GOD AT WORK IN HISTORY · JUDGES · EPISODE 20-- Deborah, Barak, and the Day the Lord Went Before Them
When God raised up an unexpected leader to deliver Israel
After the death of Ehud, the children of Israel once again turned away from the Lord.
The familiar pattern returned.
Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, a
nd the Lord delivered them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, whose army was commanded by Sisera.
This time the oppression was especially severe.
Sisera possessed nine hundred chariots of iron, a formidable military advantage in that age. For twenty years he oppressed the children of Israel.
Israel had no army capable of matching his military strength.
But Israel had something its enemies did not understand: a God who could deliver His people.
And this time, He would choose an unexpected instrument.
A woman under the palm tree
Her name was Deborah.
The Bible introduces her with these words:
" And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time." (Judges 4:4, KJV)
Deborah was not merely a respected woman offering advice.
She was a prophetess, and the people came to her for judgment.
She sat beneath a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel, and the children of Israel came up to her for decisions.
One day she sent for a man named Barak, of the tribe of Naphtali.
She had a message from God.
The call to battle
Deborah summoned Barak and delivered the Lord's command:
"Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
"And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand." (Judges 4:6–7, KJV)
Notice the promise. God was not asking Barak to calculate the odds or find a way to defeat nine hundred iron chariots. God had already promised the victory.
But Barak hesitated.
He answered Deborah:
"If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go." (Judges 4:8, KJV)
Deborah agreed to accompany him, but she warned him that the honor of the victory would go to a woman.
Barak gathered ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun and marched toward Mount Tabor.
The Lord goes before them
Sisera heard that Barak had assembled his forces. He gathered his nine hundred chariots of iron and his entire army at the river Kishon.
The moment had come.
Deborah spoke to Barak:
"Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee?" (Judges 4:14, KJV)
Barak and his men charged down Mount Tabor.
What happened next is one of those brief but powerful moments in Scripture:
"And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak." (Judges 4:15, KJV)
Sisera's mighty army broke and fled. The nine hundred chariots that had seemed invincible could not save him.
The Song of Deborah in the following chapter gives us an additional glimpse of what happened. It describes the heavens pouring down rain and the river Kishon sweeping away the enemy.
The very forces of nature had turned against Sisera.
The commander who had terrorized Israel abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
A tent, a woman, and a tent peg
Sisera sought refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. There was peace between Heber's household and King Jabin, so Sisera believed he had found safety.
Jael welcomed him, covered him with a blanket, and gave him milk to drink.
Exhausted from battle, Sisera fell asleep.
Then Jael took a tent peg and a hammer.
While he slept, she drove the peg through his temple, killing him.
When Barak arrived in pursuit, Jael came out to meet him.
"And she said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples." (Judges 4:22, KJV)
Deborah's prophecy had been fulfilled. The final victory over Sisera came through the hand of a woman.
The song of victory
Judges 5 gives us something unusual and beautiful: a song celebrating the victory.
Deborah and Barak sang together, giving praise to the Lord. It is one of the oldest and most remarkable victory songs preserved in Scripture.
Deborah sings of the mountains trembling, the heavens pouring rain, and the river Kishon carrying away the enemy.
She also remembers the people who came forward willingly to fight and those who remained behind.
One of her most memorable descriptions of herself is this:
"Until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel." (Judges 5:7, KJV)
She was not boasting of military greatness. She was describing the responsibility God had given her to care for His people and lead them when the nation was in danger.
The song closes with a prayer:
"So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." (Judges 5:31, KJV)
And the land had rest forty years.
What this story tells us
There are several lessons here worth remembering.
First, God does not depend upon the apparent strength of His servants. Barak had ten thousand men, while Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots. The difference was not in their numbers or weapons. The difference was the Lord.
Second, God can raise up leaders from unexpected places. Deborah was a woman in a world where military leadership was ordinarily entrusted to men. Yet God chose her to speak His word and direct His people.
And third, we should not overlook the importance of obedience. Barak was willing to go, but he wanted Deborah beside him. God honored his participation, but the glory of the victory would belong to others.
The story reminds us that the Lord's purposes are never confined to the people we might expect Him to use.
The children of Israel had forgotten God once again. Their enemies appeared stronger than ever. Yet God had not forgotten His people.
He raised up Deborah.
He called Barak.
He used Jael. And He delivered Israel.
The story of Judges is becoming painfully familiar: Israel forgets God, suffers under its enemies, cries out, and God sends a deliverer.
But the deliverers themselves are imperfect, and the victories do not cure the nation's deeper problem.
Israel needs more than another judge. It needs a King whose reign will never end.
That is the greater story toward which the whole Bible is moving.
And it is a story in which we can still rejoice: God is never without a deliverer, and His purposes will never fail.
Our next Wednesday installment can move forward to Gideon, beginning with the remarkable encounter in which the angel of the Lord calls him a mighty man of valour while he is hiding from the Midianites.
********************************
FAITH IS THE VICTORY
Encamped along the hills of light,
Ye Christian soldiers, rise.
And press the battle ere the night
Shall veil the glowing skies.
Against the foe in vales below
Let all our strength be hurled.
Faith is the victory, we know,
That overcomes the world.
Refrain
Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory!
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
His banner over us is love,
Our sword the Word of God.
We tread the road the saints above
With shouts of triumph trod.
By faith, they like a whirlwind’s breath,
Swept on o’er every field.
The faith by which they conquered death
Is still our shining shield. Refrain
On every hand the foe we find
Drawn up in dread array.
Let tents of ease be left behind,
And onward to the fray.
Salvation’s helmet on each head,
With truth all girt about,
The earth shall tremble ’neath our tread,
And echo with our shout. Refrain
To him that overcomes the foe,
White raiment shall be giv’n.
Before the angels he shall know
His name confessed in Heav’n.
Then onward from the hill of light,
Our hearts with love aflame,
We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night,
In Jesus’ conqu’ring name. Refrain
John H. Yates, 1891
This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4
Comments