Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Pray with me if you will open the eyes of our hearts. O Lord, may we hear your word and be transformed by your truth.
The name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The verse today comes to us from Judges 4, 1, 10, 23 and 5:1 through 5.
The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. After Ehud died, so the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth, Hagoam.
Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly. 20 years at that time, Deborah, a prophet wife of Labadath, was judging Israel.
She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Raham and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. And the Israelites came up to her for judgment.
She sent and summoned Barak, son of Abinom, from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you position yourself at Mount Tabor. Taking 10,000 from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun.
I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the Wadi Kiddush with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand.
Barak said to her, if you go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.
Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and 10,000 warriors went up behind him, and Deborah went up with him.
So on that day, God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.
Then Deborah and Barak, son of Abinum, sang, on that day, when locks are long in Israel, when the people offer themselves willingly, bless the Lord.
Hear, O kings. Give ear, O princes, to the Lord. I will sing. I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel. Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens poured, and the clouds indeed poured water.
The mountains quaked before the Lord the one of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.
This is the word of the Lord.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: So this past week, two landmark events took place.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: On Wednesday, the first fully rebuilt house in Altadena was completed and officially certified for occupancy. Yes, indeed.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: And it's my house. No, just kidding.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: Our hope is that we'll actually have architectural plans done by the end of the year. We are nowhere near there, but that house was completed. Now, an accessory dwelling unit had already previously been certified safe for occupancy. But from most reports I've seen, this is the first full size house completely rebuilt after being destroyed in the Eaton fire. In Altadena, this house belongs to Ted Kerner. And here's a picture of Los Angeles County Supervisor Catherine Barger presenting Kerner with the certificate declaring his 2100 square foot house safe to live in. Kerner says he did everything possible to move this along as quickly as he could. He said just paint it one color throughout, just spray paint it and be done with it. He called permitting, he called local officials, he did everything, everything to push that through fast. Why?
Well, he says he wanted his 13 year old golden retriever, Daisy May, to be able to return to that plot of land and to a place she and he could call home while she was still alive.
And now the pair are home again.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: So that was Wednesday.
Then on Friday, just two days later, the first house in West Altadena was certified ready for occupancy. John Dyson lived on that property since his father built the house nearly 50 years ago. Here he is with his wife, Darlena.
That was a time when redlining practices prevented black residents from buying homes in areas like those south of the 210 and east of Lake Avenue. And so Northwest Pasadena and West Altadena were some of the only places in the region black residents could live.
More than 40% of the population in Altadena was black back in the 1980s, back when John Dyson's father built that house that was then destroyed in the eaton Fire.
By 2020, less than 20% of Altadena's population was black. And as for black homeowners, more than half were over the age of 65.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: And so having a black family who's lived in West Altadena for 50 years move into a rebuilt home, well, it at least gives us hope for what could be Altadena's future.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Now, in some ways, such small news. You know, two houses built in one part of Los Angeles County.
Is Altadena rebuilt?
No way. I looked out my door today, two empty lots across the street are issues of racial injustice and challenges black residents in particular face in the rebuilding effort. Are they solved?
No way.
But news of one house built Two houses built. They give us hope.
They point to a future where not just one home, but thousands of homes are rebuilt. They point to a future where not just one black family can return, but thousands can return.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Well, often in Scripture we see people who point with their words and their actions forward to the future, Forward to a future where things are different than they are today.
Scripture calls these figures prophets. And the words and actions of biblical prophets, they might seem so small and insignificant in this huge world and in the broad span of history, they might seem like just one or two houses built when there are thousands of empty lots.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: Empty lots right near us.
Still, words spoken at one time by just one person, words like John Dyson, your house is certified ready for occupancy. They point beyond themselves to a day others can hear those words too.
The prophets in Scripture often point our imaginations forward to a time when these words welcome home are extended to all, especially the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, the least, the last and the lost.
The prophets remind us in Scripture, God wills for all to have a home.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: Often in Advent, we attend to the words and actions of biblical prophets, especially those words and actions that point us forward to the coming of Christ.
And forward yet further to that day we await when in the fullness of time, that kingdom Christ proclaimed would come in full. The prophets point us to that day. The wolf will lie down with the lamb, the desert will blossom. Nations will beat their swords into plowshares. God's glory will invade and pervade the earth. We look with the prophets ahead in Advent to that day Christ himself pointed us to when many will come from east and west, north and south, and feast at a banquet of God's goodness.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Texts from Isaiah and Jeremiah often show up at this time of year in the lectionary readings. In Advent, Jeremiah, you might remember, famously purchased a parcel of land from his cousin, and he purchased it at exactly the time when the Babylonian armies were overtaking not just Judah, but Jerusalem. He purchased it just at a time where he was held captive, captive by King Zedekiah. And yet he purchased this plot of land in Anathoth, in that prophet's hometown, just a few miles from Jerusalem. And when he purchased it, he told King Zedekiah, the king of Judah this he told him that one day, one day, God will bring this about. Houses and fields and vineyards will once again be bought in this land.
And he said, so keep this deed of purchase in an earthenware jar. Protect it, because it is a sign of a day that is yet to come.
One Land purchase, a few words from Jeremiah to Zedekiah. They point us to a world yet to come, a world God will bring about.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: Well, this advent, I thought we would take a look at some of the words and actions of female prophets in Scripture. I thought we would look at the words and deeds of prophetess figures and how they not only show us what God was up to in their time and place, but also what they point us ahead to in terms of what God would do in and through Jesus Christ and to what God would do when our Savior comes again.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: Well, last Sunday, Jeff Cuse graciously kicked off this sermon series, inviting us to look at the first woman in Scripture who is named as a prophet, Miriam. He invited us to look how Miriam led the people of God, led the women among the Israelites in a song of praise to God after God had delivered them across the Red Sea into liberation from Pharaoh's army.
It was a song that we recall as well when we sing and remember the Magnificat, that great song of Mary that goes, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For God has performed mighty deeds. God has brought down rulers from their thrones and lifted up the humble. God's filled the hungry with good things. God has helped God's servant Israel.
That recalls the great song of Miriam after the people of God were freed by God from the Pharaoh's army.
Well, today Jessica read for us from the Book of Judges about another woman Scripture describes as a prophetess, Deborah.
Here's a secret my parents told me that had I been born a girl, you know what my name would have been?
Deborah.
[00:12:05] Speaker B: Not bad name. Actually.
It's a pretty honorable biblical figure. That would have been my namesake. Not only is Deborah one of the precious few women named in scripture as prophetess, but of the 12 judges listed in the Book of Judges, only one of them is a woman, Deborah.
She's described in Judges chapter four not only as a military commander in chief, directing a commander of the Israelites army, a role often assigned to those scripture calls judges, but Deborah is shown to literally adjudicate cases.
We read of how she used to sit under the palm of Deborah in the hill country of Israel as people would bring issues before her and look to her to render judgment.
[00:12:56] Speaker B: Well, many portraits of Deborah have that palm tree in the background like this one, imagining Deborah receiving the concerns of God's people with open arms as they are brought to her.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: On this carving of Deborah judging Israel that's carved on the Nebraska State Capitol building. You'll see the palms surrounding Deborah as she sits in that judicial chair, rendering judgment with a hand, as a woman is on her knees, held by a soldier, pleading to Deborah for justice.
It's a carving meant to remind those who come to the capitol of those who've rendered judgment before them.
Like Deborah.
[00:13:49] Speaker B: This is how the print artist Cody Miller imagined Deborah, deep in thought, or maybe prayer, or maybe reflection on the merits of a particular case brought before her.
Deborah is the only figure other than Samuel and Moses in the Old Testament to be explicitly described as carrying the mantle both of prophetic.
[00:14:15] Speaker B: Judge.
You might say that places Deborah in a rather exclusive club, the only two other members of which are Samuel and Moses.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: The name Deborah itself is evocative. It means be.
And many rabbis and scripture scholars have noted how just as bees can attack in a swarm, so Deborah would direct Barak to lead a swarm of Israelites against their oppression oppressors, the Canaanites under Jabin. And just as bees produce honey, so Deborah's leadership will bring sweet deliverance from the conquering hand of Jabin. And Deborah will sing along with Barak a sweet song of victory in Judges five, recalling, too how the prophetess Miriam once led the people of God in a song of victory after their deliverance and from the Egyptian army in Exodus.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: Well, there's one phrase used to describe Deborah that you'll find in Judges, chapter four, verse four, that's confounded interpreters.
In that particular verse, we read that Deborah is not only a prophetess and that she judged Israel, but we read that she was, in Hebrew, Isha Lapidoth.
Isha Lapidov.
Now, in the NRSV translation that Jessica read, that phrase is translated wife of Lapidov.
And Deborah may well have been the wife of a man named Lapidov.
That is, in addition to being a judge and prophetess, a commander and an adjudicator, a poet and a song leader, she also had the role of wife as well. Talk about a daunting bio.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: But that phrase, Isha Lapidoth, can also be translated woman who wields the flames, or woman who bears the torch.
Or my personal favorite, fiery woman.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Fiery woman.
I imagine it is that translation that inspired the famous engraving of Deborah by Gustave Dore, portraying Deborah holding the light.
And many statues of Deborah you will see, like this one from Aix in Provence, France, from the late 18th century. Imagine her holding a flame or torch representing the light of her judgment and the light of the direction she provides through God's word for Barak and the armies of ancient Israel.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: Well, in Psalm 119, the word of God is described as a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And like so many prophets in Scripture, Deborah lifts up the light of God's word to guide God's people. In today's passage, Deborah tells Barak, the Lord, the God of Israel, commands, you go take position at Mount Tabor. Bring 10,000 from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun, and I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army of the Canaanites, and I will give him into your hands.
Now, you might recall from Jessica's reading, Barak says, if you go with me, I will go. If you don't, I will not go. And there have been different interpretations of that response. Some say, oh, it's cowardly cowardice. He should have been willing to go on his own.
But other interpreters see in Barak a statement of faith, a recognition that God was powerfully at work in Deborah. God's presence, God's word, God's direction was there in Deborah. And he wisely thought, if we have any hope of victory, we need God's presence. We need God's word with us. And that is clearly evident in Deborah's life. So let's make sure Deborah is goes to.
And when Deborah replies, well, the glory won't be yours to Barak, well, that's the idea. The glory belongs to God. And a woman would be leading that particular endeavor. And a woman would bring an end to Jobin.
When that occurs, when it's clear that they are false, freed from the conquering hand of Jobin as he is portrayed. Jobin of the Canaanites, where once again the ancient people of God have known a sense of liberation from oppression, we hear this from both Deborah and Barak.
To the Lord I will sing.
It was God who made the earth tremble and the clouds pour forth water. The victory belongs to God.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: Like so many of the great prophets in Scripture, the words and actions of Deborah may represent just one little point in time in one particular place on earth.
One way God intervened to deliver a people.
And yet the story of Deborah also points ahead to another prophet and judge who would come this time, not leading armies with swords in hand, but marching into Jerusalem rather on a donkey, as a king, a judge, and a prophet of peace.
[00:20:00] Speaker B: Just as Deborah had spoken to Barak of God's word and direction for that people, so Jesus would come giving instruction and direction to people's lives, even giving new commands, saying that you have heard it said, but I say to you.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: Scripture tells us Christ was God's Word incarnate, pointing a people to the path of righteousness, justice, love and service. He didn't just share God's Word, he was God's Word. Deborah is often portrayed lifting up the light of God's Word and the light of God's judgment. Christ, we read in the New Testament, was the light of the world. And just as Deborah, God used Deborah to bring deliverance to a people when they were lost in their sin. As we read in Judges 4, verse 1, God would bring about a new kind of deliverance in Christ.
He would speak of his very blood being poured out for a people, for the forgiveness of of sins.
And as the apostle Paul would later describe what Christ accomplished on the cross in Romans, we believe that as we cling to him as Savior in faith with him, we die to sin it is dead.
And we rise again to new life in God, new life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
When Christ then spoke of that time, he would come again in Matthew, chapter 25. It would be as judge and as king to say to those who would clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, fed the hungry. As often as you did it to the least of these, Christ the King says, you did it to me.
[00:21:56] Speaker B: In so many ways, Deborah foreshadows the work God would do for us in and through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
She foreshadowed the work Jesus would do, delivering a people from evil and oppressive spirits, delivering them from sin. And she foreshadowed the roles Christ would assume. Prophet, judge, deliverer.
And Christ, when he came, would then point our attention forward. Still to that day, he will come again to make all things new.
[00:22:33] Speaker B: One woman, the only woman named as judge in the book of Judges. One of the precious few women named as a prophet. Deborah. You could call her the exception that proves the rule. She's an outlier that proves the norm. The roles of prophet, judge and deliverer, they belong men.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: Or you could see in Deborah one small glimpse of a new world, God's world breaking in.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: One carpenter turned iterate preacher, healer and miracle worker in one small part of the earth at one point in time, proclaiming that God's kingdom had come near, in and through him. You could call that one tiny blip in the story of history in one remote part of the world. It's an exception that proves the rule. Conquering emperors make history, not some crucified rabbi.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: Or in that crucified one, you could see God's power over sin and death unleashed for those with eyes to see it.
[00:23:59] Speaker B: One house rebuilt in Altadena, a second in West Altadena. What tiny, insignificant stories in the vast hope of history and the broad expanse of the world. You know, One gift placed under the mission tree.
One day spent helping to build a house in Altadena with Habitat for Humanity.
One morning spent in prayer, one action taken to pursue justice for an immigrant. One song sung in praise to God the Deliverer.
One creed spoken as a church together confessing faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.
One act of hospitality to someone who needs a home or a table to sit at on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve.
One loaf broken and shared or one candle held in one hand on Christmas Eve night as silent night is sung.
These things aren't just a few words and actions.
The prophets remind us our words and actions. They can point beyond us to the living God we know in Jesus Christ with us now. By the power of the Holy Spirit. They point to God's way, God's world, God's kingdom. And they point to that great day when all will hear the blessed words from our Savior.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: Welcome home.
[00:25:41] Speaker B: The name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
