When Deborah was raised up as a judge by God in Israel, she practiced the female submission to the man to keep God’s ordination, and the whole Israel was brought into a proper order under God’s kingship and headship.
We all need to receive grace from the Lord to listen to and receive the pure word of God on this matter of submission; we simply need to be open to the Lord concerning this.
When God created man, He created them male and female as a picture, an illustration, of His desire for us.
God Himself is the unique male, and He as our Maker is our Husband; we all are part of the female (Isa. 54:5).
In Gal. 3:28 Paul speaks that in Christ there cannot be any slave and free, Jew and Greek, male and female, for we all are one in Christ Jesus (also see 1 Cor. 12:13).
However, when the Body of Christ is mentioned, in verses such as Col. 3:11, male and female is no longer included as being “no distinction between male and female”, because in the Body there is a distinction between male and female.
There’s a difference between man and woman in the Body, especially in the matter of headship. In Christ, we all are equal with no difference, for we all one in Him; in the church as the Body of Christ, however, there’s a difference between male and female.
1 Cor. 4:9 says that we are a spectacle before men and angels; in Eph. 3 Paul says that the church displays God’s multifarious wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies.
All angels are watching, and among the angels a third are rebellious; they all are watching to see whether man takes Christ as the Head and the woman takes the man as her head, even as Christ takes God as His Head (1 Cor. 11:3).
Some people hate Paul for writing 1 Cor. 11:3 and they wish they could cut this verse out of the Bible; may we take the grace to touch the pure word of God and be uplifted in our experience and enjoyment of God.
In His ordination, God is the Head of Christ, Christ is the Head of man, and man is the head of the woman; Christ submitted to the Father fully, man should submit to Christ in everything, and the woman needs to take the husband as her head.
1 Cor. 11:10 tells us that the woman ought to have a sign of submission to authority on her head for the sake of the angels; the angels are watching and observing to see if the proper order is kept according to God’s ordination.
1 Pet. 5 tells us that we all should gird ourselves with humility with one another; in v. 5 we are also told that the younger one should submit to the older ones – this shows that even though we all should be subject to one another, in God’s ordination the younger should submit to and respect the older.
In Christ, there’s no distinction between male and female, but humanly according to God’s ordination, there is the husband and the wife, and there should be the matter of submission.
Every time a sister prays, she needs to have her head covered as a sign to all the angels and the spiritual world, telling everyone that she obeys God’s ordination, and the enemy is put to shame.
This becomes a spectacle to the enemy and glory to God, and the sisters have the privilege to have their head covered by taking the husband as her head, even as her husband takes Christ as his Head.
For us to be submissive in such a way requires the supply of life, the working of the cross, and the denial of the self, for Christ Himself with His life of submission is in us to be lived out in us and through us.
Praise the Lord, only by the supply of the life of Christ, a life of submission, can we live such a life of submission according to God’s ordination!
The Pattern of Deborah as a Capable Woman who Practiced the Female Submission to the Man and the Whole Country came into an Excellent and Proper Order
According to Judges 4, the children of Israel did again that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah after Ehud died, so Jehovah sold Israel into the hand of Jabin the king of Canaan, the captain of whose army was Sisera.
He had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed Israel severely for twenty years (vv. 2-3).
At the time of Judges 4, the men of Israel had failed God in their God-ordained function of leadership; this forced God to do something extraordinary and unusual – He raised up a female, Deborah, as a judge of Israel (vv. 4-5).
She was a very capable person, but she practiced the female submission to the man, and the whole situation in the country changed for the better.
All the male leaders of Israel failed God and were in bondage under this king; it seems that there was no one to bring them back, so the Lord raised Deborah the prophetess up.
The children of Israel cried out to Jehovah (v. 3a), and Deborah, a prophetess, was raised up as a judge of Israel; she would sit under the palm of Deborah, and the children of Israel went up to her for judgment (vv. 4-5).
Through the Lord’s speaking to her, she called for Barak and told him to go up, for the Lord will be with him; Barak, however, asked her to go with him or else he won’t go, and Deborah told him that she will go, but the Lord will deliver Israel through a woman.
This woman through whom Israel was delivered was not Deborah but Jael, who killed Sisera. In the Bible, a proper female indicates one who is submissive to God, one who keeps God’s ordination.
The people of Israel should have taken this position before God as her King, her Lord, her Head, and her Husband, but Israel violated God’s ordination and left her position as God’s wife, forsaking Him for hundreds of idols.
The result was that Israel was brought into a miserable situation and condition.
Praise the Lord, God came in and raised up Deborah the prophetess, and she took Barak as her covering and authority; therefore, the battle was won, and the entire situation in Israel was headed up.
If we read her song in Judges 5, we can see that she was full of ability, capacity, insight, and foresight; however, such a capable person was very submissive, for even though God made her the leader, yet she kept the proper order and took Barak as her covering (Judges 4:6-9; cf. 1 Cor. 11:3-6, 10).
Deborah realized that she needed a man to be her covering; she kept the principle Paul spoke of in 1 Cor. 11:3, that Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.
When this excellent and extraordinary woman took the lead to practice the female submission to the man, the entire country of Israel came into an excellent and proper order.
The result was that all the leaders took the lead, all the people followed, and the army was formed; everyone returned to his or her proper position before Jehovah.
What a pattern she was to us all, especially to the sisters!
And what a privilege the sisters have to show to the whole universe that, by the inner supply of the life of submission of Christ, they take the man as the head, even as the man takes Christ as his head, and Christ takes God as His head.
In Deborah’s case, we see that one woman took the lead to keep God’s ordination, and God could be what He should be – the King, the Lord, the Head, and the Husband to His people.
One extraordinary woman, with so much capacity and ability, with so much insight and foresight, took the lead to take man as her covering, and God brought the entire people in the proper order.
Among us in the church life, there are many sisters with so much capacity, zeal, and burden; if they do not have the proper submission, such capacity can spoil them, and they won’t bring blessing to the church.
Deborah, however, could say in her song, “That the leaders took the lead in Israel, ⁄ That the people have willingly offered themselves, ⁄ Bless Jehovah… ⁄ Then a remnant of the nobles went down; ⁄ The people of Jehovah went down with me against the mighty” (Judg. 5:2, 13).
Lord Jesus, grant us grace to receive the pure revelation in Your word concerning submission. May we realize that Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ. May we accept and obey God’s ordination in the church as the Body of Christ so that we all live a life of submission. Amen, Lord, gain a proper and excellent order among us in the church life by each one keeping God’s ordination so that the church would display Your multifarious wisdom and the enemy would be put to shame. Save us from merely acting and working according to our capacity and ability; may we keep God’s ordination and live a life of submission for the whole church to come into a proper and excellent order as a testimony to the whole universe!
We are Blessed if we have a Submissive Spirit, Standing, Atmosphere, and Intention, being in Subjection to God and His Ordination
Later in Judges, we see Samson, who was a Nazarite from his mother’s womb for the full course of his life; he let his hair grow long, signifying that he was to remain in subjection to the Lord’s headship, wherein is power (Num. 6:5; Judg. 16:17; 1 Cor. 11:3-6, 10, 15).
The source of Samson’s strength was his submission to God; when he lost his submission to God by giving in to the sinful woman Delilah and telling her his secret, he lost his consecration, submission, and strength, and God left him.
We need to be careful not to lose our consecration, for the enemy is working to weaken us in this area of our consecration.
The power for our Christian life is in our subjection to the Lord’s headship.
In Samson’s case, Delilah pressed him with her words every day and urged him to tell her the secret of his power until his soul was tired to death (Judg. 16:16).
Because of Satan’s wearing out tactics, Samson fell into Satan’s snare, his hair was shaved by Delilah, and he was captured by the Philistines; he lost his Nazarite consecration, his power, his testimony of sanctification, and God’s presence.
The enemy doesn’t come to us to “blow us away” with one major attack; he wears us little by little, wearing out our body, our health, our love for the Lord, our spirit, our time, and our consecration.
We need to be on guard not only over sin, the world, and the flesh, but also be on guard regarding losing our subjection to the Lord’s authority.
We should not accept the different and wrong teaching that the believers should not submit to deputy authorities appointed by God, for such teaching spoils both those who teach it and those who receive it.
Rather, we should realize that it is a blessing for us to be under someone, some thing, or some environment so that we learn the lesson of submission and accept God’s ordination.
It is a blessing to be severely limited; in our flesh and in the self we may not like it, but it is a great blessing from the Lord.
As Nazarites, we should let our hair grow, that is, we should be full of submission, having a submissive spirit, a submissive standing, a submissive atmosphere, and a submissive intention.
If we are such persons, God will greatly bless us, and there will be a great blessing for us, for the church, and for our future.
The Lord is faithful, on His side, to arrange all things for our good; on our side, we need to say Amen to His arrangement and not rebel against the things, persons, and environments He has set over us to limit us and keep us submissive.
If we have the proper attitude in the situation where the Lord has placed us, blessing will flow forth from it.
It truly is a blessing to be under someone, under some thing, or under some environment, having a spirit of submission to the Lord and to His ordination.
The greatest lesson a Christian can learn is submission; this will open the door to blessing in our life, in our family life, in our church life and even in our nation.
When we take the lead to be submissive to God and obey God’s ordination, the whole situation in our daily life, our church life, our work life, and even in society will come into proper and excellent order.
Lord Jesus, we want to remain in subjection to Christ’s headship, wherein is power. May we beware of Satan’s wearing-out tactics and realize that he wants to wear out our body, our health, our love for the Lord, our spirit, our time, and our consecration. Lord, be our protection; You are our King, guard us against the enemy and his tactics. Grant us to have a submissive spirit, standing, atmosphere, and intention. We want to keep God’s ordination and have a submissive spirit, saying Amen to the Lord’s sovereign arrangement, so that God’s blessing may flow through us. Oh Lord, may we consider it as a blessing to be under someone, under some thing, or under some environment, so that we may be submissive to You for You to open the door to the blessing to our life, our family, the church, and our nation!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Judges, msgs. 1, 4, 8, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 7, God’s Raising Up of Deborah as a Judge of Israel and as a Mother in Israel Who Practiced the Female Submission to the Man in Order to Keep God’s Ordination and Bring All of Israel into a Proper Order under God’s Kingship and Headship.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Take time to behold Him, / Speak oft with Thy Lord, / Abide in Him always, / And feed on His Word. / Wait thou in His presence, / Submissive and meek, / Forgetting in nothing / His blessing to seek. (Hymns #643)
– We need a true, obedient heart, / With a submissive will, / A will made pliable, yet strong, / God’s purpose to fulfill. (Hymns #744)
– Under Christ, by His full headship, / All in union will subsist; / In the light the Church expresses / All in oneness will exist. (Hymns #981)
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