Rotation.org Writing Team

DEBORAH

CINEMA

PASSAGE

Bible Story: Judges 4:1--5:31
Key/Memory Verse: Judges 5:31

PURPOSE

At the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:

Locate the story in the Bible; identify the book of Judges as an Old Testament book of history.

Recognize the characters in the story and know something about them -- Deborah: a judge, obedient to God, confident in her faith; Barak: military leader summoned by Deborah; Sisera: enemy general; Jael: a woman who hid Sisera but then killed him.

Explain the role and meaning of a judge in Old Testament times.

Examine the cyclical structure of the background to this story: people go astray, there is suffering, the people ask God for help, God sends a judge who delivers, then the deliverer dies -- and the cycle begins again. Discover a foreshadowing of the need for a leader who wouldn’t die – Jesus.

Objectives for Cinema workshop

Examine the notion of leadership: how did God lead his people in the story of Deborah?

Reflect on how God leads us today. How do we trust God’s leadership in our lives?

PREPARATION

Materials List

• Bibles
  
• Map with Mount Tabor & Wadi Kishon (http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/mount-tabor.html)
  
• Markers
  
• Microphone for the reporter(s)
  
• Newsprint
  
• Pictures of
  
  

  Baal worship: (http://altreligion.about.com/library/graphics/baal.jpg)
  handcuffs: (http://www.truthinjustice.org/handcuffs.gif)
  iron chariot: (http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/cypruspc/fi/000000a3.htm)

  
  
  
• Poster board, 1
  
• VCR and Monitor
  
• Video camera
  

Advance Preparation

Print the word “HELP” on a piece of poster board.

Print each of the following segments of the Scripture story on a separate piece of newsprint:

And sure enough, then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped the Baals. (1-Judges 2:11)

The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. (2-Judges 4:1)

So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan …; the commander of his army was Sisera. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years. (3)

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. (4)

She sent and summoned Barak …, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand 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 River Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” (5)

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.” (6)

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. (7)

Barak summoned the tribe of Zebulun and the tribe of Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him. (8)

Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, that is, the descendants of the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped … near Kedesh. (9)

When Sisera was told that Barak … had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him … to the River Kishon. (10)

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, while Barak pursued the chariots and the army …. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left. (11)

Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. (12)

Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” (13)

But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground -- he was lying fast asleep from weariness -- and he died. Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple. So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. (14)

Prepare a list of the names of the main characters on a sheet of newsprint for pronunciation review. See the Bible background for the list.

PRESENTATION

Open – Introduction

Introduce the lesson with a brief discussion about leadership in the classroom and in the church. Tailor it to the way your church leadership is selected and to the authority with which they speak.

Who are the leaders in our classroom and how do they have the power to decide what happens here? Teachers are the authority in most Sunday school classrooms. Can anyone simply decide they want to teach and teach whatever they want? No, we’re careful about our teachers. We want to be as careful as we can about learning from God’s Word so the leaders of our church choose teachers they think will be good at teaching and true to God’s Word.

Who are the leaders in our church and how do they get to be our leaders? Ministers and elders are elected by the people of the church, but we also believe that God has called those people to work here. We have very strong beliefs about God’s plan for us, and one of those beliefs is that God sends men and women in every time to do his work in the world.

One of the most amazing leaders in the Old Testament was Moses, and after Moses died, his follower Joshua was leader. But after Joshua died, we come to the story of the book of Judges.

Instruct older students to find Judges in the Old Testament. Open a Bible to the book of Judges so that non-readers can see where it is in the Bible.

God’s people, the Israelites, were living in their new land, but they were not alone. And the book of Judges tells us that was a big problem. God had commanded them to drive all their enemies out of their new land so they would not be tempted to worship other gods. But the Israelites did not drive out all the other peoples.

And sure enough, then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped the Baals (Judges 2.11). Show picture of Baal worship.

What do you suppose happened next? How would God respond when the people worshiped other gods? God was very angry and he allowed those neighbors to overpower Israel, to enslave them and treat them cruelly. Show picture of handcuffs.

Then what do you suppose happened when Israel was overpowered and enslaved and treated cruelly? Israel cried out to God in distress. Show HELP poster.

Then what? God raised up leaders called judges who delivered the Israelites out of the power of their enemies. And while they listened to these judges, God was with them, but soon …

The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (Judges 4:1). Show picture of Baal worship. And now we arrive at today’s story.

Dig - Main Content

Distribute the 14 numbered cards to Scripture readers and give them time to read their cards to see if they need help with pronunciation. If your group is non-readers, either read these yourself or have the shepherd read them. Note that the last four cards, 11-14, are the longest readings so give them to better readers if possible. These cards are exact quotes from the NRSV only a few unnecessary place names have been omitted to make the reading easier. Review the names and their pronunciation before beginning.

So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan …; the commander of his army was Sisera …. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years. (3) [Show picture of iron chariot.]

What do we know about King Jabin and his general Sisera? That they had 900 chariots of iron and oppressed the Israelites cruelly 20 years.

The Israelites cried to the Lord for help so what do we expect will happen? The Lord will raise up a judge to deliver them.

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. (4)

What does this tell us about Deborah? A prophetess – someone who speaks for God and she settles disputes for the Israelites so they respect her as their leader. What do we expect is going to happen? Will she lead them into battle?

She sent and summoned Barak …, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand 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 River Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” (5) [Show map with Mount Tabor & Wadi Kishon.]

Who is this Barak and what’s he supposed to do? He’s going to be Israel’s military leader, and he’s going to win in battle against Sisera.

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.” (6)

Whoa! What’s going on here? Why isn’t Barak doing what Deborah told him was the Lord’s command? The Bible doesn’t tell us why Barak said this. What do you think he might have been feeling?

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. (7) [Add Kedesh to map.]

So Deborah agrees to go with him. Now let’s think about what Deborah might be feeling. Again, the Bible doesn’t tell us why she says what she says. Is she angry? Is she glad to go because, after all, she’s the judge not Barak?

What do you think will happen when you hear Deborah say “for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman”?

Barak summoned the tribe of Zebulun and the tribe of Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him. (8)

So now they’re ready for battle, just waiting on the hillside, but our story gets interrupted. The next words from the Bible are:

Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, that is, the descendants of the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped … near Kedesh. (9) [Add tent to map near Kedesh]

What’s this guy doing in the middle of our story? Apparently, his tents are near the battleground. Hmm, I wonder if that’s going to be important.

When Sisera was told that Barak … had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him … to the River Kishon. (10)

That’s more like it; now we’re ready for battle.

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, while Barak pursued the chariots and the army …. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left. (11)

How did Barak triumph? The Lord panicked Sisera and his chariots and army. So they were all killed and no one was left? No, Sisera escaped on foot. Now where do you think he might go? Does anyone remember Heber the Kenite?

Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. (12)

Why is it important that there was peace between King Jabin and Heber? It was safe for Sisera to hide in that tent.

Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” (13)

How would you describe what she’s doing for him? She’s protecting him and caring for him, even tucking him in for bed.

But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground -- he was lying fast asleep from weariness -- and he died. Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple. So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. (14)

How do you feel about this ending? What’s surprising? Jael’s people were at peace with King Jabin, but Jael helped the Israelites anyway. It wasn’t Barak or Deborah who defeated King Jabin, but God used Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, to save his people.

What questions do you have about this story?

Let’s send our roving reporters to interview the main characters of this amazing event and see how we can re-tell the story for our camera.

Speaking roles for:

Deborah
Barak
Sisera
Jael
Roving Reporter (could use a different reporter for each main character depending on the number of children you need to involve.)

Possible additional roles:

King Jabin
Heber
Soldier from Naphtali or Zebulun
One of Sisera’s soldiers

Brainstorm possible questions and responses for each character. Use stick figure drawings or “ideograms” to help non-readers remember the questions and responses. (Ideograms are graphics that represent things without using words, like $ or @. The pictures used to help tell the story above, such as “handcuffs” for slavery, function as ideograms to help the students review the story.)

Tape and view your interviews.

Reflect – Closure

How are we like the Israelites? Do we sometimes behave in ways that would disappoint God or make God angry? What leader has God sent to be with us always? What are some of the surprising ways God is at work in our church and our world?

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Adaptations - Younger Children

Adults read scripture.

NOTE

This workshop could be used simply as a Drama Workshop without taping the interviews. The video camera helps the performers to focus, and they always enjoy seeing themselves on tape.

CONTRIBUTOR: Anne Camp