The villagers ceased in Israel; they ceased to be in until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel. Judges 4:7

When you hear someone say it is time for the Deborahs, Esthers, or Davids to arise, what emotion does this evoke in your thoughts? Truth be told, at one time or another, the thought of being the one to slay the giant or to receive the king’s scepter is appealing. The appearance of strength and power draws us to ponder on having a purpose greater than us, and we want to know that we are significant. We want to do significant things in our lives, and we want to be recognized for greatness.

One of the things that has been so freeing is looking for Christ in the Old Testament passages and simply recognizing that the Bible is Christ centered. I am not the focus. I used to superimpose myself in the Bible as the heroine. Even though David was a man, I wanted to be a giant slayer. I wanted to find favor in the king’s sight and to be given the royal scepter and up to half of the kingdom. I wanted to be like Deborah or Jael and to demonstrate strength and authority. It is an interesting thing when we pick and choose the highlight reel in the lives of those in Biblical accounts we esteem. There does not seem to be a message to embrace the rise of the Rahabs or the widow woman before Elijah. I never really thought about that until now.

There is a current teaching telling women to embrace being a Deborah. Deborah was one of the judges in the Old Testament, and she would sit under the palm of Deborah to judge the people of Israel as they came to her (Judges 4:5). Many like this account because it shows the leadership role of a woman in that time, which some scholars believe to have been judgment upon Israel at that time. There is the belief that because Deborah held such a position of authority that this is equivalent to a woman being a pastor today. It is an appealing teaching that Barak would depend so heavily up on Deborah, refusing to go to battle without her (Judges 4:8). It is an appealing teaching that Deborah would sing about herself in such a significant way after God subdued their enemies. It is appealing that there was forty years of rest for the Israelites in the time of Deborah (Judges 5:31). These are the highlight reels.

The reality is that judges were appointed by God because of the sin and idolatry of the Israelites against God (Judges 2:11-23). Though God raised up judges to save them from the hands of their plunderers, the people did not listen to the judges, and they continued in their sinful ways. Though peace from oppression would come to them for a time, once the judge died, they would turn back to their corrupt and idolatrous sin. They were disobedient to God, and the human judges were not sufficient to deliver them. Though there are teachings that focus on the enemy being the one to oppress the people, God sold them into the hand of their oppressors because of their sin and idolatry. Yes, God is long suffering, loving, and merciful. He is also just. There are consequences to sin, and the highlight reels must have the full scope of the story in order to tell the truth.

When reading Judges 4 and 5, I believe the point to drive home is not a self-centered, woman exalting message, and that is good news! When we place our hope in being Deborah, we miss Christ Jesus. We are now the savior, and this is a hopeless message. If we can glean from the book of Judges, it is the typology of these judges pointing to Jesus Christ and the sin of man that so desperately needed atonement and complete deliverance from God’s judgment. These fallible judges point toward the perfect One who brings justice, righteousness, and complete deliverance. While there was temporary peace with each judge, there is eternal peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It should also be said that our hope is not to be in a man or woman, but our hope and trust is to be in the Lord. The account of Deborah is a historical descriptive passage. It is not designed to be prescriptive with personal life applications. God does allow women to minister, and with that ministry comes boundaries and order that God has provided in His Word. I view those boundaries as protection and a blessing, and Deborah being a judge in the Old Testament in a tumultuous time of sin and disobedience by Israel does not translate to women holding pastoral positions today. When we fight for our perceived rights from the place of gender regarding this matter, we miss the beauty of God’s instructions, and we essentially disobey His parameters for overseers in the church (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9). We can miss the contentment in Christ and the wonderful opportunities to minister as He has deemed in Scripture.

Let me put your mind at ease and offer some help to you, ladies: I am not Deborah, and neither are you. The only thing you and I have in common with Deborah is that we are both fallible sinners in need of salvation and redemption. Your hope and my hope are in Christ alone. He is the Deliverer, and we are conformed to His image by the Holy Spirit. The debt for our sin has been paid by Christ, and in Christ, we are no longer under condemnation and judgment. For those in Christ Jesus, our Judge lives forever. Our desires have been changed because of Him, and we desire to obey Him and to worship Him with our lives. We are clothed in His righteousness, and we sing praises to Him alone, trusting in Him alone.

The moment we begin to superimpose the life of those found in Scripture over our personal lives like a template, tracing their exploits and actions among the days allotted to us, we risk idolizing these individuals. We soon find that we want to be more like Deborah than like Christ, and if we are not careful, we place ourselves in the role as a savior. It is a beautiful thing when we rest in the Lord and in His salvation.

Listen to this candid conversation as a young lady shares her story of coming out of a movement encouraging the rise of “Esthers” and “Deborahs”: The Lovesick Scribe Podcast: A Conversation About Jenny Weaver and the Core Group on Apple Podcasts