JUDGES - Christian Identity Forum

Deborah: A Mother for Israel 77
Ramah, the place of the mother who suffers to give birth to the
righteous – these are the places associated with Deborah, and
serve to point up the meaning of her story.
We note that the sons of Israel came “up” to her for judgment.
The court of God is almost always placed on high ground
in Scripture, as can be seen from Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion, as well
as many other locations. We ascend into the hill of the Lord (Ps.
24:3; 15:1), to receive a blessing from the Lord (Ps. 24:5). Thus,
Deborah held God’s court in a high place.
This brings us to the thorny question of explaining (or explaining
away, as the case may be) how a woman might judge
and rule over Israel. The text is quite specific about this. The
New American Standard Bible says for verse 4, “Now Deborah,
a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that
time,” but the Hebrew text literally says, “Now Deborah, a
woman, a prophetess, the wl~e of Lappidoth. . . .” The emphasis
is on the fact that we have a female judge here.
An investigation of the Biblical material reveals that there
are judgesses and queens in the Bible, and though there are not
many, nobody seems to be surprised about it. There are also
prophetesses, and again though they are few, nobody seems to
be amazed at it. But there are no priestesses. The reason for this
is found (as usual) in Genesis 2 and 3.
The woman was made to be a helper to the man in his work.
That work was the work of dressing the garden, understanding
it, ruling over it, seen first of ‘all in the naming of the animals
(Gen. 2:15-20). Man’s second work was to guard (in English
Bibles, “keep”) the garden (Gen. 2:15). The woman at his side
was part of what he was supposed to guard; indeed, the woman
is a kind of symbol for the garden as a whole, as the analogies in
Canticles make clear. When Satan attacked, however, the man
failed to guard his wife (though he was standing next to her during
the whole conversation – Gen. 3:6, “with her”), and thus
failed to guard the garden (Gen. 3:1-6). As a result, man was
cast out as guardian, and angels took his place (Gen. 3:24).
Guarding is man’s priestly task, as shepherding is his kingly
task. It is precisely because it is the bride who must be guarded,
that the woman cannot be a priest. She is not the priest; rather,
she is what the priest (imaging the Divine Bridegroom) guards
and protects. Thus, the woman may not take up a leading