Courageous Femininity in an Emasculated Culture, Part 2

The Biblical Challenge of Being a Strong Woman in a Weak Man’s World

Read Part 1.

Deborah’s Story—Judges 4 and 5

The biblical Deborah is relevant to today’s Christian woman because she symbolizes strong and courageous femininity in a culture of weak and fearful men. Deborah’s times and our times are similar. The eminent historian, Jacques Barzun, has pointed out that in times of decadence there is a “loss of nerve,” and this was the milieu in which Deborah lived. Decadence had broken down the moral fiber of men and women in Israel. Of all the judges mentioned in the Book of Judges, Deborah is the most virtuous. She lived and served with virtuous faith practically alone in an environment full of men who had simply buckled their knees to the oppression of the enemy. The people of Israel had rejected the Law of Moses by living in flagrant immorality and were now obsequiously serving people they had been called to destroy. Without virtue, therefore without spine.

Context

The thinking Christian woman must also understand the Deborah story in light of all the teaching of the Bible because no other biblical character is so misused by unbiblical feminism to support its ideology. Deborah has been vaunted as a woman warrior, a political leader, and the prototype of women’s freedom from the traditional restraints and prohibitions “unjustly” imposed upon their gender. This portrayal could not be farther from the truth. Deborah was indeed a strong woman, but she was a biblical woman. As one author put it,

Deborah did all this as a womanly woman. She was not a military leader, a head of state, or an advocate for egalitarian principles. Deborah was a wife, a mother, a prophetess, a singer, a patriot, and a great lover of God. Deborah was strong and she was a prophetess. What really makes her remarkable was that she used her strengths and prophetic gift in their most effective framework—the created channels of her own womanliness. (Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Volume 11. Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 2006; 2007, S. vnp.11.2.35)

Poetry Versus Prose

The story of Deborah is given to us in two chapters of two different genres. Judges 4 gives the history of Deborah’s leadership in prose. Judges 5 gives us Deborah’s rendition in her own words: poetry.

It is imperative that we understand the significance of biblical genre for this study. Some of the books of the Bible are historical books written in prose; others are poetry and so forth. Sometimes in the midst of historical books, we find poems and songs that capture the emotions and feelings of the moment and preserve those feelings—not just the facts—for centuries to come. One helpful principle to grasp when attempting to be biblical in our thinking is to understand that the Bible gives us not only words but also moods. The Bible gives us historical facts primarily in prose. It gives us historical feelings primarily through poetry.

The prose of the Barak and Deborah conquest of Sisera in Judges 4 highlights a weak man’s world. The poem in chapter 5 defines and highlights a strong woman. The prose in chapter 4 details the facts. The poetry in chapter 5 captures the feelings and swallows us up in them.

This is not the only case where the Bible gives us both fact and feeling. In 2 Samuel 12, we read that David sinned with Bathsheba and was ultimately rebuked by a prophet. That is prose. But it is in the poetry of Psalm 51 that we enter into the emotion of his brokenness and get an idea of what he really felt like those thousands of years ago.

In the prose of 1 Samuel 22, we read about Doeg’s betrayal of David and how he slandered David and his friends, causing the violent death of some godly priests. But it is in the poetry of Psalm 7 that our hearts sink to the bottom of our stomachs and we melt with empathy as we hear David lament, “O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me, Lest they tear me like a lion” (vv. 1-2 NKJV).

How the Poetry Speaks

I’ve illustrated the difference between poetry and prose here because there is a very important point to be made. It is easy to project twenty-first century emotions and biases on historical events that took place thousands of years ago, particularly when all we have are the facts. In other words, it’s easy to make twenty-first century poetry out of antiquarian prose. We can spin it any way we want.

It is, however, much more difficult to project twenty-first century feelings and emotions on an ancient poem because the poem bottles up and seals the emotions of its day and perfectly preserves them from centuries of agenda-driven, manipulative interpretation. The result in this case? Deborah’s Poem preserves the Deborah Prose from the agenda-driven, manipulative interpretation of contemporary feminists.

The author of the prose—a man presumably—speaks derogatorily of the male leadership while the poet of the poetry—a woman—speaks of Barak with respect! As one commentator says,

Indeed, the narrator deliberately highlights the initiative and power of female participants while humiliating the male characters. The song, on the other hand, minimizes the role of Barak, but it does not humiliate him. Whereas the prose narrative portrays him as subservient to Deborah, the ode itself and the prose preamble perceive them in a complementary relationship (5:1, 12). Gender issues are not a primary concern of chap. 5, but the chapter’s womanly outlook gives this text its distinctive flavor. One may propose that whereas the narrator expresses the way the world views women, the poet expresses how women view the world. (Daniel Block, Isaac: Judges, Ruth. electronic ed. Nashville : Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c1999. Logos Library System; The New American Commentary 6, S. 183)

Strong Women Make Weak Men Strong

Deborah’s success was phenomenal. God used her to steel thousands of men for battle. God used her so successfully in the making of a leader out of Barak that he is one of the few Old Testament characters mentioned in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. In other words, a strong woman in a weak man’s world resulted in at least one weak man becoming strong. In Christ, strong women make strong men.

The Christian woman can glean some practical lessons from the strong woman named Deborah. Though many have misused her story to promote an unbiblical feminist agenda, what cannot be denied is that Deborah was strong, that she was a leader, that God empowered her, and that she was strong when men were weak. I would suggest that Deborah’s strength was in the core spiritual convictions she reveals in her story and poem.

If a woman is to be strong in such a way that she makes the men around her strong, I believe she must possess at least four deeply held convictions. She must be able to say these with heartfelt conviction.

1. “My place is the place God has prepared for my service.”

Deborah sat “under her palm.” Whatever else this means, at the very least it means “her place.” Though it had not been written yet, Deborah certainly knew the principle of Proverbs 27:8. “Like a bird that wanders from its nest is a man who wanders from his place” (NKJV). And as Matthew Henry commented on that verse, “Let every man therefore, in the calling wherein he is called, therein abide, therein abide with God.” Deborah accepted the place that God had given her. One does not observe Deborah advancing herself or trying to move beyond the limits Divine Providence had etched out for her. She calls Barak to come to her; she does not go to him. She joins Barak in battle reluctantly, not because she is afraid but because she knows that credit for the inevitable victory will be given to a woman!

Christian lady, “under your palm” is where God has placed you to serve. You may feel as if you are a prisoner of circumstance, bound in a less-than-happy marriage, hampered by snotty-nosed children, hobbled by pain, or impeded by your gender, but you must come to the realization that your place is the place of God’s choosing. Speaking of the other heroine in this narrative, the Puritan commentator says, “Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a very low and narrow sphere of activity, if they serve God in that according to their capacity, shall in no wise lose their reward. Jael in the tent wins as rich a blessing as Barak in the field” (Matthew Henry).

The Christian woman must also be able to say something else with confidence in her heart.

2. “My portion is the portion of God’s choosing.”

Deborah received a word from God. Here was a woman who did not feel shortchanged by her gender and role. She had the greatest of all portions. She had God! Every woman may have God as her portion! In Christ every Christian woman can say with assurance, “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance” (Ps. 16:5-6).

Practically, the Christian woman who is in a place of weakness is in a place where grace is most likely to shine strongest. Paul said that he gloried in his weakness because there Christ’s strength was made perfect. No woman need be out of touch with God even if it seems that the toddler has morphed into a ball and chain. If she is unmarried and has no prospect in sight, God offers her the power to say with Asaph, “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26). The Christian woman needs to make a vow of dedication to the Lord in which she says with the psalmist, “Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said I would keep thy words” (Ps. 119:57 KJV). If she trusts a sovereign God about her place and is satisfied with God as her portion, she will have the power she needs to be what God has called her to be.

Third, the Christian woman needs to share Deborah’s passion for God’s people. She should say this, too, with conviction.

3. “My people are the people of God’s choosing.”

When a woman is concerned about the glory of God above all else, she will have a strong desire to put the good of God’s people before her own comfort, safety, and enjoyments. Deborah proved to be the mother of Israel, a savior in a time of crisis, because she knew her people were the people of God’s choosing. “Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel” (Judg. 5:7 NKJV). Motherly instinct for the well-being of God’s people, as if they were her own children, stirred her soul to act selflessly on their behalf. She put herself on the front line of battle for God’s people.

Mothers do this. Mothers have uncanny power to deny themselves sleep, food, and personal comfort for the sake of their children. In a day when homemaking is dismissed as an embarrassing remnant of discarded oppression, the woman who views her husband and children as the people of God’s choosing for her will choose to be strong spiritually and morally despite the weakness of the people in her home. But this view applies beyond the home. The unmarried woman may harness a “motherly instinct” to protect and preserve God’s people and to be moved to extraordinary feats of service to strengthen the people of God by strengthening their leaders.

Finally, the Christian woman must be able to remind herself of her purpose.

4. “My purpose is the purpose of God’s choosing.”

Deborah opened her song with praise and closed it with praise. She had no personal ambition, no feminist agenda. She said, “My heart is with the rulers of Israel” (Judg. 5:9). Her words seem to indicate a joyful cooperation and submission to the leaders God had given to His people. Furthermore, Deborah declared that God is most glorified when the leaders lead and the followers follow. “When leaders lead in Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the Lord” (Judg. 5:2)! This declaration seems to suggest one reason Deborah was reluctant to go to battle with Barak: she wanted Barak to lead because God is most glorified when leaders do what they are supposed to do! She wanted Barak to man up, believe, and take responsibility. Surely, God granted her some success since Barak is in the Hall of Faith. Strong women make strong men.

Christian women are too often afraid to act with strength and moral resolve because of a misguided concept of submission. Abigail was married to a fool, and she had both the strength and the foresight to see what fools could not see. Abigail had heard the words of the prophet concerning David (1 Sam. 25:30) and, unlike so many others, actually believed that David would be a future king. She was a woman of faith with the courage and eagerness to act with decisiveness when both husband and future king were weak. She rightly ignored the fool’s orders and served as God’s agent to make David (a man in a moment of weakness) stronger by preventing the anointed one from crime. Her non-submission to Nabal was grounded in her knowledge of the prophet’s word. Abigail’s speech is one of the finest in the Bible. Her brilliant use of word play certainly reminded David of God’s past dealings in his life. She is one of my favorite strong women in the Bible.

Diane West’s gloomy title “The Death of the Grown-up” may not only depict a sad reality of our culture but also describe many men in the family of God. Strong women can make a difference. Women with deep convictions who embrace their place and roles can strengthen men for their place of leadership. By doing so, they can make a profound impact on the body of Christ and contemporary culture without breaking faith with the clear teachings of Scripture on their complementary roles as women.

Bob Bixby is the pastor of Morning Star Baptist Church (Rockford, IL). He and his wife, Jennie, ministered for ten years in France and Belgium as Baptist missionaries. God has blessed Bob and Jennie with two children. Visit Bob’s blog.