The Story of Deborah
God sent a judge named Deborah to save the Israelites. Listen to her story.
Before You ListenLet's Get Started
Theme: Doing What’s Right – God Calls His People
- What do you think makes a good leader? In the Old Testament, it was unusual for a woman to be chosen as Israel’s leader, but God knew that Deborah would make a good leader for his people at this time.
- We often think of leaders as the strongest, smartest, or the most popular, but God wants leaders who trust and obey him. But the Israelites kept disobeying God and turning to other gods. As you listen, think about what made Deborah a good leader in God’s eyes.
After you listen
Memory Verse
Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.
Quiz
Reflect
Throughout Israel’s history, God showed the people of Israel that they could trust him, even in what seemed like hopeless situations. He showed his faithfulness time after time. God called leaders for his people who would trust and obey him. In this story, Israel’s small army was facing a terrifying enemy that seemed too big to defeat. Israel’s general, Barak was too afraid to trust God’s word and follow his directions. Deborah, however, remembered God’s power and faithfulness and obeyed him. Because Deborah listened to God and obeyed his commands, Israel was freed from slavery.
You can read the whole Bible story in Judges 4. Want to dig deeper and learn more about obeying God’s instructions? Check out Joshua 6:1-20, I Kings 2:3, and John 14:23.
Challenge
Play a game of follow the leader, but with a twist. Set up a simple path around a room with a few obstacles in the way. One person is blindfolded and the other person has to guide them through the path by giving instructions. This is a great way to practice the leadership skills of listening and obeying. Of course, you need to make sure that you trust the person giving the instructions! As you listen carefully to the commands and follow them, think about Deborah and the way she trusted and obeyed God.
