Saturday, November 18, 2006

Is "dork" even a popular term anymore?

If per say someone, not me of course but; a um, friend of mine, yeah a friend of mine, would on occasion happen to have the inner desire to make fun of myself, I mean himself, because I; He! just tends to act like a dork most of the time; does that make m, him crazy? Yeah, yeah so on the inside I find a lot of humor in the fact in how much of a dork I act like, ok am, how much a dork I am. I mean writing this just proves the point doesn't it? Still yet again another example; apparently according to this one youth pastor I know, cough, Danny, who I recently; yesterday, went and spoke at a lock in for said I tend to use the words "I mean" quite frequently when preaching: it's better than saying "ughmmm" though isn’t it? I mean; haha just kidding, though I probably should look back on my writing to see how many times my fingers use the phrase "I mean." Anyways, I've had this passion and desire for a while to start a traveling evangelistic youth ministry deal where I go and speak at youth events and fun stuff like that. I'm not really sure how one starts such a ministry; I guess I’ll find out though because lately God has been convicting me a bit on how passive I am in certain areas of my life. So God says to me, Alex stop being a pansy and be a man (1 kings 2:2 "...be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man." See, there is a Biblical basis why there is no crying in baseball.) Yeah so there are a few things in life I've to quit being afraid of (once again making fun of my self in my head: "I’m such a girl.") and just step up to the plate and swing instead of watching everything go by. Well, back to me being a dork, so this whole concept popped in my head today while driving. Usually when I'm driving for hours on end I'm by myself, and usually I spend a good hour or so hitting the scan button on the radio and then "singing" the song attempting at times to guess the lyrics I don't know, oldies and Motown are preferable, Christian and country songs are easier, but they work too. Yeah, so that being said my thought in the car was "It would be quite nice if I had someone to go with me places" (which is dork for a wife.) But, then I thought if someone were riding with me and I was putting on this concert of hits from today, yesterday, and bunches of years ago they would probably look at me as if I were a loon of a dork. (Loon of a dork? That doesn’t even make sense.) Yeah, but hey, I probably am. I think I need sleep; I’m rambling like Donald Miller. Though in his ramblings He did have a really awesome quote about the beauty in God holding all the stars and knowing what He’s doing; though a dork I may be; watching the stars over Georgia tonight as a drove through the dark mountain foothills reminds me that God loves me still.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Deborah Theory

In a matter of strong dogmatism to the degree of a pit-bull with juicy steak; there seems to be much less fuzziness in the Bible in its teachings against women in roles of spiritual leadership and authority over men. With that statement I’m sure I have encouraged a few set of cross hairs upon my brow and probably is a good indication as to why I am single, but this concept must be understood with great humility and gentleness both as this author is a male and by the females who might choke or rebel upon being contended in her belief structure over this heated issue.

One may misinterpret this theory and find the author to be a male chauvinistic pig, so let it be said that this is not a debate over equality issues between men and women in value. As far as value goes the Bible is clear: women are far more valuable than men. (“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” Proverbs 31:10.)

Concerning any topic one's theology must be consistent or else you may find that your conclusions are based on experiences rather than a consistent Biblical footing or dancing around an issue by stating is a "great and indiscernible mystery." In most all debates such as this there can be but only one right answer and I am quite timid on proclaiming that Deborah Theory is 100% God's view on the matter but I am in humbly reserved in thinking that I am not that far off on this issue. The research that spawned Deborah Theory has come from the basic yet direly relevant question of today: Should women be pastors? Deborah Theory seeks to answer that question as well and give a basic overview of a women's role in Christianity, firmly rooted in a rebuttal stance on the subject of Deborah's role as a Judge in Judges 4.

In seeking to understand the role of men and women one must first start at the dawn of existence in the opening chapters of Genesis.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul…And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh…
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. (Genesis 2:7,18-24, 3:16-20)

In Genesis we find the account of creation of the man from the dust of the earth and the breath of God and then later God forms a counterpart for Adam out from Adam in essence signify that this is not a different creature, but at the same time it is. The passage continues to give information about marriage and the marriage union. It must be noted that Eve was not created with a lesser value than Adam but she was created after, from, and for Adam who also gave her, her name (a practice continuing today in marriage of the bride receiving the groom’s surname) signifying his leadership in the family unit.

The third chapter of Genesis expounds upon the fall of man into sin. Here it is important to examine the aftermath of the event in that of the cursing. God’s cursing of Adam and Eve greater reveal their roles to each other and in life. Adam because he disobeyed God by allowing her to eat of the tree as well as par take of it himself is defined as primary provider and protector of his family. Eve on the other hand is situated as her primary role as a mother and is put under the strict authority of her husband. But what does all that have to do with Deborah’s situation in the book of Judges?

The story of Deborah is quite familiar and popular as a Children’s Bible story. The setting is that of the Promised Land during a period after the time of Joshua and prior to the rule of the Kings of Israel. This time is commonly referred to the time of the Judges hence the Biblical title. The basic happenings of the book is perpetual occurrence of repetition of Israel’s fall into sin, attack or occupation by pagan nation (which was suppose to have been done away with under Joshua’s leadership,) and then eventual repentance and deliverance. During this time of occupation and then repentance God would usually call out one termed a “judge” to lead the nation and deliver the people from oppression.

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 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? And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. 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. And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. (Judges 4:4-10)

Upon first glance the passage seems straight forward: The woman in charge tells the general to take care of the bad guys because God will give them victory, but the general doubts her “prophetic order” and explains how he will not go unless she accompanies him which is obviously because he has little faith in God and is afraid to go against their adversaries, so she aggress to go with him but says the victory will lie in the hands of a woman and that is how it happens. That is what the passage in Judges is saying is it not? I mean that is the story I heard as a little kid so it must be right. So right there is a spectacular example of God’s use and blessing of a woman in a high ranking leadership position or is it? let us delve a bit deeper into this text beyond first glance and try to find the proper understanding of this text in the Biblical context.

There are three key things in the first sentence of this passage that dictates the theme of the rest of the story. First, we find that Deborah is a prophetess and there is nothing wrong with that. There are many occurrences in scripture where God has ordained certain women as prophetesses in both Old and New Testaments (Miriam, Exodus 15:20 ; Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14 ; Anna, Luke 2:36) as well as there being false prophetesses (Noadiah, Nehemiah 6:14.) So it is understood she is a prophetess, meaning she speaks for God when He calls her to.

Secondly, Deborah is married to a man named Lapidoth. Too often have I heard how Deborah was a judge over Israel because her husband Lapidoth refused or declined the position; why else would he be mentioned in the text? In all honesty coming to that conclusion is a result from nothing else but egregious exegesis. If one does a study on women mentioned in the Bible there is a common occurrence; nearly every time a woman is listed and every time a true prophetess is mentioned she is associated to the male authority figure over her and in one instance found in Romans 16:1 where it seems no male authority figure is available for Phebe so instead she is associated with her home church having authority over her. (Phebe is another widely used argument for women to serve as Deacons in the church because of an attempt to mistranslate the Greek word diakonos, transliterated Deacon, but in this case translated servant as in many other instances. Paul only uses diakonos to mean Deacon when talking about the office which is only to be held by men as prescribe in Phillipians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:8,12.)

Thirdly, in this passage it is stated that “she judged Israel at this time.” But what is so important about that? Well, here one must again look into the context of the book of Judges and examine just exactly how one becomes a Judge.

And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. (Judges 3:9-10)

But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. (Judges 3:15)

And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel (Judges 3:31) (not an Israelite, rather a pagan)

And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. (Judges 4:3-5)

That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. (Judges 6:8-10) (not a judge but God sent a prophet)

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. (Judges 6:11-12)

And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. (Judges 10:1-2)

And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. (Judges 10:3)

Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. (Judges 11:29)

And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. (Judges 12:8)

And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. (Judges 12:11)

And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. (Judges 12:13)

And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. (Judges 13:24-25)

Those are the passages dealing with all of the Judges and how they attained their position as Judge. Now it is quite interesting to examine these different verses comparing and contrasting them. One stark difference does tend to stand out among the various Judges: Some are indicated as called by God and others seem to have just taken the position. Looking back at the call of Deborah we find that though she was a prophetess, much like the prophet mentioned in Judges 6:8-10, she has no special call of God upon her to be a Judge and to take leadership of Israel.

Though the evidence provided so far may seem somewhat plausible it gets more interesting. In order to understand any Biblical passage fully one must search the entirety of the Scriptures to examine every reference concerning any given scriptural concept. Looking across into the New Covenant one finds the most convincing evidence concerning the story of Deborah and her role as a Judge.

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets. (Hebrews 11:32)

Now that is quite an interesting list of characters from Hebrews 11; commonly called the Hall of Faith and this verse gives a list of heroes, most of who are found in the book of Judges. But it is here that one finds an extremely interesting tidbit: why is it among Judges that Deborah is not mentioned, rather it is the so called “faithless and cowardly” Barak mentioned instead?

Alex Felton's Deborah Theory: The prophetess Deborah stepped out of God’s will for her life in taking the position of Judge over Israel during a time of spiritual crisis. Though she gives a prophecy to the General Barak to attack the enemy he is quite reluctant to venture off into battle knowing that Deborah is acting out of place as Judge over Israel. Still knowing her to be a prophet he wisely asked her to go with him as insurance over the lives of his men. Though the day was won by a woman as prophesied by Deborah it is Barak who lives on in the book of Hebrews Hall of Faith as the man who relied upon his God, rather than the illegitimate rule of Deborah.