1. † Deborah: The Prophetess of Israel

2. Who regulates the law in the U.S.? –police –Courts/judges Who do you think regulated the law in the Old Testament? –God Then one day the people of Israel asked God to give them judges so that they could make decisions for them…. And all of them were men… Right?

3. Wrong!!! There were 7 men and 1 woman… The name of the woman judge was Deborah We also refer to her as a prophetess Deborah judged the people of Israel under a palm tree!!

4. One day the people of Israel were under a lot of stress because they had to fight against the king of Canaan and his army Deborah told the leader of the Israelite army, Barak, that he needed to start forming an army

5. Deborah told Barak that in order to beat Sisera, the captain of the Canaanite army, he would need to gather 10,000 men and be ready to fight Barak agreed but said that he would only go to war if Deborah came with him Why could that be a problem? Deborah went with him to the battle and told Barak and his army which day they would fight

6. Barak listened to Deborah and agreed to fight on the day she said was good. They began fighting the Canaanites and they finally defeated them But when Barak was going to find the Sisera, he discovered that he had fled and escaped from danger

7. Sisera finally got away and went into the house of a lady named Jael to hide from his enemies. Sisera was tired from the war so Jael gave him a blanket to rest. Sisera also asked Jael if she could stand at the front of the tent to watch out for people who want to kill him.

8. She agreed and before he went to sleep, Jael gave him a glass of milk, which made him fall into a very deep sleep While he slept, Jael took a peg and a hammer and hammered it into Sisera’s head to kill him Barak came to Jael’s tent looking for Sisera and found that he was dead! This meant that the Israelites had won the battle!!

9. What is something we can learn about Deborah? How did her strong relationship with God effect others?

10. Conclusion Having a strong relationship with God will make you brave and courageous You will also be able to lead people onto the correct path if you know God well Deborah’s strong relationship with God made her a wise woman who helped other believers do the right thing

11. The verse: “Let those who love Him be like the sun when it comes out in full strength.” - Judges 5:31