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Deborah · Lesson 1 of 3

I Will Surely Go with You

Judg 4:1-10 · Read 4 min · think and write 15 min

← Deborah For leaders

The book of Judges says: “The LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them” (Judg 2:16); and: “When the LORD raised up judges for them, then the LORD was with the judge” (Judg 2:18).

Before Deborah there was a judge named Ehud: “when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a savior for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite” (Judg 3:15).

This lesson reads what happened after Ehud died.

Read TogetherJudg 4:1-10

1The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, when Ehud was dead.

2The LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

3The children of Israel cried to the LORD, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years.

4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time.

5She lived under Deborah’s palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

6She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, “Hasn’t the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded, ‘Go and lead the way to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?

7I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand.’”

8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

9She said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the journey that you take won’t be for your honor; for the LORD will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand.” Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

10Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; and Deborah went up with him.

Think It Through

What do you see?

  1. What was happening to the children of Israel at that time? For how long? What did they do? (vv. 1–3)
  2. Who was Deborah? Where did she live? Why did the children of Israel come up to her? (vv. 4–5)
  3. Deborah called Barak. What did she say to him? Whose command was it? (vv. 6–7)
  4. How did Barak answer? How did Deborah answer? Who went up in the end? (vv. 8–10)

If I were there

  1. Imagine you are one of the children of Israel, oppressed by Jabin for twenty years, coming up to the palm tree for judgment that day. What would you be feeling as you came? (The passage records only that “the children of Israel came up to her for judgment”; it does not record what they were thinking. This question asks you to put yourself in their place.)
  2. Imagine you are one of the ten thousand following Barak to Kedesh, and you see that Deborah is going too (v. 10). What would you be thinking? (The passage does not record anything these men said. This question asks you to put yourself in their place.)

What is God like?

  1. Deborah said to Barak, “Hasn’t the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded” (v. 6), and passed on the LORD’s words: “I will deliver him into your hand” (v. 7). Reading this, what comes to mind?
  2. Verse 3 says, “The children of Israel cried to the LORD”, and verse 4 goes on, “Now Deborah, a prophetess”. Reading these two verses, what comes to mind?

What does this mean for me?

  1. Barak said, “If you will go with me, then I will go” (v. 8). Is there something in your life right now that you can only step out and do if someone goes with you?
  2. Deborah said, “I will surely go with you” (v. 9). Is there someone near you who is about to do something hard, and who might need someone to go with them?

Notes

Evil again. “The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, when Ehud was dead” (v. 1). “The children of Israel cried to the LORD, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years” (v. 3). The passage records these things one after another, without adding an explanation.

Under the palm tree. “Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time” (v. 4). The passage introduces her in three ways: a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, and one who judged Israel. “She lived under Deborah’s palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment” (v. 5). The passage calls that tree “Deborah’s palm tree”.

Hasn’t the LORD commanded? When Deborah called Barak, the first thing she said was: “Hasn’t the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded” (v. 6). It was the LORD who sent him to Mount Tabor; and it was the LORD who said, “I will deliver him into your hand” (v. 7).

If you will go with me. “Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go’” (v. 8). The passage does not say why he said this, and does not say what Deborah thought of it.

I will surely go with you. “She said, ‘I will surely go with you’” (v. 9). She went on: “Nevertheless, the journey that you take won’t be for your honor; for the LORD will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand” (v. 9). This verse does not say who the woman is; the next lesson will read it.

Deborah went up with him. “Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh” (v. 9). Barak called the men together; “Ten thousand men followed him; and Deborah went up with him” (v. 10). She said ‘I will surely go with you’, and she went.

Afterwards. When Sisera heard that Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor, he came out with nine hundred chariots of iron. The next lesson reads the day at the river Kishon.

For Them Then

Moses told the children of Israel that when a case was too hard for them: “You shall come to the priests who are Levites and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall inquire, and they shall give you the verdict” (Deut 17:9).

Readers can see this: in those twenty years of oppression, “the children of Israel came up to her for judgment” (v. 5).

For You Today

Perhaps there is something in front of you that you know you need to face, but you cannot step out alone: a hard conversation, a person you cannot avoid, a medical test you keep putting off.

This lesson does not say that needing someone to go with you is weakness; nor does it say that you cannot begin until you find a Deborah. What it shows you is this: it was the LORD who commanded Barak (vv. 6–7); Barak said, “If you will go with me, then I will go” (v. 8); Deborah said, “I will surely go with you” (v. 9), and then “Deborah went up with him” (v. 10).

This week: Think of one thing you need someone to go with you for, and this week ask someone you trust to come with you; or think of someone who is about to do something hard, and ask them whether they would like you to go with them.

Scripture: World English Bible.