks that he could face. He says: [That woman, before anything else, showed that the needs of the family do not depend upon the public resources; but the later rather are set through the proper management of the familial life. She presented her son to be the leader of the army; ……….a widow trained a wrestler;………. taught him as a mother, …………commanded him as a judge; ………….by her courage, she trained him; …………and as a prophetess presented him to conquer]. And also says: [How great is the will of such a widow, whose emotion as a mother, did not keep her son away from risks, but, on the contrary, provoked him to go ahead and fight to conquer. By which the decision was in the hand of a woman]. . “Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’? (6, 7) https://coptic-treasures.com/ If Barak – whatever his relationship to Deborah might be -- refers to the life enlightened in the Lord, moving swiftly like lightning; it is befitting of the believer in his spiritual strife to be like Barak. The ten thousand men under his command, refer to the man who keeps the law (the figure 10) in a heavenly spiritual way (X 1000), namely in a divine way; for one day for the Lord is like a thousand. Being all men; it is befitting of the believer not to have within himself the softness of women, nor the helplessness of children.; but the maturity and seriousness of men. Those men came from ‘Naphtali’, meaning (Wide open); and from ‘Zebulun’ meaning (a dwelling place); Namely they have the wide open heart as a dwelling place for God Himself. If the believer sets forth like Barak and his men, namely like lightning, with the spiritual keeping of the commandment as a way to lives and to experience; with the maturity of the spirit, and has the wide-open hearts, as a dwelling place for God and all humanity; God, then, will draw Sisera from ‘Kishon’, meaning (convoluted or bent), to deliver him into his hand; namely He will submit the distorted convoluted movements of the enemy, under his feet. The River of ‘Kishon’, watering the ‘Ben Amer’ pastures; receives its water from Mount Tabor, the hills of Nazareth, Mount Hermon Minor, and Gilboa; then runs through the ‘Ben Amer’ pastures in a winding way heads towards North-west, to enter into the plains of ‘Akko’ and close to Jaifa, on the North; most of its course dries up in summer; and on its bank, the prophet Elijah killed the priests of Baal (1 kings 18: 40). 3- JAEL KILLS SISERA: “And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”. So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory https://coptic-treasures.com/ for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh” (8 – 9) “And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men under his command,[a] and Deborah went up with him” (10) By the spirit of prophecy, Deborah said to Barak: “The Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (9). Barak assumed that she means herself; yet she most probably meant Jael, the wife of ‘Heber the Kenite, who killed Sisera by a tent peg in her tent. According to St. Ambrose, Barak who led the battle, is a symbol of the Jews, who came out fighting with the teachings of the prophets about the salvation; Yet, it was not Barak who was the conqueror, but a Gentile woman called Jael; a symbol of the church, whose members came from the Gentiles. St. Ambrose says: [Prophesying about the battle, Deborah secretly proclaimed about the church setting forth from among the Gentiles, and had conquest against Sisera, namely against the opponent hosts; For our sake she (the church) fought against the teachings of the prophets (Barak) ……..The Jewish people did not get the conquest on the enemy, whom they should have fought through the virtue of faith; Yet “Byy their mistake, salvation came to the Gentiles; By their foolishness we came to have the conquest”. He also says: [Jael destroyed Sisera, whom the well-trained Jews should have donet under the leadership of their lightning-like leader; For reading in the sayings of the prophets and their works, most probably granted a heavenly lightning-like help on the fathers ……….. Conquest started by the Jewish fathers, and ended up to the church]. The Holy Book narrates the episode of the conquest by Jael (The church of the Gentiles) over Sisera, in the following way: https://coptic-treasures.com/ (1) At the onset, we heard nothing about a role played by Jael (the Gentiles); but it was Barak, (representing the Jewish fathers), in whom the prophesies of the old covenant shone like lightning, who set forth, accompanied by Deborah (the spirit of prophecy) ………..Together with Nephtali and Zebulun (Namely the wide-open heart as a dwelling place for God); from ‘Kadesh’, meaning (holiness). That onset represents the strife of men of the old covenant through the spirit of prophecy, to set forth to war through the holy godly life. “Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the fatherin- law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, which is beside Kedesh” (11) (2) The book introduced this verse to prepare the mind to recognize ‘Jael’ wife of ‘Heber the Kenite’. ‘Heber’ means (alliance); For, although he separated himself from the family referred to Cain, namely from the Kenite; yet he did not enjoy the inheritance in the promised land, despite his faith in the God of Israel. He pitched his tents near the terebinth tree of Zaanaim, to be on the border between the Canaanites and Israel. Being a Gentile, he allied himself with the Canaanites, and as proselyte, he had friendship with the children of Israel. “Heber”, here, probably represents some of the Gentiles, who, according to the natural law, recognized the Lord; yet they did not separate themselves from the Canaanites, for they walked in their abominations; until the time came for ‘Jael’ , namely the church of the Gentiles, to kill the devil ‘Sisera’, and reject his abominations, and idol-worship. https://coptic-treasures.com/ “ Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?” (14) (3) Here, by saying to Barak; “Up!”, Deborah revealed to ‘Barak’ that the secret of the conquest is the enjoyment of the resurrection, together with the Lord risen from the dead, who destroyed the devil and his hosts. How much we need to listen to the voice of the church (Deborah), to enjoy the resurrection, so that ‘Sisera’ would have no authority on us, for the Lord, risen from the dead, “goes out before us”, as the Firstfruit of those departed, to deliver ‘Sisera’ into our hand. (4) On Mount Tabor, Barak was secure in his stronghold; as though he was together with the disciples who watched the Lord transfigure, and said on the tongue of the apostle Peter: “Lord, it is good for us to be here” .(Matthew 17: 3) Then they were commanded by the Lord to come down to carry the cross together with Him; that, by His resurrection, He would proclaim His conquest upon ‘Sisera’, and grants His disciples conquest with Him. “And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot” (15) (5) Coming down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men, Yet ‘Barak’ having no chariots; was no match for the army of Sisera, estimated by the Historian Josephus to be 300,000 men, ten thousand horsemen, and 3000 chariots, 900 of which were iron chariots. But God, as usual, does not save by the mighty human possibilities , but, going out before His people, routed the enemy, who, when they saw the Israelites coming down suddenly https://coptic-treasures.com/ upon them, they fell into disturbance; their chariots knocked one another; and they hade to forsake them and flee on foot; specially, as reported by Josephus, very heavy rain and dense hail came down, which increased their confusion. Chasing them, the Israelites sang together with the psalmist, saying: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20: 7). “Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left” (16). Perceiving that the enemy was very close, and being a more obvious target, Sisera alighted from his chariot which was already damaged; on accounted of that it was easier for him to find a refuge on foot, than to have it riding a chariot. So Barak and his men defeated Sisera and his men, not by the multitude of numbers nor of possibilities, but in the name of the Lord of hosts. According to St. Ambrose: [The church overcomes the hosts of the enemy, not by the weapons of this world, but by spiritual weapons , “mighty in God for pulling down strongholds; and casting down arguments” (2 Corinthians 10: 4, 5). “However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him https://coptic-treasures.com/ with a blanket” (17, 18). The word ‘Jael’ means (a kind of mountain goat). It is as we already said, represents the church of the Gentiles, which was before, living on the mountains and in the wilderness. And she and her husband had peace with ‘Sisera’, namely with (the devil). Sisera set forth to her tent and not to that of her husband, with the perception that nobody could enter the tent of a woman, when she denies the presence of anyone in her hospitality.. He was amazed by seeing her coming out to welcome him with very soft words. Although Jael so did by deception, which was contrary to the tradition of hospitality; but, most probably, she so did through a secret proclamation; representing the church that came out of her old tent, or old man, to kill the devil out of her life, and to turn her tent into a grave for the enemy, and a sanctuary for the Lord. ……….. In other words, if the tent refers to the body that, by its evil desires, gave hospitality to the devil, Through the divine grace, man proclaims his denial of the devil and all his works; to sanctify the body, by killing the evil desires, and by bearing the Spirit of the Lord in it. Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’” (19, 20) https://coptic-treasures.com/ He asked her for a little water to drink, to seem like seeking nothing more; for her great hospitality and giving him a refuge is enough for him. She gave him milk from a jug, most probably of leather in which milk is put to ferment, with the intention to make him go into a deep sleep after so much exhaustion; to have the time to put her plan into action. What is this milk other than the teachings of faith that water the soul of the believer and make her drunk by the love of God; even though, for the devil and his followers it would be deadly. Sisera’s thirst was quenched by a jug of milk; namely was defeated by wisdom; for what is healthy for us to drink, came to weaken and kill the enemy……… The weapons of the church are ‘faith’ and “prayers”, by which she defeat the enemy. In the old, Satan crawled into the tent of Eve through the serpent, and deceived her by the apple, to kill her, together with her husband, and her descendants forever. Now, Eve (Jael) went out to meet him (Satan), pretending to give him hospitality, to kill him and save everyone from his evil; so that he would have no more place in her tent, in her man’s, or in her descendants after them. “Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died” (21) Let Sisera die by the hand of a woman, by a wooden tent peg she took in her hand, drove into his temple, and it went down into the ground (21)………….. In other words let the evil desires, stirred-up in us by the devil die by the hand of the church, the bride of Christ, who carries the cross (the wooden peg). ………..Let Jael softly and swiftly strike the devil in his head; namely while he is fast asleep, before he wakes up, brings them into the depths, and reign………… Let Jael https://coptic-treasures.com/ strike him with the cross in his temple, namely reject and crucify his thoughts, to purify our depths to the account of the Lord.. “And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple” (22). “So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel; And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan” (23, 24).
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