Memory Verse: Judges 4: 8 Barak answered her: “If you go with me, I’ll go; but if you won’t go with me, I won’t go.” 9 She replied, “Yes, I will gladly go with you; but the way you are doing it will bring you no glory; because ADONAI will hand Sisra over to a woman.” Then D’vorah set out and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Introduction: Strong Enough for a Man, but Made for a Woman (Secret Deodorant) I am woman hear me roar.. Or.. If you’re not going to do the job, someone has to.  We live in a society that thinks any strong woman is a “woman’s Libber” but that’s not what God has to say. D’vorah (Deborah) was a strong woman, she was appointed as a judge over the Israelites by God.. .. and yet she was a wife 4 Now D’vorah, a woman and a prophet, the wife of Lapidot, was judging Isra’el at that time.This is no Woman’s Libber, this is a woman who is strong in Character and Wisdom, and her strength doesn’t humiliate her husband, it glorifies him.

Assignment: OK my strong, wise, brilliant friends. Glorify your husbands! I want you to study this story of D’vorah and see if you can follow her path, from the Palm between Ramah and Beit-El, in the hills of Efrayim; to Mt Tabor, and then follow Sisera as he flee’s  to oak at Tza’ananim and is finally brought down by Ya’el.. Find out where Kadesh is too…study this story with a map in front of you, look at the terrain, look at the setting of the battles Look at the players of this battle, who are they?.  Now..Tell me the story as if you were D’vorah - tell me your travelogue, your sightseeing, your emotions on your journey. Tell me of the dangers and the thrill of victory. Tell me of your strength. Tell me of your response to Barak.. bring this story to life in the first person, as if you were there and living it.

- Find some maps to show where you are, your route etc.

The Private Journal of D’Vorah, Wife of Lapidot, Judge of Yisrael

I’ve been working through some really tough cases these Israelites bring to me. Sometimes it baffles me how they can not see the simplicity of Adonai’s instructions, why they can’t resolve these things themselves. None-the less, Adonai has called me to serve him in this capacity. I’m amazed at how many of Adonai’s chosen people have not kept themselves pure, His Am Segulah, His set apart people. They have married in with the peoples of this land and have take on worshipping their false gods instead of worshipping the One True Adonai, and following the first of the HaDibrot, the Ten Words from the tablets Moshe brought from Mt. Sinai.

Last night I had a dream, a message from Adonai. I am to call Barak from Kadesh in Naphtali. I have sent a messenger this morning, they should arrive in a day or so.

Barak arrived late this morning. I told him of the revelation I’ve had from Adonai. I gave him the instructions to gather warriors from the Tribes Zebulon, and Issachar, and gather at Mt. Tabor in order to do battle with Sisera and the army of King Jabin of Hazor.  Can you believe the unbelief of this man Barak!  He has such little faith. That’s what happens when our society is so watered down in the ways of Adonai that even a man like Barak, one hand picked by Adonai, would not have the confidence to go into battle even when the instruction comes directly from The Holy One.  Barak insisted that I go with him. We leave in the morning.

Barak and I traveled north through the winding hills of the territory of Benjamin and Manassah, keeping to the east of the Canaanites. Barak has sent messengers out to the cities of  Zebulon and Issachar to meet us at Mt. Tabor and to avoid the Jezreel Valley to avoid being spotted by Sisera’s troops sitting over the valley at the streams between Ta’anach and Megiddo.  As we passed through the valley of Herod, we met with the man Hever, a Kenite who has pledged allegiance to Jabin. Hever was Moses Father-In-Law.  Did he not consider himself our kin? His wife and I chatted, I told her the History of Our People, the stories of the Children of Israel at Mt. Sinai, and how Hovav had been the one to encourage Moses to set up the system of Judges, and how I had come to be on this journey with Barak.

We’ve gathered here at Mt. Tabor.10,000 men have gathered here None-the-less, Adonai has promised to go before us in this battle. OH.. As I write this in my journal, we see, way on the other side of the Jezreel valley, the army of Jabin, King of Hazor, led by Sisera of  Haroshet HaGoyim driving across.

So here’s what happened. We spotted the Canaanite army heading for us, they must have heard we were gathering for battle on Mt. Tabor.  They seemed to have an easy trip of it, as they drove their chariots over the dry riverbeds in the flat valley.  We divided out troops warriors into two groups and sent one down to the west and south around Mt. Tabor to meet them at the riverbed, and the other group went down and south and west to meet up at the same location from the other side.  As the battle began, we on foot, they on horse and in chariots, we were significantly outnumbered, they had 900 iron chariots alone, besides all their men on horses and men on foot. As the three groups came together on the battle field, they fought with swords and spears, and Adonai sent the rain – the hand or the Lord was with us. The chariots and horses were caught in the floodwaters, the Israelite warriors gained the upper hand and slew every last Canaanite soldier as they headed back to Haroshet HaGoyim. Sisera fled on foot, and ended up at the Oaks of Zaanannim

We later caught up to Sisera. Victory for Adonai, Baruch HaShem, Praise His Name, for He has liberated Israel from the hand of the Canaanites!~  Glory be to the woman, Yael, the wife of Hever, who gave refuge to Sisera in her tent, giving him hospitality due a man of “such honour”. Little did Sisera know that Hever was away with us on the battle field, his wife brilliantly planned to battle along side her husband, and hammered a tent peg through his temple into the ground while Sisera slept. Our warriors are dancing and singing in victory, for they have seen the Hand of Adonai move in their defense, they have witnessed their salvation. We remembered how God had done something similar at Seir in Edom, when Jacob returned to this land.

Oh this land has been so oppressed by the Canaanites, for the last 20 years we have not been able to travel these roads, for the last 20 years we have been in financial distress as the Canaanites controlled the transportation routes and hindered us from trade. Now we are FREE, now we can control our own lands, our own markets, our own transportation. May Adonai turn our hearts towards Him and bless our nation.

A few months has passes since the battle with Sisera. The land seems at peace, the people have turned their hearts back to God and are walking according to His Torah.

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Now I have had some help on this study. I have been following the study guide by Biblical Backgrounds Inc by Steven Lancaster and J Monson.  The "study guide" is available online, and I'd encouraged you to go read through pages 30-32 of the Study Guide to read some of the details I've had benefit of. This map study employs topographical maps like this one which show us cities with ancient names and ancient highways. The instructions in the Study Guide are for marking up these maps, so that we can see the story as it appears on the map.  There is another "text" is called Regions on the Run and it gives us more information such as time lines and other historical information to give us a picture of what was going on during each time period. You can take a tour of the 4000 year time line here

This course is a College Level Course, but I truly think a homeschooling family could do this during the highschool years. My boys are all doing it, they all have their own set of maps to do the lessons, and my oldest Trent, 16.5 has led our congregation through some of the lessons. If you ever have a chance to attend a conference or class by Steven Lancaster, please make the effort. He truly brings scriptures alive -