Dear folks,
The book of Judges forms a good study material on leadership. Except the first Judge Othniel,
none
of them displayed leadership qualities as desired by God throughout their life. We find each one flawed in some or the
other area at some particular point of time in their life. Some of them dont even appear to be a leader at all like
Samson but interestingly we find his name appear in the Hall of Fame for Men of Faith in Hebrews 11. It would take ages
for me to understand fully the standards of God, but we could learn something from the life of such flawed men(and women)!!
"Very well." Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about
this,
the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah
went with Barak to Kedesh,
where he summoned Zebulun and Napthali. 10,000 men followed him, and Deborah also went with him. Judges 4:9, 10
Accepted, Barak was a timid person and spoke just like others like Moses, Gideon etc but God didnot
reject them outright. Further, I dont understand why she has to speak about who would get the honor. Being a prophetess,
she should have been the first one to give all glory and honor to God irrespective of who leads the battle.
Personally I feel that she took this as an opportunity to take the honor for herself when she
said
that the honor would go to a woman, which interestingly did go to a faceless woman Jael who killed the commander Sisera.
But boy, doesnt God honors the words of a Prophet(ess)? We also find a song supposedly sung by Deborah and Barak where
Deborah praises herself (Judges 5:7, 12).
In the end though, God had the final say when he chose to honor Barak by placing his name alongside
men of faith like Abraham and Moses in the book of Hebrews 11 whereas we dont find Deborah mentioned elsewhere in the bible
after Judges 5.
"But now the Lord says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise
Me shall be lightly esteemed" 1 Sam 2:30 (NKJV)
What would you do if you were in Barak's place? Would you have told it doesnt matter who gets
the glory/honor, I am going to take the challenge or would you have sulked? Whome do you expect honor from - man or
God?? Who is honored anyway for the things you do in your life?
Blessings
Dason
