Today is the 25th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today as we gather again around the Global Campfire and move forward on our journey through the year and through the Bible together.

We have just recently gotten ourselves moved into the Book of Judges. We've talked about that plenty that there are several centuries passing in the Book of Judges and the Judges.

The story isn't about judgment per se. It's about the judges that led Israel between the time of Joshua and the time that they established their first king.

So they didn't have kings. They had judges that would just rise up as the Lord answered the cries of the people and lead them out of trouble when they would just walk right back into.

Nevertheless, today we are going to learn something interesting. Israel had a female judge. Her name was Deborah. We'll learn about her today.

So we're reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Judges, chapters 4 and 5.

The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Eudah died. So the Lord sold them to King Jabbin of Canaan who reigned in Hotsore.

The commander of his army was Cicera who lived in Haroshath of the nations. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord because Jabbin had 900 iron chariots and he harshly oppressed them 20 years.

Deborah, a prophetess and the wife of Lepidot was judging Israel at that time. She would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Rama and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim and the Israelites went up to her to settle disputes.

She summoned Barak, son of Abinoam from Kadesh in Naftali and said to him,

As in the Lord, the God of Israel commanded you, go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor and take with you 10,000 men from the Naftalites and the Zebulonites. Then I will lure Cicera, commander of Jabbin's army and his chariots and his infantry at the Wadi Kishon to fight against you and I will hand him over to you.

Barak said to her,

If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.

I will gladly go with you, she said, but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take because the Lord will sell Cicera to a woman.

So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kadesh. Barak summoned Zebulon in Naftali to Kadesh.

10,000 men followed him and Deborah also went with him.

Now heber, the Kenei, had moved away from the Keneites, the sons of Hobab, Moses' father-in-law, and pitched his tent beside the Oak Tree and Zeyananum, which was near Kadesh.

It was reported to Cicera that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone out Mount Tehbor. Cicera summoned all his 900 iron chariots and all the troops who were with him from Herosheth of the nations to the Wadi Kishon.

Then Deborah said to Barak,

Go, this is the day the Lord has handed Cicera over to you.

Hasn't the Lord gone before you?

So Barak came down from Mount Tehbor with 10,000 men following him.

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