I would be remiss in not mentioning the importance and emphasis placed on certain women in Jewish history. As I said in an earlier post, women are considered more spiritual and intuitive and their male counterparts. It should come as no surprise that women are spoken of with important roles in Jewish history. In the Bible, here are some profiles of just a few of those great women.
Deborah - Prophet, Wife & Mother
The first reference to Deborah described her as a prophet and a wife. She served as a Judge of the Jewish people - in essence, the Queen and spiritual leader - during her reign. She was well-respected among her peers, even a male general who refused to go to war when Israel was being attacked unless she joined him in leading. She gathered a huge army and lead them to victory. Judges chapter 4 tells her story, which I will paraphrase here:
So, Ehud the judge passed away, and the Israelites were wandering from the path (again). So God let them become oppressed (again) for twenty years. They were getting really tired of a man names Sisera who was cruel and vindictive and also happened to be in charge of the enormous army that was oppressing them, so they started crying out to God for help (again). During this time, Deborah - a prophet and a wife - was leading Israel. She held court under a palm tree (aptly named the Palm of Deborah) and would listen to people bring their grievances and sort them out day after day. One day, God spoke to her, so she called General Barak (the commander of the Israeli army) and told him this: "God says that you need to gather your army of ten thousand, then go to Mount Tabor. I (God) will lead Sisera's army there to the river by that mountain, then you can rush down and kill him with all your men."
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| Deborah under her palm |
The first reference to Deborah described her as a prophet and a wife. She served as a Judge of the Jewish people - in essence, the Queen and spiritual leader - during her reign. She was well-respected among her peers, even a male general who refused to go to war when Israel was being attacked unless she joined him in leading. She gathered a huge army and lead them to victory. Judges chapter 4 tells her story, which I will paraphrase here:
So, Ehud the judge passed away, and the Israelites were wandering from the path (again). So God let them become oppressed (again) for twenty years. They were getting really tired of a man names Sisera who was cruel and vindictive and also happened to be in charge of the enormous army that was oppressing them, so they started crying out to God for help (again). During this time, Deborah - a prophet and a wife - was leading Israel. She held court under a palm tree (aptly named the Palm of Deborah) and would listen to people bring their grievances and sort them out day after day. One day, God spoke to her, so she called General Barak (the commander of the Israeli army) and told him this: "God says that you need to gather your army of ten thousand, then go to Mount Tabor. I (God) will lead Sisera's army there to the river by that mountain, then you can rush down and kill him with all your men."
