Christian Stories - Bible Study Online

Here we find an account of where the Lord had turned Israel over into the hands of Jabin, which was a king in Canaan, who ruled in Hazor.

Now, we must pay close attention to the name "Jabin?"

For you could easily mistake it as an individual name, but I believe that it was a title or surname instead.

Sort of, like the title of "Pharaoh" were given to the kings who had reigned in Egypt. I believe that the same was done for kings who reigned in the land of Canaan as well.

It's at this point that the Scriptures introduces us to the commander of the Canaanite king's army, who was named Sisera and he lived in a place called -- Harosheth Haggoyim.

The Scriptures also mention that Jabin and his commander Sisera, ruled over nine-hundred iron chariots, which was the fiercest army at that time. They would use these nine-hundred iron chariots of Canaan, to cruelly oppress the Israelites for a recorded twenty years.

This judgment would fall on Israel, for the mere fact -- that they had turned away from the one true God. For this would be a big mistake on their parts, being that it was God who had always given Israel their advantage against their opposition. Now this advantage was gone, since they had now turned disobedient towards the Creator.

We also have to keep in mind that Joshua had previously lead Israel in victory over these same Canaanites, in which he brunt down their city in the process. This would put forth good reasoning on why the Canaanites sought out revenge against Israel the way that they did.

The Israelites had to go through a twenty year period in which they had to endure and suffer through, because they had turned away from the one true God. Now they had reached a point in their existence, to where they were looking to turn and go back and follow the ways of the Lord.

The Scriptures have now pointed us to the introduction and record that deals with -- Deborah of Lapidoth. She was a prophetess that held the positions as both prophet and judge over Israel. She is one of two, when it comes to the fourteen or fifteen judges that had a prophetic ministry. The other Judge was the prophet Samuel.

Keep in mind, that the Book of Judges only list twelve Judges that watched over Israel. Now some teach that there were fifteen Judges in total, being that they also count Barak as a Judge?

You can also find the accounts of the other two Israel Judges -- Eli and Samuel, in the Book of 1 Samuel:

Eli -- "When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years." (1 Samuel 4:18)

Samuel -- "Samuel continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life. From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also judged Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord." (1 Samuel 7:15-17)

I also want to point out that Barak, was the commander of Deborah's army. Now, as I stated earlier, some Bible teachers and leaders like to look at him as if he was a judge too?

But I don't agree with this viewpoint, being that the Sacred Scriptures tells us that Barak helped and assisted Deborah, when it came to the business of warfare.

The reason for this, is that an army wasn't respected or look upon kindly if a woman were to lead it during those days. It would have been extremely had for Deborah to round up the men she needed, if she was to lead them in battle.

I also want to mention that these accounts that deal with the judges of Israel, is what we like to call -- The Judges Stage. This stage begins at the Book of Judges; and runs through the Book of Ruth; and includes the first seven chapters, when it comes to the Book of 1 Samuel.

This is a stage of the Bible that was recorded between; The Conquest Stage (Israelites came from the wilderness to the promise land) and The United Kingdom Stage (The accounts of Israel's first three kings - Saul, David and Solomon.)

When it comes to Deborah, there's not much we know about this extraordinary woman. But what we do know when it came to her duties, is that one of them involved her helping to make candles for the tabernacle. It is also believed that she was sweet in nature but sharp when it came to facing her opposition.

It's possible that the Israelites went to her not only for government and civil type matters, but also for spiritual ones as well. She held her court under what was known as the -- Palm of Deborah, which was located between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim.

She was totally dedicated to Israel, for she was holding office as both prophet and judge... faithfully and diligently during one of the most oppressed times in Israel's history.