Why Was Deborah Able to Be a Judge

“Why was Deborah able to be a judge?” someone asks. The question arises out of the awareness that God designed different roles for men and women, especially in the home and in the church. “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says” (1 Corinthians 14:34 NKJV). In addition, Deborah was the only female judge among the 15 Old Testament judges that acted on God’s behalf before the era of the Israelite kings.

Most of the judges about which one reads in the Book of Judges were not religious officers. They were charismatic personalities raised up by God in troublesome times to encourage the Israelites to throw off their oppressors. Their duties were more of a civil type than a ceremonial religious nature. The judges were local heroes rather than governors of all the Israelites, and Deborah was the person for the job at hand when she arose to the occasion. Essentially, Deborah was a judge in Israel because God said so, implied from her being a prophetess (Judge 4:4) and the lack of divine criticism for her activities recorded in the Book of Judges, which was divinely inspired.