PIDOTH, SHE JUDGED ISRAEL AT THAT TIME."

1. AMONGST the women of the Bible Deborah stands out in great prominence, though we know but little of her character. She rose one of those bright stars of hope in the day of Jewish calamity, to which the eyes of a nation were directed for guidance and illumination. But there are others gathered round her possessing many similar features. She is one of those who show forth a distinctive characteristic of women-the power of contrivance and design carried out to such an extent as to make some doubt whether her acts were within the limits of religion and morality;

but when we see how highly those are spoken of in Holy Scripture who made use of this power for the glory of GoD and the good of His Church, we cannot believe that its exercise was essentially wrong. Such was Judith at the siege of Bethulia; such was Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; such too were Sarah and Rebecca the wives of Abraham and Isaac, though they intrigued for their families while others intrigued for a nation; such too was Jezebel the wicked queen, and Athaliah the intriguing dowager; though of course these last two are represented in Holy Scripture as having simply used their disposition for the purposes of sin. It would be an interesting object to examine the history of this inclination, and to see what is its religious nature and aim.

2. Deborah lived under a palm tree near Mount Ephraim. She seems to have been a kind of oracle in the unsettled state of things that existed among the Jewish tribes; her advice was attended to and her voice followed by leaders and by armies with the most implicit devotion. She traversed the wild districts of the land in security, protected by the reverence which was felt for her genius and judgment.

The children of Israel were sold into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, the captain of whose host was Sisera, who had nine hundred chariots of iron. Deborah, beneath her palm tree, mused on the captivity of her people and the tyrannical oppression which kept them down, for they had been under the iron rule of Jabin for twenty years. She took the initiative in proclaiming rebellion against the despot and freedom to the captive. She sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam, and bade him blow the trumpet of deliverance; but so strong was the trust in Deborah's personal influence that Barak refused to go, unless Deborah would go with him. She consented and went with him, and they came to Kedesh, and there Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together.

He went on, and ten thousand men at his feet, but Deborah was ever with him. And she said to Barak, "Up; for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into thy hands ;' they went to Tabor, and Deborah was with him. still; they met with Sisera and put him to the rout. The result of this victory was of the greatest national importance to the Jews; Deborah, to whom the victory was so largely owing burst into a magnificent song of triumph, which

is one of the finest specimens of Hebrew poetry we possess, and in which the prophetess is frequently referred to as the leading genius of Israel. Her parallels are many, both in Scripture and history. We are irresistibly reminded of one whose spirit once bore up the flagging energies of France in the annals of the latter, of Judith in those of the former.

One circumstance strikes us as highly significant. Starting up close beside her was the kindred spirit of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. Heber the Kenite was a descendant of Moses' father-in-law, and sojourned on the borders of the Holy Land; thereby having a sort of connection with the children of Israel. He dwelt in a tent on the plain of Zaanaim; his wife was Jael. He seems to have been at peace with Jabin, the enemy of the Jews at this time; nevertheless, Jael felt herself warranted in receiving Sisera into her tent, under the pretence of giving him food and shelter; and, as he lay there sleeping, she struck the nail of the tent into his temples, and he died; for which act she is spoken of approvingly in Holy Scripture. "Blessed among women shall Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, be; blessed above women in the tent shall she be." Such is the position

and character of Deborah. Though not strictly answerable for the act of Jael, she, nevertheless, celebrated that act as one of her objects of gratulation in her magnificent hymn.

3. We must view her in two lights. She was of course under a heavenly inspiration as well as under the guidance of a strong natural character. In the former capacity she is simply to be viewed as one of those instances in which God chooses to show forth His power through the weak things of this world, and to bring about great national crises through the instrumentality of the weaker sex. But placing this view of the subject for a moment aside, I will consider her in reference to her natural character and ordinary position, as a woman in the midst of vast and depressing circumstances rousing by the vigour, boldness, and freshness of her character, the flagging energies of men. This is the province of a woman, partaking as it often does of the character of enthusiasm and exaggeration as was somewhat the case with Deborah. All had resort to her wisdom; all were emboldened to enter battle against desperate odds, if she were present; and all seemed to hang, in the hour of extreme difficulty, upon the slightest word that fell from her lips. When