Topic : Prophetic Ministry before Monarchy (Moses, Samuel and Deborah)
Subject : Vision and Mission of the Prophet
Lecture : Mr. xxx
Presenter : xxx
Introduction:
Generally a person who serves as a channel of communication between the human and divine worlds is known to be prophet. The biblical prophets played an important role in Israelite religion and society. The prophets have been considered moral and ethical innovators, who brought Israelite religion to a higher level of development. Thus, the prophets who played a great role in propagating the message of God to the people and development of Israelites religion and society before the formation of monarchy are Moses, Samuel, and Deborah.
Moses:
According to the Hebrew Bible Moses was a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew ("Moses is also known as Teacher/Rabbi"), he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths. The man chosen by God to lead the Hebrew people out of Egyptian bondage, and lead the Hebrew people to the promise land.
Background of Moses:
According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born at a time when the Hebrews had become such a troublesome and were increasing in number the Egyptian king Pharaoh was worried that they might help their enemies. Pharaoh decided to kill all the newborn male children. Many infants were slain as a consequence of this cruel order but one infant survived and that was Moses. He was adopted as a foundling by the Egyptian royal family and was brought up by Pharaoh’s daughter treated as the grandson of Pharaoh. The name she gave to him was Moses (meaning “drawn out of the water”) and given an education that befits a royal prince. Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And as a result he “was powerful in speech and action”. He was a statesman and a soldier. “Mighty in words and in deeds”. Though he was raised from the palace, he was nurse by his own Hebrew mother Jochabed. Thus, even though he was reared in the midst of Egypt’s royal family, Moses learned the values of the people of God.
The role played by Moses:
Although Abraham was the founding father of Israel, Moses was one who organized the nation, promulgated their laws, and, under God, led them for forty years through the wilderness. He was a prophet, a priest, and all most a king as he directed every facet of national life. He played a key role in the Exodus, and later he received the Ten Commandments from God. When his time of training was completed, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him his mission - the Exodus (Exodus 3:1-22). Moses was 80 years old at the time of the Exodus. He had spent 40 years in the palace of Pharaoh (learning how to govern), and 40 years in the Sinai (learning how to live in the Sinai wilderness). Moses was given an important role by God to deliver the Hebrew people out of Egypt from their bondage of slavery; he was the mighty instrument of God. Moses concern for his people led directly to his exile from Egypt, when he killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite. But after forty years in the desert of Midian, God called him to return to Egypt and lead Israel out of slavery. The call at the burning bush set aside as a prophet, one who would speak the word of God to the Israelites and to Pharaoh. A prophet was a God’s spokesman (Ex. 7:1), and with the help of Aaron, Moses communicated God’s message of deliverance. Even after the Exodus, it was Moses who spoke God’s words to Israel at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:3, 7). In his role as a prophet, Moses was unique. When Aaron and Miriam claimed that God spoke through them as through Moses, God replied that He spoke with Moses face to face, not in dreams and visions, but face to face. God performed miraculous signs and wonders through him. Many of these miracles were designed to convince Pharaoh and his officials to release the Israelites, and when the Israelite were trapped at the edge of the Red Sea, Moses raised his staff and extended his arms, and God made a path through the water. This was not the end of Moses activity, but however, for several times in the desert God performed wonders through Moses. At Mount Sinai Moses served as a lawgiver and became the mediator of the old covenant. Moses remained the spiritual leader of Israel even after the priest and the Levites were carrying out their responsibility.
Background of Samuel:
Samuel probably means “El in his name or name of God” His Parents were Elkanah and Hannah, Samuel’s came as an answer to the prayer request of a faithful mother. She dedicated Samuel before his birth as a ‘Nazirite’ after his weaning he was brought up in the Shiloh Temple by the priest Eli. The Hebrew Bible portrays Samuel in a variety of roles, as a priest, prophet, Judge and Seer. (1Sam1-3) portrays him as an aspiring priest and performing sacrificial functions often associated with priest. (1Sam9:5-14, 18-21) refers to Samuel as a Seer, one who has the gift of Clair vogance and (1sam3:20) explicitly labels Samuel as a prophet this is the epithet which later tradition commonly used for him. According to (1Sam8:18-18, 10: 17-18) he acts as a prophets announcing doom upon the ill-fated king. However the great number of scholar associated the historical Samuel is that of Judged (Sam7:15) declares that Samuel judge Israel all the day of his life.
Context:
Despite all the efforts of the Judges, the Israelites had failed to gain full control of the land of Palestine.1Samuel 4 describes the first big battle between them. In the first attack the philistines were victorious. The Israel lost thirty thousand Men, or the battle attacked with Philistines and much of the territory was captured by Philistines. The philistine captured the Ark, and killed the son of Eli who were responsible for the Ark. Probably the Philistines went on to destroyed the shrine at Shiloh, where the Ark was usually kept, Eli died of shock at the news of all that had happened. Even so there was a leader left in the Israel who had been called by God. He was Samuel. He began his service of God at Shiloh and God had chosen him to rebuke Eli and His Sons for Their false way (1Sam.3:10-14). After Shiloh was destroyed Samuel moved to his family home at Ramah. From there He went out year by year to act as Judge among the twelve’s tribes, setting case and keeping peace between the people (1 Sam.7:15-17).However The leadership represented by Eli, Samuel, and their sons and other judges were not effective for the accomplishment of their goals therefore peoples began to demand for a king like the other nations, The emergence of monarchy took placed during his time.
The role of Samuel:
Samuel played three important roles as priest, as a prophet, and as a judged. As a priest he anointed Saul as a leader over Israel, he enumerated the various “signs” that would show Yahweh’s confirmation of his choice. And when King Saul failed form his kingship, David was anointed by Samuel form among the son of Jesse. The story of the voice which Samuel mistook for Eli’s, shows that Samuel had a direct call from God to be a prophet. This experience is compared with Moses burning bush or the visions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Samuel as a prophet or as a spiritual leader of Israel played an outstanding role in the life of Israel. Under his spiritual guidance the Israel made the shift from the politically in adequate tribal confederacy to the more stable government of the monarch. Samuel leader is portrayed in two types of traditions which can be traced rather easily in (I Sam. 1-12) in both Samuel is describing as a person who plays an important role in Israel faithful decisions to establish the monarchy. Nothing that happened among the tribes was beyond his concern. Acting in a variety of capacities, he served the tribes faithfully in a crucial period of biblical history, when the external pressure brought upon Israel by the Philistines called for reaching social and political changes. He played an important role in setting up the legal disputes, for which propose he made an annual circuit of the shrines of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah (7:15-17). During that time the Israelites were suffering defeat at the hand of the Philistines, who had stolen the ark of God from the Tabernacle (4-5) under Samuel prophetic encouragement and with divine assistance Israel gained victory over the Philistines and recapture the Ark of the Covenant.
Message of the Samuel:
The Ministry of Samuel was an important task between the time of the judges and the reign of David. The two chapters of I Samuel introduced the birth and life of Samuel as of the prophets of scripture (I Sam. 7: 3-19). Samuel challenged the house of Israel to return to the Lord. And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel ‘if you are returning to the lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of foreign gods and Ashtoreth’s and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines’. When Israel was asking for the king Samuel warned the children of Israel about what a king would do for them. He remains them that the day will come when you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen and the Lord will not answer you and that day and this was fulfilled (I Kings 12: 2-15). After Saul was anointed as a king of Israel, Samuel introduced the people of Israel, Samuel said, “But be sure to fear the Lord and serve God faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away”. After Saul’s disobedience, Samuel told him, “the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of neighbours to one better than you. He who is the glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind”.
When David became a king, he predicted David’s victory over the warring Philistines and brings back the ark to the city of David. The prediction was also given that David would have a great name (2Sam7:9).In this way the message of God was convey by Samuel to the people of Israel and to the kings.
Background of Deborah:
Deborah was the only women in the Bible who was placed at the height of political power by the common consent of the people. She was a judge, a warrior, and a prophet in Israel during the time of the Judges, she was also a singer of songs and a nurse who accompanied Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel, she was the fourth of Israel judges, a native of Issachar (Jud 5:15) and a wife of Lappidoth (4:4). She lived in the hill of Ephraim, as a prophetess who “Judged” Israel in the 13th or 12th century. She had her Headquarter under “the palm tree of Deborah” between Ramah and Bethel (Jud 4:5) where the people or leaders of various tribes came to have their disputes arbitrated and settled. The songs of Deborah (Jud 5:2-31) celebrate the victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera and one of the oldest pieces of literature in the Old Testament.
Context:
Deborah is introduced as a saviour of her people and the only women in the distinguished company of the judges. In the tribal structure of Israel women normally occupied a subordinate position, but they could and did on rare occasions rise to prominence and the Old Testament witnesses to the qualities of prominent women like Miriam (ex. 15:20) and Huldah (2 king 22:14). At the time of Crisis Deborah was already established as a prophetess and a Judge in the non-military sphere. Her summon and challenge to Barak was in the name of Yahweh, the distinctive name for the God of Israel. The period of the judges in ancient Israel extended from the death of Joshua after the Israelites had settled in the land of Canaan to the institution of a monarchy with the anointing of Saul as king. The term “Judges” is not to be interpreted in a legal sense but rather as a designation for heroes and a heroine upon whom the spirit of God rested and whose temporary rule was not necessarily supported by all the tribes of the federation. Deborah was one of those rare individuals who had a special charismatic gift of the spirit of God (judges 6:34, 11:29, 14:6) as such she was recognized a prophetess (Jud 4:4). Although she probably gained her reputation as an ordinary non-military Judge, she was best remember by later generations as the one able to rally the scattered tribes of Israel to loyalty to Jehovah, and hence as their saviour or deliverer from the oppression of Jabin, king of the Canaanites (Jud 5). Her own contemporaries respected her as a “mother in Israel” (judges 5:7).
She promoted a war of liberation; the only war against Canaanite oppression described in the book of judges and possibly Israel’s last campaign against the Canaanite. It was not a war of isolated tribes but a war of national deliverance carried out by volunteers. The victory was a women’s victory, brought about by Deborah and Jael, the women who killed the Canaanite Commander. The song of Deborah is among the earliest of Hebrew heroic poems, and although it is attributed to both Deborah and Barak, the presence of many female images has led scholars to acknowledge that the author was a woman. It is a victory song similar to psalm 68, in a complete reversal of the norm; her husband is named without a single descriptive word about him. This has led to speculation that ‘eshet lappidot’ may not mean “wife of Lappidoth” but rather “spiritual women”
Message:
Deborah arose to great leadership because she trusted God implicitly and because she could inspire in others the same trust. For twenty years Jabin, king of Canaan had oppressed the children of Israel. Their vineyards had been destroyed, their women dishonoured, and their children slain. Many had turned to the worship of idols. Before Deborah became a leader in war, she was a homemaker; she sits and gives council to the people who came to her. As a counsellor in time of peace her greatest service came in time of war and she led her people into war. Most of them had stood by fearfully because they were afraid of their enemies. While they paled with fear, Deborah burned with indignation at the oppression of her people. A gifted and an intrepid woman, she felt afraid to rise up against such fear and complacency, for she carried in heart the great hope that God would come to her peoples rescue if they would honour him. Deborah arose to denounce this lack of leadership and to affirm that deliverance was at hand. Her religious and patriotic fervour armed her with new strength.
She had the courage to summon one of Israel’s most capable military men, Barak, from his home in Kedesh. Together they worked out a plan for action against the enemy. Deborah spoke “Go” positively to the fainthearted Barak and she convinced Barak that the Lord would deliver Sisera and his Chariots and multitudes into their hands. Barak sensing the spiritual insight that Deborah possessed and feeling the urgent need for her presence and spiritual council, answered, “If thou will go with me, then I will go; but if thou will not go with me, then I will not go” (Judges 4:8) this is one of the most unusual passages in the bible spoken by a man to a women. It demonstrates a general’s great confidence in a woman, who had risen to a high place in Israel largely because of one quality, her abiding faith in God.
Conclusion:
Thus the prophetic role or the prophetic ministry before monarchy was to liberate the desperate and sometimes antagonistic groups seeking refuge from a dominating and oppressive network of stratified city-state and to convey the message of God to the people as well. The prophet before the monarchy became the symbolic vehicle for bringing together and unifying a people, each of whom could see its own experience of oppression and liberation.
They also played a spiritual leader for instance; Samuel under his spiritual guidance Israel made the shift from the politically inadequate tribal confederacy to the more stable government of the monarch.
Bibliography:
Anderson, Bernhard W. Understanding The Old Testament, 2nd edition. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1966.
Blank, Wayne. The Typical Role of Moses and the Exodus. Philadelphia: NP, 1960.
Cundall, Arthur E. Judges: An Introduction and Commentary. England: Inter Varsity Press,
1968.
Deen, Edith. All of the Women of the Bible. London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1955.
Geisler, Norman L. A popular Survey of the Old Testament. Michigan: Baker Book House.
Hinson, David F. History of Israel. Delhi: ISPCK, 1976.
_____________. History of Israel: Old Testament Introduction. Delhi: ISPCK, 2009.
Hnuni, R.L. The People of God in the Old Testament. New Delhi: Lakshi Publisher’s, 2012.
Imchen, Narola. Reading the Bible with a New Perspective. Assam: Eastern Theological
College, 2003.
Martin, William C. These were God’s People a Bible History. Nashville Tennessee: The
Southwestern Company, 1966.
Meyer, F. B. Moses the servant of God. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1953.
Myers, Allen C. The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1987.
Napier, B. Davie. The Book of Exodus. Philadelphia: Published by John Knox Press, 1963.
Payne, D.F. New Bible Dictionary, 3rd edition. Secunderabad: Inter Varsity Press, 2002.
Ramsey, George W. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol 5, ed., David Noel Freedman. New
York: Doubleday, 1992.
Sanford, William. Old Testament Survey: The Message from and Background of the Old
Testament. Michigan: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
Smith, Ralph. L. Wycliffe Bible Dictionary. Eds. Charles F. Pfeiffer and Howard F.
Massachusells: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.
Walvoord, John F. Every Prophecy of the Bible. Secunderabad: OM Books, 1999.
Wolf, Herbert. An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch. Chicago: Zondervan Bible
Publishers, 1991.
Subject : Vision and Mission of the Prophet
Lecture : Mr. xxx
Presenter : xxx
Introduction:
Generally a person who serves as a channel of communication between the human and divine worlds is known to be prophet. The biblical prophets played an important role in Israelite religion and society. The prophets have been considered moral and ethical innovators, who brought Israelite religion to a higher level of development. Thus, the prophets who played a great role in propagating the message of God to the people and development of Israelites religion and society before the formation of monarchy are Moses, Samuel, and Deborah.
Moses:
According to the Hebrew Bible Moses was a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew ("Moses is also known as Teacher/Rabbi"), he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths. The man chosen by God to lead the Hebrew people out of Egyptian bondage, and lead the Hebrew people to the promise land.
Background of Moses:
According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born at a time when the Hebrews had become such a troublesome and were increasing in number the Egyptian king Pharaoh was worried that they might help their enemies. Pharaoh decided to kill all the newborn male children. Many infants were slain as a consequence of this cruel order but one infant survived and that was Moses. He was adopted as a foundling by the Egyptian royal family and was brought up by Pharaoh’s daughter treated as the grandson of Pharaoh. The name she gave to him was Moses (meaning “drawn out of the water”) and given an education that befits a royal prince. Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And as a result he “was powerful in speech and action”. He was a statesman and a soldier. “Mighty in words and in deeds”. Though he was raised from the palace, he was nurse by his own Hebrew mother Jochabed. Thus, even though he was reared in the midst of Egypt’s royal family, Moses learned the values of the people of God.
The role played by Moses:
Although Abraham was the founding father of Israel, Moses was one who organized the nation, promulgated their laws, and, under God, led them for forty years through the wilderness. He was a prophet, a priest, and all most a king as he directed every facet of national life. He played a key role in the Exodus, and later he received the Ten Commandments from God. When his time of training was completed, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him his mission - the Exodus (Exodus 3:1-22). Moses was 80 years old at the time of the Exodus. He had spent 40 years in the palace of Pharaoh (learning how to govern), and 40 years in the Sinai (learning how to live in the Sinai wilderness). Moses was given an important role by God to deliver the Hebrew people out of Egypt from their bondage of slavery; he was the mighty instrument of God. Moses concern for his people led directly to his exile from Egypt, when he killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite. But after forty years in the desert of Midian, God called him to return to Egypt and lead Israel out of slavery. The call at the burning bush set aside as a prophet, one who would speak the word of God to the Israelites and to Pharaoh. A prophet was a God’s spokesman (Ex. 7:1), and with the help of Aaron, Moses communicated God’s message of deliverance. Even after the Exodus, it was Moses who spoke God’s words to Israel at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:3, 7). In his role as a prophet, Moses was unique. When Aaron and Miriam claimed that God spoke through them as through Moses, God replied that He spoke with Moses face to face, not in dreams and visions, but face to face. God performed miraculous signs and wonders through him. Many of these miracles were designed to convince Pharaoh and his officials to release the Israelites, and when the Israelite were trapped at the edge of the Red Sea, Moses raised his staff and extended his arms, and God made a path through the water. This was not the end of Moses activity, but however, for several times in the desert God performed wonders through Moses. At Mount Sinai Moses served as a lawgiver and became the mediator of the old covenant. Moses remained the spiritual leader of Israel even after the priest and the Levites were carrying out their responsibility.
Background of Samuel:
Samuel probably means “El in his name or name of God” His Parents were Elkanah and Hannah, Samuel’s came as an answer to the prayer request of a faithful mother. She dedicated Samuel before his birth as a ‘Nazirite’ after his weaning he was brought up in the Shiloh Temple by the priest Eli. The Hebrew Bible portrays Samuel in a variety of roles, as a priest, prophet, Judge and Seer. (1Sam1-3) portrays him as an aspiring priest and performing sacrificial functions often associated with priest. (1Sam9:5-14, 18-21) refers to Samuel as a Seer, one who has the gift of Clair vogance and (1sam3:20) explicitly labels Samuel as a prophet this is the epithet which later tradition commonly used for him. According to (1Sam8:18-18, 10: 17-18) he acts as a prophets announcing doom upon the ill-fated king. However the great number of scholar associated the historical Samuel is that of Judged (Sam7:15) declares that Samuel judge Israel all the day of his life.
Context:
Despite all the efforts of the Judges, the Israelites had failed to gain full control of the land of Palestine.1Samuel 4 describes the first big battle between them. In the first attack the philistines were victorious. The Israel lost thirty thousand Men, or the battle attacked with Philistines and much of the territory was captured by Philistines. The philistine captured the Ark, and killed the son of Eli who were responsible for the Ark. Probably the Philistines went on to destroyed the shrine at Shiloh, where the Ark was usually kept, Eli died of shock at the news of all that had happened. Even so there was a leader left in the Israel who had been called by God. He was Samuel. He began his service of God at Shiloh and God had chosen him to rebuke Eli and His Sons for Their false way (1Sam.3:10-14). After Shiloh was destroyed Samuel moved to his family home at Ramah. From there He went out year by year to act as Judge among the twelve’s tribes, setting case and keeping peace between the people (1 Sam.7:15-17).However The leadership represented by Eli, Samuel, and their sons and other judges were not effective for the accomplishment of their goals therefore peoples began to demand for a king like the other nations, The emergence of monarchy took placed during his time.
The role of Samuel:
Samuel played three important roles as priest, as a prophet, and as a judged. As a priest he anointed Saul as a leader over Israel, he enumerated the various “signs” that would show Yahweh’s confirmation of his choice. And when King Saul failed form his kingship, David was anointed by Samuel form among the son of Jesse. The story of the voice which Samuel mistook for Eli’s, shows that Samuel had a direct call from God to be a prophet. This experience is compared with Moses burning bush or the visions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Samuel as a prophet or as a spiritual leader of Israel played an outstanding role in the life of Israel. Under his spiritual guidance the Israel made the shift from the politically in adequate tribal confederacy to the more stable government of the monarch. Samuel leader is portrayed in two types of traditions which can be traced rather easily in (I Sam. 1-12) in both Samuel is describing as a person who plays an important role in Israel faithful decisions to establish the monarchy. Nothing that happened among the tribes was beyond his concern. Acting in a variety of capacities, he served the tribes faithfully in a crucial period of biblical history, when the external pressure brought upon Israel by the Philistines called for reaching social and political changes. He played an important role in setting up the legal disputes, for which propose he made an annual circuit of the shrines of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah (7:15-17). During that time the Israelites were suffering defeat at the hand of the Philistines, who had stolen the ark of God from the Tabernacle (4-5) under Samuel prophetic encouragement and with divine assistance Israel gained victory over the Philistines and recapture the Ark of the Covenant.
Message of the Samuel:
The Ministry of Samuel was an important task between the time of the judges and the reign of David. The two chapters of I Samuel introduced the birth and life of Samuel as of the prophets of scripture (I Sam. 7: 3-19). Samuel challenged the house of Israel to return to the Lord. And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel ‘if you are returning to the lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of foreign gods and Ashtoreth’s and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines’. When Israel was asking for the king Samuel warned the children of Israel about what a king would do for them. He remains them that the day will come when you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen and the Lord will not answer you and that day and this was fulfilled (I Kings 12: 2-15). After Saul was anointed as a king of Israel, Samuel introduced the people of Israel, Samuel said, “But be sure to fear the Lord and serve God faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away”. After Saul’s disobedience, Samuel told him, “the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of neighbours to one better than you. He who is the glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind”.
When David became a king, he predicted David’s victory over the warring Philistines and brings back the ark to the city of David. The prediction was also given that David would have a great name (2Sam7:9).In this way the message of God was convey by Samuel to the people of Israel and to the kings.
Background of Deborah:
Deborah was the only women in the Bible who was placed at the height of political power by the common consent of the people. She was a judge, a warrior, and a prophet in Israel during the time of the Judges, she was also a singer of songs and a nurse who accompanied Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel, she was the fourth of Israel judges, a native of Issachar (Jud 5:15) and a wife of Lappidoth (4:4). She lived in the hill of Ephraim, as a prophetess who “Judged” Israel in the 13th or 12th century. She had her Headquarter under “the palm tree of Deborah” between Ramah and Bethel (Jud 4:5) where the people or leaders of various tribes came to have their disputes arbitrated and settled. The songs of Deborah (Jud 5:2-31) celebrate the victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera and one of the oldest pieces of literature in the Old Testament.
Context:
Deborah is introduced as a saviour of her people and the only women in the distinguished company of the judges. In the tribal structure of Israel women normally occupied a subordinate position, but they could and did on rare occasions rise to prominence and the Old Testament witnesses to the qualities of prominent women like Miriam (ex. 15:20) and Huldah (2 king 22:14). At the time of Crisis Deborah was already established as a prophetess and a Judge in the non-military sphere. Her summon and challenge to Barak was in the name of Yahweh, the distinctive name for the God of Israel. The period of the judges in ancient Israel extended from the death of Joshua after the Israelites had settled in the land of Canaan to the institution of a monarchy with the anointing of Saul as king. The term “Judges” is not to be interpreted in a legal sense but rather as a designation for heroes and a heroine upon whom the spirit of God rested and whose temporary rule was not necessarily supported by all the tribes of the federation. Deborah was one of those rare individuals who had a special charismatic gift of the spirit of God (judges 6:34, 11:29, 14:6) as such she was recognized a prophetess (Jud 4:4). Although she probably gained her reputation as an ordinary non-military Judge, she was best remember by later generations as the one able to rally the scattered tribes of Israel to loyalty to Jehovah, and hence as their saviour or deliverer from the oppression of Jabin, king of the Canaanites (Jud 5). Her own contemporaries respected her as a “mother in Israel” (judges 5:7).
She promoted a war of liberation; the only war against Canaanite oppression described in the book of judges and possibly Israel’s last campaign against the Canaanite. It was not a war of isolated tribes but a war of national deliverance carried out by volunteers. The victory was a women’s victory, brought about by Deborah and Jael, the women who killed the Canaanite Commander. The song of Deborah is among the earliest of Hebrew heroic poems, and although it is attributed to both Deborah and Barak, the presence of many female images has led scholars to acknowledge that the author was a woman. It is a victory song similar to psalm 68, in a complete reversal of the norm; her husband is named without a single descriptive word about him. This has led to speculation that ‘eshet lappidot’ may not mean “wife of Lappidoth” but rather “spiritual women”
Message:
Deborah arose to great leadership because she trusted God implicitly and because she could inspire in others the same trust. For twenty years Jabin, king of Canaan had oppressed the children of Israel. Their vineyards had been destroyed, their women dishonoured, and their children slain. Many had turned to the worship of idols. Before Deborah became a leader in war, she was a homemaker; she sits and gives council to the people who came to her. As a counsellor in time of peace her greatest service came in time of war and she led her people into war. Most of them had stood by fearfully because they were afraid of their enemies. While they paled with fear, Deborah burned with indignation at the oppression of her people. A gifted and an intrepid woman, she felt afraid to rise up against such fear and complacency, for she carried in heart the great hope that God would come to her peoples rescue if they would honour him. Deborah arose to denounce this lack of leadership and to affirm that deliverance was at hand. Her religious and patriotic fervour armed her with new strength.
She had the courage to summon one of Israel’s most capable military men, Barak, from his home in Kedesh. Together they worked out a plan for action against the enemy. Deborah spoke “Go” positively to the fainthearted Barak and she convinced Barak that the Lord would deliver Sisera and his Chariots and multitudes into their hands. Barak sensing the spiritual insight that Deborah possessed and feeling the urgent need for her presence and spiritual council, answered, “If thou will go with me, then I will go; but if thou will not go with me, then I will not go” (Judges 4:8) this is one of the most unusual passages in the bible spoken by a man to a women. It demonstrates a general’s great confidence in a woman, who had risen to a high place in Israel largely because of one quality, her abiding faith in God.
Conclusion:
Thus the prophetic role or the prophetic ministry before monarchy was to liberate the desperate and sometimes antagonistic groups seeking refuge from a dominating and oppressive network of stratified city-state and to convey the message of God to the people as well. The prophet before the monarchy became the symbolic vehicle for bringing together and unifying a people, each of whom could see its own experience of oppression and liberation.
They also played a spiritual leader for instance; Samuel under his spiritual guidance Israel made the shift from the politically inadequate tribal confederacy to the more stable government of the monarch.
Bibliography:
Anderson, Bernhard W. Understanding The Old Testament, 2nd edition. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1966.
Blank, Wayne. The Typical Role of Moses and the Exodus. Philadelphia: NP, 1960.
Cundall, Arthur E. Judges: An Introduction and Commentary. England: Inter Varsity Press,
1968.
Deen, Edith. All of the Women of the Bible. London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1955.
Geisler, Norman L. A popular Survey of the Old Testament. Michigan: Baker Book House.
Hinson, David F. History of Israel. Delhi: ISPCK, 1976.
_____________. History of Israel: Old Testament Introduction. Delhi: ISPCK, 2009.
Hnuni, R.L. The People of God in the Old Testament. New Delhi: Lakshi Publisher’s, 2012.
Imchen, Narola. Reading the Bible with a New Perspective. Assam: Eastern Theological
College, 2003.
Martin, William C. These were God’s People a Bible History. Nashville Tennessee: The
Southwestern Company, 1966.
Meyer, F. B. Moses the servant of God. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1953.
Myers, Allen C. The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1987.
Napier, B. Davie. The Book of Exodus. Philadelphia: Published by John Knox Press, 1963.
Payne, D.F. New Bible Dictionary, 3rd edition. Secunderabad: Inter Varsity Press, 2002.
Ramsey, George W. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol 5, ed., David Noel Freedman. New
York: Doubleday, 1992.
Sanford, William. Old Testament Survey: The Message from and Background of the Old
Testament. Michigan: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
Smith, Ralph. L. Wycliffe Bible Dictionary. Eds. Charles F. Pfeiffer and Howard F.
Massachusells: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.
Walvoord, John F. Every Prophecy of the Bible. Secunderabad: OM Books, 1999.
Wolf, Herbert. An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch. Chicago: Zondervan Bible
Publishers, 1991.
0 comments:
Post a Comment