The ‘Palm of Deborah’

- What significance for us today?

Recently I have been in conversations with various people over the differing roles of men and women in the church. I believe that the Lord has lead me  to compile some notes.

Paul A Norman

Avondale Auckland, December 2000

P.O. Box 1005, Nelson, New Zealand
paul_norman_3@compuserve.com 

This important area of Christian life has been marred by feminism infiltrating Christian circles all over the world. That has had its origins in a spirit of lawlessness and rebellion to God.

Much of the Western World church has little idea of how far removed it has become  from God’s cultural norms for the human race.

So to clear the decks, we will first have a look at a direct and clear statement from the Almighty, and then some necessary background material.

In the background material, the context and meanings of the original words used in the bible are reproduced in an effort to cut through all the weeds and undergrowth that have infested much of this issue in modern times.

Where ever you see numbers in sharp brackets like: <123>, these refer to the Strongs Dictionary New Testament Greek references, or Old Testament Hebrew references associated with a version of the bible closely related to the King James.

If you have not used these numbers before, try taking some time over it and become familiar with the system. It can be very helpful.

You will find these references in a Strongs Concordance book, or on computer in the ‘On Line Bible’ (available for free for PC or Mac from: http://www.onlinebible.org/html/

The following is  a scripture from Isaiah 3:8. God is listing some of the bad things that had befallen Jerusalem and Judah.

Women rule over them

The general idea then of women ruling over God’s people is (from God’s point of view) evidence of things not being well with His people. Note that this is not a cultural or historical discernment, but a statement from the Lord of Hosts. God makes no comment here on other people groups, just His Own people.

What place then Deborah?

People often try to use Deborah as an example of a woman Leader that God raises up to rule His people. Even trying to extend such an idea over into the church today, even against the New Testament Scripture that tell us otherwise.

Let us look then at what the Bible actually records about Deborah.

First and as a contrast, note that the word for ‘women rule over them’ in the above Scripture, is the Strong’s number: 04910 Hebrew: mashal {maw-shal’}  it means:

AV - rule 38, ruler 19, reign 8, dominion 7, governor 4, ruled over 2, power 2, indeed 1; 81

1) to rule, have dominion, reign  1a) (Qal) to rule, have dominion  1b) (Hiphil)  1b1) to cause to rule  1b2) to exercise dominion

The actual Bible word used for when describing what Deborah did is entirely different from ‘leading’ or ‘ruling’in that sense it is ‘she judged <08199>’ as shown below:

Judges 4:4 (NIV)

Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.

Judges 4:4  And Deborah <01683>, a prophetess <05031>, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged <08199> (8802)  Israel  at that time.

The word is not rule (Hebrew - 04910: mashal) but: -  08199 shaphat {shaw-fat’} which is translated as:

AV - judge (v) 119, judge (n) 60, plead 11, avenged 2, condemn 2, execute 2, judgement 2, defend 1, deliver 1

Deborah is also described as a prophetess which is

05031 n-biy’ah {neb-ee-yaw’}

from 05030; AV - prophetess 6; 6   

1) prophetess  1a) ancient type endowed with gift of song (Miriam)  1b) later type consulted for a word (Huldah)  1c) false prophetess (Noadiah)  1d) wife of Isaiah the prophet  

In the scripture that describes where Deborah lived and did her work for God there is an implication (in some translations) that she ‘held court’ (like a king), others say ‘she dwelt’:

Judges 4:5  (NIV) She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.

Judges 4:5  And she dwelt <03427> (8802) under the palm tree of Deborah  between Ramah  and Bethel  in mount  Ephraim: and the children  of Israel came up  to her for judgement.

This phrase ‘held court’ has led some to believe that Deborah was like a king with a court. So reproduced here is the actual biblical meaning of the words underlined above (held court and she dwelt) in full below (03427 yashab).

It becomes very clear as we do that, that the above scripture is only establishing where Deborah lived and where Israel could find her.

03427 yashab {yaw-shab}

 AV - dwell 437, inhabitant 221, sit 172, abide 70, inhabit 39, down 26, remain 23, in 22, tarry 19, set 14, continue 5, place 7, still 5, taken 5, misc. 23; 1088   1) to dwell, remain, sit, abide  

1a) (Qal)  1a1) to sit, sit down  1a2) to be set  1a3) to remain, stay  1a4) to dwell, have one’s abode  1b) (Niphal) to be inhabited  1c) (Piel) to set, place  1d) (Hiphil)  1d1) to cause to sit  1d2) to cause to abide, set  1d3) to cause to dwell  1d4) to cause (cities) to be inhabited  1d5) to marry (give an dwelling to)  1e) (Hophal)  1e1) to be inhabited  1e2) to make to dwell  

So what may we say about Deborah?

 She was a person empowered by the Holy Spirit to declare to people what God’s decisions were in the matters that they brought to her for judgement.

She did not try to govern, lead, take authority over, or lead  Israel in battle as would the other Judges of her times or the later kings or people with personal authority:

God uses Deborah to call for a man He has chosen to lead Israel in battle. His name is Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali.

The man says that he will not go unless Deborah (a woman) accompanies him in battle. Deborah makes plain that because Barak is asking her to go with him, he will loose the honour that should have been his for undertaking the task for the Lord. She prophetically declares that therefore a woman shall have the honour of disposing of the enemy leader, which if you read on in the bible is  exactly what comes to pass.

It was, in other words, dishonourable to take a woman into battle, let alone conceive that a woman would lead Israel out on such a mission for the Lord. You may wish to contrast the kinds of things that David as King did, with the things recorded about Deborah.

David even instigated new things in Israel (as a king has power and authority to do), Deborah judged issues according to what God had already established in the Law of Moses, and accordingly as He revealed to her by His Spirit. A king has (rightly or wrongly) more latitude. That may be partly why God never wanted Israel to have any king other than Him alone.

When God had Deborah call for Barak to take charge of Israel’s battle, she was not saying ‘I as Judge of Israel tell you to do this ..’, she said,

Authority in the Church

This difference between prophet-judge and kingly authority may to some degree be likened to the difference between the authority of New Testament prophets and the authority of apostles, or of husbands and wives in marriage. Apostles and prophets are very important to the work of the Lord Jesus.

(This is a whole topic in itself.)

The New Testament prophet declares the words and revelations of the Lord. And scripture records that it is to be first judged before being carried out:

1 Corinthians 14:29

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said

The word ‘others’ here means ‘others’ of the same kind of gifting. Prophets ‘speak forth’ for the Lord Jesus.

While yet still to be weighed up, the emphatic statements of apostles must be given more weight  As apostles are sent to ‘act’ for the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 14:36

Again in Philemon:

2 Corinthians 10:8

8  For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.

The authority is there but it is exercised in love,  just as the husband has authority over his family and wife, but is to exercise it in love.

While this apostolic authority does not simply set up an automatic hierarchy, it is nonetheless something that all believers (in this modern age which has so much emphasis on personal freedom), must take into account in establishing how God wants them to behave, and respond in certain circumstances.

1 Corinthians 12:28

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts  of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

However note that  Paul also writes,

So such spiritual authority is not simply given to a person to keep like a badge or title. If such a  person passes over to error, they are not to be listened to.

For the authority remains with Jesus and is exercised through His words by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has not as such delegated all of this to any one. For any person called of God (like elders) to continue to exercise authority in the church (amongst believers) can only do so while they remain in Christ, and His words remain in them.

Scripture also never shows that one person (male or female) is appointed to run an assembly as pastor or minister or similar title.

Note Jesus does not say here that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And now I give it to you.” He does say “ .. teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” Words for obedience to Christian leadership used in the New Testament are actually (from the original language) better translated into English  as ‘be open to persuasion’, or ‘be open to being persuaded by’

For example

Hebrews 13:17

17  Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

17  Obey <3982> (5732) them that have the rule <2233> (5740) over {or guide} you <5216>, and <2532> submit yourselves <5226> (5720): for they  watch   for  your  souls  , as  they that must give   account , that  they may do   it   with  joy , and  not  with grief  : for  that   is unprofitable  for you .

3982 peitho {pi’-tho}   a pri-mary verb;

AV - persuade 22, trust 8, obey 7, have confidence 6, believe 3, be confident 2, misc. 7; 55

1) persuade  1a) to persuade, i.e. to induce one by words to believe  1b) to make friends of, to win one’s favour, gain one’s good will, or to seek to win one, strive to please one  1c) to tranquillise  1d) to persuade unto i.e. move or induce one to persuasion to do something  2) be persuaded  2a) to be persuaded, to suffer one’s self to be persuaded; to be induced to believe: to have faith: in a thing  2a1) to believe  2a2) to be persuaded of a thing concerning a person  2b) to listen to, obey, yield to, comply with  3) to trust, have confidence, be confident  

So there is to be a yielding and submitting, but it results from persuasion to the truth of a matter rather than a simple immediate mental obedience. (Safety from cults!)

Contrast this with the instructions given to children and for you when you work for someone, where the word used is a strong word for obedience.

Ephesians 6:1

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

And

Husbands and Wives

Revelation 4:11

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Just as Christ expects His Church to obey Him in everything, so God expects wives to yield to their husbands in everything - and the biblical word here means everything. This is not a cultural historical requirement, it is part of the timeless kingdom of God.

If you are a part of the Kingdom of God then this applies to you as well.

There are sadly many men who have become feminized by the spirit of this age, who do not set a good example in these matters. And equally many women who have been deceived into the false claims of feminism.

The choice is clear on these points. Follow God or Satan.

In marriage we find that while there is free private discussion on all matters, the final authority rests with the husband. Within this framework, the wife will however often be given revelations by the Holy Spirit to share with her husband that will add to what God may already be showing him.

Yet the man must finally stand accountable to God in what he believes is the right course of action to take for his wife and family.

God has given the man the ‘headship’.

1 Corinthians 11:3

“Now I want you to realise that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”

Leaders Amongst God’s Children

 The Ephesians 4: 8-16 apostles, prophets, evangelists and shepherding/teachers, the Lord Jesus directly calls and appoints Himself:

Galatians 1:1

“Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father”

Within the universal priesthood of believers, beyond evangelism and baptising, there are special functions for individual believers. (c.f. Romans 12:1-9,  1 Corinthians 12)

And there are instructions for appointing leaders amongst Christians. Here are the instructions for elder/overseer, there are also instructions for deacons and deaconesses as well

If married, an elder/overseer must be the husband of but one WIFE. A woman can never be, in God’s sight, the ‘husband of but one wife’; so here is one reason why a sister can not be appointed as an elder/overseer, (or to the artificial position of pastor - or anything like that).

Specifics

This portion ties in with:

The two portions of Scripture:

1 Timothy 2:12

“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent”

and -

- do not refer to women saying nothing at all in church gatherings.

Paul has in Corinthians already encouraged women who are in right relationship with their husbands to prophesy in the church gatherings, and to pray (1 Corinthians 11). However what is being spoken against here is the sense of SPEAKING as a major thing like bringing a teaching or  instruction. Nothing taught by Paul is intended to stop a woman speaking out at an appropriate time what she believes is a revelation or gift  from the Holy Spirit. All such revelations must be tested publicly, by the others present in exactly the same way as any revelation brought by any man.

What does Paul mean when he says “as the Law says”?  Various people have put forward ideas on this point. One is that it was only the customs of those days that stopped women from doing anything important publicly.

However if we do look into the Law of Moses we find that any one who was to officiate in the temple was indeed to be male, and there were  very specific references made for testing possible people. Tests which could only possibly ever  refer to males (e.g. Leviticus 21:17-24). What then with statements like ‘in Christ there is neither male nor female’? These mean that both men and women can be saved individually. The same verses are also talking about racial origin, and whether descended from Abraham or not.

However these verses (Gal 3: 24 forward) make no comment on what kinds of things apply once we are saved, and should not be wrongly used to try and over-ride the other more specific teachings given in the New Testament. The same applies to generalised verses that tell Christians to submit to one an other (Ephesians 5:21). This does not over-ride a specific, a wife submitting to her husband ( the very next verse! - Ephesians 5:22).

“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent”

 Who is Paul referring to when he says a woman? Just one man’s wife? No.

1135 gune {goo-nay’}   

AV - women 129, wife 92; 221   

1) a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow

“to have authority over”

831 authenteo {ow-then-teh’-o}

AV - usurp authority over 1; 1   

1) who with his own hands kills another or himself  2) one who acts on his own authority, autocratic  3) an absolute master  4) to govern, exercise dominion over one.

The phrase used for ‘a man’ here is much more specific than the English or many other languages would expect.

There are a number of possible Bible words that can be used for man. One is a general word that means mankind, another is referring to a sense of people generally. The one used in this verse is: - 

435 aner {an’-ayr}   

AV - man 156, husband 50, sir 6, fellow 1

1) with reference to sex  1a) of a male  1b) of a husband  1c) of a betrothed or future husband  2) with reference to age, and to distinguish an adult man from a boy  3) any male  4) used generically of a group of both men and women

It particularly refers to any male that has gone through puberty, and not just a particular woman’s husband, although it applies to him as well.

Taken together this then does not rule out women teaching children including pre-adolescent boys.

Even if a woman is  not to teach her man, then she obviously must not be placed herself over other men!

Paul’s reasons for not wanting women to teach in the church are not cultural or historical. The reasons given are God’s reasons, they are spiritual and timeless. They acknowledge the way things have been from the beginning.

God knows more deeply than we do the true nature of fallen mankind. He has set the boundaries for us, knowing more fully the deeper implications of Adam’s disobedience and Eve’s deception. These spiritual factors are inherited by all humans, as surely as the colour of their hair or eyes are also inherited from their ancestors.

1 Timothy 2:14

“And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.”

We may not like the things that God is saying here, but He knows best, and we are to fit in with His views on things not He with ours!

God’s view of things is eternal. He does not change His ways to fit in with ours. That is why we are told to repent and believe.

God is not anti-women. He just wants things done His way. It has nothing to do with intelligence, just with God’s view of things. God has used women in a revealationary way and in wisdom for thousands of years. Any one who does not listen to wise words spoken by the Holy Spirit through a person just because she is a woman, is going to miss out on something marvellous. Even in Israel there were other women than Deborah used mightily by the Lord. Look at this example:

People in Israel used to go up to Abel to hear answers on important matters from the old wise women who lived there in those times.

In the temple God used Anna, a prophetess, to prophecy important things about His Own Son Jesus.

Note how even in doing this in God’s Spirit, Anna did not need to be (nor actually became) a church leader. Luke 2:36

Conclusion

Deborah never tried to lead God’s people with kingly or governmental authority. For that is not the gifting or calling of a Godly woman.

The church needs more Deborahs Annas and women like those of Abel. Look at the freedom that the woman of Proverbs 31 exercises.

Yet also note what she is trying to achieve. Not her own advancement, but that of others. In a word, love.

In His Own wisdom God has ordained that things amongst His people, shall not be as they are in the world. His kingdom, the Church of those people who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, is different from the world. In this one area alone we can stand out, potentially be persecuted, and misunderstood.

But in doing so we shall be giving love and glory to our heavenly Father, setting ourselves aside from the world and its ways to please God  in all things. Let us encourage each other to do so more and more. To do anything else is to let the spirits of deception run riot amongst us, note the warning from Isaiah where we started:

Isaiah 3:12

12 Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.

A Special Role for Women

 As well as evangelism, there are special roles for women to fulfil. One is in training children.

2 Timothy 1:5

“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

2 Timothy 3:15

“and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Another is in the discipling of other women to the basics of the faith. It is a function that God prefers to have carried out by women.

There are some very important points here that are fundamental to the development of healthy Christian community:

“Then they can train the younger women to: -

    1) love their husbands and children,
    2) be self-controlled and pure,
    3) be busy at home,
    4) be kind,
    5) and to be subject to their husbands,

 so that no-one will malign the word of God.”

To make some aspects of this possible, Christians need to work together as community.

If our sisters are  to be at home, then the rest of the Christian community needs to find ways to support husbands in helping that happen. Equal pay and other ‘politically correct’ legislation in the western world means that the man does not earn as much as he used to. This often forces our sisters  to have to work more full time than is good for God’s purposes and their families.

Christians need to pray and believe God together on how they can co-operate to see God’s kingdom a reality on the planet today.

Whatever else, let us not fall into the disobedience of the world and its ways, and share in the judgement that God has prepared for those that go that way.  There is much to look forward to: