“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael,
Caravans no longer went through the land
And travelers used the block roads
The towns of Israel stood abandoned;
Deborah – they stood empty until you came
Came like a mother in Israel”
People read the bible for several reasons, for some, it is to connect and fellowship with God, for some others – it is the religious thing to do, some other people like me have chosen to read it to get insights on how to go through life.
My ecofeminism is built on the word of God and I sincerely believe that the Bible has a lot to share on women’s rights and equalities and so for every citing to prove that women are second class citizens from the Bible, I am happy to give you three more to prove you wrong. Looking at the story of Judge Deborah – I took few points.
Judge Deborah, wife, prophetess, judge, strong woman, tree lover (if I may) and with a self-esteem that shot to the skies and gave glory to her creator. When army chief Barak (not Obama) was divinely instructed to go into war with their oppressors in Canaan, Sisera was the commander in chief of the bad guys. Barak removed his helmet of ego and breastplate of pride to admit that he’ll need Judge Deborah’s presence at the war front. This, she was happy to do but was quick to remind him that a woman will get credit for the victory from the war – does that sound familiar? In the typical workplace, you will find many women doing more work and receiving little or no credit for it because they will still be paid less regardless and this fact has suppressed their esteems to the point where their male colleagues are able to step on them and not only grab credit for their work but also justify why they should be paid higher. According to the Thomas Reuters Foundation, it will take 80 years for women around the world to achieve economic equality with men.
We are now at the war with Barak, Judge Deborah and a thousand other soldiers and they have defeated all the other bad guys through divine help except for army commander – Sisera.
Sisera is later killed by tactical woman Jael (She nailed him on the head). She was able to bring final victory to her land. He asked her for some water to drink, she gave him milk that knocked him out and then she knocked him out of life. There was peace again in the land for forty years.
Deborah taught me to inspire more women in my community, to be confident and stand for justice and equality, but Jael taught me to do things afraid. More women need to step out of fear and start doing things afraid.