Deborah

If I had the budget, this activity would be several games of laser-tag. Alas, I have $30 left in the budget, so it was a game of glow-in-the-dark Capture the Flag at a local park.

I bought some glow sticks off of Amazon in preparation and cut up a piece of fabric to make two flags.

 We met at our local park and did our opening stuffs. I gave the lesson while they were eating their snack. 

Deborah

Deborah’s story is in Judges, in the Old Testament. Deborah lived in a time when the children of Israel were wicked. They had been taken captive by the king of Canaan, whose name was Jabin for 20 years.  Deborah was appointed Judge (or leader) over Israel and the people went to her for judgement and guidance She was very wise  and righteous and like Huldah, she was a prophetess, meaning the holy ghost gave her the Spirit of Prophecy and she testified of Christ.

God gives women revelations and guidance to help direct and protect the people they have been given stewardship over; One day the Holy Ghost told Deborah to give a man called Barak a message. Barak had escaped captivity and was living in a different city. Deborah called Barak and he came to her. She told him that the Lord had commanded him to take an army and fight against Sistra, who was Jabin’s captain. Deborah told Barak the Lord had commanded him to lead an army against Sisera's army at mount Tabor.

This was an impossible fight. Sistra’s army was massive and well trained. The children of Israel didn’t know how to fight, and even if they did, there weren’t enough of them to take on Sistra’s army. But Barak knew Deborah was delivering a message from God. He trusted Deborah, so he told her that he would go to battle if she went with him.

Deborah was the judge of the children of Israel! She wasn’t supposed to lead armies into battle! She had followed the Holy Ghost and delivered the message, but no she was asked to fight! Deborah respected Barak, and she trusted in the Lord. She told Barak she would go with him and then the Holy Ghost gave her a prophecy and she said: "...the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman."  She was telling Barak that he wouldn’t get fame and g lory out of this battle because Captain Sistra would be killed by a woman, and the woman would get the fame and glory. Barak might have thought that woman was Deborah, or he might have thought it another woman, either way, he respected Deborah and women enough that this didn’t bother him.

So, Barak and Deborah worked together to do what the Lord asked them to do. They asked the children of Israel to join their army and fight at mount Tabor. Barak and Deborah are so well respected that thousands volunteered to fight for them. Barak and Deborah  took 10,000 men to mount Tabor. Soon they heard that Captain Sistra knows they have an army, and he is coming with his massive army and his deadly chariots to wipe them out.

The Lord sent rain. It rained so much that the rivers overflowed. This caused so much mud that there was no dry paths; only lots of lots of mud. Sistra’s Chariot’s had to go through the mud, but soon all the wheels got stuck. The chariots couldn’t move, which meant they couldn’t fight.  Barak and Deborah saw that the chariots were useless and chose to attack. Their men fell upon Sisera's army and slew them.  Captain Sisera was so scared that he ran. He was the only one from his army that escaped. He fled to the tent of Heber the Kenite whose wife Jael, welcomed him in. He want to sleep and while he was sleeping Jael sneaked into the tent and drove a nail through his head;  Jael was the woman Deborah had prophesied about.

Captain Sistra was dead, and Sistra’s army was defeated. bringing victory to the children of Israel and freedom from bondage. Deborah and Barak worked together as a team with the Lord, bringing victory to the children of Israel and freedom from bondage.

Then sang Deborah and Barak on that day, saying, Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.

The song that Deborah and Barak sang is chapter 5 of Judges. It’s called  the "Song of Deborah" and is the oldest known Hebrew poetry in the world. It may be from as early as the 8th century BC, making it older than the rest of the Old Testament which was written in about 1500 BC;

God's work is most successful when relationships between men and women are based on love, respect, trust, and cooperation rather than competition or control. If Deborah had tried to control Barak,or if Barak and tried to control Deborah, they would have lost the battle. Barak was to take counsel from Deborah and  Deborah had faith in Barak's ability to succeed. They had a relationship based on respect, trust and cooperation. They both wanted to do the Lord’s will and worked together to accomplish what God wanted them to do. God has given men and women divine gifts and when they are combined in righteousness God is able to work mighty miracles.

I then announced they would be leading their troops into battle. I pointed to a nearby hill/mountain and said it was Mount Tabor and here would be our battle! I then brought out the glow sticks and let them go crazy making bracelets, necklaces and whatever else they wanted. If I were an awesome leader I would have made the flags glow-in-the dark. But I didn't.

I asked the girls if they had ever played Capture the Flag. Most said they had not. It was dark, these are 8 and 9 year old girls, and we only had two adult supervisors, so instead of playing in the giant field, we played in a vollyball pit. It had the added benefit of having a very defined missle line. The girls took off their shoes and ran in the sand. I explained the rules and assigned teams randomly. We played a game and then switched up the teams, then played again. We had two injuries (Good thing I brought the first aid kit!) but the girls had a blast. They didn't want to stop.

After the games I gave out my handout: (Taken from womeninthescriptures.com)

Deborah

Facts About Her:

• She was the fourth judge to judge Israel and did so during Israel's bondage to Jabin the King of Canann;
• She was the only woman to ever hold the position of judge over Israel;
• She was a prophetess;
• Her name means "bee" in Hebrew;
• She was the wife of Lapidoth (which means "torches" in Hebrew)
• She dwelt under a palm tree between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim;
• The children of Israel went to her for judgment;
• She called Barak out of refuge in the city of Kedesh-naphtali and told him that the Lord had commanded him to take an army and fight against Sisera's army at mount Tabor;
• Barak told her that he would go to battle if she went forth with him;
• She agreed to go but told him that, "...the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." (Judges 4:9)
• Barak and Deborah went forth with 10,000 men to mount Tabor and Sisera came to meet them. The Lord "discomfited" all of Sisera's chariots and hosts, which we later find out in Judges 5 that meant that it began to rain and the rivers overflowed (Judges 5:4, 21-22). The chariot wheels got stuck in the mud and were therefore useless, allowing allowing Barak and his men to fall upon them and slay them all. Sisera alone escaped and fled to the tent of Heber the Kenite whose wife Jael drove a nail through his head while he was sleeping, thus bringing victory to the children of Israel and freedom from bondage;
• Chapter 5 of Judges is called the "Song of Deborah" and is the oldest known Hebrew poetry in the world. It is where we get the term "mother in Israel" from and is the only time it is used in the scriptures. In verse 7 of the psalm it says, "... The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel."

Speculations About Her:

• There is a lot of disputations about whether Deborah was really married or not and if she had children. Some say that the phrase "the wife of Lapidoth (or torches)" meant that she had a fiery temperament. Some also think that it may have referred to the torches in the tabernacle, signifying that she worked in the tabernacle. Others find it reasonable to believe that she was probably married to a man named Lapidoth. As for children, we don't really know if she had any or not. She is called a "mother in Israel" but it is unclear if this is just referring to her role as a leader and judge over the children of Israel or if she also had physical children;
• Judges chapter 5 , the "Song of Deborah", may be from as early as the 8th century BC, making it older than the rest of the Old Testament which was written in about 1500 BC;

Questions About Her::

• Do you picture Deborah as young or as old? How does it change your perception of the story if she is a young woman or an old woman?
• In what ways was Deborah a prophetess?
• Why do you think that Barak wouldn't go to war without her? What did she have to offer?
• How have you seen miracles in your own life happen when men and women work together?