“The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.” — Judges 5:7
An interesting fact, the name Deborah in the Hebrew means “bee.” The queen bee is typically the mother of all the bees in a hive, and God’s word is often compared to honey...[1] In time as I was reading Isaiah 54 and a light came on in my head:
“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing…For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited[2].”
Deborah lived out Isaiah 54 in a way, as both picture of Christ’s Church. We are told that Deborah was married in Judges 4:4, but we are not told that she had any children (and indeed it might make her decision to go straight into the warzone with Barak a little bit more questionable if she had small children to look after), yet by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit she proclaims herself to be a mother in Israel who repopulated empty villages. How can this be? By the preaching of the gospel. As we have discussed in prior messages, by preaching and discipling others, we can convert far more disciples than we can physically birth in a lifetime, if the Lord wills.
The best way to study the Bible is by pairing scripture with scripture, “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.[1]” Respectable commentaries on Deborah’s song left me feeling like something was still missing. In these sorts of cases I find the best thing to do is pray for understanding and wait upon the Lord. For difficult passages of scripture just keep reading and praying for wisdom and little by little it will come to you.
Selah.
Scripture References:
[1]Ps 119:103, Ps19:10, Ez [2] 1st Cor 2:13 [3] Is 54:1-3
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