Judges: A Few Good Men...and Women

Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. (Judges 4:4-5 NIV)

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "judge"? A courtroom? A gavel? A flowing black robe?

The Judges led Israel in the period between Joshua and the establishment of the kingdom. They were legal leaders, deciding disputes, as Scripture tells us about Deborah. But they were more. They were political leaders and spiritual leaders and military leaders as well. There are 12 Judges named during the 111-year period. Many of them were unlikely leaders, chosen by God to deliver Israel from her oppressors.

During the period of the Judges, God's people repeated a spiritual and national cycle that looked something like this: They would sin by mixing worship of the idols of the land with worship of the one, true God. In response to their sin, God would give them over to the oppression of their enemies. In their oppression they would cry out to Yahweh for help. God would raise up a Judge to overthrow the oppressors and give Israel peace as long as they lived and led Israel. But when that Judge died, the people would turn again to idols, and the cycle would be repeated.

Deborah was one of the unlikely Judges because she was a female leader in a patriarchal culture. She was a prophet, who heard directly from God and spoke His word to the people. Her influence came from her close walk with the Lord, and her political authority came from her spiritual depth. Those things still hold true today, centuries later. When we have a close walk with Jesus and walk with Him in spiritual depth, God gives us influence with others - whether or not we are put in a position of power.

Deborah is an example of the fact that God uses people whom our human categories would not see as eligible for leadership. She is an example of God using women in leadership over men, laying the groundwork for women to serve in pastoral ministry. God anoints and uses those He chooses.

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive” (Judges 6:12-16 NIV)

When the angel of the Lord appears to Gideon to call him to overthrow the Midianites, he is threshing wheat in a winepress. Threshing takes place on a hilltop, where the wind can blow away the chaff, not in the confines of a winepress. Gideon is hiding from the enemy, who has been raiding Israel and stealing the crops. But the Lord does not see Gideon as he is, he sees Gideon as he can become. “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

When Gideon argues that he cannot be Israel's deliverer because he is weak and insignificant, God's response is: “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive”  This is what makes all the difference. Gideon will not face the Midianites in his strength alone. Rather he will defeat them in the strength and power of the Living God.

God moved Gideon from fear to trust by answering his prayers for a sign, making dew on a fleece but not on the ground one morning, then dew on the ground but not on the fleece the next. He confirmed that He was with Gideon by having him sneak into the Midianite camp, where he hears a soldier tell a buddy about a strange dream about a loaf of bread rolling through the camp, smashing tents. His friend's response was profound. His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.” (Judges 7:14 NIV)

Then God delivered Israel through Gideon by paring down his soldiers from 22,000 to just 300 men, having them startle the Midianites with trumpets and torches in the night, and causing the Midianite soldiers to turn on one another in the confusion.

I believe we need to hear the same five, simple words for our lives that God said to Gideon: "I will be with you." Believing those five words changes everything. They counteract the lies we believe that come from the enemy of our soul. Lies like:

"It's too late for you."

"You will just fall again."

"You will always be alone."

"You're never going to change."

"God's done giving you chances."

When we are called to do things for God that are beyond our strength and our resources, we can only go and accomplish them by hearing and believing the truth. "I will be with you." And the ultimate "with you" for a believer in Jesus Christ is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, He is with us. And with His strength displacing our fear, God can use our ordinary, everyday lives to accomplish miraculous things for His Kingdom.

Hear this word for your life today and be encouraged. Jesus says, "I will be with you." And that is all we need.