While meditating on my Lord as I trudged along on the mindless treadmill, I began to think on Deborah of the Old Testament. In my mind’s eye I saw her sitting under the palm tree in counsel with Barak.
As I pondered this, I heard in my spirit, “Women arising on the battleground is a sign that women are arising on the battleground of the spirit realm”.
As most of you are probably aware, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently announced the lifting of the longstanding ban on women serving in combat. This is not to say that I believe the Spirit of the Lord is necessarily condoning this change in America’s military policy, but I believe that it is one of the many signs that women are ARISING IN RECOGNITION of who they are in the Spirit.
Women have always served in combat but not on equal footing with men. “The recent policy change allowing women to fight in combat is a change not in job description but rather in recognition. [NEWS LINK]” Just as women have always served in physical combat, so have they always served in spiritual combat. This earthly policy change is a manifestation of what is happening within the spirits of God’s people.
This is not to say that women should be considered higher than or better than men, but in the Body of Christ they are finally going to be RECOGNIZED for who they are in Christ as they were always intended to be—ALONGSIDE MEN! It is not that one gender is better than the other. They were created with different strengths and weaknesses so they would need to work together!
What better place is there an example of this than in The Book of Judges in the account of Deborah and Barak:
And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, [saying], Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? - Judges 4:6 KJV
Deborah acknowledged the anointing of leadership on Barak. What is interesting, though, is that he insisted that she be AT HIS SIDE:
And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, [then] I will not go. - Judges 4:8 KJV
There are commentators who write that Barak was weak and nonheroic because he would not go into battle without this woman. I disagree. Hebrews 11:32 records that Barak is an example of a man of faith. I believe Barak was moved by faith by making this demand because he acknowledged the anointing on Deborah as a judge appointed by God (Judges 2:16; 4:4) and a military leader of Israel [Judges].
From the very beginning of creation, Elohiym created man and woman to have co-dominion over the earth.
So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. - Genesis 1:27-28 KJV
WHY would our God want women to be recognized on equal par spiritually with men? Besides the obvious answer that our loving Heavenly Father sees His children as having equal worth I believe the answer is in Judges 4:9 where Deborah reminds Barak that he will not receive honor even though he goes into battle BUT “the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Just as He told Gideon to choose only a small army to defeat the larger enemy army so that man would not get the glory for the victory, God chose Israel at this time to receive victory at the hands of a woman so that the Lord God would receive the glory!
We are living in a time of great urgency. It matters NOT whether you are for or against women serving in spiritual combat—they are already there! It is going to take ALL of us who are born of God’s spirit to arise and be who we are called to be in these last days.
Do you agree?
Another article I wrote on Deborah can be found here: To Beeeeeee
2 comments:
All that Jesus called were men. And most that He used were men. Being 'along side' men doesnt mean we're doing what they do.
Each individual who has made Jesus Christ the Lord in their life is "called" whether male or female (Galatians 3:28). Women are not called to take the place of men nor are men called to take the place of women--we are each individually and personally called by God.
Jesus lived closely with 12 male disciples for a reason--to remain sexually pure; HOWEVER, there were female disciples and even female apostles. There has been much research done on this subject with related books and articles if you are interested. One such book (written by two men) is titled, "Why Not Women" by Loren Cunningham and David J. Hamilton.
From the beginning at Creation, God intended man and woman to have EQUAL DOMINION over the earth. "God made both man and woman in his image. . . From the beginning the Bible places both man and woman at the pinnacle of creation. Neither sex is exalted and neither is depreciated." [source: Life Application Study Bible by Tyndale, p. 7].
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