Search — Theology Explorer

Judges 4:4-5 Deborah Judges 4:4-5 Lappidoth

Some complementarians claim Deborah did only private counseling — Mike says this is wrong based on Judges 4:4-5.

Rebutting complementarian minimizing of Deborah

judges Deuteronomy 17 judges Deuteronomy 17 Levitical priests

Deuteronomy 17 describes the role of judge: deciding hard cases involving homicide, legal rights, and assault — with Levitical priests assisting.

Defining the judge's role from Deuteronomy 17

Deborah Levitical priests judicial authority

Deborah functioned as a supreme-court type judge handling hard cases — this is public, magisterial authority, not private counseling.

Affirming the public nature of Deborah's authority

Judges 4:4-5 Deborah Judges 4:4-5 divine appointment

One complementarian source claims Deborah wasn't appointed by God since the text doesn't say so specifically — Mike rejects this as wrong.

Rebutting a fringe complementarian argument

Judges 2:16 Judges 2:18 Deborah divine appointment Judges 2:16

Judges 2:16-18 is a blanket statement that God raised up all the judges — including Deborah.

Establishing Deborah's divine legitimacy

judges Judges 5:31 Deborah judges judicial authority

Deborah's life fits the standard judge pattern (sin, enemy, judge raised, deliverance, peace for lifetime) and she was a rare judge who didn't blow it.

Deborah compared to other judges

Judges 4:6-7 Deborah Barak Judges 4:6-7

Deborah gives commands to Barak and the troops as a prophet/leader — egalitarians argue she is 'the leader of leaders.'

Deborah's prophetic commands to military leaders

Deborah Levites Aimee Byrd

Aimee Byrd claims Deborah was 'the word of God to Israel' since they couldn't access Scripture — Mike says this is false; the Levites taught the law throughout the land.

Rebutting Byrd's claim about Deborah

Judges 4:6 Judges 4:14 Deborah Barak prophetic authority

Did Deborah command Barak? She relayed God's command ('has not the Lord commanded you?') but Judges 4:14 shows her using her own words more forcefully.

Analyzing the nature of Deborah's authority over Barak

judges Deborah Barak judges

Deborah differs from every other judge in that she doesn't lead the military — is God deliberately restricting her authority?

Key distinction between Deborah and other judges

Judges 4:8-10 Deborah Barak Sisera

Barak's refusal to go without Deborah and his rebuke — 'the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.'

The Barak-Deborah exchange in Judges 4:8-10

Judges 5 Barak Jael Judges 5

The question: is Barak being rebuked for not stepping up as a man? Is God reminding us even with a female judge that a man should have been leading?

Interpretive question about the Barak passage

Judges 4:8-9 Barak Aimee Byrd Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Aimee Byrd argues Barak's insistence on Deborah coming was 'wise and full of faith,' not cowardly — Mike disagrees.

Aimee Byrd's reinterpretation of Barak's request

Judges 5 Deborah Barak Aimee Byrd

Byrd claims Deborah's words about a woman getting the honor are not a rebuke — Barak wasn't after his own glory.

Byrd's spin on the shame element

Judges 5:12 Judges 5:6 Judges 5:24-27 Barak Jael Judges 5:12

The biblical context shows glory/credit goes to Jael (not God instead of Barak) — Barak gets one verse while Jael gets a whole section in Judges 5.

Proving the shame element is about Barak vs. Jael, not Barak vs. God

judges Judges 5 Deborah judges Judges 5

Conclusions on Deborah: she was a leader (not priest/king/military leader) but a judge and prophet; she had less leadership than other judges in some ways.

Summary conclusions on Deborah

Judges 5 Judges 4 Deborah Barak Judges 5

Theme in Judges 4-5: lack of leadership stepping up; Deborah chastens Barak — egalitarians stretch Deborah, complementarians reach too far in the other direction.

Thematic reading of Judges 4-5

judges Deborah judges Gideon

Deborah was never rebuked for her role as judge — she served for years, was one of the best judges, and never had a terrible ending like other judges.

Strong point against complementarian minimizing

Deborah complementarianism women in politics

Women holding political power (judge, queen, town representative) doesn't seem ruled out but does seem limited by example; the question is what the limits are.

Summary on women in political power in the OT

judges Deborah Old Testament women prophetess

Summary of what women were in the OT: town representatives, queens with limited authority, one judge for decades, prophets with clear divine approval.

Final summary of women's roles in the OT

Mike Winger idea 2022-11-11

Question 12: What does 'because of the angels' mean? Four views evaluated

Mike evaluates the four main interpretive options for this phrase.

1 Peter 1 Corinthians 11:10 Genesis 6:2 1 Peter 1 Corinthians 11:10 angelic observers

church authority judging prophecy view testing prophecy

View 5 analysis: The Judging Prophecy View -- Mike's preferred interpretation

Mike presents the increasingly common complementarian view that the passage restricts women from judging/testing prophecy.

1 Corinthians 14:29 eldership Craig Keener 1 Corinthians 14:29

Debate over who judges prophecy: prophets, elders, or everyone?

Mike addresses the objection that it was prophets, not elders, who judged prophecy.

1 Corinthians 12:10 1 Corinthians 14:1 1 Corinthians 14:39 1 Corinthians 12:10 1 Corinthians 14:1 1 Corinthians 14:39

Problems with the 'other prophets judge prophecy' view

Mike argues against the interpretation that only other prophets test prophecy.

congregational testing eldership function doctrinal guardianship

Problems with the 'everyone judges prophecy' view

Mike argues against congregational testing of prophecy.

judging prophecy church governance elder role abandonment

If elders do not judge prophecy, they abandon their God-given role

Mike argues the elder's doctrinal role makes their involvement in prophecy judgment unavoidable.

Mormonism self-validation prohibition Islam

It may not be necessary to decide exclusively who judged prophecy

Mike suggests the identity of the judges may not need to be precisely defined for the view to work.

1 Corinthians 11 head coverings role differences 1 Corinthians 11

Conclusion 1: Women can prophesy and speak in public church gatherings with role qualifications

Mike begins his six conclusions from this study.

kings male priesthood male apostles

OT pattern of male priests, apostles, elders, and husbands — but also male kings with no clear command

Mike examines the pattern of male leadership in scripture.

Judges 2:16 Judges 2:18 Judges 4-5 Deborah Barak Judges 2:16

Deborah as the chief counter-example to patriarchalist restrictions

Mike presents a detailed analysis of Deborah as judge.

Isaiah 3:12 Deborah Isaiah 3:12 women ruling as judgment

Isaiah 3:12 does not prove women ruling is always God's judgment

Mike addresses the patriarchalist use of Isaiah 3:12.

Deborah women voting Pharisee analogy

Women voting: no biblical case for restricting it

Mike addresses whether women should be allowed to vote.

Mike Winger idea 2018-02-21

Easy cases: women as ushers — clearly permissible

Mike begins answering specific role questions, starting with easy ones.

ushers easy cases

Colossians 2:16-20: the JW misapplication of 'let no one judge you' to justify their blood refusal, when the passage actually condemns submission to regulations about food and drink as worldly.

Mike refutes a common JW counter-use of Colossians 2 to defend their blood doctrine.

Colossians 2:16 Colossians 2:20-22 Christian freedom food law abrogation Colossians 2:16

Mike Winger idea 2018-03-14

Hebrew 'Elohim' is even more flexible — used for angels, human judges, deities, and the God of Israel

Extending the semantic range discussion to the Hebrew word for God

semantic range Elohim Hebrew vocabulary

Mike Winger idea 2018-04-11

Reason 7 (the 'half reason') addressed: The Bible does contain beautiful poetry; the Judges 19 example is a misrepresentation

The skeptic argues the Bible lacks beautiful, heart-rending poetry and cites Judges 19 (the Levite's concubine) as a counterexample of ugliness.

Genesis 1 Isaiah 53 Song of Solomon Genesis 1 Isaiah 53 Song of Solomon

Mike Winger idea 2018-08-22

CoG leaders may be self-deceived rather than consciously lying — self-deception is possible and does not eliminate moral culpability

Q&A: question from Tim G about whether CoG leaders know they are deceiving people.

Joo-Cheol Kim false teachers self-deception

Mike Winger idea 2018-08-22

People deceived from childhood into false belief are still accountable, but God's judgment is calibrated to what they genuinely could have known — general revelation (creation, conscience) remains available to everyone

Q&A: question about accountability for someone deceived from before the age of accountability.

accountability general revelation judgment

Acts 17:31 resurrection general revelation Paul's apologetic method

Acts 17:31 — Paul cites the resurrection as giving 'assurance' that Jesus will be judge; Winger argues this is evidence-for-deity, not just evidence-for-resurrection

Winger's Acts 17 argument

Acts 17 Romans 1-2 Acts 17 resurrection general revelation

Discussion of Acts 17 Areopagus sermon: Paul makes a historical argument from resurrection to Christ's authority, not an argument for the existence of God

Extended analysis of Acts 17 and Paul's apologetic at Athens

resurrection presuppositional apologetics certainty of God

Can evidences make someone stop being a Christian? Sye argues if you were converted by evidence, evidence could un-convert you — showing Christ was never Lord of your reasoning

Sye's epistemological test for true faith