Israel, under joshuas leadership, had conquered much of canaan. The book of judges mentions eleven leaders who are said to judge israel. Baraks army kills every last one of siseras menexcept for sisera. The commander of his army was sisera, who lived in haroshethhagoyim. Judges 5 niv bible on that day deborah and barak son of. One of the biggest travesties of skipping the book of judges in sunday school is that one of the greatest role models in the bible for our little girls is the fourth judge, deborah. Jan 17, 2012 one of the biggest travesties of skipping the book of judges in sunday school is that one of the greatest role models in the bible for our little girls is the fourth judge, deborah. According to author joseph telushkin in his book jewish literacy, the only thing known about deborahs private life was the name of her husband, lapidot or lappidoth. Deborah there lived at that time between ramah and bethel, in the mountain of ephraim, a wise and g. In our last study, we looked at chapter 4 of the book of judges and the story of deborah and barak.
In the midst of sin idolatry, she had remained true to g. Barak says hell only go to battle if deborah comes, and she does, but lets him know that it wont be him who kills sisera, the captain of jabins armyitll be a woman. Judges chapter 5 then records the song of deborah and barak, written to rejoice in gods victory over the canaanites. So she sent for barak the son of abinoam, and asked him to head the jewish. Before her were othniel, ehud and shamgar, the latter only for a short time. Her story is told in the book of judges, chapters 4 and 5. The biblical judges are described in the hebrew bible, and mostly in the book of judges, as people who served roles as military leaders in times of crisis, in the period before an israelite monarchy was established. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and deborah went up with him. She said to him, did not yhwh god of israel command.
Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in harosheth haggoyim. It is convenient to analyse the chronology of the judges period in three sections. Barak was apparently a bit of a coward for he said if you will go with me, i will go, but if you will not go with me, i will not go judges 4. Jan 07, 2019 deborah and barak fought the canaanites under sisera, which had a deadly force of 900 chariots, unbeatable in open terrain. Oct 25, 2018 the second sermon from our series on the book of judges, taken from judges chapters 45. The expositors bible commentary refers to the quotation here as the sin phrase. Deborah and barak judges 45 when the judge of israel died, the israelites forgot about god again. Judges chapter 4, the story of deborah and barak by. Barak won, sisera was killed by a woman, and the israelites were freed from their enemies. The lyrics encourage the actions of deborah and barak, saying, wake up, wake up, deborah.
The judges of israel ruled the land for nearly 350 years and during this time period the israelites made god angry by worshipping foreign deities. The canaanite army under sisera moved to meet them in force. Deborah and barak occupied kedesh and gathered forces from zebulun and naphtali. Joshua, judges, ruth, samuel, and kings, as well as the books of the restoration. The song of deborah is a very ancient poem, one of the earliest writings that the bible preserves.
In judges, the israelites turn away from god and face the consequences. The story of deborah is in judges 4, and the song is in judges 5. Service as a judge and deborah, a prophetess, the wife of lapidoth, she judged israel at that time. The bible tells us that deborah was a prophetess judges 4. Judges 316 is the portion of primary interest to us for the construction of a timeline. The israelites had been under the control of the canaanite king jabin and the commander of his army, sisera.
She sent and called for barak ben avinoam from qedesh. The chronology of the book of judges has been a problem because when you add up all the numbers and dates. The timeline begins with adam in eden, then on to noah and the flood and the birth of israel through abraham, isaac, and jacob. Deborah, the only female judge in the hebrew bible, defeated the canaanites with the help of her general barak and jael, wife of heber the kenite. Deborah tells barak to assemble his army for a battle that will take place at mt. Here we understand more deeply the narrative of deborah and barak, and understand more fully the love and. The fourth of the judges who ruled over the jewish people after the death of joshua, was not a man, but a woman, one of the most famous of all times, the prophetess deborah. This is a very important dated year in the period of the judges of israel. This event happens 300 years after israel defeats king sihon at a battle at heshbon falls in 1406 bc, as recorded in numbers 21. All of the israelites would have respected her and would have known she was a messenger from god. There are six major judges in the main cycle of the book, with a number of shorter stories about lesser judges mixed in. Overall period of time the era of the judges of the children of israel spans the period from the exodus to the crowning of saul. Deborah, upon receiving instructions from god, called barak, an israelite warrior, to bring 10,000 troops up mount tabor to attack sisera, jabins commander of troops.
Judges, time of the amazing bible timeline with world. The canaanites had 900 chariots of iron and ruled over israel for 20 years judges 4. The book of judges part 2 deborah and barak youtube. The book of judges is the second book in the deuteronomic history, a history that begins with the farewell address of moses in deuteronomy and ends with the exile of judah in 587 b. Mar 25, 2009 the story of deborah and how she helped deliver israel from the oppression of the canaanites is found in the fourth and fifth chapters of the book of judges. The biblical battle of mount tabor takes place during the time of the book of judges recorded in chapters 4 and 5 between canaanite forces of the king of hazor and the israelite army led by barak and deborah. Except the territories of the philistines, the geshurites, and. The three hundred year period from the conquest of the land. Deborah would sit under the palm tree between ramah and bethel in the hill country of ephraim. Jul 21, 2015 barak was apparently a bit of a coward for he said if you will go with me, i will go, but if you will not go with me, i will not go judges 4.
Deborah the prophetess leader from 2654 until her death in 2694. The three hundred year period from the conquest of the land east of the jordan river to the judgeship of jephtha. The book of judges is the second of the books of the former prophets in hebrew scripture, and serves as part of the historical books of the greek septuagint old testament, in the following order. Barak was a minor character in the book of judges of the holy. Judges chapter 5, the song of deborah and barak by. Go and pull toward mount tabor and take with you ten thousand men from the men of naphtali and zebulun. The history of the judges, as recorded in the bible, extends up to. These continue as such in our christian old testament of the bible. Mar 22, 2016 the book of judges chronicles the time between the chaotic period after the death of joshua up to the appointment of israels first king, saul.
Judges 4 english standard version esv deborah and barak. Barak leads his 10,000 men against siseras army, including 900 chariots of iron. According to author joseph telushkin in his book jewish literacy, the only thing known about deborah s private life was the name of her husband, lapidot or lappidoth. Deborah was a judge that mainly settled disputes holding court under the palm tree of deborah between ramah and bethel in the mountains of ephraim judges 4. In the hebrew bible, moses is described as a shofet over the israelites and appoints others to whom cases were delegated in accordance with the advice of jethro, his midianite fatherinlaw. And she dwelt under the palm tree of deborah between ramah and bethel in mount ephraim. She asked him, the lord god of israel has commanded you, hasnt he. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess of the god of the israelites, the fourth judge of premonarchic israel and the only female judge mentioned in the bible, and the wife of lapidoth. So far in our study of the book of judges we have looked at. Barak the commander of the army under deborah the fourth. The judges discussed in todays lesson are deborah and barak. The period of the judges is 50 1014 bc for a total of 336 years. The book of judges chronicles the time between the chaotic period after the death of joshua up to the appointment of israels first king, saul.
Watch our overview video on the book of judges, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Deborah was a prophetess and barak needed gods word close to hand. This time, god allowed the king of canaan to overtake israel. Mount tabor was the site of a famous battle between the israelites and the canaanites during the time of the judges. This is listed on the bible timeline poster between 1254 1104 bc. The period in which deborah lived is known as the period of the judges, and she. After ehuds death the jews forsook the ways of the torah and adopted many of the idols of the. The account of deborah and barak is found in judges 4 and 5 in the old testament.
Barak, who was from the tribe of naphtali and led the israelites against jabins forces, was better than most of the judges who came after him. The central verse which defines this period of time is. Deborah and barak fought the canaanites under sisera, which had a deadly force of 900 chariots, unbeatable in open terrain. Barak the commander of the army under deborah the fourth judge of israel, judges 45 he was the army commander of israel for 4th judge of israel deborah 1237bc1198bc. Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the israelites for twenty years, they cried to the lord for help. God spoke through deborah, telling barak to lead men from naphtali and zebulun against sisera, jabins general, and the canaanite forces. Each of the major judges comes from a different area of israel and fights a different enemy. The story of deborah and how she helped deliver israel from the oppression of the canaanites is found in the fourth and fifth chapters of the book of judges. Being a prophetess must have helped deborah to solve these disputes spiritually rather than simply politically or judicially. Barak was a minor character in the book of judges of the holy bible. The judges of israel ruled the land for nearly 350 years and during this time. Mar 09, 2016 watch our overview video on the book of judges, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. The story of deborah and barak, as leaders of the day, open with verse 1 with the backdrop being, the children of israel again did evil in the sight of the lord, when ehud was dead.
King jabin of hazor, sends sisera, his army commander. Jewish chronology places deborahs 40 years of judging israel judges 5. God spoke through deborah, telling barak to lead men from naphtali and zebulun against. Deborah again the israelites did evil in the eyes of the lord, now that ehud was dead. So the lord sold them into the hand of jabin king of canaan, who reigned in hazor. The othniel and gideonabimelech stories are parallel, with ehud and deborahbarak following othniel in chronological. Harmony of othniel, ehud, judges 1718, judges 1921 and ruth. Deborah called for a man named barak pronounced bawrawk. The second sermon from our series on the book of judges, taken from judges chapters 45. Deborah told barak that god commanded him to lead an attack against the forces of jabin king of canaan. The othniel and gideonabimelech stories are parallel, with ehud and deborah barak following othniel in chronological succession, and jephthah and samson. He is found on the biblical timeline around 1267 bc.
By barak assembling his men upon mount tabor, sisera was encouraged to bring all his chariots out upon the flat plains of jezreel that lie at the foot of the mount, just as deborah predicted. Really, there are quite a number of good women described in the scriptures, but precious few of them get much recognition in most sunday school curriculum. Deborah lived somewhere about 1150 bce, about a century or so after the hebrews entered canaan. At this meeting barak is also informed that sisera would be killed by a woman. She agrees to go but says sisera will be delivered into the hands of a woman 4. The chart below is based on the date, calculated from biblical jubilees, for the exodus. Judges, time of the amazing bible timeline with world history. The account in the book of judges describes a contest for control of the jezreel valley. May 02, 2012 barak was a minor character in the book of judges of the holy bible.
Deborah told barak that god commanded him to lead an attack against the. Judges were charismatic political and military leaders who ruled over the tribes of israel in the approximately twohundredyear period between israels appearance in canaan and the formation of the monarchy under saul circa 12001020 b. Deborah, the prophetess and forth judge of israel, had a message from the lord for barak, her military general, to take ten thousand men from tribes of naphtali and zebulun. Here we understand more deeply the narrative of deborah and.
Judges 5 the song of deborah and barak 5 then sang deborah and barak the son of. Deborah had told barak that god would deliver the canaanites into his. The literary form of the biblical history of the judges jstor. As military commander in the biblical book of judges, barak, with deborah, from the tribe of ephraim, the prophet and fourth judge of premonarchic israel, defeated the canaanite armies led by sisera. Deborah tells barak to head up an army of 10,000 men from the tribes of naphtali and zebulun to defeat sisera the captain of jabins army 4.
In 1184 bc barak comes to deborah from kedeshnaphtali. Deborah said to barak, the lord, the god of israel, is giving you a command. The othniel and gideonabimelech stories are parallel, with ehud and deborahbarak following othniel in chronological succession, and jephthah and samson. The period of the judges, deborah and barak are called. Deborah and barak judges 4 september 4 once the restraining influence of ehuds leadership was removed, the children of israel again did evil in the sight of the lord verse 1. Othniel, shamgar, deborah, gideon, tola, jair, jephthah, ibzan, elon, abdon, and samson. When ehud was dead, the children of israel again did evil in the sight of the lord. The story of deborah begins in the fourth chapter of the book of judges and extends for two chapters. In our last study, we looked at chapter 3 of the book of judges and the first three of the judges of israel. Though his role was limited he played an important part of delivering israel from the canaanites. Judges 4 niv deborah again the israelites did evil. So the lord sold them into the hands of jabin king of canaan, who reigned in hazor.