Barack’s Deborah and Jael?

As the healthcare battle moves to the Supreme Court, the Book of Judges (no pun intended) offers us a look back at the Obama presidency.

When Barack Obama defeated Hilary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, he ran against the Republican John McCain in the general election. Standing side by side, the seventy-one year old “Maverick” and the far younger father of two seemed polar opposites. Only one, however, directly catered to the feminist cause: John McCain. He did so by placing Sarah Palin on the ticket with him, not because she was fit to be second in line to the Presidency but because he was attempting to draw more women to his own cause.

Now it’s not that Obama did not espouse a feminist-supporting viewpoint, but as a convert to Christianity from Islam and a successful family man of the African American community, Barack Obama had an opportunity to continue national efforts with Islamic nations and be a strong voice to the young and struggling African American male population. Sometimes the Presidency forces greatness upon men, challenging them to rise up the task and doing what is best for the nation. In other words, while John McCain’s damaged policy positions were sacramentally reflected in his broken and aging body, Barack’s vigor and refusal to run an Obama-Clinton ticket gave the nation hope for an Obama presidency.

Like Barak in the Book of Judges, however, Barack’s presidency has been to win battles through his female protectors.

First he chose Hilary Clinton to be his Secretary of State and he not only sent her as his representative to the very masculine Islamic nations, but he also used her to defend abortion, contraception, and gay rights across the globe. Then during the healthcare debate in the White House he listened to Nancy Pelosi over Joe Biden concerning the contraceptive mandate. To defend this position, he hid behind Sandra Fluke who testified that every American woman should have thousands of dollars of free condoms and birth control pills. And as of this week, his new hope has been placed in the two justices he sent to the Supreme Court: Elena Kagan and Sandra Sotomeyer, both women. Today, Zogby released a poll showing Barack leading Romney among women by 14 points.

All this seems eerily similar to the actions of Barak in Judges 4.

In Judges, the Israelites found themselves at war with the Canaanite king, Jabin. When God choose Barak to defeat Jabin’s army in battle, he refused to go without the presence of the prophet Debra in his midst, saying: “‘If you come with me, I will go; if you do not come with me, I will not go’” (Judges 4:8). Deborah responded by telling Barak that because he would not lead the battle alone, his victory would not come through his efforts but through woman. Indeed, after Deborah and Barak routed Jabin’s army, the general of the army fled to an ally’s tent. Jael, the wife of the ally, led the general to her bed where she hid him and allowed him to sleep. But once he was in a deep sleep, Jael “got a tent peg and took a mallet in her hand… and drove the peg through his temple and down into the ground, and he died” (Judges 4:21). Barak won the battle, but the victory was not his.

Like Barak, Barack Obama has fought his battles through women - but Barack's women, however, are the defenders and propagators of feminism. They have given him counsel and he has appointed them to high and influential places. And with the Sandra Fluke debacle and the Supreme Court case, his feminist defenders await within the tent-bedroom.

Just make sure to keep watch for the peg on the table.