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| Q: | Judges, 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy How should the biblical account of the prophetess Deborah, found in Judges 4 and 5 be used as an example and role model for Christian women and girls in our churches today? Our churches tend not to study Deborah at all. Doesn't she fit in with the "submissive role" women are asked to take? Why the silence? I hope you answer my question and not dodge the issue. This is important to women. | ||||||
| A: | I am not sure it is fair to imply that we dodge this issue. In the NPH Bible class, A Bible Study of Man and Woman in God's World, Lesson 4, "Service of Women in Scripture," devotes more space to the story of Deborah than to any other single example. The following answer largely repeats what was said there. If Deborah served as judge of Israel, doesn't this show that women can and should act in leadership positions among God's people in the church today? The first point to keep in mind is that we cannot derive our principles from descriptions of what some person did during biblical times. We must derive our principles from biblical prescriptions, that is, direct commands which are applicable to us. The Bible often describes something someone did without judging the propriety or motivation of the action. For example, the Bible does not judge the compromises of her faith which Esther had to make to become queen of Persia. It simply reports them. The fact that God used her actions to save Israel does not mean we should imitate them. Even the example of Christ does not provide a model for us unless we have a scriptural command to follow his example. For example, Jesus' violent expulsion of the money changers from the Temple does not give us license to smash bingo games and bazaars in churches today. For this reason, we cannot use the description of what Deborah did to overrule the prescriptions which are given to us in Paul's letters. Furthermore, there are clear indications in the text of Judges that although there may have been nothing blameworthy in Deborah's conduct, the circumstances which compelled Deborah to act as she did were far from ideal or exemplary for us. During the dark days of the judges, the people of Israel by and large had lost their moral sense of direction. In the book of Judges we find Samson consorting with prostitutes, Gideon setting up an idolatrous shrine, and Jephthah rashly vowing to sacrifice his own daughter. It is highly dangerous to take the actions of any of the judges as exemplary for us without scriptural command to do so. God did not tell Deborah to lead Israel into battle, but to tell Barak to do so. No other judge was urged to tell someone else to take command as Deborah was. It is perhaps also significant that Othniel (3:9), Ehud (3:15), Gideon (6:14), Jephthah (11:29), and Samson (13:5) are explicitly said to have been raised by the Lord to be deliverers of Israel. Of the prominent judges whose stories are featured in Judges only Deborah is introduced without such an explicit statement. Deborah herself recognizes that all is not as it should be in this situation. She privately rebukes Barak for failing to exercise leadership and says that it will reflect negatively on him when the glory for victory goes to a woman and not to him (Jdg 4:8,9). Nothing in the text indicates that Deborah disagreed with the biblical principles concerning the roles of men and women. Her words and actions were aimed at getting men like Barak to fulfill their responsibilities, which they were neglecting. Christian women too should certainly encourage and admonish men to fulfill the duties God has given them. If the men fail to fulfill their responsibilities, the women will have to. But this is not the way it should be, and it reflects negatively on the men. In teaching the story of Deborah we have to emphasize her interaction with Barak because this is the point which Scripture emphasizes. The account gives no detailed information about any of her other activities as judge. It offers neither negative nor positive comment about these activities. There is nothing here for us to use as a clear model. The point of the book of Judges is not to provide us with moral examples to imitate (indeed, it describes a lot more bad examples than good). The purpose of the book is to show how God preserved his people in spite of their sins. It does not provide us a handbook of moral examples to imitate. All of these factors make it clear that it is not sound interpretation to set the actions of Deborah against the explicit commands of Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14 and in 1 Timothy 2. | ||||||
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