The Most Interesting Mom in the World

Today, since it is Mother’s Day, I wanted to take a day away from our normal text in Luke and I want to make a tribute sermon to mothers.

A 15 year old son comes how from school and he notices that his mom is laying down, he asks, “Are you okay?” She said, “I’m feeling a little sick.” The son thought for a moment, then said, “Don’t worry about a thing. I will carry you to the kitchen so you can make dinner.”

Guys, I hope you have already bought your wife her Mother’s Day gift. If you haven’t, here are some things not to buy her.

1. Don't buy anything that plugs in. Anything that requires electricity is seen as utilitarian. It may be useful but it isn’t attractive. 2. Don't buy clothing that involves sizes. The chances are one in seven thousand that you will get her size right, and your wife will be offended the other 6999 times. "Do I look like a size 16?" she'll say. Too small a size doesn't cut it either: "I haven't worn a size 8 in 20 years!" 3. Avoid all things useful. The new silver polish advertised to save hundreds of hours is not going to win you any brownie points. 4. Don't buy anything that involves weight loss or self-improvement. She'll perceive a six-month membership to a gym as a suggestion that's she's overweight. 5. Don't buy jewelry. The jewelry your wife wants, you can't afford. And the jewelry you can afford, she doesn't want. 6. And, guys, do not fall into the traditional trap of buying her frilly underwear. Your idea of the kind your wife should wear and what she actually wears are light years apart. 7. Finally, don't spend too much. "How do you think we're going to afford that?" she'll ask. But don't spend too little. She won't say anything, but she'll think, "Is that all I'm worth?"

This is just a little bit of advise to help you pick out the right gift and a few suggestions on what not to buy.

Today, I want to look at someone that I have classified as the most interesting mom in the world. As we look throughout scripture we could probably come up with a hundred or more sermons for Mother’s day. This mother would probably not even crack your top 10. Her story is found in Judges chapter 4.

For those of you wondering, Judges is the seventh book of the Old Testament. If you have ever read the book of Judges, you will notice that it is one of the saddest books in the Bible. In Judges, you have a nation that did what was right in his own eyes. However, it is also a very hope filled book. This is one book that if you were looking for super heroes in the Bible, the book of Judges is where you would find them.

The mother we are looking at today is Deborah. Did you know that Deborah is the only woman to become a national leader for the nation of Israel in Scripture. Let’s take a look at her in Judges 4 beginning at verse 1.

Judges 4:1–5 NIV

1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help. 4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.

So, what do we know about Deborah? For the next few minutes, I want to give you five things we know about Deborah.

1. She was a Prophetess

Deborah joins a very small group of women that are called a prophetess in the Bible.

Miriam the sister of Moses was a prophetess.

Huldah is a prophetess in the kingdom of Judah.

Scripture says that Isaiah’s wife is a prophetess. We don’t know her name but it states that she is a prophetess.

Anna, the older woman who is at the temple when Jesus was a baby is called a prophetess.

And Philippi’s four daughters are called prophetess.

What is the role of a Prophet? They are to hear from God and then speak for God.

During this time there were two roles in relationship to God and His people. There were people that were given the role of Prophet and there were people given the role of priest. The role of priest - he was the voice of the people to God. The role of the prophet - he was the voice of God to the people. This is how God would communicate to His people and how God’s people would communicate to Him.

God was always speaking through the prophets.

Amos 3:7 NIV

7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

So, since we know that Deborah was called a prophet, we know that she was a Godly woman. She could hear from the voice of God and she would speak to God’s people. She would receive the message that God wanted to speak and she would pass that message on. You can’t pass on what you don’t have.

2. She was a Wife

Judges 4:4 NIV

4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.

Before Deborah became a leader she was a wife. This text is making a point to let us know that first she fulfilled your covenant of her husband. She is honoring the relationship that she had. This verse lists out the importance. First prophet, she talked to God, God spoke through her. Second, she is a wife to Lappidoth. She is a committed wife. Then the text points out that she is a leader, leading Israel at this time.

Ladies you may have a career, this is important, especially these days. It is hard to run a family unit without two incomes. However, you cannot usurp your role as a wife.

The most important quality of a Godly mother is not her relationship to her children, but her relationship to her husband.

Your children are watching you. How a husband treats his wife is important. How a wife treats her husband is important. There are little eyes watching you.

Let we tell husbands and wives both this. Write it down.

The greatest two gifts you can give to your children: to love God and to love your spouse.

3. She was a Leader

Judges 4:4 NIV

4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.

There are 12 judges in the book of Judges and Deborah is the only female.

Have you ever wondered what a judges role was?

It doesn’t mean that she is a judgmental person nor does it mean she is like a judge in a courtroom.

The Hebrew word for the word Judge is Shaphat. It can mean to render sentence in a case.

Real quickly:

In ancient times they would hold court in the gates of the city out in public as people would come and go in the city there were little enclosures so the judges would sit around the gates of the city and help people out as they would come and go.

So, it can mean it like this or when you look at the term Shaphat it means to govern, to rule, to lead, to avenge, to contend, to defend, to deliver

And all of these descriptions were found in the book of Judges by those who were called Judges.

Go with me to Judges 2 so we can look at the description of a judges role.

Judges 2:16–19 NIV

16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

It is during this time that Israel is going through what is known as a sin cycle. There are four distinctive stages.

Stage 1 is rebellion. They would be like, we don’t want to follow God anymore. We can do this on our own. We don’t need God.

Stage 2 is retribution. They would suffer the consequences of their rebellion against God.

Stage 3 is the repentance stage. They would repent and want God back in their life again.

Stage 4 is restoration.

They would go through each of these stages and then it would start all over again. That is basically what the entire book of judges is about. Judges were these warrior like leaders and defenders. Deborah is the only other judge besides Samuel that is considered a Judge and Prophet. Look at verse 5.

Judges 4:5 NIV

5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.

She had a Palm tree named after her.

So, looking at Deborah’s life and the three qualities that I have just listed would be enough reason for people to look up to her. But there is more.

4. She was a Mother

Go to chapter 5 with me. This chapter is a poem she wrote after the battle. She put it to song. Look at verse 7.

Judges 5:7 NIV

7 Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel.

Her children are not listed. We know she is married. We know the name of her husband, but we do not know the name of her children. We don’t truly know if this is literally or figuratively. Some people think she is speaking figuratively as if she were the mother of Israel. But I tend to think of it this way. I believe she is saying… out of all the people you could use you picked me, just a mom.

Mother’s listen to me carefully, I hope you take the role as a mother seriously. You are shaping young minds. You are raising up leaders for future generations. It is up to you to cultivate the landscape and give our children hope for their future.

“Having kids — the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings — is the biggest job anyone can embark on.” - Maria Shriver

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." - Abraham Lincoln

Don’t take the most important job you have lightly. Yes, there are days that being a mom is hard. There are days that you will want to give up and think why bother. There will be moments that you want to run away and not come back. But let me say to you, hold on and press in. Make it a point to go to your knees and let God help you get through those tough times. In the end, you will look back and be glad you stuck it out.

5. She was a Warrior

Judges 4:6–10 NIV

6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’ ” 8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” 9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 There Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.

At this point in Israel, terror had reigned for 20 years. Deborah is tired of what has been going on. She has heard from God and so she calls the general. She says to him, “God is telling us to take our army and go take out Sisera.” This weak general tells her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

He is such a coward. When I hear this I am thinking about a person going to a haunted house at Halloween. “I’ll go if you go.”

She’s heard from God. She knows the time is now. She tells him, “I’m going to go, but you won’t get the honor a women will.” And that is exactly what happens.

As they are rounding up the enemy, this Sisera fellow is able to sneak away and he makes his way to a tent of a woman named Jael. She invites him in to her tent. Look at verse 18.

Judges 4:18–24 NIV

18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. 20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’ ” 21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. 22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead. 23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.

What a legacy that Deborah left for us to read thousands of years later. This is a powerful example for all women to look at and to inspire to be like.

Proverbs 31:28 NIV

28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

Ladies you have a giant responsibility to pour your life into the next generation of young people. Your goal should be for some day your children to look at the life you lead and for them to rise up and call you blessed.

Let’s Pray