My family and I are participating with our church in reading through the Old Testament this year—a campaign called “OT19.” The last couple of weeks, we’ve been in the book of Judges. It has been a good refresher for me of the destructive pattern the Israelites developed after they wandered in the desert for 40 years and finally settled in the Promised Land. They would repeatedly disobey God, find themselves oppressed by their enemies, repent, and then come back to Him under the leadership of one of His people (a “judge”), serving Him faithfully for a few years. Then the cycle of disobedience would start again.

We are told in Judges 2:18-19,

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshipping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

It is in this context that we learn about an unusual leader that God chose during that time. Chapter 4 introduces us to the prophetess and judge, Deborah, wife of Lappidoth. I know that I’ve read the account of Deborah several times in years past, but I was particularly enthralled with her story this time, perhaps because of all of the hullabaloo in the media surrounding “women’s rights” and the “Me Too” movement.

The Israelites had been oppressed for 20 years when Deborah was first mentioned, and the Lord heard their cries for help. From what I understand, Deborah was the leader of the Israelites during that time. These were the days before Israel had a king. She heard disputes between the people and made decisions that affected them, but more impressive was that she was the military commander of the people. I’m amazed by that. It might be an indication of the deficit of leadership qualities among the males in the community at that time, but nevertheless, God raised up a female to lead His people for several decades.

The Israelites were living in bondage to the people of Canaan, and the Lord gave them instructions through Deborah to take 10,000 men and go into battle against their enemies. Deborah went with them into battle, and the Lord gave His people victory under the leadership of a woman. Another cool twist is that the Canaanite king was actually killed by another woman—Jael—a housewife! After this victory, God’s people lived in peace for 40 years. It was only when Deborah died that the people rebelled and became oppressed by their enemies once again.

Now let’s contrast the wise, godly, selfless, servant-leader who “arose as a mother in Israel,” Deborah, with some of our prominent female “leaders” of today. I’m quite baffled by the four freshman congresswomen who call themselves “The Squad.” All four of these women use race-baiting, climate alarmism, and seemingly continuous promises of free stuff to try to win voters to their way of thinking.

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In addition, Ilhan Omar, AOC, and Rashida Tlaib have regularly demonstrated openly hostile behavior toward Jews and the nation of Israel. Ayanna Pressley seems to believe that the only legitimate black voices are those that come from the political left. They are all pro-abortion, pro-socialism, pro-open borders, anti-gun, anti-Capitalism, anti-marriage, anti-God earth worshippers.

These four are so outside of the mainstream of the nation that I can’t figure out how they have gained the attention that they have. Maybe it’s similar to when someone has a large mole on her face or food between his teeth; you don’t mean to look but just can’t help yourself because you’re embarrassed for the person. That’s kind of how I feel about “The Squad.” As people here in Georgia like to say, “Bless their hearts!”

Matt Mackowiak of The Washington Times called them “a rabid pack of hyperliberal freshmen who are pushing the Democratic conference toward socialism.” Abraham H. Miller said, “The Squad hates this country; their only political motivation is to destroy it. The color of their skin is only important because they choose to hide behind it and make it an issue.” Senator Lindsey Graham said, “We all know that AOC and this crowd are a bunch of communists.” And Mark Levin said,

The evidence is overwhelming that these women are anti-Semite bigots and they don’t hide it. They don’t hide it. The BDS movement, their constant references to Hitler and the Third Reich and concentration camps, they have no knowledge of history. They’ve never visited these sites.

I can’t pretend to understand what makes these women tick, other than the age-old heart disease called sin. What I do know is that their political agenda could not possibly be much further from God’s heart. He values attributes like those that Deborah displayed: courage, integrity, honesty, humility, kindness, wisdom, righteousness, and “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:4). “The Squad” would do well to shut their mouths, repent, and endeavor to be more like Deborah.

Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to and chief editor for Trevor Thomas, and a homeschooling mom to four amazing children. She is the author of the brand new devotional book for moms called Lord, I Need You, a book about her grief journey called Through Deep Waters, and a chronicle of their financial journey called Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and she can be reached by email at michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.