The
mission statement of Jesus was this: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year
of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19) This should be our mission statement
too. To execute our mission statement, I
want us to start thinking about this problem statement. “Most of women’s
potential is underutilized. Even if utilized they go unnamed, unrecognized,
undervalued, sometimes devalued and taken for granted.” Women are oppressed and
suppressed. They are physically, emotionally and psychologically abused. Worse,
they are sexually abused. She is an object of sex and violence. She is raped
and thrown acid on. Girls are not safe from womb to tomb. She is treated as a mere object and a
liability. Boys are preferred and given the best food, school, college and
other facilities compared to girls.
Women’s condition
today looks like what has been depicted in Judges 17:6. In
those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. Suppose every one
sets their clock according to what they find fit. Result is chaos. What happens
when everyone has their own multiplication table? The principle is same in
moral and spiritual standards. Jeremiah 10:23 says “It is not for men and women
to direct their steps”. When we do what we find right in our own eyes, the
result is confusion: spiritual and moral decay in families, churches and our
nation. We are here looking into our absolute standard, that is our Bible
specially from the life of Deborah mentioned in Judges 4 & 5.
Oppression
from Inside
The
oppression from within in Deborah’s days was this three lettered word “SIN.” After
Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. So the
LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor
(Judges 4:1-2). When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not
a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel (Judges 5:8). Psalm
33:12 says: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose
for his inheritance.” So, unblessed is the nation whose Gods are idols, whose
God is not the LORD. India, our idolatrous nation needs the Lord. Our first and
foremost priority is to introduce our Saviour to all those who do not know Him.
I would want life style evangelism to be our priority. Our households need to be
models where we treat our girls and boys alike, we have all girl children and
still are happy, where people can see a visible change in our husband and wife
relationship because Jesus is the head of our family, where our neighbours can
see us praying together and so on. I have seen people coming to followers of
Jesus in such situations saying, “We need that Jesus!”
Oppression from Outside
The oppression from outside was the Canaanite
army. Because of their cruel behaviour, roads were abandoned; travelers took
to winding paths (Judges 5:6). I am reminded of Mahatma Gandhi’s quote that India is a free
country, only the day a woman can walk safe on its streets. The people cried. The
oppressors had nine hundred iron chariots. But the Israelites had none! God heard
and sent them a deliverer, this time a woman in the dark ages of the history of
Israel, Deborah. Earlier there was a Miriam who was a leader few hundreds of
years ago. She was a great worship leader and a prophetess. Now Deborah as a
judge rose to the need of the darkest hours of Israel. She said, “Village life
ceased in Israel until I Deborah rose.” (Judges 5:7)
Women Liberators
Before we could delve into Deborah’s
leadership we need to acknowledge Lappidoth, the husband whom I call a strong personality
to have released this talented woman for her job. We also need to acknowledge
Barak who made a team with Deborah. Deborah motivated her. He joined. God wants
men and women to work together. Praise God if you have a dad, a husband or a
pastor or someone who encourages you and enjoys seeing you used by God.
If not ask God to open a way. God will make a
way, when there seems no way. He will work in ways which we would have never
thought of. One thing we all can do is to raise our sons, grand sons and the
men in our influence as strong men like Lappidoth.
Deborah could hear God’s words. Eve
heard. Hagar heard. Can God talk to a woman? Can she talk back to him. Yes. Deborah
was a prophetess like Miriam, like
Huldah, like the daughters of Philip, like the prophetesses in the Corinthian
church (1 Corinthians 11:5). These women brought God’s word to the nation and
churches. God has said in Joel 2:28-32, several thousand years back: "And
afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters
will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see
visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in
those days. It is through us daughters and women, God is going to bring
transformation in our nation. The solution to oppression in this story was a
woman leader!
Women can bring transformation of every
kind in our society. Ever heard the story of the bad Samaritan who turned to be
a good Samaritan in the Bible? She was
the reason for the mass conversion of people in her village. Do you know the
unnamed Bible women who walked into every houses telling about Jesus which
resulted in the planting of churches in India in the past and the present? Someone
said ‘her story” never got into records. It is always “his story” There were
zenana women, the missionary doctors and educationists - a great host of women
in the history of our nation who are not known to any. Women writers,
historians need to dig the stories of the unrecognized women of our past
generation before we forget them and write about them. If Deborah’s story can
motivate us today, our generational women’s stories can motivate women of the
coming generations.
If
you are not a “Deborah”-like public personality, here are some options: Hannah rose
in a moral decay context too! As a regular visitor to the temple, she saw the
evil things the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were doing. Probably she was a
victim to the sexual perverse acts these young men did to the women who came to
serve in the temple or may have heard about them. She knew how offering was
exploited in these young men’s hands. She did not have the boldness to raise
her voice against them. But she prayed quietly to the Lord. The Bible puts it like this: Hannah was praying
in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. This is my version of Hannah’s prayer: “If
only you give me a son, I will not bring him up like Ophni and Phinehas. I will
give him to serve you all through his life.” She was not a public person like Deborah. But
she gave a public figure, Samuel for a nation that needed a Saviour. During
Samuels ministry, the people gave up their idol worship and served the Lord
alone. A public or private person, God can use any one to bring a change in
this nation. Huldah a prophetic leader rose in a time of apostasy. God’s word
came through Huldah to King Josiah. Josiah inspired by Huldah, brought a total
revival in Israel cleaning up the nation from idolatry.
Queen
Esther could have gone into a fearful depression when she first heard the plan
of Haman. Because she has maintained the
fact that she was a Jew as a secret until then. But Queen Esther rose up to the
situation. Her boldness and confidence were results of the power of fasting
prayer she and her friends had in the palace and the whole of the Jews
underwent. In reality she relied on the power of God. Many lives were saved and
the name of Yahweh was glorified because of the leadership of this lady Esther.
Women in influential positions need to hear Mordecai’s words to Queen Esther: "Do
not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews
will escape.” (My version: Because you are safe, don’t think everyone else is.
Because you are blessed with a good husband, don’t think everyone else is.) For
if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will
arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who
knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
Queen
Esther had the guts to start a prayer cell in the palace where nothing about
Yahweh can be done in public. There were successful women leaders who had house
churches in the NT. They are Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11), Lydia (Acts 16:14-15,
40), Mark’s mother (Acts 12:12) and Nympha (Colossians 4:15) and Priscilla (1
Corinthians 16:19). Deborah was not only
a judge, prophetess who rose to the need. She was a mother! She said: I Deborah
a mother in Israel rose (Judges 5:7). We do not know whether Deborah was a
biological mom. But she says that she was a mother to her people. Neither Mother
Teresa nor Amy Carmichael were biological moms. But they were mother to many. This
helps us to be an optimist in a pessimistic situation. Don’t ever think “I
don’t have a family, a biological son or daughter.” Think of how many spiritual
sons and daughters you can reproduce for Christ. Grand mom Lois and mom Eunice
brought up godly Pastor Timothy to the world. Our Indian society today is
reliant on mothers and grandmothers who in turn would bless our nation with Moses’,
Aarons, Miriams, Samuels, and Timothys.
Doing
Nothing is a SIN
The Lord curses the tribes who did not
join in the warfront with Deborah. 'Curse
Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they
did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.' (Judges
5:23). Simply doing nothing for the nation’s cause is the curse mentioned
here. It is not immorality, not murder,
but being complacent to the context is clearly told as a curse. It is like the
sin of the one talent man who did nothing (Matthew 25:14-30). We should not be
like the Levite, the priest who saw the wounded person, still walked away saying,
“Well, that’s not my job. I am going to do my own job sincerely.” We cannot be
like Cain who said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God says, “You are your
sister’s keeper.” James 4:17 says: Anyone, then, who knows the good she ought
to do and doesn't do it, sins. But there were men who joined in the warfront
with Deborah. Judges 5:18 says, Zebulun and Napthali risked their lives in the
warfront. I read a book entitled, “Women as risk takers for God” It is a
beautiful compendium of the life stories of women who took the risk in our
modern times to do great things for the Lord.
The Battle is the LORD’s
Last but not the least that day’s
victory was a supernatural one caused by God himself. The Battle is always the
Lords! It is always the human responsibility
and God’s sovereignty in a joint action in any situation. We always highlight the “red sea” incident in
our Sunday school stories and sermons. But how many of us are aware that a
similar incident happened in Deborah’s leadership? Imagine a cinema effect of
900 iron chariots coming fast to an already weak and oppressed community of a
ten thousand men. Sisera, the enemy commander did not realize that the battle
was not Barak’s or Deborah’s but it was their God’s. And little did he imagine
of an unexpected Tsunami coming? Judges 5:21 says that the river Kishon swept
them away. A flash flood! Deborah, Barak and the rest of the team took their enemies’
swords to kill their enemies, since they did not have any of their own (4:16).
The Lord routed Sisera the enemy commander to Jael’s house to see to that the
day’s final victory would again be from a woman(4:15). It started with a woman,
Deborah and ended with a woman, Jael. Jael was wise and brave enough to scheme
and kill Sisera by a mere tent peg. The Lord in His sovereign plan gave the
highlight of victory to women that day. God wants women to wage the war of
oppression even today. A missed opportunity is like water spilled in the
ground. You can’t take it back. Grab it for His GLORY!
But the battle we wage to bring changes
in our families and society is going to be vain if the Lord is not in it. All
that God sees in us is our availability to impact our society. When we are
willing like Deborah, the Lord fights on our behalf. He never operates in vacuum. He is a relational God. He loves us. He needs
us for transforming our society from oppression. Women, wake up, it is time to
act with God on our side!
I am moved to tears...every word is worth its value in gold.keep inspiring us.
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy thanks for that feedback. I am emotional when it comes to matters like these. Love you dear!
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