At the end of my last post, I mentioned Deborah, so in an effort to hopefully, better understand this topic, I decided to look into Deborah’s role as a female leader of Israel.  All I seem to come up with though is more questions.

In the Old Testament, before Israel was ruled by kings, God appointed judges to watch over His chosen people.  Judges 2:16-18 explains how God appointed a judge to deliver His people from bondage and lead them.  The Bible also says that the Lord was with the judge, and during a judge’s lifetime, the people were safe from their enemies.

In Judges 4, we meet the only female leader of Israel, the judge Deborah.  We know from the Bible that she was married, a mom, and a prophetess, delivering the word of God to His people.  She’s got it all, a career and a family.  It seems that the Israelites’ willingness to come to her as a judge shows that they did respect her authority even though she was a woman.  But then the questions start.  Deborah summons Barak (a general of Israel’s army) and tells him that the Lord wants him to lead an army to defeat Jabin’s army and free the Israelites from Jabin’s oppression.  Barak says he will only obey this command if Deborah comes along, and Deborah agrees but says that the victory will now be given to a woman and not Barak.

What is Barak’s doubt?  Does he not trust God, or does he not trust Deborah’s delivery of God’s instruction because she’s a woman?  Or is it a little of both?  Is he using her presence as insurance against her lying and sending him to his death?  I feel like I’m reading a lot into it, but I have to at least ask and consider the question.  Our attitudes today towards female candidates for president and female pastor’s and deacons proves that women leaders tend to make many people, especially men, uncomfortable.  Why should a general of Israel’s army be any different?

But is Deborah’s role in Israel’s history any indication of God’s attitude towards female pastors? All I can clearly gather from Deborah’s story is that God is fine with women delivering His words to the people.  He also seems fine with a woman leading people politically, and while passages about deacons and elders in the church specifically reserve those roles for men, I have yet to find a passage outlining the qualifications one must have for a pastoral position.  If you know where one is, please leave a comment.  But if one does not exists, then do the qualifications for deacon and elder extend to pastor, or is that a line we’ve drawn on our own?  Was Deborah just a special case, called specifically by God and therefore only women specifically called should serve as pastors?  But how do church bureaucracies regulate people’s callings?  Should they?  That seems kind of bold and controlling of a man-made establishment.

I do think God blesses female political leaders and ministry leaders, and as we see with Deborah, He definitely speaks truth through them.  I don’t think a ministry, whether in a small church or a big organization, should die because a man can’t be found to be in charge of the women.  I don’t think women should be limited to only serving in ministries serving children.  But as far as women leading a whole church, I’m still unsure.

much love–char