Judges 4 ...
1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.
2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord:for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim:and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.
8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go:but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
9 And she said, I will surely go with thee:notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet:and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand:is not the Lord gone out before thee?
So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
15 And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles:and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite:for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.
And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground:for he was fast asleep and weary.
So he died.
22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
==========
Comments by Joan Boney
Here we see Deborah, a prophet and a judge over Israel.
God said to Isaiah ... Isaiah 1:26 And I will restore thy judges
as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward
thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
After Jesus arose, after the crucifixion and the resurrection, Jesus gave to the church "gifts", ministers ...
Eph. 4 ... 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
By prophecy, in approximately 1978, God said to me: " I have called you and set you into the body of Christ as a apostle ... "
"Apostle," I cried out ... "What's an apostle?"
I asked the man who taught our Sunday School class... What is an apostle? Who are the apostles in our church group? What do apostles do in the church today?
He didn't know. (I was also called as a prophet and that calling was confirmed many times by various people in the church I attended at that time.)
So I asked God to teach me about apostles (and prophets) and to show me what apostles do in the NT church.
The first thing God showed me is the following ...
Acts 15 ... 6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. 7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
I could see by this one of the primary things an apostle would do is to judge in the church and to pronounce sentences.
We can also see this work in I Cor. 5 ... when Paul said ... 1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Here we see Paul pronouncing a "sentence" over one in the church at Corinth.
There was one occasion I presented a "sentence" over a pastor ... over Robert Tilton, who was pastor at that time. He had a small TV show at that time. He was just starting on TV. Tilton wanted to be very big in TV. That would require being popular. Bob invited a prophet from our church group to be guest on his TV show. Seconds before they were to go on the air, Bob turned to her and said, "Just one thing ... don't say anything about being a prophet because it's not popular."
After the show, she called me in tears and told me what had happened.
I was really upset about this.
I saw a scripture and knew a sentence was pronounced over Bob for what he had done, and I delivered this message to him.
Mt. 23 ... generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
By "killing" Ava on his TV show, Bob's house would be left desolate to him.
After this, Bob and his wife separated. She was "co-pastor" at a very big church they had started in Dallas. She sued Bob. Later he remarried and this second wife sued Bob. His church broke up and the building was turned into a bowling alley. Bob was exposed on ABC Primetime Live as being "crooked" ... (see Wickipedia: Internet Encyclopedia ... Robert Tilton ... for full story)
==========
Judges pronounce sentences, both in God's court and in the court of humans. This is what judges do.
Much as a judge in a court of law would rule over disputes, an apostle has an anointing from God to rule in the church ... The judge in the world has law books ... The apostle has the body of scripture and the Holy Spirit to show him the will of God in the matter at hand.
And apostles judge the use of scripture ... There is much perversion in church groups ... The apostle Paul told us perversions in the church were going to happen after he was gone. Paul says ... Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20
One main area of perversion in today's churches has to do with divorce and remarriage in the church. The great majority of churches today have cast aside words of Jesus on the subject and have removed the commandments of the Lord cited in I Cor. 7 and have set up another gospel which permits and approves divorce and remarriage in the churches. (Read: Divorce/Remarriage ... What the Bible teaches)
==========
I've always seen Deborah both as prophet and as a judge ... like an apostle would do, though in this body of scripture in Judges 4, Deborah is obviously a prophet doing prophet work. Yet she also is doing apostle type work, although apostles were not a part of the OT church.
Can a woman really be an apostle? a judge.
They didn't believe Jesus to be who HE was. Many questioned Paul as an apostle.
If a tree bears apples, we call it an apple tree.
We know them by their fruits. What does the work look like?
I settled these things a long time ago and I just do the work I am shown to do. There is a large body of work visible for those who will see.
I Cor. 9 ... Paul says ... 1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? 2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you:for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
II Cor. 13 ... Paul says ... 1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. 2 I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me,
II Cor. 12 ... 20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not:lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
The power of God in the work testified to the validity of the calling and the ministry.