Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
Parallel Translations
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Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
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Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
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Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying:
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Judges 5:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.
- Psalms 18:1 I love you, Yahweh, my strength.
- Isaiah 12:1-6 In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.” Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation. In that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted! Sing to Yahweh, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth! Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
- Revelation 15:3-4 They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations. Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- Revelation 19:1-3 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God; for his judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” A second said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever.”
- Exodus 15:21 Miriam answered them, “Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
- Numbers 21:17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, well! Sing to it,
- 1 Samuel 2:1 Hannah prayed, and said: “My heart exults in Yahweh! My horn is exalted in Yahweh. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
- 2 Chronicles 20:21 When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to Yahweh, and give praise in holy array, as they go out before the army, and say, “Give thanks to Yahweh; for his loving kindness endures forever.”
- 2 Chronicles 20:27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Yahweh had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
- Job 38:7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
- Isaiah 25:1 Yahweh, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth.
- Isaiah 26:1 In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks.
- Luke 1:46 Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord.
- Luke 1:67-68 His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (21 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son…
Jdg 5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
Ver. 1. Then sang Deborah and Barak.] Like as before had done Moses and Miriam in Exo 15:1-21, which chapter and this are by one called monumental chapters. Deborah was a poetess as well as a prophetess, learned, eloquent, industrious, far beyond Sappho or Procatia, who was called Musa Lyrica, and five various times got the better of Pindarus in versifying. {a}
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On that day.] While the deliverance was fresh and their hearts well affected. So did Jehoshaphat and his army at Berachah. {2Ch 20:26} So did Hezekiah newly recovered. {Isa 38:9; Isa 38:22} So did Zacharias so soon as his mouth was opened. {Luk 1:64} If this be not done speedily, benefits will soon wax stale, and putrify as fish. No part of the thank offering might be kept unspent till the third day. God loveth a cheerful giver. "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion." {Psa 65:1}
{a} Suidas.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Deborah was the composer of this song as may…
Deborah was the composer of this song as may be gathered from Jdg 5:7.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The former chapter let us know what great things…
The former chapter let us know what great things God had done for Israel; in this we have the thankful returns they made to God, that all ages of the church might learn that work of heaven to praise God.
I. God is praised by a song, which is, 1. A very natural expression of rejoicing. Is any merry? Let him sing; and holy joy is the very soul and root of praise and thanksgiving. God is pleased to reckon himself glorified by our joy in him, and in his wondrous works. His servants' joy is his delight, and their sons are melody to him. 2. A very proper expedient for spreading the knowledge and perpetuating the remembrance of great events. Neighbours would learn this song one of another and children of their parents; and by that means those who had not books, or could not read, yet would be made acquainted with these works of God; and one generation would thus praise God's works to another, and declare his mighty acts, Psa 145:4, etc.
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II. Deborah herself penned this song, as appears by Jdg 5:7 : Till I Deborah arose. And the first words should be rendered, Then she sang, even Deborah. 1. She used her gifts as a prophetess in composing the song, and the strain throughout is very fine and lofty, the images are lively, the expressions elegant, and an admirable mixture there is in it of sweetness and majesty. No poetry is comparable to the sacred poetry. And, 2. We may supposed she used her power as a princess, in obliging the conquering army of Israel to learn and sing this son. She expects not that they should, by their poems, celebrate her praises and magnify here, but requires that in this poem they should join with her in celebrating God's praises and magnifying him. She had been the first wheel in the action, and now is so in the thanksgiving.
III. It was sung on that day, not the very day that the fight was, but on that occasion, and soon after, as soon as a thanksgiving day could conveniently be appointed. When we have received mercy from God, we ought to be speedy in our returns of praise, while the impressions of the mercy are fresh. It is rent to be paid at the day.
1. She begins with a general Hallelujah: Praise (or bless, for that is the word) you the Lord, Jdg 5:2. The design of the song is to give glory to God; this therefore is put first, to explain and direct all that follows, like the first petition of the Lord's prayer, Hallowed be thy name. Two things God is here praised for: - (1.) The vengeance he took on Israel's enemies, for the avenging of Israel upon their proud and cruel oppressors, recompensing into their bosoms all the injuries they had done to his people. The Lord is known as a righteous God, and the God to whom vengeance belongs by the judgments which he executeth. (2.) The grace he gave to Israel's friends, when the people willingly offered themselves to serve in this war. God is to have the glory of all the good offices that are at any time done us; and the more willingly they are done the more is to be observed of that grace which gives both to will and to do. For these two things she resolves to leave this song upon record, to the honour of the everlasting God (Jdg 5:3): I, even I, will sing unto the Lord, Jehovah, that God of incontestable sovereignty and irresistible power, even to the Lord God of Israel, who governs all for the good of the church.
2. She calls to the great ones of the world, that sit at the upper end of its table, to attend to her song, and take notice of the subject of it: Hear, O you kings! give ear, O you princes! (1.) She would have them know that as great and as high as they were there was one above them with whom it is folly to contend, and to whom it was their interest to submit, that horses and chariots are vain things for safety. (2.) She would have them to join with her in praising the God of Israel, and no longer to praise their counterfeit deities, as Belshazzar did. Dan 5:4, He praised the gods of gold and silver. She bespeaks them as the psalmist (Psa 2:10, Psa 2:11), Be wise now therefore, O you kings! serve the Lord with fear. (3.) She would have them take warning by Sisera's fate, and not dare to offer any injury to the people of God, whose cause, sooner or later, God will plead with jealousy.
3. She looks back upon God's former appearances, and compares this with them, the more to magnify the glorious author of this great salvation. What God is doing should bring to our mind what he has done; for he is the same yesterday, today, and for ever (Jdg 5:4): Lord, when thou wentest our of Seir. This may be understood either, (1.) Of the appearances of God's power and justice against the enemies of Israel to subdue and conquer them; and so Hab 3:3, Hab 3:4, etc., is parallel to it, where the destruction of the church's enemies is thus described. When God had led his people Israel from the country of Edom he brought down under their feet Sihom and Og, striking them and their armies with such terror and amazement that they seemed apprehensive heaven and earth were coming together. Their hearts melted, as if all the world had been melting round about them. Or it notes the glorious displays of the divine majesty; and the surprising effects of the divine power, enough to make the earth tremble, the heavens drop like snow before the sun, and the mountains to melt. Compare Psa 18:7. God's counsels are so far from being hindered by any creature that, when the time of their accomplishment comes, that which seemed to stand in their way will not only yield before them, but be made to serve them. See Isa 64:1, Isa 64:2. Or, (2.) It is meant of the appearances of God's glory and majesty to Israel, when he gave them his law at Mount Sinai. It was then literally true, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, etc. Compare Deu 33:2; Psa 68:7, Psa 68:8. Let all the kings and princes know that this is the God whom Deborah praises, and not such mean and impotent deities as they paid their homage to. The Chaldee paraphrase applies it to the giving of the law, but has a strange descant on those words, the mountains melted. Tabor, Hermon, and Carmel, contended among themselves: one said, Let the divine majesty dwell upon me; the other said, Let it dwell upon me; but God made it to dwell upon Mount Sinai, the meanest and least of all the mountains. I suppose it means the least valuable, because barren and rocky.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam,....…
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam,.... Deborah is first mentioned, because she was, as Kimchi says, the root or foundation of the work, the chief person in it, both in the direction of the war, and in the composition of this song; and indeed, as Ben Gersom observes, she alone composed it, see Jdg 5:7; and the verb is singular: "then sang Deborah"; and after her, and in her words, sung also Barak; he joined with her, not in making the song, but in singing it; and so likewise the people of Israel joined with her in singing it, as they did with Moses at the Red sea; and this song was sung
on that day; not on the precise day on which the victory was obtained over Sisera and his army, but on occasion of that memorable day, and what followed upon it:
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saying; the following divine hymn or song, penned by Deborah, under divine inspiration, as the sublimity of the style, the fine and noble thoughts and sentiments that are in it, the beautiful and elegant phrases in which they are expressed, abundantly show; no Sappho, or any Grecian poetess, nor indeed any poet whatever, uninspired, being equal to the writer of this poem.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Deborah's song begins with praise, ver. 1-3. Compares God's…
Deborah's song begins with praise, ver. 1-3. Compares God's present appearance for them with his appearance on Mount Sinai, ver. 4-5. Describes the condition they were in before, ver. 6-8. Calls all the delivered to join in praise, ver. 9-13. Commends those tribes that were forward in the war, and censures those that declined the service, ver. 14-19. Takes notice how God fought for them, and how Jael slew Sisera, ver. 20-30. Concludes with prayer, ver.. 31.
Deborah - The composer of this song.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The triumphant song of Deborah and Barak, after the…
CHAPTER V
The triumphant song of Deborah and Barak, after the defeat of
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Sisera, captain of the armies of Jabin, king of Canaan.
NOTES ON CHAP. V
Verse 1. Then sang Deborah, and Barak] There are many difficulties in this very sublime song; and learned men have toiled much to remove them. That there are several gross mistakes in our version will be instantly acknowledged by all who can critically examine the original. Dr. Kennicott has distributed it into parts, assigned to Deborah and Barak alternately. But his division is by far too artificial.
Dr. Hales has also given a version of it which, perhaps, comes nearer to the simplicity of the original; but it also leaves several difficulties behind. As these are the two best versions I have met with, I shall lay them both in parallel columns before the reader, after introducing the general description of this song, given by each of these learned men. These the reader will find at the conclusion of the chapter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 5:1. Then sang Deborah — The composer of…
Jdg 5:1. Then sang Deborah — The composer of this song, one of whose special gifts, as a prophetess, it was to sing God’s praises, 1Ch 25:1-3. And Barak — Who was now probably become a judge, in consequence of this great deliverance which God had wrought by him. On that day — In which they had completed their victory, by the destruction of Jabin’s kingdom. Whether they two only sang this song, or the elders of the people, called together into one assembly, sang it with them, is not certain. The text, however, only speaks of its being sung by them two; and Dr. Kennicott has expressed his opinion strongly, that they sang it in alternate verses, answering each other, and that the not observing this has rendered many parts of it obscure, and of difficult interpretation, and destroyed the force and beauty of the whole. “It is certain,” says he, “though very little attended to, that it is said to have been sung by Deborah and by Barak. It is also certain, there are in it parts which Deborah could not sing; as well as parts which Barak could not sing. And therefore it seems necessary, in order to form a better judgment of this song, that some probable distribution should be made of it; while those words which seem most likely to have been sung by either party, should be assigned to their proper name; either to that of Deborah the prophetess, or that of Barak the captain-general. For example: Deborah could not call upon Deborah, exhorting herself to awake, &c., as in Jdg 5:12. Neither could Barak exhort himself to arise, &c., in the same verse. Again: Barak could not sing, Till I Deborah arose, a mother in Israel, in Jdg 5:7. Nor could Deborah sing about a damsel or two for every soldier, in Jdg 5:30: though indeed, as to this last article, the words are probably misunderstood.” The doctor, therefore, to do more justice, as he judges, to “this celebrated song,” which, he says, is deservedly admired, furnishes us with a new translation of it, assigning therein to Deborah and Barak the parts which he supposes each to have sung, and representing them, through the whole, as answering each other. See Kennicott’s Remarks on Select Passages of the Old Testament, p. 94. We must leave the reader to judge for himself what weight there is in what the doctor advances, and shall only observe as to this hymn in general, that, like the songs of Moses, (Exodus 15.; and Deuteronomy 32,) it is distinguished in the Hebrew, as being poetry, and in our present translation would appear to more advantage if printed in hemistics. See on Deu 32:1. It must be evident to every reader, that it is expressed in another kind of style than that of the historical part of this book; and in language so majestic, in such a variety of elegant figures, and such natural expressions of those affections which the occasion requires, that none of the ancient Greek or Latin poets have equalled the noble flow of these divine strains.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Deborah, as “a prophetess,” both composed and sang this…
Deborah, as “a prophetess,” both composed and sang this noble ode, which, for poetic spirit and lyric fire, is not surpassed by any of the sacred songs in the Bible. And, as Miriam took up the first verse of the song of Moses Exo 15:21, and sang it as an antiphony, so Barak, with the chorus of men, answered the song of Deborah by singing Jdg 5:2, which is also exactly suited for an antiphon, summing up as it does the subject matter of the whole ode. Compare David’s example 2Sa 6:15.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Debbora probably composed this most flowery and animated canticle,…
Debbora probably composed this most flowery and animated canticle, ver. 3, 7. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Deborah’s Song of Triumph
Deborah’s Song of Triumph
Jdg_5:1-31
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_______________________
The Superscription
Jdg_5:1
1Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
The special sign of the prophetic spirit, is the use of lyrical expression. The praise of God, and the proclamation of his mighty deeds, burst from the prophets in the rapture of poetic visions. Their language is glowing and powerful, like a torch in the night. This lofty view of the nature of poetry shows itself everywhere. Poets, says Socrates, speak like men divinely inspired, like those who deliver oracles. Among the Romans, legendary tradition (Liv. i. 7) told of an ancient prophetic nymph, Carmenta (from Carmen). Of no Judge is it expressly said that he was a prophet: this is affirmed of Deborah alone; and she alone among them sang,—and that, not merely as Miriam, who with her women formed the responsive choir to Moses’ song, but as Moses, the victor, himself.
She sang, וַתָּשַׁר. She was the creator of the song. Quite parallel is the expression, Exo_15:1 : “then sang Moses and the sons of Israel” (יָשִׁיר), not “they sang.” Moses, divinely inspired, composed the song, and the people sang it. The case was similar with Deborah. The feminine of the verb, with the following connective, ו, expresses the independent creation and the joint-execution of the Song; for already in the fourth chapter, Barak stands for the most part for the people themselves. Thus, Barak has gone up to Mount Tabor, Jdg_4:12; Sisera’s army is thrown into confusion before Barak, Jdg_5:15; Barak pursues, Jdg_5:16; etc. Here also, therefore, Barak takes the place which in the Song of Moses the “children of Israel” occupy. He and his men raise Deborah’s hymn as their song of triumph; and thus it becomes a national hymn. Song is the noblest ornament which the nations of antiquity can devise for victory. They preserve its utterances tenaciously, both as evidences of their prowess, and as incentives to action in times of dishonor. In the days of Pausanias (in the second century after Christ), and therefore about 800 years after the event, the Messenians still sang a triumphal song of the time of Aristomenes (Paus. iv. 16). Perhaps the most interesting remnant of German recollections of Arminius, is the Westphalian popular song, still sung in the region of what was once the field of victory (cf. Horkel, in Der Gesch. der Deutschen Vorzeit, i. 257). In the case of Israel, whose victories are the steps in its national work, and the evidences of its religious truth, the interest of such a song is the greater, because there tradition moulded the conscience of the generations, and fidelity to its earliest history formed the conditions of the national calling, greatness, and glory.
The form of the Song, as of the old Hebrew poetry generally, is that of free rhythm. The Song is a poetical stream: everywhere poetical, and yet untrammeled by any artistic division into strophes. Such a division, it is true, is not altogether wanting; but it is never made a rule. Consequently, efforts to force it systematically on the poem, while only traces of it show themselves, are all in vain. There is no want of finish; introduction and conclusion are well defined; but the pauses subordinate themselves to the thoughts, and these unfold themselves free as the waves. The peculiar character of the Song consists in the boldness of its imagery and the force of its unusual language. It appropriates, in a natural manner, all those forms which genuine poetry does not seek but produce; but it appropriates them all with a freedom which endures none as a rule, yet without, like the natural stream, violating harmony. The Song, then, has strophes, but they are not of equal measure; it moves along in parallelisms, but with variations corresponding to the movement of the thought. The most interesting feature to be noticed, is the alliteration, which appears in the highest development and delicacy, as elsewhere only in the old Norse poems, but also with considerable freedom from restraint. It is important to notice this, because it testifies, more than any division into strophes that may exist, to the nature of the popular song and its lyrical use. The divisions which the poem certainly shows, are determined only by its own course of thought. They are: the praise of God, as introduction (Jdg_5:25); the delineation of the emergency (Jdg_5:6-8); the call to praise that the evil no longer exists (Jdg_5:9-11); delineation of the victory and the victors (Jdg_5:12-23); the fate of the enemy (Jdg_5:24-31). The renderings which distinguish the following translation from the older versions extant, will be justified under the several verses in which they occur.1
Footnotes:
[1][The author’s version of the Song forms an essential part of his exposition, and we therefore substitute a translation of it, adhering as closely as practicable to his German, for the ordinary English text. For Dr. Cassel’s rendering of יִהוָֹד, cf. “Textual and Grammatical,” note 1, p. 23. In general, it will be seen that he does not anxiously aim at literalness. The black-faced letters are designed to imitate, rather than reproduce, the alliteration which in our author’s view forms a marked feature of the poem (see above). It may be useful to some readers to be referred to the following readily accessible English versions of the Song: Robinson’s, with an extended commentary, in Bibl. Repository, 1831, p. 568; “Review of Hollmann on the Song of Deborah,” Chris. Spectator (New Haven), ii. 307; Robbins, “The Song of Deborah,” Bibliotheca Sacra, 1855, p. 597; Milman’s version, in Hist. of the Jews, i. 292; Stanley’s, in Jewish Church, i. 370. The whole special literature of the subject is given by Bachmann, i. 298 ff.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. Then sang Deborah and Barak. — As Moses…
1. Then sang Deborah and Barak. — As Moses and Miriam led Israel in singing the triumphal song of Exodus 15, so in this case Barak probably led the men, and Deborah the women, and at the appropriate periods these responded to one another. Compare also 1Sa_18:6-7. No one will pretend that both Deborah and Barak were jointly the authors of this poem. An all but universal opinion ascribes it to Deborah herself, and in support of this opinion we may urge — (1.) Various evidences that it was composed by a contemporary of the scenes described. (2.) The thought, again and again suggested in the song itself, that the author was a woman. “A man,” says one writer, “would have portrayed the boldest deeds of arms, the most striking scenes of the struggle, which the woman only designates by a single pencil-stroke, while she dwells with delight upon the flight of the enemy. Only a woman could praise the deed of Jael as Deborah did. To none other than a woman’s mind would the cares and anxieties of the mother be suggested, as the chariot of Sisera long delayed its coming.” (3.) A comparison of Jdg_5:3; Jdg_5:7 clearly shows that Deborah is the professed authoress. Of all the Judges only Deborah prophesied, and she expressed herself in lyric song. And she sang, not as Miriam, who merely led the singing of a song another had composed, but as Moses, the victor, and the creator of the song.
On that day — That day when Israel returned from the battle, flushed with enthusiasm over their great national triumph. This song was doubtless composed by the prophetess immediately after the victory, and this most naturally explains the freshness and emotionality apparent in nearly every line.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. The title says that the Ode was sung…
1. The title says that the Ode was sung by Deborah and Barak, no doubt on account of the 1st person in Jdg_5:3; Jdg_5:9; Jdg_5:13, and the verb rendered I arose in Jdg_5:7. But in Jdg_5:12 Deborah herself is addressed by name (cf. Jdg_5:15), and in Jdg_5:7 the verb can just as correctly be rendered thou didst arise; while the 1st person in Jdg_5:3; Jdg_5:9; Jdg_5:13 is readily explained by the love of personification so common in the O.T. (see on Jdg_1:3): the poet acts as the mouthpiece of his victorious countrymen. The title represents a traditional view of the Song, but it does not carry more weight than the title of the Song of Moses Exodus 15, or the headings of the Psalms.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) Then sang Deborah.—She was a prophetess, I and…
(1) Then sang Deborah.—She was a prophetess, I and the word for “prophet,” like the Latin vates, involved gifts which were closely allied to those of the poet.
And Barak.—Doubtless Deborah was the sole author of the song, as is implied by the singular verb (Jdg_5:3); but no doubt Barak joined in antiphon when it was sung, just as Moses, at the head of the warriors, and Miriam, at the head of the women, sang the song of Moses, in Exodus 15. As the English version requires some correction, I have appended a translation at the end of the chapter, which must be regarded as a kind of running commentary.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Then sang Deborah and Barak.
Jdg_5:1-11
Then sang Deborah and Barak.
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Leaders who lead
This is far better given in the Revised Version: For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, for that the people offered themselves willingly, bless ye the Lord. The poetess gives two reasons why her enterprise was successful.
I. The first reason of success was that the leaders took the lead. They were not engaged elsewhere; they did not linger; they were not too excessively modest. They were in the forefront of the enterprise in resource and enthusiasm and execution. The leaders in those days in Israel were the heads of the tribes. In ancient society there was always an arrangement which provided natural leaders to whom the people could look. In spite of what some people may say to the contrary, there is a great deal of loyalty still in the people to what might be called their natural leaders, and I may say this, that our aristocracy have immense advantages on their side if only they have the heart to give themselves to public work. It is the man with the biggest and clearest and keenest brain that is the leader in modern times. The thinker, the orator, the author, the journalist, the inventor, the scientist--these are the men to whom we now look to give the watchword and lead us in public work. I think it is vain to deny that money is great power in modern times, and the making of it is a rough test of ability, although it is a very humble illustration of my text. In politics and in reforms in the Church and the municipality we should get quit of those awful wrongs and abuses which disfigure our life, and we could raise our people to higher and nobler life if only the leaders would take the lead. Unfortunately they do not do it. Very often the best causes have to do without those that should be the leaders. They do not get the people with ten talents, and have to struggle along as best they can with the people who have one talent, and who use it for the glory of God and the good of men. This may be due to the fact that those who should be leaders are occupied with their own affairs, and have no heart for the public interest. Those who have most of this worlds means and influence are often living a life of frivolity and selfishness. Those who are engaged in the struggle of life are often thinking of nothing but enriching them selves. Those who have the finest culture often keep aloof from the profane multitude. Or the fact that the leaders do not take the lead may be due to timidity and over-caution. Any change that alters the status quo must give annoyance and cause loss to somebody. When once a reform is matter of history, and is put down in books of history, all men praise it, but while it is being accomplished few men praise and many oppose. I remember a few years ago there was hardly a newspaper in the country in which there was not a leader in praise of Wilberforce and the noble men who co-operated with him in that great reform. But in his own day Wilberforee and his coadjutors were not praised at all. They were even exposed to personal violence. Every evil name was flung at them. Drunkenness is inflicting on our country evils so vast and potent that any considerable diminution of it, say the reduction of it by half, would be a reform infinitely greater than those reforms by which our statesmen are at present winning their laurels. But if a statesman of the first mark, a man of the calibre of Mr. Balfour or Mr. Chamberlain or Mr. Morley, were to take the lead on this subject, he would simply be shrieked at by all who are engaged in that traffic.
II. The other reason given by this ancient heroine for her success was that the people willingly followed. Leaders cannot win a cause; it is won by the followers. Now sometimes the people do not follow even when the leaders take the lead.
1. Instead of that, they wish themselves to take the lead. Many a cause has been wrecked by the jealousies and suspicions of those who have thought they were fit for positions greater than were assigned to them. We often hear of the need of first-class leaders, but I sometimes think what the world needs most is great numbers of men who are willing to take the second place, or the third place, or the fourth place, and to work as heartily there as if they were in the first place. That requires even more heroism. The man who is in the first place attracts the eyes of all, and may receive his reward in fame, but the man who works well in an obscure place only receives the reward of the cause itself.
2. Another reason why the people do not always follow is that they are criticising instead of following. Now I should not like to conclude without referring to the last words of my text, Bless ye the Lord. Deborah attributed the success to the leaders taking the lead and the people following willingly, but she went beyond these means, and traced all to the Lord. (J. Stalker, D. D.)
Leaders
Now in this text we are called upon to celebrate our leaders, for that the leaders took the lead in Israel. Deborah, with a fine instinct, perceived the singular value of great and heroic leaders. In some directions to-day there is a disposition to obscure greatness, to deny, I was going to say, the supreme value of splendid talents. Oh, let us recognise the rights of the people. We must never forget in this world the wonderful importance of the man as against the multitude. The Roman soldier was a master in his art and profession, but what would all the Roman soldiers have been but a rabble without Caesar? I dare say those sailors four centuries ago were brave and skilful Italians and Spaniards, but they would have done very little with that barque on the Atlantic without Columbus. You may have fine masons and painters, but if St. Peters is to be built in Rome or St. Pauls in London you must have Michael Angelo in one place and Sir Christopher Wren in the other. Oh, no, let us acknowledge the multitude, and all the rights that pertain to them, but that need not for a moment obscure our mind as to the appreciation of men of supreme genius. For the leaders that took the lead bless ye the Lord. The great architects, the great navigators, the great captains; they are all great gifts of God to humanity. Outside a great leader is the architect of civilisation, and in the Church a great leader is the organiser of victory. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Deborah: a mother in Israel
Deborah was an extraordinary woman. In strength of understanding, in strength of will, in soundness of judgment, in splendid courage, in warmth of heart, and, withal, in what we would nowadays call literary genius, Deborah was an absolute miracle of many sides. There was neither king, nor captain, nor judge, nor prophet, nor psalmist, nor a man to be called a man in all Israel in those evil days till Deborah arose with all those things in herself. To begin with, Deborahs name came to be known outside of her own house by her strong sense and her open, fair, masculine mind. Her neighbours were constantly falling into disputes and quarrels, and the way Deborah dealt with all those disputes and quarrels soon made her name famous. Her house in Mount Ephraim was a refuge to all the oppressed. Her palm tree was a strong tower to which all the afflicted people continually came up. At the same time, with all that, Deborahs name would never have come down to us had it not been for the terrible oppression that lay on all Israel from their enemies round about. But while all this went on Deborah was only walking all the closer with her God at Bethel. Deborah does not put it into her song--she cannot put everything into one song--but how she would go out to meditate and to pray under Jacobs ladder after her days work was done! How she would seek wisdom and direction at that House of God. What was it that made Deborah arise at last and come forth from her own house to be the mother in all Israel she was and is? Was it the death of Lapidoth, her husband, that made her a widow indeed, and set her free to fellow out her mighty hopes for the house of Israel? Had her sons been carried into captivity of the King of Canaan; and had it been better for her daughters that they had never been born? It was some of these things, it was all these things taken together that at last roused up the slumbering lioness in Deborahs bosom, and made her swear beside the sacred stone in Bethel that Israel should be set free. But, after all, Deborah was only a woman. And to discomfit Sisera and his nine hundred chariots of iron demanded a man at the head of ten thousand men; while in all the tribe of Ephraim there was nothing but women. And Deborah sent, says her history, and called Barak the son of Abiuoam out of Kadesh-Naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, go, and draw toward Mount Tabor, and I will draw out Sisera the captain of Jabins army, and I will deliver him into thine hand. Arise, Barak, and lead captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. In what is perhaps the most beautiful volume of sermons that has been published in England since Dr. Newman came down from the English pulpit, though a very different volume in many ways, the late Master of Balliol says that the first of Christian duties in our day is the removal of the evils of our great towns. Now one of the two worst evils of all our great towns will never be removed till a mother like Deborah arises in our Israel. There is one evil in all our great towns that our Barak-like men may and must remove. And my heart is toward the governors of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the people. But the other great evil is one that the women, and more especially the mothers, of our great towns must take into their own hands. It will need Deborah and Barak too. It will need all Deborahs strength of understanding, and all her strength of will, and all her soundness of judgment, and all her warmth of heart, and all her splendour of courage, and all her wholeness of devotion, as well as all her genius, to speak it home and to write it home to our slow and selfish hearts. But you are not a queen, or a princess, or a peeress, and because you cannot do everything you sit still and do nothing. No. But have you not a fire-side, and a lady friend or two, and a spare hour on a Saturday or a Sabbath night? Have you no imagination? Have you no heart? Have you no apprehension? Have you no son or nephew? (A. Whyte, D. D.)
National mercies and national sins
I. The grounds of thankfulness which Deborah thought she and the whole nation had.
1. She insists, first, upon the cheerful willingness of the people, their ready alacrity in obeying the call of the Lord their God, when by her voice He summoned them to arms. Oh! that there were such a heart in each one of us! Spiritual readiness is the attitude and the grace of angels. God desires, and will have, from us all, hearty service. Whether as regards our substance or our time, our talents or our affections, the Word declares, God loveth a cheerful giver.
2. Deborah notices gratefully the interference of God Himself in behalf of the nation. What could Israel, in their enslaved and enfeebled state, have done against Jabins nine hundred chariots? Of what avail would have been the willingness of the people or the valour of the chiefs if the Lord had provided no succours? But the Lord had provided them. And like mercies have been vouchsafed to us with regard to our personal and individual conflicts with sin and Satan. Satan is especially called the prince of the power of the air ; what would the rude implements of earthly warfare avail against such an antagonist? No; God puts the spiritual against the spiritual; He brings the arms of an invisible providence to bear upon the spiritual fortunes of a child of God, and to keep him from falling. Angels are ministering to us whilst we sleep; the elements are combining for our good, even when we know not the very existence of evil; and never till we are beyond the reach of evil and sin shall we know how the Lord fought for our souls from heaven, or how the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
3. Deborah finds matter of thankfulness in the peaceful and happy state of the country contrasted with its condition under the oppressions of Jabin; and to this part of Deborahs song I entreat your special attention. Her picture of two countries, or at least of the same country under two different governments, will be found to have such an astonishing parallel that I hope every heart amongst us will be lifted up to God with silent thankfulness. Observe, then, first, Deborah speaks of a country where all trade was stopped: In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The great public thoroughfares were all closed; the caravans could no longer convey their merchandise from city to city; the merchants found their occupation gone. Then, secondly, she says that in this country travelling had become unsafe: The travellers walked through byways. The complete lawlessness of the people and the bold effrontery of the robber made those who had occasion to travel seek the most lonely and unfrequented byways. Every step they took was taken with fear; they saw death or danger at every turn. Then, thirdly, she says that there was no tilling of the ground: The inhabitants of the villages ceased. The constant incursions of lawless hordes had driven the villagers from their peaceful employments; the cessation of commerce throughout the land had closed the market for their grain; whilst for the sake of personal safety the poor villagers were obliged to leave their humble abodes and take refuge in walled and fenced cities. Fourthly, she says that there was no administration of justice. The people of the Lord could not go down to the gates--the gates signifying, as you are aware, in the Jewish language, the courts of justice. In the eighth verse she gives the reason why all judicial proceedings were suspended: Then was war in the gates. The courts of justice resounded with the noise of arms; the gravity of the judge was merged in the zeal of the soldier; the magistrates had lost all dignity and the people all respect for law. Lastly, she says that no dependence could be placed on the military strength of the country: Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? All energy was now gone; all public spirit had decayed; anarchy and misrule held sovereign away, and order and good government were banished from the land. I need not stay to tell you where this awful picture of national misery and misrule has but a too faithful counterpart. I pass on to another picture, which, God be praised, hath its counterpart also. What is the state of our country now? asks Deborah. Why, our nobles ride secure on white asses; our judges, without fear, sit in judgment at the gates, undisturbed by the noise of archers in the places of drawing water; and the people, as they walk by the way, rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord. Now all is peaceful among us; our ships ride upon the sea; our caravans throng the highways; our villages revive amid the busy industry of pruning-hook and ploughshare; and now all that remains for us is to testify, by a song of thankfulness, our gratitude to God. Neither should there be lost upon us Deborahs invitation to different classes of society to join in this song of gratitude. First, you will perceive, she calls upon the noble and the wealthy: Speak, ye that ride on white asses. Who gave you your wealth? Who has preserved to you your wealth? To whom alone is the praise due that your substance has not been wrested from you by bands of marauders; that you have not been driven from your country by the insecurity of property; that, under the protecting shadow of equal laws, you can now lie down with safety, none making you afraid? Then, secondly, she speaks to magistrates and judges. Speak, ye that sit in judgment. Who has preserved your office in all its reverence? Who has continued your lives in all their sacredness? Who has kept your authority in all the respect in which the people hold it? Then, thirdly, she addresses herself to those who are engaged in the ordinary occupations of life. Speak, ye that walk by the way; following your peaceful employments without fear of the public robber, without dread of lawless assemblages, reposing under your own vine and your own fig-tree; rehearse the wonderful works of God. Yes, high and low, rich and poor, rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even His righteous acts towards the inhabitants of the villages of Israel. And have we no part to bear in Deborahs song? Oh! shall there be a British heart cold or British tongue dumb while we think of our signal, eminent--I might almost say solitarily enjoyed blessings? Awake, awake, England; awake, awake, utter a song. Let us, while we bewail her sins and confess her pride, mourn over her luxurious living when thousands are starving for the bread of life--let us also bless God for His mercies to this our land. Let us bless Him that blood hath not yet stained our streets; that our ears tingle not with the sound of artillery; that the file and the hammer are yet heard in our shops; and that our churches are still open, where we may praise and worship God.
II. Some causes of sorrow and stern rebuke. The Lords cause had triumphed, as triumph it ever will, whether we come to the help of the Lord or not. Still the names of those shall be told up who come to the Lords help, in order that it may be seen who are to be shutout from the triumph, who are to have no part in the joy, who are to have no mention in Gods book of remembrance, save to their dishonour and their shame.
1. First, some are noticed reprehensibly by Deborah because of the contentions and strifes among them: For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Oh! take ye good heed; for if at this moment you are cherishing an unkind feeling towards any human being, you are cherishing that which is an eternal foe to godliness; you are cherishing that which may drive the Spirit of God from your souls; you are cherishing that which in your dying hour will cause you bitter searchings of heart.
2. But another sin which Deborah notices, as excluding the parties who had committed it from all part in Israels triumph, is the sin of slothfulness--the love of ease, an unwillingness to endure the hardships and encounter the difficulties of the Christian life: Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? Are there not many who never make a sacrifice, never impose on themselves any form of restraint, who are conscious of nothing worthy of the name of effort, whose life is one of gilded, cushioned, luxurious ease, without one struggle or one act of self-denial?
3. But another occasion of unfaithfulness to the Lords cause is an absorbing interest in worldly engagements: Dan remained in ships, and Asher continued on the sea-shore. Oh! be not deceived by that refined artifice of Satan which tempts you to persist in the pursuit of that which he persuades you is lawful. Heaven has fixed its own law of preferences, has determined which of two interests shall be sacrificed if an occasion arise in which we must sacrifice one. What amount of corn and wine and oil will compensate us for the loss of the light of Gods countenance? What emergency or extremity in our domestic affairs could ever supersede that imperative law, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you?
4. There is one more excluding sin mentioned by Deborah, the sin of religious indifference--the sin of a Gallio-like, uncaring, unthinking spirit--the sin of a Loadicean lukewarmness about the things of God. Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof. Why? For any positive sin which they had committed? For any great scandal which they had brought on the Lords name and cause? No, but because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. It seems as if God were speaking from the thick cloud to each one amongst us, and asking, not What have you left undone? but What have you done?--done for God, done for eternity, done for the help of the Lord against the mighty? And think not to escape with the plea that opportunity is wanting for thus serving God. I tell you that every relation in life affords scope for this pious activity. As masters, you may counsel; as parents, you may teach; as friends, you may speak a word in season; as rich, you may give of your substance to promote good works; as poor, you may promote benevolent objects by daily and earnest prayer. But if in none of these ways you are conscious of helping the Lord, if neither by your counsel, nor by your encouragement, nor by your example, nor by your prayers, you come to the Lords help, then are you included among the inhabitants of Meroz, and the curse of Meroz abides upon your souls. (D. Moore, M. A.)
I, even I--
The big I
Archdeacon Hare tells us that of all peoples, so far as he knows, the English people are the only people who write the first personal pronoun in one capital letter, I. He further tells us that this fact lets in a good deal of light upon the English character, much that is favourable to the Englishman, and perhaps a good deal that is unfavourable. Now I will dwell--
I. Upon two of the favourable things he mentions.
1. He says that the letter I, that stands up by itself, expresses the freedom and independency of the Englishman. It is a good thing to be free and independent. But I dont want you children to be independent in the wrong sense. You are very dependent little creatures, and have all been very dependent ever since you were born--so dependent upon your mothers care and your fathers love. I want you to feel that you are very dependent indeed, and above all that you are very dependent upon God. But yet there is a sense in which we ought to be independent and free. The boy who does not insist upon exercising his own freedom and independency is very soon despised, and he very soon goes to the bad.
2. The letter I also denotes the Englishmans firmness. It is wonderful how firm we can be if we have planted our foot in the right place. No one is so firm as the man who has planted his foot upon the Rock of Ages, or the Truth as it is in Jesus. When a man has learnt what the Saviour expects of him, and says, God helping me, I will do it, he puts down his foot upon a foundation which can never give way.
II. I will mention now two of the unfavourable things referred to by Archdeacon Hare.
1. He tells us that the letter I shows a certain amount of arrogance. He says that the proudest word in English, to judge by its way of carrying itself, is this I. There it is, lifting its head up above everybody else, and looking down with contempt upon its little neighbours. Now theft is not a good thing. That is utterly unlike the Lord Jesus. He was meek and gentle in spirit: He never looked down upon any one, but welcomed poor broken-down sinners to His presence, and ever spoke a kind word to the worlds outcasts.
2. The capital I represents the Englishmans reserve and isolation. It loves to stand alone, and does not believe in mixing up with others. Let us no longer hold ourselves aloof, but be kind and gentle to all. Whenever you meet another, do not gather yourself up in your little coat, and conclude that you must be better than he; but be ready to draw near and shake hands with another little boy; and, if he is poorer than you, there is a special chance for you to do him a little kindness. Remember that it is the will of Jesus that we should be very kind to each other, and in His name, yea, and for His sake, bless all. (D. Davies.)
They chose new gods; then was war in the gates.
The soldiers honour
Here is--
1. The apostasy of the people: They chose new gods. This I call the alarm; for ungodliness calls to war. If we fight against God, we provoke God to fight against us. Then--
2. A laying on of punishment. God meets their abomination with desolation; the hand of justice against the hand of unrighteousness: Then was war in the gates. This I call the battle. Then--
3. A destitution of remedy: Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? Sin had not only brought war, but taken away defence--sent them unarmed to fight. And this I call the forlorn hope.
I. The alarm: They chose new gods. Their idolatry may be aggravated by three circumstances or degrees. They are all declining and downwards: there is evil, worse, and worst of all.
1. They chose. Here is a frank choice, no compelling. They voluntarily took to themselves, and betook themselves to, other gods. There is evil, the first degree.
2. Gods. What! a people trained up in the knowledge of one God: Jehovah, I am; and there is none besides Me. The bees have but one king, flocks and herds but one leader, the sky but one sun, the world but one God.
3. New gods. Will any nation change their gods? No; the Ekronites will keep their god, though it be Beelzebub; the Ammonites will keep their god, though it be Melchom; the Syrians will stick to their god, though it be Rimmon; the Philistines will not part with their god, though it be Dagon. And shall Israel change Jehovah, the living God? This is worst of all.
II. We come now to the battle: Then was war in the gates. If Israel give God an alarm of wickedness, God will give them a battle of desolation. Idolatry is an extreme impiety; therefore against it the gate of heaven is barred (1Co_6:9). Let us view the punishment as it is described: Then was war in the gates.
1. The nature of it: War. War is that miserable desolation that finds a land before it like Eden, and leaves it behind it like Sodom and Gomorrah, a desolate and forsaken wilderness. Let it be sowed with the seed of man and beast, as a field with wheat, war will eat it up. In itself it is a miserable punishment.
2. The time: Then. When was this war? In the time of idolatry. They chose new gods; then. When we fight against God, we incense Him to fight against us. Yet if timely repentance step in, we escape His blows, though He hath not escaped ours. But if Israels sins strike up alarm, Israels God will give battle. If they choose new gods, the true God will punish. Then was war. It is a fearful thing when God fights.
3. The place: In the gates. This is an extreme progress of war, to come so near as the gates. If it had been in the land of their enemies, a preparation of war a great way off, the noise of war--yea, if it had come but to the coasts and invaded the borders, as the Philistines did often forage the skirts of Israel, yet it had been somewhat tolerable, for then they had but seen it only. Thou hast shewed Thy people grievous things (Psa_60:3)--shewed, but not inflicted; shaken the rod, but not scourged us. But here war is come to their thresholds, yea, to the heart of the land, to defy them in the very gates. And now they more than hear or see it; they feel it. You now see the punishment. Happy are we that cannot judge the terrors of war but by report, that never saw our towns and cities burning, our houses rifled, our temples spoiled. We have been strangers to this misery in passion, let us not be so in compassion. Let us think we have seen these calamities with our neighbours eyes, and felt them through their sides.
III. We now come to the forlorn hope: Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? Was there? There was not.This question is a plain negative. Here is the want of help; great misery, but no remedy; not a spear to offend, no, not a shield to defend. War, and war in the gates, and yet neither offensive nor defensive weapon! It takes away all, both present possession and future possibility; help and hope. You see now all the parts of the affliction: the alarm in sin, the battle in war, and the forlorn hope in the want of remedy. Two useful observations may hence be deduced--
1. That war at some times is just and necessary; indeed, just when it is necessary: as here. For shall it come to the gates, and shall we not meet it? Yea, shall we not meet it before it come near the gates? There is, then, a season when war is good and lawful. Now there are two cautions observable in the justness of wars--
(1) That they be undertaken upon just and warrantable cause. That they be prosecuted with an honest mind. The cause must be just.
(a) The peace of the people; for we must aim by war to make way for peace. We must not desire truce to this end, that we may gather force for an unjust war; but we desire a just war that we may settle a true peace.
(b) The health and safety of our country: some must be endangered that all may not be destroyed.
(c) The glory of the kingdom; and that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wars for God are called Gods battles. The destruction of their cities that revolt from God to idols, and the whole spoil, is for the Lord; it is the Lords battle and the Lords spoil (Deu_13:16).
(2) The next caution, after a good ingression, is to be sure of a good prosecution. We say of the surgeon that he should have a ladys hand and a lions heart; but the Christian soldier should have a ladys heart and a lions hand. I mean, though he deal valiant blows, yet not destroy without compassion.
2. The other inference that may hence be deduced is this, that munition and arms should at all times be in readiness. Wise men in fair weather repair their houses against winter storms; the ant labours in harvest that she may feast at Christmas. Be long in preparing for war, that thou mayest overcome with more speed. A long preparation makes a short and quick victory. I have held you long in the battle; it is now high time to sound a retreat. But as I have spoken much of Israels affliction, so give me leave to speak one word of the prophetesss affection, and of this only by way of exhortation: My heart is set on the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord. Here is the subject in which this affection resides and the object on which this affection reflects. The subject wherein it abides is the heart--a great zeal of love. Not only the affection of the heart, but the heart of affection: My heart is set. The object on which it reflects is double, man and God; the excellent creature, and the most excellent Creator; the men of God, and the God of men. Upon men: My heart is towards the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Upon God: Bless ye the Lord. Among men two sorts are objected to this love: superiors in the first place, inferiors in the latter. To the commanders primarily, but not only; for if they offered themselves willingly among the people, as we read it, then certainly the people also willingly offered themselves, as the other translations read it, Those that were willing amongst the people.
1. To the governors of our Israel; that they offer for themselves willingly to these military designs, not on compulsion. His brows deserve no wreathed coronet that is enforced. Come with a willing mind. In every good work there must be cheerfulness in the affection and carefulness in the action. God loves a cheerful giver; so thou gainest no small thing by it, but even the love of God. Whatsoever good thing thou doest, saith Augustine, do it cheerfully and willingly, and thou doest it well. You that have the places of government, offer willingly your hands, your purses, yourselves, to this noble exercise. Your good example shall hearten others.
2. Now for you that are the materials of all this, let me say to you without flattery, Go forth with courage in the fear of God, and the Lord be with you. Preserve unity among yourselves, lest as in a town on fire, whilst all good hands are helping to quench it, thieves are most busy to steal booties; so whilst you contend, murmur, or repine one at the honour of another, that subtle thief, Satan, through the crack of your divisions, step in, and steal away your peace. Offer yourselves willingly; and being offered, step not back. Remember that it is base for a soldier to fly. And remember always the burden of this song, which everything that hath breath must sing, Bless ye the Lord. (T. Adams.)
Delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water.--
Songs of deliverance
I. Our text tells us of wells cleared from the foe, and speaks of those who are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water.
1. We thank God that we who are children of the Most High have wells to go to. The world is a wilderness, say what we will of it. This is not our rest; it is polluted. Our great inexhaustible well is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is, indeed, the great deep that lieth under, the deep that coucheth beneath, the secret spring and source from which the crystal streams of life flow, through the wells of instrumentality and ordinance. All my fresh springs are in Thee. Whenever we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, we drink and are refreshed. No thirst can abide where He is. Arising out of this greatest fountain, we have wells from which we draw the waters of comfort. First there is this book, this golden book, this book of God, the Word of God, with its thousands of promises, suitable to every case, applicable to all seasons. So it is also with the well of ordinances--baptism and the Lords Supper. I must not forget the mercy-seat. What a well that is to the Christian when he can draw nigh unto God with true heart! It is a glorious thing to have such a well as that in the family, where, in prayer with the children, you can bring all the necessities of the household before God. Let us never give up that well. But, as for private prayer, this world were drear indeed if we could not pour out our sorrows into our Fathers ear. Over and above this, every form of fellowship with Jesus, wrought in us by the Spirit, is a well of salvation. He is our dear companion, our ever present help in time of trouble.
2. Thus have I mentioned some of the wells. Now, concerning them all, it may be said, that they can never be stopped up by our foes. If outward ordinances be stopped, yet the great deep that lieth under will find a vent somewhere.
3. Moreover, as they cannot be stopped, so neither can they be taken away from us. They are ours by covenant engagements; they are guaranteed to us by the solemn league of the Eternal Three; and none of these covenant blessings shall be wrested from the heirs of life, who are heirs of all things in Christ Jesus.
4. Though these fountains cannot be stopped up or taken away, yet we can be molested in coming near to them. It seems that archers and wells frequently go together. It was the blessing of Joseph.--Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. But what next? The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him. And so in the text: here are wells, but there is the noise of archers, which greatly disturbs those who go to draw water. I think you know what the noise of archers has been to you when you have tried to draw water. Years ago, with some of us, our sins were the archers that shot at us when we would fain come to Christ and drink of His salvation. When we bowed the knee in prayer a fiery arrow would dart into our hearts--How dare you pray? God heareth not sinners! When we read the Word of God another barbed shaft would be shot against us--What hast thou to do with Gods Word? There can be no promise there for such as thou art. I thank God, when our faith is in exercise, and our hope is dear, we can see our interest in Christ; we come to Him just as we came at first, and cast ourselves wholly upon him. Then we no longer fear the archers, but are rid of every fear. I should not wonder if another band of archers has sometimes attacked you when you have been at the wells, namely, your cares. Dear mother, the thought of the children at home has frequently disturbed your devotions in the assembly of the saints. Good friend, engaged in business, you do not always find it easy to put a hedge between Saturday and Sunday. The cares of the week will stray into the sacred enclosure of the day of rest, and thus the cruel archers worry you. It is well to be able to cast all our cares on Him who careth for us, and thus, by an act of faith in our heavenly Father, to be delivered from the noise of these archers.
II. The songs by the well. As when the people came to the wells of old they were wont to talk with one another if all was peaceful, so when we come up to the ordinances of Gods house, and enjoy fellowship with Jesus, we should not spend our time in idle chat, but we should rehearse the works of the Lord. Around all the wells, whichever they may be, of which we drink, let our conversation be concerning Christ and His dying love; concerning the Holy Spirit and His conquering power; concerning the providence of God and its goodness and its faithfulness; and then, as we wend our way to our different homes, let us go with music in our hearts, and music on our lips, to take music to our household, each man and woman magnifying the name of the Lord. Did you observe carefully what it was they sang of?--The acts of the Lord. But there is an adjective appended, The righteous acts of the Lord. Righteousness is that attribute which the carnal man fears, but he who sees the righteousness of God satisfied by the atonement of Christ is charmed even by the severe aspect of God dressed as a judge. Then, if you observe, it was the righteous acts of the Lord toward His people. Yes, the very marrow of the gospel lies in special, discriminating, distinguishing grace. Note with care that the works which are to be rehearsed are done towards the inhabitants of the villages of Israel. Does not this suggest that we ought frequently to magnify the Lords choice favour and tender indulgence towards the least and feeblest of His family?
III. The text says, Then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates, by which several things may be intended.
1. When the people of God are altogether delivered from their sins, and their cares, and their troubles, by the great redemption of the Lord Jesus and the power of His Spirit, then they enjoy great liberty. The liberty of the man of the world is liberty to commit evil without restraint; the liberty of a child of God is to walk in holiness without hindrance. When the believers ways are enlarged, he delights to run in the statutes of the Lord; obedience is freedom to the Lords servant. It is a most glorious liberty which a man possesses when he is no longer in bondage to men, to smart under their threats or to fatten in their smiles. Glorious was that ancient father who threw back the threatenings of his enemies, and laughed them to scorn.
2. To go down to the gates, however, means something else, for citizens went down to the gates to exercise authority and judgment. He that is in Christ discerneth spirits, and separateth between the excellent and the reprobate. The spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. Instead of being judged and following others, they who love God become the leaders in right, and are as Gods mouth rebuking iniquity.
3. To go down to the gates signified also to go forth to war. When a Christian man is saved, he is not content with his own safety, he longs to see others blessed. He can now go out of the gates to attack the foe who once held him in bondage, and therefore he girds on his weapon. When will the Church of God be inflamed by the sacred desire of carrying the war for Christ into the enemys territory? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The noise of archers in the places of drawing water
I. These words make intelligible what has been called the savage act of jael in killing sisera, and the fierce words with which deborah praises the act. We see the place of drawing water--the well belonging to some little town or village. Thither in the still summer evening come the women and children. The men are absent at the wars. The women come to draw water for household and flock. As they wait their turn, the elder women talk together of their common cares and interests. The fair young maidens group together apart for the merry jest or confidential intercourse. Amongst them, moving in and out, are the laughing, bright-eyed children. What a pretty picture it makes--pretty, peaceful, glad! And then suddenly the whole is changed. The cruel, hated Canaanite is at hand. The noise of archers is heard. The mothers fly to guard the little ones, some of whom are laid low by the arrows. In the confusion the band sweeps down upon the group of fair maidens. The brightest and youngest and most beautiful are taken to be the slaves of the tyrant conquerors. Oh, who wonders now at Jaels cruelty and Deborahs vindictive triumph? It was not because the fair gardens were laid waste, the homes burned, the cattle and household treasures carried off, that these women so hated the oppressors; but because in the division of the spoil there would always fall to every man a damsel or two, each the bright, sweet flower of some home, to be degraded, spoiled, trampled down, and brought to shame. We from our lofty standpoint, in the very midst of the full light of Christs gospel--we who have learned to be patient, long-suffering, forgiving, tender-hearted--may be able to condemn them. They lived in a darker age; they had not our advantages. And yet I sometimes think that if we fully realised what that twenty years of mighty oppression must have been, how the hearts of the people will have burned with indignation at the cruelties and abominations they had to witness, we should be forced to acknowledge that Jael and Deborah would have been either more or less than women if they had acted otherwise. Deborahs song is a thanksgiving to God for deliverance. The one point she wishes to be ever remembered is that the victory was of God alone.
II. There is ever going on around us the great battle of good against evil, in which each of us is called to take our part. He who does not hate the evil with earnest hatred, who rests in selfish indolence like Asher, who lets his searchings of heart and all his religious purpose end in talk like Reuben, who is indifferent and lukewarm like Meroz, he must needs fall under the scathing curse of those who come not to the help of the Lord against the mighty. We are all bound to range ourselves on the side of the good; to fight bravely for it; if need be, to suffer or to die for it. Again, as Sisera fell at last, so will all Gods enemies fall for ever one day.
III. The noise of archers in the places of drawing water--that is to say, the attack of the enemy upon those who only seek for peace, as they go about the innocent employment of daily life. How this makes us think of one great mystery of temptation. How depressing and terrifying to many a poor soul! I began the day with prayer not to be led into temptation; I resolved to be so careful. I was careful, and then all at once in my work it came. I was not thinking of it, till I found myself wounded with the poisoned arrows of temper, lust, selfishness, sloth, avarice, or pride. More mysterious still, even amid our religious duties, the enemy can make his deadly onslaught--the distraction, the vain thought, the cruel doubt, even the blasphemous suggestion, come whistling like the deadly arrow, striking us back and wounding us, and marking us, as we think, for death. Well, all this is at least no difficulty to us who believe. The arrows do not come by chance. An enemy has done this. Whilst the war lasts, he is to be hated, avoided with watchful care. But there is deliverance. Even now the victory has been won, and protection assured, and none need fear the arrows who are willing to dwell under the defence of the Most High. And there shall be a hereafter, when the noise of archers shall be no longer heard; when we shall have our noble work assigned to us, such work as God has for His saints to do; when we shall go about the work in perfect security; when we shall rehearse one to another the righteous acts of the Lord who has wrought mightily for the deliverance of His people. (R. H. Parr, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Judges 5
DEBORAHS SONG: A DIVINE VISION
Judges 5
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THE song of Deborah and Barak is twofold, the first portion, ending with the eleventh verse, a chant of rising hope and pious encouragement during the time of preparation and revival, the other a song of battle and victory throbbing with eager patriotism and the hot breath of martial excitement. In the former part God is celebrated as the Helper of Israel from of old and from afar; He is the spring of the movement in which the singer rejoices, and in His praise the strophes culminate. But human nature asserts itself after the great and decisive triumph in the vivid touches of the latter canto. In it more is told of the doings of men, and there is picturesque fiery exultation over the fallen. One might almost think that Deborah, herself childless, glories over the mother of Sisera in the utter desolation which falls on her when she hears the tidings of her sons defeat and death. Yet this mood ceases abruptly, and the song returns to Jehovah, Whose friends are lifted up to joy and strength by His availing help.
The main interest of the twofold song lies in its religious colour, for here the pious ardour of the Israel of the judges comes to finest expression. As a whole it is more patriotic than moral, more warlike than religious, and thus unquestionably reflects the temper of the time. What ideas do we find in it of the relation of Israel to God and of God to Israel, what conceptions of the Divine character? Jehovah is invoked and praised as the God of the Hebrews alone. He seems to have no interest in the Canaanites, nor compassion towards them. Yet the grandeur of the Divine forthgoing is declared in bold and striking imagery, and the high resolves of men are clearly traced to the Spirit of the Almighty. Duty to God is linked with duty to country, and it is at least suggested that Israel without Jehovah is nothing and has no right to a place among the peoples. The nation exists for the glory of its Heavenly King, to make known His power and His righteous acts. A strain like this in a war song belonging to the time of Israels semi-barbarism bears no uncertain promise. From the well spring out of which it flows clear and sparkling there will come other songs, with tenderer music and holier longing, -songs of spiritual hope and generous desire for Messianic peace.
1. The first religious note is struck in what may be called the opening Hallelujah, although the ejaculation, "Bless the Lord," is not, in Hebrew, that which afterwards became the great refrain of sacred song.
"For that leaders led in Israel,
For that the people offered themselves willingly:
Bless ye Jehovah."
Here is more than belief in Providence. It is faith in the spiritual presence and power of God swaying the souls of men. Has Deborah seen at last, after long efforts to rouse the careless people, one and another responding to her appeals and seeking her tent among the hills? Has she witnessed the vows of the chiefs of Issachar and Zebulun that they would not be wanting in the day of battle? Not to herself but to the God of Israel is the new temper ascribed. Jehovah, Who touched her own heart, has now touched many another. For years she had been aware of holier influences than came to her from the people among whom she lived. In secret, in the silence of the heart, she had found herself mastered by thoughts that none around her shared. She has well accounted for them. Jehovah has spoken to her, Jehovah caring still for His people, waiting to redeem them from bondage. And now, when her prophetic cry finds echo in other souls, when men who were asleep rise up and declare their purpose, especially when from this side and that companies of brave youths and resolute elders come to her-from the slopes of Carmel, from the hills of Gilead-the fire of hope in their eyes, how otherwise explain the upspringing of energy and devotion than as the work of the Spirit that has moved her own soul? To Jehovah is all the praise.
Common enough in our day is a profession of belief in God as the source of every good desire and right effort, as inspiring the charity of the generous, the affection of the loving, the fidelity of the true. But if our faith is deep and real it brings us much nearer than we usually feel ourselves to be to Him Who is the Life indeed. The existence and energy of God are assured to those who have this insight. Every kindness done by man to man is a testimony against which denial of the Divine life has no power. Though the intellect searching far afield makes out only as it were some few and indistinct footprints of a Mighty Being Who has passed by, seen at intervals on the plains of history, then lost in the morasses or on the rocky ground, there ought to be found in every human life daily evidence of Divine grace and wisdom. The good, the true, the noble constantly appeal to men, find men; and through these God finds them. When a magnanimous word is spoken, God is heard. When a deed is done in love, in purity, in courage or pity, God is seen. When out of languor and corruption and self-indulgence men arise and set their faces to the steep of duty, God is revealed. He in Whom we trust for the redemption of the world never leaves Himself without a witness, whether faith perceives or unbelief denies. The human story unfolds a Divine urgency by which the progress, the evolution of all that is good proceed from age to age. Man has never been left to nature alone nor to himself alone. The supernatural has always mingled with his life. He has resisted often, he has rebelled; yet conscience has not ceased, God has not withdrawn. This living energy of Jehovah, not only as belonging to the past but discovered in the new zeal of Israel, Deborah saw, and in virtue of the revelation she was far before her time. For the fresh life of the people, for the willing self-devotion of so many to the great cause, she lifted her voice in praise to Israels Eternal Friend.
2. The next passage may be called a prologue in the heavens. Partly historical, it is chiefly a vision of Jehovahs age-long work for His people. In words that flash and roll the song describes the glorious advent of the Most High, nature astir with His presence, the mountains shaking under His tread.
The seat of the Divine Majesty appears to the prophetess to be in Seir. She looks across the hills of the south and passes beyond the desert to that place of mystery where God spoke in thunder and proclaimed Himself in the Law. The imagery points to the phenomena of earthquake and a fearful lightning storm accompanied with heavy rain. These, the most striking natural symbols of the supernatural, form the materials of the strophe. Perhaps even as the song is chanted the thunders of Sinai are echoed in a great storm that shakes the sky and rolls among the hills. The outward signs represent the new impressions of Divine power and authority which are startling and rousing the tribes. They have heard no voices, seen no tokens of God for many a year. He Who led their fathers out of bondage, He Who marched with them through the desert, has been forgotten; but He returns, He is with them again. The office of the prophetess is to celebrate Gods presence and excite in the dull souls of men some feeling of His majesty. Sinai once trembled and was dismayed before God. The great peak beside which Tabor is but a mound flowed down in volcanic glow and rush. It is He Whose coming Deborah hears in the beating storm, He Whose victorious feet shake the hills of Ephraim. Have the people forsaken their King? Let them seek Him, trust Him now. Under the shadow of His wings there is refuge; before His arrows and the fierce floods He pours from heaven who can stand?
It has been well said that for the Israel of ancient times all natural phenomena-a storm, a hurricane, or a flood-had more than ordinary import. "Forbidden to recognise and, as it were, grasp the God of heaven in any material form, or to adore even in the heavens themselves any constant symbols of His being and His power, yet yearning more in spirit for manifestations of His invisible existence, Israels mind was ever on the stretch for any hint in nature of the unseen Celestial Being, for any glimpse of His mysterious ways, and its courage rose to a far higher pitch when Divine encouragement and impulse seemed to come from the material world." From the images of Baal and the Ashtaroth Israel had turned; but where was their Heavenly King? The answer came with marvellous power when Deborah in the midst of the roiling thunder could say, "Lord, when Thou wentest forth out of Seir, when Thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped. The mountains flowed down at the presence of Jehovah." If the people bethought themselves of the clear demonstration of Divine majesty made to their fathers, they would realise God once more as the Ruler in heaven and earth. Then would courage revive, and in the faith of the Almighty they would go forth to victory.
Now was there in this faith an element of reason, a correspondence with fact? Is it fancy and nothing else, the poetic flight of an ardent soul eager to rouse a nation? Have we here an arbitrary connection made between striking natural events and a Divine Person throned in the heavens Whose existence the prophetess assumes, Whose supposed claim to obedience haunts her mind? In such a question our age utters its scepticism.
An age it is of science, of positive science. Toiling for centuries at the task of understanding the phenomenal, research has at length assumed the right to tell us what we must believe concerning the world-what we are to believe, observe, for it is a new creed and nothing else that confronts us here. "The government of the world," says one, "must not be considered as determined by an extramundane intelligence, but by one immanent in the cosmical forces and their relations." Another says: "The world or matter with its properties which we term forces must have existed from eternity and must last forever-in one word, the world cannot have been created. The ever-changing action of the natural forces is the fundamental cause of all that arises and perishes." Or again, not most recent in time but entirely modern in temper, we have the following: "Science has gradually taken all the positions of the childish belief of the peoples; it has snatched thunder and lightning from the hands of the gods. The stupendous powers of the Titans of the olden time have been grasped by the fingers of man. That which appeared inexplicable, miraculous, and the work of a supernatural power has by the touch of science proved to be the effect of hitherto unknown natural forces. Everything that happens does so in a natural way, i.e., in a mode determined only by accidental or necessary coalition of existing materials and their immanent natural forces." Here is dogma forced on faith with fine energy; and what more is to be said when judgment is given-"I have searched the heavens, but have nowhere found the traces of a God"?
We hear the boast that no song of Hebrew seer can withstand this modern wisdom, that the superstition of Bible faith shall vanish like starlight, before the rising sun. To science every opinion shall submit. But wait. It is dogmatism. against belief after all, authority against authority, and the one in a lower region than the other, with vastly inferior sanctions. Natural science declares the present result of its observation of the universe, investigation brief, superficial, and limited to one small corner of the whole. Yet these deliverances are to be set above the science which deals with existence on the highest plane, the spiritual, solving deepest problems of life and conscience, finding perpetual support in the experience of men. The claim is somewhat large; it lacks the proof of service; it lacks verification. Science boasts greatly, as is natural to its adolescence. But at what point can it dare to say, Here is final truth, here is certainty? We do not repel our debt to the discoverer when we maintain that natural science is only watching the surface of a stream for a few miles along its course, while the springs far away among the eternal hills and the outflow into the infinite ocean are never viewed. Are we taunted with believing? Those who taunt us must supply for their part something more than inference ere we trust all to their wisdom. The "Force" that is so much invoked, what is it so far as the definitions of science go? Effects we see; Force never. All statements as to the nature of force are pure dogma. It is declared that there are necessary and eternal laws of matter. What makes them necessary, and who can prove their everlastingness? Using such words men pass infinitely beyond material research-they infer-they assert. In the region of natural science we can affirm nothing to be eternal, and even necessity is a word that has no warrant. It is only in the soul, in the region of moral ideas, we come on that which endures, which is necessary, which has constant reality. And it is here that our belief in God as universal Creator, the Source of power and life, the One Agent, the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, finds root and strength.
The battle between materialism and religious faith is not a battle in which facts are arrayed on one side and inferences and dreams on the other. The array is of facts against facts, as we have said, and with an immense difference of value. Is it an established sequence that when the electricity in the clouds is not in equipoise with that of the earth, under certain conditions there is a thunderstorm? It is surely a sequence of higher moment that when the sense of righteousness seizes the minds of men they rise against iniquity and there is a revolution. There natural forces operate, here spiritual. But on which side is the indication of eternity? Which of these sequences can better claim to give a key to the order of the universe? Surely if the evolution of the ages, so far, has culminated in man with his capability of knowing and serving the true, the just, the good, these facts of his mind and life are the highest of which we can take cognisance, and in them, if anywhere, we must find the key to all knowledge, the reason of all phenomena. Evolutionary science itself must agree to this. In the movements of nature we find no advance to fixity and finality. Nature labours, men labour with or against nature; but the flux of things is perpetual; there is no escape from change. In the efforts of the spiritual life it is not so. When we strive for equalness, for verity, for purity, we have glimpses then of the changeless order which we must needs call Divine. Here is the indication of eternity; and as we investigate, as we experience, we come to certitude, we reach larger vision, larger faith. That which endures rises clear above that which appears and passes.
Returning to Deborahs song and her vision of the coming of God in the impetuous storm, we see the practical value of Theism. One great idea, comprehensive and majestic, leads thought beyond symbol and change to the All-righteous Lord. To attribute phenomena to "Nature" is a sterile mode of thought; nothing is done for life. To attribute phenomena to a variety of superhuman persons limits and weakens the religious idea sought after; still one is lost in the changeable. Theism delivers the soul from both evils and sets it on a free upward path, stern yet alluring. By this path the Hebrew prophet rose to the high and fruitful conceptions which draw men together in responsibility and worship. The eternal governs all, rules every change; and that eternal is the holy will of God. The omnipotence nature obeys is the omnipotence of right. Israel returning to God will find Him coming to the help of His people in the awful or kindly movements of the natural world. Our view in one sense extends beyond that of the Hebrew seer. We find the purpose disclosed in natural phenomena to be somewhat different. Not the protection of a favoured race, but the discipline of humanity is what we perceive. Ours is an expansion of the Hebrew faith, revealing the same Divine goodness engaged in a redeeming work of wider scope and longer duration.
The point is still in doubt among us whether the good, the true, the right, are invincible. Those who go forth in the service of God are often borne down by the graceless multitude. From age to age the problem of Gods supremacy seems to remain in suspense, and men are not afraid, in the name of foulest iniquity, to try issues with the best. Be it so. The Divine work is slow. Even the best need discipline that they may have strength, and God is in no haste to carry His argument against atheism. There is abundance of time. Those bent on evil or misled by falsehood, those who are on the wrong side though they consider themselves soldiers of a good cause may gain on many a field, yet their gain will turn out in the long run to be loss, and they who lose and fall are really the victors. There is defeat that is better than success. Other ages than belong to this worlds history are yet to dawn, and the discovery will come to every intelligence that he alone triumphs whose life is spent for righteousness and love, in fidelity to God and man.
3. Let it be allowed that we find the latter canto of Deborahs song expressive of faith rather than of clear morality, pointing to a spiritual future rather than exhibiting actual knowledge of the Divine character. We hear of the righteous acts of the Lord, and the note is welcome, yet most likely the thought is of retributive justice and punishment that overtakes the enemies of Israel. When the remnant of the nobles and the people come down-that remnant of brave and faithful men never wanting to Israel-the Lord comes down with them, their Guide and Strength. Meroz is cursed because the inhabitants do not go forth to the help of Jehovah. And finally there is glorying over Sisera because he is an enemy of Israels Unseen King. There is trust, there is devotion, but no largeness of spiritual view.
We must, however, remember that a song full of the spirit of battle and the gladness of victory cannot be expected to breathe the ideal of religion. The mind of the singer is too excited by the circumstances of the time, the bustle, the triumph, to dwell on higher themes. When fighting has to be done it is the main business of the hour, cannot be aught else to those who are engaged. A woman especially, strung to an unusual pitch of nervous endurance, would be absorbed in the events and her own new and strange position; and she would pass rapidly from the tension of anxiety to a keen passionate exultation in which everything was lost except the sense of deliverance and of personal vindication. When that is past which was an issue of life or death, freedom or destruction, joy rises in a sudden spring, joy in the prowess of men, the fulness of Divine succour; neither the prophetess nor the fighters are indifferent to justice and mercy, though they do not name them here. Deborah, a woman of intense patriotism and piety, dared greatly for God and her country; of a base thing she was incapable. The men who fought by the waters of Megiddo and slew their enemies ruthlessly in the heat of battle knew in the time of peace the duties of humanity and no doubt showed kindness, when the war was over, to the widows and orphans of the slain. To know and serve Jehovah was a guarantee of moral culture in a rude age; and the Israelites when they returned to Him must have contrasted very favourably in respect of conduct with the devotees of Baal and Astarte.
For a parallel case we may turn to Oliver Cromwell. In his letter after the storming of Bristol, a bloody piece of work in which the mettle of the Parliamentary force was put keenly to proof, Cromwell ascribes the victory to God in these terms:-"They that have been employed in this service know that faith and prayer obtained this city for you. God hath put the sword in the Parliaments hands for the terror of evil doers and the praise of them that do well." Of victory after victory which left many a home desolate he speaks as mercies to be acknowledged with all thankfulness. "God exceedingly abounds in His goodness to us, and will not be weary until righteousness and peace meet, and until He hath brought forth a glorious work for the happiness of this poor kingdom." Read his dispatches and you find that though the man had a generous heart and was a sworn servant of Christ the merciful, yet he breathes no compassion for the royal troops. These are the enemy against whom a pious man is bound to fight; the slaughter of them is a terrible necessity.
Just now it is the fashion to depreciate as much as possible the moral value of the old Hebrew faith. We are assured in a tone of authority that Israels Jehovah was only another Chemosh, or, say, a respectable Baal, a being without moral worth, -in fact, a mere name of might worshipped by Israelites as their protector. The history of the people settles this uncritical theory. If the religion of Israel did not sustain a higher morality, if the faith of Jehovah was purely secular, how came Israel to emerge as a nation from the long conflict with Moabites, Canaanaites, Midianites, and Philistines? The Hebrews were not superior in point of numbers, unity, or military skill to the nations whose interest it was to subdue or expel them. Some vantage ground the Israelites must have had. What was it? Justice between man and man, domestic honour, care for human life, a measure of unselfishness, -these at least, as well as the entire purity of their religious rites, were their inheritance; through these the blessing of the Eternal rested upon them. There could never be a return to Him in penitence and hope without a return to the duties and the faith of the sacred covenant. We know therefore that while Deborah sings her song of battle and exults over fallen Sisera there is latent in her mind and the minds of her people a warmth of moral purpose justifying their new liberty. This nation is again a militant church. The hearts of men enlarge that God may dwell in them. Israels triumph, shall it not be for the good of those who are overcome? Shall not the people of Jehovah, going forth as the sun in his might, shed a kindly radiance over the lands around? So fine a conception of duty is scarcely to be found in Deborahs song, but, realised or not in Old Testament times, it was the revelation of God through Israel to the world.
DEBORAHS SONG: A CHANT OF PATRIOTISM
Judges 5
WE have already considered the song of Deborah as a declaration of Gods working more broad and spiritual than might be looked for in that age. We now regard it as exhibiting different relations of men to the Divine purpose. There is a religious spirit in the whole movement here described. It begins in a revival of faith and obedience, prospers despite the coldness and opposition of many, grows in force and enthusiasm as it proceeds, and finally is crowned with success. The church is militant in a literal sense; yet, fighting with carnal weapons, it is really contending for the glory of the Unseen King. There is a close parallel between the enterprise of Deborah and Barak and that which opens before the church of the present time. No forced accommodation is needed to gather from the song lessons of different kinds for our guidance and warning in the campaign of Christianity.
Here are Deborah herself, a mother in Israel, and the leaders who take their places at the head of the armies of God. Here also are the people willingly offering themselves, imperilling their lives for religion and freedom. The history of the past and the vision of Jehovah as sole Ruler of nature and providence encourage the faithful, who rise out of lethargy and leave the byways of life to take the field in battle array. The levies of Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali represent those who are decisively Christian, ready to hazard all for the gospels sake. But Reuben sits among the sheepfolds and listens to the pipings for the flocks, Dan remains in ships, Asher at the haven of the sea; and these may stand for the self-cultivating, self-serving professors of religion. Jabin and Sisera again are established opponents of the right cause; they are brave in their own defence; their positions look most formidable, their battalions shake the ground. But the stars from heaven, the floods of Kishon, are only a small part of the forces of the King of heaven; and the soul of Israel marches on in strength till the enemy is routed. Meroz practically helps the foe. Those who dwell within its walls are doubtful of the issue and will not risk their lives; the curse of sullen apostasy falls upon them. Jael is a vivid type of the unscrupulous helpers of a good cause, those who, employing the weapons and methods of the world, would fain be servants of that kingdom in which nothing base, nothing earthly can have place. And there are the children of the hour, the fine ladies of Harosheth whose pleasure and pride are bound up with oppression, who look through the lattices and listen in vain for the returning chariots laden with spoil.
1. The leaders and head men of the tribes under Deborah and Barak, Deborah foremost in the great enterprise, her soul on fire with zeal for Israel and for God.
Deborah and Barak show throughout that spirit of cordial agreement, that frank support of each other which at all times are so much to be desired in religious leaders. There is no jealousy, no striving for preeminence. Barak is a brave man, but he will not stir without the prophetess; he is quite content to give her the place of honour while he does the martial work. Deborah again would commit the task to Baraks hands in complete reliance on his wisdom and valour; yet she is ready to appear along with him, and in her song, while she claims the prophetic office, it is to Barak she renders the honours of victory-"Lead thy thraldom in thrall, thou son of Abinoam."
Rarely, it must be confessed, is there entire harmony among the leaders of affairs. Jealousy is too often with them from the first. Suspicion lurks under the council table, private ambitions and unworthy fears make confusion when each should trust and encourage another. The fine enthusiasm of a great cause does not overcome as it ought the selfishness of human nature. Moreover, varieties in disposition as between the cautious and the impetuous, the more and the less of sagacity or of faith, a failure in sincerity here, in justice there, are separating influences constantly at work. But when the pressing importance of the duties entrusted to men by God governs every will, these elements of division cease; leaders who differ in temperament are loyal to each other then, each jealous of the others honour as servants of truth. In the Reformation, for example, prosperity was largely due to the fact that two such men as Luther and Melanchthon, very different yet thoroughly united, stood side by side in the thick of the conflict, Luthers impetuosity moderated by the calmer spirit of the other, Melanchthons craving for peace kept from dangerous concession by the boldness of his friend. Their mutual love and fidelity showed the nobleness of both, showed also what the Protestant Gospel was. Their differences melted away in enthusiasm for the Word of God, which one thought of as a celestial ambrosia, the other as a sword, a war, a destruction springing upon the children of Ephraim like a lioness in the forest. The Divine work was the life of each; each in his own way sought with splendid earnestness to forward the truth of Christ.
Church leaders are responsible for not a little which they themselves condemn. Differences do not quickly arise among disciples when the teachers are modest, honourable, and brotherly. Paul cries, "Is Christ divided? Were ye baptised into the name of Paul? What is Apollos? What is Paul? Ministers by whom ye believed." When our leaders speak and feel in like manner there will be peace, not uniformity but something better. Gods husbandry, Gods building will prosper.
But it is declared to be jealousy for religion that divides-jealousy for the pure doctrine of Christ-jealousy for the true church. We try to believe it. But then why are not all in that spirit of holy jealousy found side by side as comrades, eagerly yet in cordial brotherhood discussing points of difference, determined that they will search together and help each other until they find principles in which they can all rest? The leaders of different Christian bodies do not appear like Deborah and Barak engaged in a common enterprise, but as chiefs of rival or even opposing armies. The reason is that in this church and the other there has been a foreclosing of questions, and the elected leaders are almost all men who are pledged to the tribal decrees. In the decisions of councils and synods, and not less in the deliverances of learned doctors apologising each for his own sect and marking out the path his party must travel, there has been ever since the days of the apostles a hardening and limiting of opinion. Thought has been prematurely crystallised and each church prides itself on its own special deposit. The true church leader should understand that a course which may have been inevitable in the past is not the virtue of today and that those are simply adhering to an antiquated position who affirm one church to be the sole possessor of truth, the only centre of authority. It may seem strange to advise the churches to reconsider many of the ideas built into creed and constitution and to reject all leaders who are such by credit of sitting immovable in the seats of the rabbis, but the progress of Christianity in power and assurance waits upon a new brotherliness which will bring about a new catholicity. Under guides of the right kind the churches will have qualities and distinctions as heretofore, each will be a rendezvous for spirits of a certain order, but frankly confessing each others right and honour they will press on abreast to scale and possess the uplands of truth.
To be sure something is said of tolerance. But that is a purely political idea. Let it not be so much as named in the assembly of Gods people. Does Barak tolerate Deborah? Does Moses tolerate Aaron? Does St. Peter tolerate St. Paul? The disciples of Christ tolerate each other, do they? What marvellous largeness of soul! One or two, it appears, have been made sole keepers of the ark, but are prepared to tolerate the embarrassing help of well meaning auxiliaries. Neither charity of that sort nor flabbiness of belief is asked. Let each be strongly persuaded in his own mind of that which he has learned from Christ. But where Christ has not foreclosed inquiry, and where sincere and thoughtful believers differ, there is no place for what is called tolerance; the demand is for brotherly fellowship in thought and labour.
Deborah was a mother in Israel, a nursing mother of the people in their spiritual childhood, with a mothers warm heart for the oppressed and weary flock. The nation needed a new birth, and that, by the grace of God, Deborah gave it in the sore travail of her soul. For many a year she suffered, prayed, and entreated. Israel had chosen new gods and in serving them was dying to righteousness, dying to Jehovah. Deborah had to pour her own life into the half dead, and compared to this effort the battle with the Canaanites was but a secondary matter. So is it always. The Divine task is that of the mother-like souls that labour for the quickening of faith and holy service. Great victories of Christian valour, patience, and love are never won without that renewal of humanity; and everything is due to those who have guided the ignorant into knowledge, the careless to thought, and the weak to strength through years of patient toil. They are not all prophets, not all known to the tribes: of many such the record waits, hidden with their God, until the day of revealing and rejoicing.
Yet Barak also, the Lightning Chief, has honourable part. When the men are collected, men newborn into life, he can lead them. They are Ironsides under him. He rushes down from Tabor and they at his feet with a vigour nothing can resist. If we have Deborah we shall also have Barak, his army and his victory. The promise is not for women only but for all in the private ways and obscure settlements of life who labour at the making of men. Every Christian has the responsibility and joy of helping to prepare a way for the coming of Jehovah in some great outburst of faith and righteousness.
2. We contrast next the people who offered themselves willingly, who "jeoparded their lives unto the death upon the high places of the field," and those who for one reason or another held aloof.
With united leaders there is a measure of unity among the tribes. Barak and Deborah summon all who are ready to strike for liberty, and there is a great muster. Yet there might be double the number. Those who refuse to take arms have many pretexts, but the real cause is want of heart. The oppression of Jabin does not much affect some Israelites, and so far as it does they would rather go on paying tribute than risk their lives, rather bear the ills they have than hazard anything in joining Barak. These holding back, the work has to be done by a comparatively small number, a remnant of the nobles and the people.
But a remnant is always found; there are men and women who do not bow the knee to the Baal of worldly fashion, who do not content their souls amid the fleshpots of low servitude. They have to venture and sacrifice much in a long and varying war, and oftentimes their flesh and heart may almost fail. But a great reward is theirs. While others are spiritless and hopeless, they know the zest of life, its real power and joy. They know what believing means, how strong it makes the soul. Their all is in the spiritual kingdom which cannot be moved. God is the portion of their souls, their gladness and glory. Those who stand by and look on while the conflict rages may share to a certain extent in the liberty that is won, for the gains of Christian warfare are not limited, they are for all mankind. There is a wider and better ordered life for all when this evil custom and that have been overcome, when one Jabin after another ceases to oppress. Yet what is it after all to touch the border of Christian liberty? To the fighters belongs the inheritance itself, an ever-extending conquest, a land of olives and vineyards and streams of living water.
Different tribes are named that sent contingents to the army of Barak. They are typical of different churches, different orders of society that are forward in the campaign of faith. The Hebrews who came most readily at the battle call appear to have belonged to districts where the Canaanite oppression was heavy, the country that lay between Harosheth, the headquarters of Sisera, and Hazor the city of Jabin. So in the Christian struggle of the ages the strenuous part falls to those who suffer from the tyranny of the temporal and see clearly the hopelessness of life without religion. The gospel of Christ is peculiarly precious to men and women whose lot is hard, whose earthly future is clouded. Sacrifices for Gods cause are made as a rule by these. In His great purpose, in His deep knowledge of the facts of life, our Lord joined Himself to the poor and left with them a special blessing. It is not that men who dwell in comfort are independent of the gospel, but they are tempted to think themselves so. In proportion as they are fenced in amongst possessions and social claims they are apt, though devout, to miss that very call which is the message of the gospel to them. Well meaning but absorbed, they can rarely bestir themselves to hear and do until some personal calamity or public disaster awakens them to the truth of things. The steady support of Christian ordinances and work in our day is largely the honour of people who have their full share in the struggle for earthly necessaries or a humble standing in the ranks of the independent. The paradox is real and striking; it claims the attention of those who vainly dream that a comfortable society would certainly become Christian, as effect follows cause. While the religion of Christ makes for justice and temporal well being, blessing even the unbeliever, while it leads the way to a high standard of social order, these things remain of no value in themselves to men unspiritual: it holds true that man can never live by bread alone, but by the words which proceed out of the mouth of God. And there are forces at work among us on behalf of the Divine counsel that shall not fail to maintain the struggle necessary to the discipline and growth of souls.
The real army of faith is largely drawn from the ranks of the toilers and the heavy laden. Yet not entirely. We reckon many and fine exceptions. There are rich who are less worldly than those who have little. Many whose lot lies far from the shadow of tyranny in green and pleasant valleys are first to hear and quickest to answer every call from the Captain of the Lords host. Their possessions are nothing to them. In the spiritual battle all is spent, knowledge, influence, wealth, life. And if you look for the highest examples of Christianity, a faith pure, keen, and lovely, a generosity that most clearly reveals the Master, a passion for truth consuming all lower regards, you will find them where culture has done its best for the mind and the bounty of providence has kindled a gracious humility and an abounding gentleness of heart. The tawdry vanities of their fellows in rank and wealth seem what they are to these, the gaudy toys of children who have not yet seen the glory and the goal of life. And how can men and women hear the clarion of the Christian war ringing over the valleys of degradation and fear, see the Divine contest surging through the land, and not perceive that here and here only is life? Men play at statecraft and grow cold as they intrigue; they play at financing and become ciphers in a monstrous sum; they toil at pleasure till Satan himself might pity them, for at least he has a purpose to serve. All the while there is offered to them the vigour, the buoyancy, the glow of an ambition and a service in which no spirit tires and no heart withers. Passing strange it is that so few noble, so few mighty, so few wise hear the keen cry from the cross as one of life and power.
Among the tribes that held aloof from the great conflict several are specially named. Messengers have gone to the land of Reuben beyond Jordan, and carried the fiery cross through Bashan. Dan has been summoned and Asher from the haven of the sea. But these have not responded. Reuben indeed has searchings of heart. Some of the people remember the old promise made at Shittim in the plain of Moab, that they would help their brethren who crossed into Canaan, never refusing assistance till the land was fully possessed. Moses had solemnly charged them with that duty, and they had bound themselves in covenant: "As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do." Could anything have been more seriously, more decisively undertaken? Yet, when this hour of need came, though the duty lay upon the conscience nothing was done. Along the watercourses of Gilead and Bashan there were flocks to tend, to protect from the Amalekites and Midianites of the desert, who would be sure to make a raid in the absence of the fighting men. To Asher and Dan the reference is perhaps somewhat ironical. The "ships" for trade, the "haven of the sea," were never much to these tribes, and their maritime ambition made an unworthy excuse. They had perhaps a little fishing, some small trade on the coast, and petty as the gain was it filled their hearts. Asher "abode by his creeks." It is not to a religious festival that Deborah and Barak have called the tribes. It is to serious and dangerous duty. Yet the call of duty should come with more power than any invitation even to spiritual enjoyment. The great religious gathering has its use, its charm. We know the attraction of the crowded convocation in which Christian hope and enthusiasm are rekindled by stirring words and striking instances, faith rising high as it views the wide mission of gospel truth and hears from eloquent lips the story of a modern day of Pentecost. To many, because their own spiritual life burns dull, the daily and weekly routine of things becomes empty, vain, unsatisfying. In the common round even of valued religious exercise the heat and promise of Christianity seem to be lacking. In the convention they appear to be realised as nowhere else, and the persuasion that God may be felt there in a special manner is laying hold of Christian people. They are right in their eager desire to be borne along with the flood of redeeming grace, but we have need to ask what the life of faith is, how it is best nourished. To have a personal share in Gods controversy with evil, to have a place however obscure in the actual struggle of truth with falsehood, -this alone gives confidence in the result and power in believing. Those who are in contact with spiritual reality because they have their own testimony to bear, their own watch to keep at some outpost, find stimulus in the urgency of duty and exultation in the consciousness of service. Men often seek in public gatherings what they can only find in the private ways of effort and endurance; they seek the joy of harvest when they should be at the labour of sowing; they would fain be cheered by the song of victory when they should be roused by the trumpet of battle. And the result is that where spiritual work waits to be done there are but few to do it. Examine the state of any Christian church, reckon up those who are deeply interested in its efficiency, who make sacrifices of time and means, and set against these the half-hearted, who ignobly accept the religious provision made for them and perhaps complain that it is not so good as they would like, that progress is not so rapid as they think it might be, -the one class far outnumbers the other. As in Israel twice or three times as many might have responded to Baraks call, so in every church the resolute, the energetic, and devoted are few compared with those who are capable of energy and devotion. It is sometimes maintained that the worship of goodness and the Christian ideal command the minds of men more today than ever they did, and proof seems ready to hand. But, after all, is it not religious taste rather than reverence that grows? Self-culture leads many to a certain admiration of Christ and a form of discipleship. Christian worship is enjoyed and Christian philanthropy also, but when the spiritual freedom of mankind calls for some effort of the soul and life, we see what religion means-a wave of the hand instead of enthusiasm, a guinea subscription instead of thoughtful service. Is it a Christian or a selfish culture which is content with fragmentary concessions and complacent patronage where the claims of social "inferiors" are concerned? That there is a wide diffusion of religious feeling is clear enough; but in many respects it is mere dilettantism.
Notice the history of the tribes that lag behind in the day of the Lords summons. What do we hear of Reuben after this? "Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel." Along with Gad Reuben possessed a splendid country, but these two faded away into a sort of barbarism, scarcely maintaining their separateness from the wild races of the desert. Asher in like manner suffered from the contact with Phoenicia and lost touch with the more faithful tribes. So it is always. Those who shirk religious duty lose the strength and dignity of religion. Though greatly favoured in place and gifts they fall into that spiritual impotence which means defeat and extinction.
"Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty." It is a stern judgment upon those whose active assistance was, humanly speaking, necessary in the day of battle. The men only held back, held back in doubt, supposing that it was vain for Hebrews to fling themselves against the iron chariots of Sisera. Were they not prudent, looking at the matter all round? Why should a curse so heavy be pronounced on men who only sought to save their lives? The reply is that secular history curses such men, those of Sparta for example to whom Athens sent in vain when the battle of Marathon was impending; and further that Christ his declared the truth which is for all time, "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it." Erasmus was a wise man; yet he made the great blunder. He saw clearly the errors of Romanism and the miserable bondage in which it kept the souls of men, and if he had joined the reformers his judgment and learning would have become part of the worlds progressive life. But he held back doubting, criticising, a friend to the Reformation but not an apostle of it. Admire as we may the wit, the reasoner, the philosopher, there must always be severe judgment of one who, professing to love truth, declared that he had no inclination to die for it. There are many who, without the intellect of Erasmus, would fain be thought catholic in his company. Large is the family of Meroz, and little thought have they of any ban lying upon them. Is it a fanciful danger, a mere error of opinion without any peril in it, to which we point here? People think so; young men especially think so and drift on until the day of service is past and they find themselves under the contempt of man and the judgment of Christ. "Lord, when saw we Thee a stranger or in prison and did not minister unto Thee?" "Depart from Me, I never knew you."
3. Jael, a type of the unscrupulous helpers of a good cause.
Long has the error prevailed that religion can be helped by using the worlds weapons, by acting in the temper and spirit of the world. Of that mischievous falsehood have been born all the pride and vainglory, the rivalries and persecutions that darken the past of Christendom, surviving in strange and pitiful forms to the present day. If we shudder at the treachery in the deed of Jael, what shall we say of that which through many a year sent victims to inquisition dungeons and to the stake in the name of Christ? And what shall we say now of that moral assassination which in one tent and another is thought no sin against humanity, but a service of God? Among us are too many who suffer wounds keen and festering that have been given in the house of their friends, yea, in the name of the one Lord and Master. The battle of truth is a frank and honourable fight, served at no point by what is false or proud or low. To an enemy a Christian should be chivalrous, and surely no less to a brother. Granting that a man is in error, he needs a physician, not an executioner; he needs an example, not a dagger. How much farther do we get by the methods of opprobrium and cruelty, the innuendo and the whisper of suspicion? Besides, it is not the Siseras today who are dealt with after this manner. It is the "schismatic" within the camp on whom some Jael falls with a hammer and a nail. If a church cannot stand by itself, approved to the consciences of men, it certainly will not be helped by a return to the temper of barbarism and the craft of the world. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the casting down of strongholds."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain THE THANKSGIVING SONG OF THE REDEEMED CHURCH.—Jdg_5:1-11
THE THANKSGIVING SONG OF THE REDEEMED CHURCH.—Jdg_5:1-11
CRITICAL NOTES.—The subject matter of this song is an ascription of praise to the God of Israel, as the Deliverer of His people in an evil day. While many hands were at work to bring out the happy issue, all the glory is reckoned to be due to Jehovah; or, if others are mentioned, it is as being instruments in His hand. This is the uniform manner of Scripture; hence the tone of piety which marks all its histories and meditations alike.
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The definite purpose of the ode is, to express the gratitude which Israel owes to its God, for granting so sudden and complete a deliverance from the calamity, which had weighed down the spirit of the nation for twenty years, and had at last become so oppressive that it threatened to extinguish their name from the list of nations in the earth. This expression of gratitude is made in the form of a commemoration of God’s goodness, such as might live for the benefit of after ages; for no monument is so sure of preservation, or is of such wide-spread publicity, as that of a poem written with much warmth of feeling and beauty of style by an ardent, enthusiastic spirit, that feels devoutly thankful to God for His great mercies to His covenant people.
The time selected for raising this hymn of praise to Jehovah was at the moment of victory—after the work was done, and ere the people had retired to their homes. It was said to be sung “on that day,” not literally so, but before the occasion had passed, and in immediate connection with the great deliverance—while the flush of victory still mantled the cheek, while every heart was a-glow with gratitude, and while every tongue was attuned to song. Delay cools down; indeed it indicates that the feeling is not irrepressible (2Ch_20:26; Isa_38:9-22; Luk_1:64-79).
Poetry is selected as the fitting form, in which to give expression to the adoration and thanksgiving so due to God on such an occasion. It better accords with the exultation of the national heart, and those glowing conditions of soul which are kindled by the sense of a newly-won deliverance. Prose usually moves within a fixed frame-work of rules, and partakes somewhat of the coldness and stiffness of artificialism; while poetry, spurning the trammels of art, rises up to a sphere of its own, where natural instincts are the only guide, and where the utterance is prompted by a fervid state of the feelings. The freedom of the poet is the freedom of the eagle, now moving along the smiling fields, now soaring in mid-heaven at pleasure; at one time frequenting the picturesque valley, at another wandering at will among the frowning crags, or dark mountain gorges. But while inspiration may often more fitly express itself in poetic than in other forms of speech, it would be wide of the mark indeed to identify the one with the other in any way whatever. The mountains are higher than the plains, but we never commit the mistake of identifying the highest mountains with the height of the stars. Human inspiration and Divine inspiration are separated by an immense interval. The former often appears in the form of poetical conception and expression, and is identical with it; the latter never so. Of the former there is very little in chaps. 3 and 4, while Judges 5 is full of it; but all the chapters in the Book are pervaded by the latter.
The order of thought in the chapter seems to be as follows:—First, comes a general announcement of the subject of song in Jdg_5:2. The song itself is then divided into three sections, each containing three strophes, and each strophe consists of three verses. Thus section first extends from Jdg_5:3-11 inclusive—the spirit of which is, to show the immense value of the victory which had been gained, as bringing back the ancient glory of the sacred nation. The first strophe (Jdg_5:3-5) refers to the happy times of old when Israel was acknowledged before the whole earth as the chosen nation of the living God. This was a fact never to be forgotten; and hence it forms the prelude in almost every sacred hymn that was sung by that people in all their generations. This is attested by the whole Book of Psalms. The second strophe (Jdg_5:6-8), in a few graphic touches, shows how far the nation had sunk from its former pitch of prosperity. And strophe third (Jdg_5:9-11) glances at the state of liberty and of peace that would now be enjoyed by the people in the transactions of daily life, as contrasted with the terror to which they had been so long subjected. After a pause, section second begins at Jdg_5:13-21, and presents us with a vivid account of the actors in the battle, and the means by which victory was decided for Israel. The first strophe describes the enthusiastic assembly of the good men and true who gathered themselves together to fight the Lord’s battle (Jdg_5:13-15). In strophe second is set forth the faint-heartedness of those who would risk nothing in fighting such a battle (Jdg_5:16-18). And the third strophe (Jdg_5:19-21) describes the forces of the enemy, and the mighty powers by which they were overwhelmed. Section third (Jdg_5:23-30) describes the dreadful fate of those who are opposed to God in battle, beginning with the frustration of hopes, and ending in utter ruin. First, a curse is pronounced on the men of indecision (Jdg_5:23); next the enemy meets with death where he expected protection to life (Jdg_5:24-27); and finally, a contrast is drawn between high expectations formed, and bitter experiences reaped (Jdg_5:28-30). The expression of a wish that all God’s enemies would so perish (that is, the stubborn and impenitent) concludes the chapter.
Jdg_5:1. Then sang Deborah and Barak, etc.] Not equally, or together. The verb for “sang” is singular, and of feminine gender. Deborah was a “prophetess,” and the mainspring of the whole movement. We may naturally suppose that she composed this beautiful lyric hymn, which is indeed full of the same force and fire that we see in the other glimpses of this remarkable woman’s character. Indeed the hymn itself indicates its authorship (see Jdg_5:3; Jdg_5:7; Jdg_5:12). But Barak is associated with Deborah in the work of thanksgiving, for he, though guided by her, was yet the chief actor, and also represented the victorious host. A similar case occurs in Num_12:1, where Miriam and Aaron are said to have spoken together against Moses; but Miriam took the lead in this opposition, and Aaron merely went along. Hence the verb is singular and feminine. So it is here (תָּשַׁר). Deborah, with probably a number of female choristers, would begin the song, while Barak, with a company of men-singers, would respond, or sing the antistrophe, as in Exo_15:1-21. There may have been a choir of priests and Levites, or the whole congregation may have joined in the exercise, returning to Mount Tabor for the purpose before dispersing to their homes. They had had no jubilee like it for at least twenty years. Every heart was full, and the difficulty was for anyone to be silent on such an occasion. And not only then, but the whole year round, every home in Israel would daily resound with similar strains of joy and gratitude.
A vast importance attaches to this song, because it was to be preserved among the treasured archives of the nation, and to be taught to the children’s children for many generations. Thus it would not only be a permanent memorial of God’s mighty acts on behalf of His people, but would form part of the public instruction of the nation for many ages, and so would assist in moulding the characters of myriads of minds, so that those who were not yet created should in due time praise the Lord. This truth is exemplified by the whole Book of Psalms.
That such a composition should have had its birth in such a declining age is indeed a marvel. We do indeed believe in its proper inspiration; for if it were not inspired, why should it form an integral part of the Book of Judges, and why should the Book of Judges form part of the Canon of Scripture—to which the Saviour Himself set His seal by so frequently referring to it as the sacred Word of God. Yet the literary beauty of the style is not altogether due to the Spirit of inspiration. In the act of inspiration, we believe, that the matter to be communicated to the world, through the medium of a particular human mind as the organ, is communicated by the Divine Spirit, but there is no interference with the natural organisation of that mind, its individual characteristics, or even the measure of its natural gifts, or educational accomplishments. The Spirit communicates the truth through that mind precisely in the way in which it is natural for it to express itself. Hence though even the language we believe to be inspired, it is language selected in the style of the mind that is inspired. Thus the language that dropped from the pen of a David, or an Isaiah, was that of the poet, for it was natural for these men to write poetically. Again, the language employed in the Books of “Kings” and “Chronicles” was natural to such a man as Ezra, or whoever may have been the author of the Books—one accustomed to deal with records, and conversant with facts and figures. In like manner, Deborah was not made a poetess for this particular occasion, and the gift withdrawn immediately on the completion of the ode. Rather do we regard her as having been a poetess by natural gifts and the proper cultivation of them; and in this ode we see the appropriate exercise of those gifts. We are not to suppose that the style here used was in any degree essentially different from what was natural to her. It was Deborah speaking, and not another mind created for the moment under her form; but it was the highest form of Deborah’s style.
If such a style were natural to Deborah, it is wonderful to meet with such a degree of literary refinement in an age, which is generally reputed to have been so barbarous and rude. Such regularity of accents, such harmony of cadences, and such attention to quantities, render this composition one of the most beautiful specimens of rhythm we have on record. It has all the perfection of art, yet all the freedom of nature—no fetter, yet perfect beauty. Cassel says, “There is no want of finish; but the pauses subordinate themselves to the thoughts, and these unfold themselves free as the waves. The peculiar character of the song consists of the boldness of its imagery, and the force of its unusual language—the most interesting feature being its alliteration, which appears in the highest development, as in the old Norse poems.” We might add, that it is also distinguished by its abrupt transitions and impassioned appeals, by its apostrophising both of the absent and the present, by its quick seizure of the salient features of the scene, and the dramatically vivid picture it presents, both of occurrences and of persons.
Jdg_5:2. Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, etc.] The order in the original is more emphatic—“for the avenging of the avenges of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves—Praise ye Jehovah!” This is a statement of the subject matter of the poem. The key-note is here pitched. The spirit of the meaning, according to our translation, seems to be, “for the rolling back on the heads of the enemy the long series of injuries which God’s Israel had received from them—Praise ye Jehovah.” Many find fault with this sentiment, as being not in accordance with the spirit even of the Old Testament, and try to bring a different meaning out of the words. The difficulty lies in the rendering of the phrase פְרָֹע פְּרָעוֹת. Gesenius takes it from an Arabic root, signifying “to lead.” So also does the Alexandrian MSS of the Sept. and some modern interpreters, as Bertheau, Ewald, etc. They accordingly make it, “for the bold leading of the leaders, as well as for the willing offering of themselves by the people. Praise Jehovah!” This is a just idea in itself, but it does not express the ultimate sentiment of the song, which refers to what was done, and not merely the manner of doing it. Besides this is not the direct meaning of the word פְּרָע, which originally refers to the hair of the head, and especially to the long waving hair, as in Eze_44:20. Keil takes this sense of the word, but gives to the meaning an unexpected turn by saying, that as luxuriant hair is the sign of strength, so “the hairy ones” mentioned here mean “the strong in Israel showed themselves strong.” The champions in the fight went forth before the others bravely. This is a very free translation indeed, and is scarcely adopted by any others. Cassel makes the word signify “to make loose,” or to “become wild,” as when the hair flies wild and loose about the neck. The person who made a vow of consecration to God was directed to let his hair grow (Num_6:5); and the loose waving of his hair in the wind was a visible proof of his having devoted himself to the service of God. This, he says, applies to the whole army of Barak, who all wildly waved their hair in token of their entire consecration to Him. The praise was due for the appearance of so many persons with long locks to fight the battle of their God. He renders it “That in Israel wildly waved the hair—In the people’s self-devotion—Praise God.” This view also seems to be more ingenious than accurate. The most natural view seems to us to be that given in the authorised version. The head is uncovered, and the hair gets loose and disordered, when one is greatly agitated with some strong feeling—especially that of resentment for great injuries received. It is this condition of the hair that is here indicated by the word פְּרָע, and when its plural goes along with it, it means the highest degree, or the fullest measure of vengeance was taken on behalf of Israel. The plural form of the word is only used here and in Deu_32:42, where it is translated “revenges” upon the enemy. In what sense the word “avenges” or “revenges” is to be taken is very important, and will receive due notice afterwards.
When the people willingly offered themselves.] All who would do anything acceptably to God must first give themselves a free-will offering to Him (Rom_12:1; 2Ch_17:16; Psa_110:3; 2Co_8:5). Deborah praises God for conferring on the people this spirit of willingness. An unwilling, or a mechanical service, is one which the God who looketh on the heart cannot accept of. No service without the heart can be pleasing to Him. It is a dead service; and is the same with laying a putrefying corpse upon the altar.
Jdg_5:3. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord, etc.] Having announced the subject, the speaker next calls for the close attention of the audience. It is a tale of such sacred importance as might well have kings for its listeners (comp. Deu_32:1; Isa_1:2; Isa_44:23; Mic_6:2). The allusion is not to any special class of kings, such as the kings of Canaan, but to kings in general, as being most dignified in station. Also, perhaps, as representing the powers of this world—that they may bow their heads, and confess they are nothing before Sion’s King. Farther, that they might learn the sin, danger, and folly of lifting themselves up against Israel’s God. To magnify Israel’s God is indeed the aim of the whole history (comp. Psalms 2). The singer says, she will sing, even she—with marked emphasis, to denote that she will make a special point of doing this service, and she will give her whole heart to the doing of it. Not only would she sing with the mouth, but she would add praise on the “ten-stringed lute” or cithern—one of the sweetest lyres or harps in use. Such is the force of זִמֵּר—to sing to an instrument, generally a lyre or harp. Lias says, “The word is onomatopoetic, and denotes the buzz of the chords of a stringed instrument. “Everything in the externals of worship had in that age of signs a deeper meaning than it has with us. The spirit of the statement is—I will take all the ways of praising my God, so that the work may be done in the fullest manner. The service of the heart shall be fully given, and that shall be expressed by the use of the sweetest stringed instruments. The name is “Jehovah, the God of Israel”—the covenant name of God. This implied that all that God had done for Israel was done on account of His gracious relations to that people, and the gracious promises He had made to them.
Jdg_5:4. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, etc.] The singer here breaks off abruptly, and goes back at a bound over nearly 200 years to the time when God first adopted this people to be His own. This abrupt manner of shooting from point to point, selecting the chief points of the ever memorable history; and graphically grouping them together, is quite in the style of Hebrew poetry. Here the point of view occupied is what God was when He first met with them as a nation. What He showed Himself to be then was a standard for them to reckon by in all their after history. They might count with good reason that He would in all their after history be to them the same God that he was then. What was He then? The group of mountains which are usually known by the name of Sinai, or Horeb, were within the large tract of country known as Edom, or Seir. Indeed, the name “Seir” was sometimes given to the whole mountainous district which included Sinai (Deu_33:2). The boundary lines of the districts in the wilderness do not appear to have been very sharply defined. The scene at the giving of the law is doubtless referred to, with all the displays of unequalled majesty which Jehovah then made. He then made a revelation of Himself, showing what kind of a God He was—infinite in power, of sovereign authority, most jealous of His great name, of spotless purity, of inviolable truth, and resplendent in righteousness; while at the same time merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, etc. This character was most impressively displayed at Mount Sinai, and the memory of it was to be kept up at every step in all their future history, that they might have vividly before their minds the character of the God to whom they sustained so close a relation, and with whom they were in constant dealing. The application to the present case was, that the same glorious perfections of character which Jehovah manifested at Sinai were now displayed against Sisera and his host, in so far as the case required, and that God was faithful in keeping His word to His people even at that distance of time. One broad feature of the Sinai scene is seized on as specially fit to be mentioned in connection with the destruction of Jabin’s army—the mighty power of the God of Israel. The solid earth trembled under His step as He marched out through the wilderness at the head of His people; referring to the fact, that when God came down on Mount Sinai to enter into covenant with Israel, “the whole mount quaked greatly.”
The heavens dropped, the clouds dropped water.] In Exodus 19 we read of a “thick cloud” and of “thunders”—in Jdg_20:21 we read of the “thick darkness where God was.” In Heb_12:18 we read of a “tempest” as well as of “blackness and darkness.” In Psa_68:8-9, we read that the “heavens dropped at the presence of God, and He sent a plentiful rain.” In Psa_77:17-18, we are told “the clouds poured out water, the sky sent out a sound, etc. “All these references seem to point to the Sinai scene, and warrant us to conclude there was a thunder-storm, with a deluge of rain at the time of the giving of the law. It was an unheard of thing that that perpetually clear firmament should be darkened with thick clouds, and that that ever-brazen sky should pour water in floods on the arid sands of the desert.
Jdg_5:5. The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai, etc.] נָזְליּ Many render shook or staggered. So Sept., Keil, Cassel, Lias, etc. The Greek, Chald., Arab, and Syr. This rendering is the most direct meaning of the word employed, and is supported by Isa_64:1-3, which should be translated “might tremble at thy presence”—Even that Sinai, etc.] Rather “this Sinai,” as if it were actually before her eye. It makes the account more vivid. Full of rocks though Sinai was, with rock piled on rock all the way to the summit, and, therefore, might be supposed firm as adamant, it yet trembled like a leaf in the wind! No wonder that Sisera with all his iron chariots could not stand before such a God as this!
Jdg_5:6. In the days of Shamgar, etc.] These verses (6–8) were probably sung by a responsive choir to those who sang the verses going before (3–5). The singer now as abruptly returns to the times of Deborah, as at first she left them to sing of Sinai. Nothing is lost in preface. Even of the main subject only a few strokes are given. The purpose now is, to put the present down-trodden condition of Israel, when lying under the heel of the oppressor, in contrast with the enviable condition in which they stood, when so highly favoured of their God in the wilderness (Deu_4:7; Deu_4:32-38.)
Some would read, “After the days of Shamgar,” etc., or since his days. But this looks like leaving the natural interpretation of the phrase in order to get quit of a difficulty. Why not keep by the usual rendering? “In the days of Shamgar—and of Jael.” This Jael was not another Jael then the wife of Heber. Such a supposition (see Cassel) is purely arbitrary, and is merely adopted to escape a difficulty. Why not suppose these two persons to be contemporary? And why not regard the phrase to mean simply—in the days which Shamgar had to deal with—the hard times which he had to contend with; and so of Jael. These were the days on which their lot was cast, which they endured for a time—it might be for some years, but which at length, they were the means of entirely changing into a long course of bright and sunny days—so that all around them had the privilege of singing, “according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil, so do thou make us glad.” The poem may have been composed very soon—perhaps within a day or two after the terrible slaughter of Sisera’s army; but it is thrown into a form suitable for being sung in after ages. We believe Shamgar’s ground was somewhere in the South-West of the land; and we know Jael’s home was in the North of Israel.
The highways were unoccupied, or deserted.] Lit. the paths ceased. There was no security on the public highways of the country—no safety for life and property, and hence no one could leave his house in peace, and go along the public roads to do the duties of business. The enemy were prowling in all directions, and travellers were afraid to walk in the usual highways, lest they should be either robbed or murdered—perhaps both. Reference is made to such times, supposed to be the days of the Judges, and to no times more fitly than the present, in 2Ch_15:5. And the travellers walked through by-ways.] Those who were obliged to travel at all slunk into concealed by-paths to elude the bands of the oppressor. They are called “twisted paths,” or circuitous footpaths, which turned away from the high roads. The caravans proper had ceased to exist; there were only foot passengers anywhere to be seen moving through the land. Trade had been completely driven off the roads. Business was at a standstill everywhere. The whole population were in hiding! They were afraid to show themselves in public at any point.
Jdg_5:7. The inhabitants of the villages ceased.] Rather the villages ceased. Cassel makes it, the open places, the hamlets, which were unwalled, and, therefore, liable to become a prey to the spoiler. It was thus in Hungary in the 17th century when it was overrun by the Turks. The dwellers in the open flat country, with unwalled villages (the farmers and others) in contradistinction to the walled towns disappeared (Deu_3:5; 1Sa_6:18; Eze_38:11.) “Lawlessness and terror prevailed, and the intercourse of commerce was unknown. The sons were afraid to traverse the plains which their fathers had conquered, and stayed shivering at home.” (Wiseman), Compare the times of the captivity as pictured by Zechariah in Jdg_7:14; or that seen in the visions of Isaiah as the natural effects of sinful times. (Isa_33:8). That there should be villages or hamlets, and homesteads unprotected, scattered all over the country, is the indication of security and peace. But where a country is unprotected while there are enemies all around, the people feel compelled to shut themselves up in walled towns. So it now was. Many indeed had no other homes than the holes of the rocks, the caves, the thickets or jungles, the high places, and even the pits, in which that picturesque land abounded. (1Sa_13:6). What a commentary on the statement that “sin is the reproach of any people!”—until that I Deborah arose, a mother in Israel.] Not meaning so much, as that Israel was born again as a nation through her; though it might be said that Israel recovered its nationality through her influence. But the phrase is similar to that applied to certain patriots, who on account of their noble conduct in defending and acting as protectors of their country, are called “the fathers of their country.” Deborah was the deliverer of her country, and so earned the title of “a mother in Israel.” (2Sa_20:19). The phrase, “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,” occurs in Isa_22:21. (Comp. Job_29:16). Queen Elizabeth was accustomed to say, she could believe nothing of her people that parents would not believe of their children.
Jdg_5:8. They chose new gods.] Hence the loss of all their strength. The real “strength of Israel” they abandoned. “They lightly esteemed the rock of their salvation.” They had no desire for the fellowship of a holy God. They chose gods with a character like their own, gods of their own invention. Not one, but many. “The serpent’s grammar first taught men to decline God plurally: “Ye shall be as gods” (Trapp)—“new gods”—not worshipped by their fathers. (Deu_32:17).
There was war in the gates.] They so “provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods,” that He allowed the enemy to press even up to the gates of their towns, and besieged them; so that the gates, which were usually the seat of the administration of justice, became the scene of war. The word לָחֶם means, as Cassel says, “not simply war, but an already victorious and consuming oppression.” There was a “besieging of the gates.” None went out and none came in. Quiet was completely driven out of the land. “There is no peace to the wicked.” As the tide of idolatry rolled over the land everywhere, so did the flood of national misery. Resistance in the open field there was not anywhere; and even in their fortified places, the enemy kept clamouring at the gates. Their manliness had vanished; they kept skulking behind their shut gates; while outside the enemy had it all their own way, and were ever on the point of breaking through! All the bitter fruit of sin.
Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?] Not that the people had not any such weapons (as in 1Sa_13:22), for if so, the battle of Kishon could not have been fought. The reference is not to Barak’s army, which consisted of 10,000 men. The meaning seems to be, that a spirit of trembling had so generally seized the people of Israel, that not a single man among so many as 40,000 had the courage to stand forth to fight his country’s battle in the field. There were three kinds of spears, as referred to in the Old Testament. The first was a long slender lance; the second a javelin; and the third—that referred to here (romach), a heavier weapon.
Jdg_5:9. Again there is a turn in the song. The transition is abrupt, as all transitions are here. There are no prefaces, and no connecting narratives. Central statements only are made. They break on the ear without warning and without comment. My heart is toward the governors of Israel,] i.e. is drawn to them in admiration of their conduct. “The leaders” came to the front when the call was made for volunteers to fight the Lord’s battle. They had all the more merit in doing this, because on them lay the burden of the responsibility, and on them fell the brunt of the danger. Their conduct also would powerfully stimulate the rank and file. God was to be praised for this; for it was His Spirit that rested on the leaders, and put such courage and self devotion into them.
Jdg_5:10. Speak, ye that ride on white asses, etc.] Rehearse ye, celebrate in a song of praise. Lit.meditate ye. Many render it, sing. (Comp. Psa_145:5; Psa_105:2). “White spotted asses.” There are no asses white all over, but asses with white spots. Asses in Palestine were usually of a red colour. The white spotted were highly prized on account of their beauty, and were rare, consequently were costly, and hence were used by the upper classes. (Jdg_10:4; Jdg_12:14). Ye that sit in judgment.] Rather that sit on carpets, or coverings, some make it saddle-clothes, such as are put on asses. (Mat_21:7). These are the rich and prosperous. Those who walk by the way.] Those who travel on foot represent the middle and lower classes, who have to do their business without any such help. Keil, however, supposes three classes are referred to: the upper classes, judges and others who ride on costly animals; the rich resting at home on their splendid carpets; and the poor travellers and common people who can now go quietly along the high road again without fear of interruption from the foe. The nobles, the wealthy, and the poor alike enjoyed a long-wished for security in going abroad through the country which their God had given them.
Jdg_5:11. They that are delivered from the noise of archers, etc.] This verse has received many different renderings, which we cannot notice in detail. It seems to express a new thought, and to refer to a dreadful hardship which was daily experienced all over the land. People could not want their supplies of water, and the wells were usually situated outside the towns, so that in going to the wells there was always exposure. The enemy knowing this oftentimes planted a company of skilled archers to shoot arrows at those who came to the wells, and while in the act of drawing water many were either wounded or killed. But now such as had this duty to perform were no longer in danger. They were delivered from “the cry of the sharp-shooters,” or the tumult of the archers at the places where they drew waters. And now having no fear of any sudden attack there, and of being wounded, or robbed, or carried captive, they at these spots shall henceforth be so filled with gratitude at the consciousness of their profound security, that they shall there rehearse the mighty acts of the Lord, etc. Strifes at these places were not uncommon. (Gen_26:18-21; Exo_2:17-19; Jer_4:29). “Righteous acts.” because they were performed in truth to His covenant, and were in themselves righteous. Then shall the people go down to the gates.] The people could leave their hiding-places in the mountains and walled towns, and return to pass through the gates to the villages and the open plains, to pursue again the peaceful work of commerce, and of carrying on the daily business of life. The victory so recently gained had cleansed the land of these marauders.
MAIN HOMILETICS.—Jdg_5:1-11
A HIGH STARTING POINT AND A GREAT DOWNFALL
1. God’s people have songs given them to sing in the night. The times of the Judges were for the most part a night season in the history of the Church, and especially the period to which this chapter refers. But no night is so dark as to be without its stars, or so cheerless as to be without its songs in God’s dealings with the children of the promises. This effusion of the person chosen for the time to represent Israel’s feelings under the treatment they received at the hands of God’s Providence, is hung up like a torch in the night of the national history, to revive faith and encourage hope. When passing through the waters, the river is not permitted to overflow, neither when walking through the fire, as God’s people must sometimes do, is the flame allowed to kindle upon them. “Though sorrowful they are yet always rejoicing—though persecuted they are not forsaken—though cast down they are not destroyed.” “When troubles abound their consolations do much more abound by Christ.” They are never altogether without hope. They are saved by hope. Bunyan rightly makes his Christian sing after each trying episode of his history—after his fight with Apollyon, his getting clear of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, his deliverance from Vanity Fair, and his escape from Doubting Castle.
The Church of God, even amid the dark shadows of the Old Testament age, had her times for the use of the harp, and every instrument of joy. There was “a time to laugh as well as a time to weep.” And these times would have been far more numerous, and greatly more exultant had there been more true penitence, and less relapsing into sin. But no night was so long as entirely to extinguish the hope of returning day, or so dark as to put out all the stars, or so destructive in its effects as to prevent the recovery of all that is really valuable. It is part of God’s arrangement in His Providential rule over this sorrowful world, to give men songs to sing in the night, perhaps lest they should become demoralised. Though there can be no real hearty singing and thorough enjoyment without being able to say of God: “He is my God! though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away.” (Job_35:10.) True heart-singing in the night of trouble is exemplified in Psalms 42, 57, 22, 77, 116.
2. The duty of keeping God’s works in everlasting remembrance. The object of composing this ode was not only to make it the matter of praise on a single occasion, but especially to keep up the memory of this great deliverance to remote generations, for the honour of the Divine name. The same sentiment pervades most of the Davidic Psalms, which, as a matter of fact, have served this purpose in the past. In like manner, this song has been the means of preserving to the Church, for many generations, a most instructive chapter of God’s doings for her, and His dealings with her, at a critical stage of her history. God’s mighty acts are worthy of being thus remembered for many reasons:—
(1.) They are marvellously instructive. The two points on which, for our own benefit, it is needful to have the fullest instruction, are God’s character and ways, and our own character and ways. Instruction on these points is of permanent value; and it is the light which is thrown upon these that is specially noticed in the Book of Psalms, when the writers make mention of God’s mighty acts. What an instructive revelation is made of man’s character as it is exhibited in the times of Deborah—the perversity of his nature in so stubbornly baking the wrong course, notwithstanding all the Divine teaching given, though so many remonstrances were used, so many warnings given, so many chastisements up to this point inflicted. And after the cloud of vengeance had burst on these sinners, how long do they continue suffering bitterly before they will turn to Him who smites them, or acknowledge their offence! What tenacity of sin belongs to the depraved human heart! What blindness of mind and hardness of heart! What depth of alienation from God! What infatuation in “kicking against the pricks!” What daring defiance of God’s authority! What desecration of His holy covenant!
On the other hand, what a revelation is given of God’s long-suffering patience in dealing with this people! How long does He remain silent while they go on sinning against Him! We see Him faithfully warning, earnestly entreating, and strongly expostulating. We see Him loathe to smite at all, and for a long time the sword remains in the sheath. When at last it must come forth, it is used at first but lightly; very reluctantly the severity of the stroke is increased; but the moment that true penitence is shown, it is removed, and the penitent is dealt with as a child. Even when the sword, or rather the rod, is used most severely, it is still “in measure;” it is always to correct, and not to destroy, or make a full end. And at the very worst, we never see God renouncing His character to this people as their covenant God! This is the climax of the whole revelation of God’s character made. How rich the instruction conveyed!
(2.) They are in themselves spectacles of great beauty. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. And here the beauty is absolutely perfect. The eye never wearies with looking on perfection. The soul is satisfied with it, so that it can demand nothing more of excellence in the object than what it already has. All human works, however, at the very best, are only relatively perfect. There is something both on the surface and under the surface, which indicates decay, defect, or alloy. The sweetest music after a time begins to pall on the ear. The most exquisite picture does not always continue to charm the eye. Man’s works, when looked at in different lights, will always present some feature of imperfection. Not so with the works of God. The most minute, even microscopical examination, will only reveal their absolute perfection more and more.
In all these redemption-works, on behalf of His people, which God wrought in the days of the Judges, what a God-like manner of working do we see in them all! How tame and vapid would they all have become if the events and means had been left in the hands of men! Have they not all a sacred touch about them, which no hand can give them but God’s own? What a marvellous perpetuity of freshness belongs to everything which bears that touch! We read the tales a thousand times, and yet the interest continues fresh. The print of the Divine hand on the page preserves it so. How perfectly is every work done which God’s hand undertakes to do. When that hand begins to work, how smoothly does every wheel go round to accomplish His purpose! What a complete change passes over the land in an incredibly short space of time! There is no hurry or bustle, no driving in hot haste. Everything is done calmly, with simplicity, in a way to confound human reason, but with irresistible efficacy. The most unlikely instruments are chosen to do great things. A mighty army is utterly destroyed by the strategy of a woman; and the most celebrated general of the age is brought down to the dust of death by the hand of another woman and an alien! Such efficiency can God impart to the weakest instrumentality, when it so seems good in His sight. He can make everything converge to carry out His purpose.
What a magnificent spectacle of beauty there is in the display of God’s goodness to this people! How often did He pardon them! How often turn away His anger! How patient in waiting for their repentance! How long-suffering in bearing with their provocations! Each of these features is a perfect study, and the longer each is studied the perfection of its beauty becomes more and more visible. So with the glorious display of power made, which is unapproachable in its grandeur. The manifestation also of wisdom surpasses man’s power to appreciate it—of His justice, which is “like the great mountains”—of His faithfulness, which “reacheth unto the clouds”—and of His righteousness, which “is very high.” “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all His praise? His works are honourable and glorious: they are all done in truth and uprightness.”
(3.) They are never fully comprehended. The thought of God’s own character is something too vast for our minds to comprehend. It is not true philosophy to take no higher ground, to suppose that the human mind can adequately comprehend any of the thoughts of the Infinite mind; God alone can comprehend Himself. Hence God’s plan of salvation is called “a mystery.” But so difficult is it to comprehend it, that the angels of God, so remarkable for their wisdom, have been studying it with rapt interest through the whole history of time, and still have not made it out. The narrow mind of a creature never can fully grasp any of the thoughts of God. Hence He must always remain, more or less, the Unknown God. The same grand attributes of character He has so often presented to our view we have never yet fully comprehended, and never can; so that every time we come again to look at the great perfections set before us, we feel the subject is perpetually fresh, in a greater or less degree. We may be always forming larger, and still larger, conceptions of God’s majesty, and every feature of His character, without ever exhausting the subject.
(4.) They are of such vast importance to our interests. What an infinitely valuable privilege to have this God for our God!—one so full of condescension as to come down and hold fellowship, so intimately and so freely, with men on the earth—to ally Himself so closely with them—to permit such freedom of access, and to promise to do so much in answer to humble and believing prayer! What a great possession it is for the soul of man to be able to say—the God who can do such mighty works is my God, in all the love of His heart, and in all the strength of His arm. Whatever else is overlooked, I cannot for a moment forget this grand truth that God is mine! God’s works in the past are all pledges for the future, for those whom He begins to love He loves to the end. A record of His mighty acts is thus virtually a treasury of exceeding great and precious promises. Every good thing He has done to any of His people already is a proof that He will repeat the same favour to the same person, or to any others of His people, when they are in all respects placed in the same circumstances. His right hand never loses its power. What it was in the days of Barak it is still, and will be to the end of time. These mighty acts show what resources belong to our God, and how much we have to draw upon when an emergency arises.
3. The high starting-point of the Divine Love never to be forgotten. Jdg_5:4-5. Here the prophetess looks back, as the eye of the godly Israelite was always instructed to do, to the early days of God’s church, to compare what took place then with the chequered experiences of her own day. That light of the early days was already a good way in the distance, but it shone as a fixed star, an object of hope to the people of God, in all the future stages of their eventful history. There they saw the high pitch of that Love at its outset, in dealing with this people, and they were taught to regard it as the love of an unchangeable God, “whose gifts and calling are without repentance” or any change of purpose. However obscured the future manifestations of that love might be, or however mysterious it might seem in its workings, it was always a fact that it was pitched high at first. The march of that people, as the people of God, was first seen as they came over the mountains, or along the desert of Seir, and then Jehovah Himself was at their head, acknowledging them as His own people, and showing, by mighty signs and wonders, what resources of power He was prepared to put forth on their behalf. The solid earth trembled, the heavens dropped rains, yea the clouds poured out a deluge in the arid wilderness. The mountains also melted before His step. These phenomena only are mentioned, owing to the rule of severe brevity which is observed in the text. But they are given as a specimen of what actually occurred. (See Psa_68:7-9; also Hab_3:12.
1. The sentiment is this, that as that love was when it first took them by the hand, so it would ever continue to be at all future stages of their history. The question for them to determine simply was how high did that love rise at its beginning—how did it show itself? and to what extent did it manifest itself? The answer is to be found in the phenomona of Sinai, when God first formally adopted them to Himself to be His people, and showed how far he was prepared to go on their behalf—how much power He kept in readiness to fulfil the promptings of His love. The great mark of His love to these children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was, that He made use of them and their history as a medium to reveal His own glorious character, in the eyes of all the nations. Their history was rendered illustrious at every step by the glimpses that were given of His glorious perfections, and from first to last He was known as the Holy One of Israel! In being thus brought so nigh to God they were raised to an unspeakable height above all other nations, so that their history at the outset read like no other history.
2. These antecedents were never to be forgotten. They laid the foundation of all future expectations. However low at any time they might sink, there was always a ground of hope, that they would sooner or later rise to the enviable height of being a people “beloved of the Lord, and dwelling safely” under the shadow of His protecting wing. “For there was none like unto the God of Jeshuran, when He rode upon the heavens in their help, and in His excellency on the sky!” Throughout the whole of the hazardous journey which He led them, when He conducted them to their future promised home, His language was, “I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.”
3. Hence when Israel was lying among the pots, with soiled garments, and filthiness was in all her skirts, she is yet called upon to remember Sinai and its manifold glories—the days of her youth when she stood forth as the Queen of all the nations of the earth; and, as she was in those golden days, so she was to think she might become still. So should God’s people in every age act. They are to look at the terms on which God enters into covenant with all who truly repent and believe the Gospel. However low they may sink under the trials and afflictions of this life, they must never forget that they are “the sons of God”—and are therefore “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ”—that all which the promises of God contain is theirs—theirs by good legal right—that all the titles spoken of in the Gospel are theirs, all the privileges, all the hopes and prospects, all the immeasurable advantage of being the brethren of the Son of God, all the infinitely valuable possession of having the Holy Spirit of God to dwell in the heart as His proper home—that all these unspeakably precious things are theirs; and though concealed as yet from the eye of the world, that it will not be possible long to conceal such possessions; and when they come out, their possessor will be elevated to a throne in the heavens, and will spend a glorious life, “rejoicing with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.”
4. Remember the starting-point—is the exhortation addressed to every soul that embraces Christ as its Saviour, in all the future stages of its history. That love which redeemed you, and called you by name; which brought you out of darkness into light; which first you saw bleeding on a cross, bearing the weight of Divine, not merely human, wrath on your account, and which procured for you the means of getting the pardon of every sin, and acceptance before God as righteous; that love which presented to you God’s highest possession—His own Son in human form, that it might become your possession; that love, as you first met it, is always to be carefully remembered as the measure of the kindness which the soul may always expect to receive at the hands of the God to whom it is reconciled. When God gives Christ, He gives Himself. He becomes a God to the receiver of Christ. He opens out His glorious perfections, and says, “Having given so much in making my first gift, I will now keep back nothing.” There is the fountain out of which the streams of your souls’ supplies are for ever to flow. And when future and further wilderness journeys are to be made, remember the Rock you met with at the beginning of the way, and form your expectations from what you saw and experienced then. The streams may rise as high as the fountain head. Higher they do not need to rise. There will be consistency in the love that follows thee all the way; for “I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt.”
What a comforting memory for the Christian pilgrim to carry in his bosom as he pursues his weary journey, often finding “the journey to be too great for him,” and “his soul much discouraged because of the way!” God never forgets the first high pitch of His love, but will from time to time go as high again in its manifestations, to prove that, notwithstanding its being occasionally obscured by clouds of sin, He yet really loves with an everlasting love.
4. The desolation produced by departure from God. Jdg_5:6-11. From the days of Eve and downwards, departure from God ever leads to a great fall. From that cause, how soon did every leaf in paradise wither! and how quickly did paradise itself disappear from the earth! Here the language—“they forsook the Lord”—is the constant refrain in the melancholy dirge of Israel’s history. And now, through Deborah, as the mouthpiece of sinning Israel in her day, we have confession made of the terrible downfall from the most exalted prosperity to the lowest adversity, through departure from the living God. The enemy is seen coming in like a flood, and overrunning the land. The happiest land under heaven becomes the most miserable. Her tale is meant for posterity, as well as the time then passing, and she fixes the date. She writes the history of her own times—the times of her youth, but which she lived long enough, to be the means under God of changing into something bright and glorious. Distress unexampled prevailed. A weighty incubus pressed down every energy. The humiliation of sin was complete. For—
(1.) There was no liberty. The Israelite could not freely walk through his own country. That land, where formerly he was accustomed to sit under his vine and his fig-tree, none making him afraid, had now become his prison. “The public roads were unoccupied. They that travelled at all skulked along the by-paths.” What an expressive history have we here in a single line! Those whom the Lord had made free were now become slaves. The inhabitants were deprived of the use of their country, so that all business had practically come to a stand-still. Their departure from God had led to His departure from them; and they had now to reckon on their best friend as become their most dreadful enemy. There can be no neutrality. If God is not for us, we will soon find He is against us. “If we forsake Him, He will cast us off.”
(2.) They led a life of danger. They could not even go to the wells for water to drink. Knowing the necessity of their frequently being obliged to go there for supplies of the refreshing liquid in that land of drought, the archers planted themselves in the thickets around these wells; and it was generally at the risk of robbery, or even death, that the precious boon could be gained. Indeed, the enemy might appear at any hour, or at any point, all over the land. From unexpected quarters he might descend without a moment’s warning, like the hawk swooping down on the dove, and no safety to life or property could be relied on anywhere. It was a reign of terror. It was an enemy whose tender mercies were cruel. The old serpent that had been scotched, not killed, now reared its head, and darted its venom, against the hand that was once raised against it. Instances, indeed, were of daily occurrence to show what Canaanitish malice could do in retaliation for the past attempts which Israel made to destroy them.
When a man forsakes his God, and walks after the lust of his own heart, dangers quickly rise up around him. His cry is, “Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! how many rise up against me!” On the other hand, “when a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
(3.) They led a life of degradation. They were in the position of a people trampled down, and unable to help themselves, while no one cared to come to their assistance. When they went abroad at all, they durst not look the enemy in the face, they had to skulk along in the by-paths. They made their most innocent visits furtively. They had to snatch the most common blessings of life by stealth. If their enemies could have prevented it, they would have been deprived of the very air and light of heaven!—O, sin is a hard master! All its service is a “service with rigour.” “The way of transgressors is hard.”
(4.) A stop was put to the industries of life. Trade ceased on the public highways. There could be no commerce. Intercourse of one part of the country with another was completely blocked. The land too must have ceased to be tilled, and the ordinary harvests would be nowhere. Famine must have begun to stare them in the face. The acquisition of wealth too would be impossible, and, in the case of the great majority, the means of supporting life would be reduced to a minimum.
(5.) There was no peaceful enjoyment of life. “The villages” or unwalled towns ceased out of the land. Those models of peaceful homes which are scattered everywhere over our own land, whether in the valley, on the plain, or on the mountain-side, especially in sequestered districts, had one after one in that country to be forsaken, because of the ruthless assaults made on their inoffensive occupants by men of marauding instincts. Where pillage, and possibly wanton barbarities became general, it was impossible to live without protection. Hence, villages, hamlets, and country districts were deserted, and the refuge of walled towns was universally sought. The whole nation had to live in hiding, or shut up within walls and gates. Quietude throughout the land was destroyed. The pleasures of home-life were unknown. There was no home at home.
(6.) There was no repose from trouble. It was a state of perpetual alarm. The enemy’s grasp was on the nation’s throat. “War was brought to the very gates.” They had “to fight for their altars and their firesides.” The enemy was a stranger to pity. The spectacles of family suffering that ever met the eye made no impression on hearts of stone; and there was no relaxation of the iron grip. From day to day, and all the year round, thus it was with poor crushed Israel, whose life was one continual moan. It was not life, but a living death. The dreams of night, and the waking realities of day, spoke only of wretchedness; while a dull leaden cloud of despair seemed to close over their national prospects for ever.
(7.) To crown all, there was a general spirit of trembling. The manhood was taken out of them, and no wonder. They had become a nation of cowards. There was panic everywhere. Not a single hand was raised to grasp a shield or spear among so many as forty thousand of Israel. It was an absolute prostration of the national energies. They were chicken-hearted, crestfallen cowed and spiritless—a community of poltroons and dastards.
“The Spirit of the Lord had departed from them, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled them.” To depart from the Lord and “observe lying vanities, is to forsake our own mercies.” When the Lord departs from a soul, it becomes stricken with fear, and trembling seizes upon it. “The strong man becomes as tow.” The mighty is “clothed with trembling.” Witness the great ones from whom God has departed (1Sa_13:7; Dan_5:6; Act_24:25). What a striking commentary does this pass of Israel’s history read on the sure words of prophecy uttered, respecting the evil result of their forsaking the Lord God of their fathers! “The Lord shall give thee a trembling heart, and sorrow of mind. Thy life shall hang in doubt before the, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart, and for the sight of thine eyes.”
5. Thanksgiving for a great Deliverance. Jdg_5:1-11. This is the entire purpose of the song. When the deliverance had been accomplished, “then sang Deborah,” etc. And the subject of this strong heart-utterance is stated to be “to praise the Lord for the avenging of Israel”—The singer is most explicit in stating the object in view. “I will sing unto the Lord—I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.” Again she breaks out, “Bless ye the Lord.” The people who are delivered “shall rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord,” etc. It was customary for the sweet singers of Israel, with David in the foreground, to call on the whole people at fitting times to give thanks to the God of Israel for His great mercies to His people (Psa_105:1-2; Psa_106:1-2; Psa_107:1-3; Psa_111:1-2; Psa_118:1-4). Indeed, the whole Book of Psalms is a prolonged exercise of thanksgiving and praise to God for mercies received, along with confession of sin, and petition for Divine blessings. Such “praise is comely” in God’s redeemed ones. The merest glance at God’s acts towards those whom He has delivered from sin and wrath justifies the expectation of never-ceasing gratitude. “While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have any being.” The obedience of the Christian life, as regards means, springs entirely from this source; for it is out of gratitude for the great blessings of redemption, so freely and richly bestowed, that every believer runs in the ways of new obedience. The gratitude shown here was genuine and acceptable to God, because:—
(1.) It was spontaneous. It was not required by any command given, but it came unbidden from hearts overflowing with thankful feelings for the mercies received. This spontaneous character of the thanksgiving made it come up as a savour of sweet incense unto the Lord; for gratitude, if not a free-will offering, is nothing. In the present case, it was full-hearted and fresh; it was warm and enthusiastic; it was suitable for the occasion, and thoroughly natural. It was altogether up to the mark; for the heart comes out in every line, and, though more than three thousand years have passed since this anthem was first sung, it seems as fervid and glowing as if it had been sung but yesterday.
(a). Nature of gratitude. Gratitude is love responding to love. It is the magnetism of love. When a generous heart magnetises another heart with something of its own nature, the effect comes out in the form of gratitude,
“Which makes each generous impulse of our nature,
Warm into ecstasy.”
It is the offspring of goodness; the acknowledgment of love’s conquests; the homage which the heart presents at the footstool of loving kindness. It is something more excellent than ordinary obedience. The latter is virtue in the positive degree; gratitude is the same in the superlative degree of comparison. In ordinary obedience, the will is tranquil and moderate in its action; in gratitude, it is enthusiastic and overflowing.
(b). Hence the superior excellence of the kind of obedience which the gospel of Christ produces. No obedience is so free, for it springs entirely from the heart’s own promptings. None is so powerful, for it has in it the full force of the will. None is so unconstrained, for it needs no command to call it forth. None is so sure in its action, for it is instinctive and irrepressible. None is so living and buoyant, for the deepest and finest strings of the soul are touched, and the highest electric life, of which it is susceptible, is elicited. Hence no offerings are more acceptable to God than the outpourings of grateful hearts. This is the kind of worship rendered in heaven by the redeemed ones before the throne; and no incense is so grateful and precious, as the boundless gratitude which every one of that vast company expresses in honour of the Redeemer’s name. Even among fellowmen nothing is more pleasant to receive than genuine gratitude;
“Sweet is the breath of vernal shower
The bees’ collected treasures sweet,
Sweet music’s melting fall, but sweeter yet
The still small voice of gratitude.”
(2). It was religious. This is something far deeper than patriotism. That Deborah and Barak with all the willing-hearted volunteers whom they led were sterling patriots, we cannot for a moment doubt. The very dust of their country was dear to them, and had that been the only impulse under which they acted, everyone in his place would, we believe, have well earned the reputation of a hero. But they felt they were fighting for the cause of their God on the earth, and the promotion of His glory in the eyes of the nations, much more than their country’s renown, was the motive that stirred their hearts. Deeper was the patriotism of the Jew than the representative of any other nationality, for his country was a gift specially bestowed by the hand of his God in token of very peculiar favour (Gen_17:4-8). It was therefore a sacred land, and on it the Divine blessing was supposed continually to rest, unless in so far as it might be prevented by the people’s sins. It was the chosen theatre for the display of the Divine perfections on the earth. It was occupied by God’s church—the people with whom He was in covenant relationship as His own people. It was therefore “God’s own land.” (Psa_85:1; Psa_79:1). It was a “Holy Land.” The patriotism of the Israelite therefore had necessarily much of the religious element in it, in a manner and on grounds, which the member of no other nation had. Yet it was ever the glory of the Divine name, to which the true people of God had regard, as that which was most dear to them in all the anxieties they cherished, and in all the sacrifices they made. Their thanksgiving was strictly a religious act.
(3). It proceeded from a due sense of the magnitude of the favour shown.—Knowledge to appreciate the excellence of the Divine blessings, and the loving-kindness of God in bestowing them, is ever regarded in Scripture as a root principle of religious character. “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.” (Psa_64:9; Psa_111:2; Psa_34:8). It is set forth as one of the chief barriers to all real improvement, that the professing people of God were so often “a people of no understanding—sottish children—my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Comp. Psa_73:20-21; Psa_94:7-10; Psa_32:8-9; Psa_78:34-35, also 11, 42; and Isa_11:3).
That the faithful Israelites fully appreciated the value of the Divine favour shown them in this deliverance appears in the whole character of the effusion. This is proved indeed by the very fact, that it should have been determined to hand down the memory of the event in the form of a national ode to be sung to latest generations. The stirring nature of the composition too shows not only a state of warmth, but even of exultation. Such appreciative worship is in the highest degree glorifying to God. They regarded this deliverance as:—
(a). Coming from God’s own hand. The nation was so spirit broken, that no thought of resistance arose among the people themselves. The idea of raising a breakwater, to the over-running flood came from Deborah, and to her as a prophetess of the Lord, it was communicated by the God into whose ear so many penitential confessions on the one hand, and cries for help on the other, came up. “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” It was His Spirit that rested on Deborah, and that passed from Deborah to Barak—and from these again, first to the princes, and then to all the willing ones among the people. The scheme of obtaining emancipation by means of a battle was of the Lord. The proclamation to assemble for the fight was His—the place of rendezvous was of His appointment, and the rule to be followed in selecting soldiers for the army, in choosing only the willing-minded, was expressly ordered by Him. The spirit of dauntless courage and assured confidence of success, which animated the little army of Barak, was infused into them by Him; while the mighty forces of nature which awoke so suddenly, and so marvellously, against the formidable host of Sisera, producing an absolute panic among their ranks, were all arrayed against them by the God of Israel. Thus it ever is with the truly pious. They see God’s wisdom planning and directing, and God’s hand controlling and bending all things to carry out His own mind and will. And to Him, in every event, they ascribe all the praise.
(b). They regarded it as most unexpected. “If the Lord should open the windows of heaven, might such a thing be?” Nothing seemed more remote from all bounds of possibility than the lifting up of the heavy incubus which now pressed on the hearts and shoulders of the people. The population generally must have been terribly thinned (Jdg_5:13), and the male population appear to have been degraded to the condition of slaves, while all spirit of heroism seemed to have died out in Israel. It was a sky full of dull leaden clouds, and not a rift could be seen anywhere to relieve the gloom.
(c). They felt it was most opportune. Things were going from bad to worse. It was impossible that the energies of the nation could much longer bear the strain to which they were put. When all commerce had disappeared, and the fields had practically ceased to be tilled; when the whole people were shut up as prisoners within walled towns, or lived in hiding among rocks and caves, with the most precarious means of subsistence, it was inevitable that starvation should soon have come over all the homes of Israel. The sands of the national glass were fast running out, and that once mighty people, before whom all the nations of Canaan fell, were on the verge of becoming extinguished, through the want of the means of subsistence, and the savage cruelties of an iron-hearted tyrant. “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now might Israel say, when men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick when their wrath was kindled against us; the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul; then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler.”
(d). They realised it as most complete. The defeat of Sisera was not only a rout—it was a ruin. The elements of nature were awakened against them in such fury, that it was impossible for them for a moment to stand their ground. It was as if the chaff should try to make headway against the whirlwind. They fell before the sword of Barak and his heroes as sheep decoyed to the slaughter. It became proverbial in the songs of Israel to say, “Do to them as to Sisera, as to Jabin at the brook of Kishon; who perished at Endor; they became as dung for the earth.” “The river of Kishon swept them away. That ancient river—the river Kishon.” The result of this overthrow was not only to weaken perceptibly the power of the oppressor, but absolutely to extinguish it. The sky of Israel was cleared in a single day. Not a cloud—not a speck—remained. Israel was free as on the day when they stood on the farther shores of the Red Sea and saw the Egyptians, their oppressors, dead on the strand. “The Lord’s work is a perfect work.”
(e). This deliverance was reckoned invaluable. It not only put a stop to the pining away of the nation, and acted as a balm to their patriotic feelings, but it preserved the existence of the only people in all the earth, that were worshippers of the true God, and bore witness to His name among the nations. Had that people been swept away, the whole earth would have presented an unrelieved spectacle of idol worship. Degenerate as Israel had become, there was still a remnant among them who “feared the Lord and thought upon His name.” For the sake of the few He would not destroy the many. Also, the system of sanctuary service, which had been established among this people, still continued, though greatly neglected and overlapped with many incongruities. It was of vital importance to preserve that system. And of the utmost consequence it was to keep up a channel, by which God’s truth and God’s promises might be handed down to latest generations. Thus the gratitude of these pious singers sprung from a due appreciation of the greatness of the mercy shown by this deliverance.
(4.) It was a voluntary tribute of the heart’s love. There was no constraint put on any one to get up such an effusion as this. No command was issued. It rose unbidden from hearts that felt it to be a relief to pour out their feelings in thanksgiving. Every singer seemed to say, “Bless the Lord, O, my soul; and all that is within me bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O, my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” “My mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips—I will praise Thee with my whole heart. I will remember Thy wonders of old; I will meditate on all Thy works and talk of Thy doings.” “How excellent is Thy loving kindness, O God! How precious are Thy thoughts to me. How great is the sum of them,” etc. And again he says, “I will praise Thee among the people; I will sing unto Thee among the nations. For Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Remember the marvellous works that He hath done—His wonders and the judgments of His mouth.” “I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplication. Blessed be my rock; the God of my salvation be exalted.” “She loved much; for to whom much is forgiven the same loveth much.”
(5.) It was the confession of a deep obligation. The people of that day felt it was as life from the dead to have so great a deliverance wrought for them. Between the murky gloom of the midnight sky, and the brightness of noon day the contrast was not greater, than the changed face of things produced by the destruction of the oppressor, from what the land groaned under before. All that realised it seemed prepared to say: “What shall we render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards us? Who remembered us in our low estate, for His mercy endureth for ever; and redeemed us from our enemies, for His mercy endureth for ever!” “O Lord, I am thy servant; truly I am thy servant—thou hast loosed my bonds.” “I will publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all His wonderful works.” “We will bless the Lord from this time forth, and for evermore” “I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and His great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He hath bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His loving kindnesses.”
Remarks.
1. Gratitude is often at a great discount. One says: “We write our blessings on the water, but our distresses on the rock.” “There was a little city and few men within it; and there came a great king against it and besieged it, and built bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor, wise man, who by his wisdom delivered the city,; yet no man remembered that same poor man. “As the Dead Sea drinks in the Jordan, and is never the sweeter, and as the ocean receives all the rivers, yet is never the fresher; so men receive the river of God’s daily mercies, and yet remain entirely insensible of them, and ungrateful for them. The heath in the desert needs rain far more than the water-lily. But let the showers come down upon the heath—there is no motion, no sign that the shower is welcomed, or is working. On the other hand, the moment the rain begins to fall on the water-lily, though it is rooted in water, and has its chief element in it, its leaves seem to be clapping their hands, and the whole plant rejoices in the falling of the rain.
2. Necessity of constant thanksgiving. It was a beautiful tradition among the Jews: That when God created the world, He asked the angels what they thought of the work of His hands. One of them replied, that it was so vast and so perfect, that only one thing was wanting to it, namely, that there should be created a clear, mighty, and harmonious voice, which should fill all the quarters of the world incessantly with its sweet sound, day and night, to offer up thanksgiving to its Maker for His incomparable blessings. “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” “Give thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submit yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” Psa_145:2; Psa_35:28; Psa_71:8; Psa_71:15; Psa_71:24; Psa_116:2; Psa_104:33; Psa_34:1; Psa_81:6.
3. Manner of showing gratitude. “A rich youth in Rome had suffered from a dangerous illness. On recovering his health, his heart was filled with gratitude, and he exclaimed, ‘O thou all-sufficient Creator! could man recompense thee, how willingly would I give thee all my possessions!’ Hermas, the herdsman, heard this, and said to the rich youth, ‘All good gifts come from above; thither thou canst send nothing. Come, follow me.’ He took him to a hut where was nothing but misery and wretchedness. The father lay on a bed of sickness, the mother wept, the children were destitute of clothing, and crying for bread. Hermas said, ‘See here an altar for the sacrifice; see here the Lord’s brethren and representatives.’ The youth assisted them bountifully; and the poor people called him an angel of God. Hermas smiled and said, ‘Thus turn always thy grateful countenance, first to heaven and then to earth.’ ” [Krummacher.]
4. The true spirit of gratitude. Two elements especially enter into this spirit. The one is to have low thoughts of one’s self. This was exemplified by Jacob when he said, “I am less than the least of all thy mercies.” The other is to realise, that as guilty creatures, we deserve wrath not favours. (1Ti_1:12-16.) A mind that is educated to gratitude, and has become healthfully sensitive to manifestations of the Divine goodness thus expresses itself:—
“When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view I’m lost,
In wonder, love and praise.”
“Looking in through the patched, broken window of an humble cabin one day, a minister saw a poor gray-haired, bent son of toil, at a rude table, with hands raised to God, and his eyes fixed on some crusts of bread with a cup of water, in all humility and contentment exclaiming. This, and Jesus Christ too! This, and Jesus Christ too!” [Guthrie.]
COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS.—Jdg_5:1-11
I. No memorials are really lasting, but such as are erected to the glory of God.
1. Monuments in honour of human daring when the purpose is pure and noble, as in the case of the patriot. or in honour of great and noble deeds which benefit human society, or which reveal virtues that belong to the social life of man with man, have their place, and are universally held to be worthily reared. Yet how few even of these go down through the centuries! With regard to the mass of the great ones of the earth, who have earned distinction at the hands of their fellow mortals, it is by an extravagant figure of speech that they are said to be immortalised. The verdict of the really immortal book holds good, “all the glory of man is as the flower of grass.” Monuments of every kind erected by the hand of man, whether by kings or princes, to immortalise themselves, or by communities for the glory of distinguished citizens, gradually crumble under touch of the hand of time, so that not only are many swept entirely away, but those reared in the past which still survive, are found only in a state of ruins. They do not serve the purpose so much of commemorating glory, as that of intimating that the glory is departed.
2. These monuments were fading memorials of subjects of fading interest. They all belong to the category of man’s relations to his fellow man, and therefore must be limited in duration. Man himself is short-lived, and necessarily his aureola must soon fade.
“For what is Life? An hour-glass on the run,
A mist retreating from the morning sun,
A busy, bustling, still-repeated dream.
It’s length? A minute’s pause, a moment’s thought.
And happiness? A bubble on the stream
That in the act of seizing shrinks to nought.”
It is only when man begins to work, or to live for the glory of God, that he becomes really immortal, and that his fame, as well as himself, live for ever. God will not give His glory to another, and He will see to it, that, under His providence, all the glory of man shall sooner, or later be abased.
3. But the ode of Deborah and Barak must live. Its object is not merely to record the stirring events of the battlefield, or to celebrate the heroism of the actors themselves; it is not to speak of stars and medals or fresh titles of distinction conferred on the handful of heroes that poured down from Mount Tabor when the signal was given. But that which imparts a deathless interest to this song, and merits for it a place on the page of the national history to latest generations, is, that here we have another proof of God’s covenant love to His people, a fresh illustration of His faithful shepherd care in watching over their interests, His jealousy in saving them from the hand of the enemy, and His making use of the events of their history anew to illustrate the glory of His own name in all the earth. These considerations raise the subject of this song to an elevation far above that which belongs to the most famous battlefields of ancient history. The names of the mighty captains that led the hosts of Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylon, or Persia to battle, are already for the most part in oblivion, while the far humbler names of Deborah and Barak are engraven for everlasting remembrance in the Book of God, and shall not grow dim while sun and moon endure.
4. This ode also has a connection with the coming Messiah. The deliverance here celebrated was literally a redemption of the church of God from the consequences of her sins. It was one of many deliverances which God wrought out for His church, as preliminaries to the glorious and eternal redemption which the Messiah was to accomplish for that church when He should appear in “the fulness of time.” It was the kindling of a new light in the firmament of Israel’s history, the appearance of an additional star in the dark night, to keep alive hope in the heart of the desponding church, a star which would shine on till it brought in Messiah’s day.
II. God’s dealings with His Church are worthy of the widest publicity.
A place is given to this song in the only book in the world which God acknowledges to be His, and the circulation of which is destined to cover the earth as the waters cover the seabed. It shall, therefore, become known through this song to the inhabitants of the whole world down to the end of time, what great things God did for His people in this age of great declension and suffering. And this is ever the wish of the Lord of the church, to glorify Himself in the eyes of the world by means of His church, for even “unto principalities and powers in heavenly places is made known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” What took place in this dark and distant age, though but a fragment of history, becomes of the greatest importance, when looked at as a link in the chain of God’s dealings with His Church. It repeats, in the background, the story of the Divine faithfulness and love, which is elsewhere exhibited so conspicuously in the brighter pages of the church’s history. It shows that His Church is loved by Him in all stages of its history, that “His work in it and towards it is honourable and glorious,” that “He is ever mindful of His covenant, and in due time sends redemption to His people.” The history of God’s dealings with His Church hangs together as a whole, and the same principles of truth and righteousness are conspicuous in every part.
III. Sin terribly weakens all that give way to it.
Israel had now for many years been a spectacle to the world of a people that had been forsaken of their God. How completely had the strength gone out of the nation! It was as if a paralysis had seized upon it, and every faculty had become inert; or as if a giant, with brawny arms and muscular limbs, had sunk down to the diminutive form of a sickly dwarf. That which had been a Samson among the nations was now shorn of its locks. All that have to do with sin become terribly weakened, for—
1. God’s frown is upon such FROM WITHOUT. The external aspect of His Providence, sooner or later, is against them, for sin must always bring the frown of the Ruler of Providence. That frown may find expression in a thousand ways. For all the creatures are in God’s hand, and He can move them at will to act, consciously or unconsciously, the part of enemies to those who are the objects of His displeasure. When a man’s ways displease the Lord, He can make even his bosom friends to be at enmity with him. He can put a lion in his path, and should he flee from the lion, He has a bear ready to meet him, or if he go into the house, and lean his hand on the wall, He commands the serpent to bite him. When David sinned, God raised up enemies round about him “like bees,” and as numerous and as wasp-like in their nature (Psa_3:1; Psa_118:11-12). When Solomon sinned, his powerful kingdom was rent in twain (1Ki_11:9-13); and adversaries were raised up against him, notwithstanding all his prosperity (1Ki_11:14; 1Ki_11:23; 1Ki_11:26).
Events too are turned against the sinner. Loose as events seem to hang on one another, they are yet all linked together in a chain, and even heathen poets tell us that the highest link of that chain is fastened to Jupiter’s chair—that the chain may wave and shake this way or that way, but that the hand that holds it is steady, and the eye that guides it is infallible. The brightest prospects of the sinner may end in disappointment; his most skilfully-laid plans may be defeated; and all his prosperity may be turned into adversity, by a single turn of the wheel. God will set His face against that man, and follow him for evil, and not for good. When “he flees from the iron weapon, the bow of steel shall strike him through. The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him. Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet. His strength shall be hunger-bitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.” He puts snares in all his mercies, crosses in all his comforts, and, in the expressive language of Scripture, “curses his blessings.” “There is no peace for the wicked.” (Psa_37:1-2; Isa_45:9.)
2. God takes away the sources of their strength FROM WITHIN. When God fights against a man it is not only in the way of meeting him outwardly face to face, but He also attacks him equally and more formidably from within. He dries up the sinews of his strength; He takes courage out of his heart and nerve out of his arm. He goes close up to the rebel and attacks him at the very seat of his strength. When He fought against Pharaoh and his host, He not only opposed them with the waters of the Red Sea, but He “pulled off their chariot-wheels, so that they drove them heavily.”
Israel had now become “a silly dove without heart.” Its strength was emasculated. When they went out to battle against the enemy, not only were all the circumstances and accidents of the occasion turned against them by the overruling of Divine Providence, but their resources within themselves were withdrawn—their spirit of heroism, their skill in devising expedients, and their harmony of action. A spirit of poltroonery seized upon them; their princes became as children, and the men of might did not find their hands. God whispered to conscience, His vice-gerent in the the soul, and they were pursued with terrors, even as the dried leaves are tossed by the wind. When their stalwart foes met them in the field, they fell, as if the rock on which they leaned were taken away from behind them, and they were swept away by the resistless fury of the hostile wave (Deu_28:64-65).
3. Examples of the weakening effects of sin. When Israel took of the “accursed thing” they began to flee before their enemies. When Samson sinned, his locks were shorn and his strength went from him. Ahab, though an absolute monarch upon the throne, yet felt himself weak, and the nation brought to the brink of ruin, because of his vile idolatries. Though ably succoured by the energetic Jezebel, he yet felt himself so weak, that he durst not lift a finger, or move his tongue, against the one man that stood forth to vindicate the character of Jehovah. When Gehazi treacherously took the money and raiment of Naaman to the dishonour of Israel’s God, he became enfeebled for life, for he went out from the prophet’s presence a leper white as snow. When Saul disobeyed the commandment of the Lord, notwithstanding his goodly appearance and his first successes, he began to show a quaking heart in face of the formidable Philistines. Before Goliath he was dismayed and greatly afraid. After shedding much innocent blood, and wickedly thirsting to take the life of the son of Jesse, though divinely anointed to occupy the throne of Israel, his terrors so increased, as his sins increased, that he abjectly submits to ask guidance in his dilemma from a woman with a familiar spirit, and finally he rushes on to the commission of suicide. When King Herod had barbarously murdered the holy man of God, peace forsook his pillow, and the victim of his violence ever floated before his eyes, as a spectre of which he could not get quit, so that when he heard of Jesus he said, “It is not Jesus—it is John, risen from the dead!” though, being a Sadducee, he believed in no resurrection. When the band of soldiers from the priests and scribes came to take Jesus, at the slightest whisper of His voice they “went backward and fell to the ground.”
IV. Dark nights are followed by bright mornings in the history of God’s people.
At the beginning of God’s dealings with His people, we are told that “God heard their groaning (under Pharaoh), and remembered His covenant.” This is the secret of all that is peculiar in the Divine dealings with them. Here we find a differentiating principle. Other nations were left one by one to perish. This nation, after many a dark night, has always a morning of joy to succeed it. They have no thorns without roses; no tears shed without being followed by smiles. Threatenings are indeed fulfilled, but promises are also remembered. When the tempest has blown hard for a while, the sky again clears up, and the sun shines with wonted warmth and splendour. The life of the people of God in this world is thus a perpetual paradox, as set forth in 2Co_4:8-10; and 2Co_6:8-10. For
1. There are reasons for joy as well as sorrow. They are a redeemed people, and the price is Christ’s precious blood. If their sins deserve the severest marks of the Divine displeasure, the great fact is always present before God, that for them an atonement has been made, and these very sins have already been punished for on a substitute. While the evil desert of the sins must be made manifest to their own eye, and in their bitter experience, the fulness of the Divine satisfaction found in the atonement made for them must also be impressed on them in their happy experience. The blood of His own Son is sprinkled upon them; therefore they are sacred and cannot be dealt with as refuse or castaways.
2. He has expressly promised to return to them in love when they repent. Many assurances are given to this effect throughout the whole of the prophecies. (Jer_3:12-15; Jer_30:18-20; also, 8, 9; Hos_14:1-5; Joe_2:12-20).
3. They are brought into endearing relations to God. God will sometimes show that He regards them with a Father’s affection. “He will not be always wroth,” lest it should be supposed either that they are less loved than hated, or, that if once they were beloved, they are so now no longer. They are His children; they bear His image, however imperfectly brought out it is; they are His inheritance; they are the brethren of His Son, and “joint heirs” with that Son of all that belongs to the common Father. He cannot, therefore be always showing His anger towards them. (Psa_103:9, etc).
4. A continual turning of the back would be more than they could bear. “He remembered that they were but flesh,” etc., and “being full of compassion, He forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not.” (Psa_78:38-39, and Isa_57:16).
5. All their nights are destined soon to end in day. Whatever clouds belong to their history shall pass over their heads in time. Not one shall darken their sky in the world beyond. It is indeed needful so long as sin remains, that they should drink of the waters of Marah, and that sometimes they should “go mourning without the sun;” but it is not seemly, that they should never be allowed to taste of the first fruits of the land of promise, while travelling through the wilderness on to the promised rest. It must be seen that they are the beloved of God, destined to sing and to shine for ever, and therefore objects so tenderly dealt with, that a kind voice must now and again break through the dark clouds saying, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” If the “days of their mourning shall soon be ended,” we may expect that some rifts will occasionally be seen in the clouds, to show that it is not a settled rain of sorrows which now falls upon them, but that soon there will be a breaking up, to be followed by a sunshine that shall last for ever.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain Jdg 5:1-2
Jdg 5:1-2
I. A person who thinks that a Divine lesson-book should present to us exclusively or chiefly high maxims of morality, or perfect models of character and behaviour, finds the Book of Judges a great stumbling-block. There the tribes of Israel are exhibited, not as specimens of excellence, but as disorganised and barbarous; in strife with each other, and with the nations round about. The very champions who rose up in their defence seem to indulge their vices in a more gigantic way than their fellow-men.
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We must remember this: God calls these men out that they may act as His servants, as deliverers of their country, as benefactors to mankind. So far as they yield themselves to that calling, God speaks in them and shines through them; men see His image and are raised by it to know what they are meant to be. So soon as these men begin to act and speak for themselves, to use the strength or the wisdom which God has given them on their own behalf, to set themselves up as heroes or tyrants separate from their brethren, that moment they become witnesses for God by their rebellion as they had been by their obedience; making evident the truth of their assertion that He governs the world, since if these His servants governed it without Him, they would soon make a desert of it.
II. In this fifth chapter we have this very puzzle brought before us. Deborah is an inspired woman, yet she praises the murderess Jael. The Bible does not itself applaud this act; it tells us frankly that Deborah the prophetess applauded it. At that instant all other thoughts were absorbed in joy for the rescue which she ascribed to its true source. We must not allow our reverence for Deborah to interfere with our reverence for God. We must not insist that she is right when she contradicts law-givers, prophets, apostles, and the Son of God. Since the Son of God has been manifested, the works of the devil have been manifested also; it is a monstrous contempt of God’s teaching to say that we cannot know them; an awful denial of it to say that in certain instances we may identify them with His works who has come to destroy them.
F. D. Maurice, The Patriarchs and Lawgivers of the Old Testament, p. 320.
Reference: Jdg 5:2.—J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. ii., p. 229.
Jdg 5:7-8
I. Perhaps the general idea of a village in the Bible was of a cluster of unwalled huts or houses, without a synagogue; but we may be sure that in most such places, although the priest and the building were not there, there was divine service, the knowledge of God, and the calling upon His name. A religious atmosphere invests the villages of the Bible; human life everywhere is compelled to look up, saved from looking down, from regarding life as a hopeless, grinding fate; the life of the villager is charmed from injustice, oppression, and fraud, by Divine principles taking shape in laws and enactments. God revealed Himself first to villages and villagers. The patriarchs were villagers; the great thoughts of the men who from time to time roused the nation, were born in villages, and the first notes of the Incarnation sounded over the plain in villagers’ ears.
II. Almost all the most beautiful imagery of the Hebrew Scriptures clusters round the scenery of village life; the land was full of pictures, on which faith was invited to meditate.
III. The villages of the Bible illustrate this lesson, that national wealth is not in the Divine conception the chief end and purpose of any nation. In the denunciations pronounced on Egypt and Tyre and Babylon, we learn how great, in God’s judgment, is the difference between a wealthy and a happy land.
E. Paxton Hood, Preacher’s Lantern, vol. iii., p. 31.
References: Jdg 5:11.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 763. Jdg 5:12.—Ibid., vol. vi., No. 340. Jdg 5:16.—Parker, vol. vi., p. 164; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 133. Jdg 5:20.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 352; E. J. Hardy, Faint yet Pursuing, p. 85.
Jdg 5:23
I. Many persons would say that this curse was merely a splenetic utterance of an angry woman against a town. And yet that curse was carried out completely. If then in wrath God doomed a city to punishment, yet even in that doom there is mercy, for in the curse pronounced by Deborah there was a warning to the inhabitants of the city to return from their faithlessness.
II. What, then, was the reason of the curse pronounced on Meroz? Of what was Meroz guilty? (1) The omission of a plain and positive duty. They did not join with the enemy, but they refused to help the people of God. (2) A sin of lukewarmness and carelessness. (3) Meroz let slip an opportunity; neglected a crisis in her history.
III. From the conduct of the people of Meroz we may take three great warnings: (1) Against sins of omission. (2) Against the sin of lukewarmness. (3) Against the letting slip of opportunities.
C. Hook, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 42.
Notice, first of all, that the sin for which Meroz is cursed is pure inaction. There are in all our cities a great multitude of useless men and of men perfectly contented with their uselessness. Consider some of the various points which uselessness assumes.
I. The first source of the uselessness of good men is moral cowardice. The vice is wonderfully common. The fear is concentrated on no individual, but is there not a sense of hostile or contemptuous surroundings that lies like a chilling hand upon what ought to be the most exuberant and spontaneous utterance of life? Men do not escape from their cowardice by having it proved to them that it is a foolish thing to be afraid. Nothing but the knowledge of God’s love, taking such possession of a man that his one wish and thought in life is to glorify and serve God, can liberate him from, because it makes him totally forget, the fear of man.
II. The second cause of uselessness is false humility. Humility is good when it stimulates, it is bad when it paralyses, the active powers of a man. If conscious weakness causes a man to believe that it makes no difference whether he works or not, then his humility is his curse. Remember: (1) that man judges by the size of things, God judges by their fitness; (2) that small as you think you are, you are the average size of moral and intellectual humanity; (3) that such a humility as yours comes, if you get at its root, from an over-thought about yourself, an over-sense of your own personality, and so is closely akin to pride.
III. The third cause of uselessness is indolence. There is only one permanent escape from indolence and self-indulgence; the grateful and obedient dedication to God through Christ, which makes all good work, all self-sacrifice, a privilege and joy instead of a hardship, since it is done for Him.
Phillips Brooks, The Candle of the Lord, p. 287.
I. The sin of Meroz was that it was found wanting on a great occasion, as it could not have been found wanting had it been sound at heart. (1) It failed first of all in the duty of patriotism. (2) It failed in duty towards its religion. For the cause of Israel against Jabin was not merely the cause of the country; it was the cause of the Church.
II. Meroz is never unrepresented in history. "Curse ye Meroz." The words still live. May they not be heard within the soul when a man has consciously declined that which conscience has recognised as a plain duty? A deliberate rejection of duty cannot but destroy, or at least impair most seriously, the clearness of our mental vision.
H. P. Liddon, University Sermons, 2nd series, p. 264.
References: Jdg 5:23.—W. Baird, The Hallowing of our Common Life, p. 70; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. viii., p. 289; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 335.
Jdg 5:24
The main interest of this narrative lies with a woman. Deborah is one of the most striking figures in Jewish history. She was the leader and guide of her countrymen in the effort which restored to them peace and freedom, civil and religious. She was the judge who awarded praise or blame to those who had been false or true to the cause of God and of Israel. At the close of her song she utters an emphatic and extraordinary blessing upon Jael.
I. Jael’s action on the one hand, and Deborah’s inspired judgment on the other, raise questions to which no reflecting mind can be insensible. (1) We cannot get over the difficulty by saying that Deborah’s utterance about Jael is not inspired; that it is only a page of dark human passion occurring in a generally inspired poem. If Deborah’s blessing of Jael is uninspired, it is hard to claim inspiration reasonably for any part of her song; and if Deborah’s song is not inspired, it is difficult to say what other portions of the Book of Judges are. (2) In weighing Deborah’s language, we have to consider, first of all, that Sisera’s life was, in Deborah’s judgment, rightly forfeited. She speaks of him as the Lord’s enemy. And what Deborah knew about him, Jael knew also. Neither of them had any doubt that his life was justly forfeited. The question could only arise as to Jael’s method of taking it. (3) Let us notice that Deborah’s language about Jael is relative language. It is relative to the conduct of other persons than Jael, and it is relative to Jael’s own circumstances as a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel. Jael was blessed among "women in the tent," women, that is, who led such a life as that of the wandering Arabs beyond the confines of Israel. Deborah contrasts the poor heathen woman of the desert with the recreant sailors of Asher and Dan, and the herdsmen of Reuben, and the townsmen of Meroz. She projects Jael’s fervid loyalty into luminous prominence, where it stands out in telling rebuke to the indifference of those who had far greater advantages.
II. Notice three points in conclusion. (1) The equitableness of Deborah’s judgment of Jael. (2) Note that this history would be sorely misapplied, if we were to gather from it that a good motive justifies any action that is known to be bad. Jael is only eulogised because she lived in an age and circumstances which exonerated what was imperfect or wrong in her act. (3) Note the presence of unsuspected imperfections in all human endeavour even when God graciously accepts it.
H. P. Liddon, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 65 (see also Penny Pulpit, No. 1159).
References: Jdg 5:24.—T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. vi., p. 57; J. B. Mozley, Ruling Ideas in Early Ages, pp. 126, 153; Bishop Woodford, Occasional Sermons, p. 161; J. Percival, Some Helps for School Life, p. 124.
Jdg 5:31
What the Old Testament especially teaches us is this, that zeal is as essentially a duty of all God’s rational creatures as prayer and praise, faith and submission; and surely, if so, especially of sinners whom He has redeemed. That zeal consists in a strict attention to His commands, an intense thirst for the advancement of His glory, a carelessness of obloquy or reproach or persecution, a forgetfulness of friend and relative, nay, hatred (so to say) of all that is naturally dear to us, when He says, "Follow me." A certain fire of zeal, showing itself not by force and blood, but as really and certainly as if it did, is a duty of Christians in the midst of all that excellent overflowing charity which is the highest Gospel grace, and the fulfilling of the second table of the Law.
I. Of course it is absolutely sinful to have any private enemies. When David speaks of hating God’s enemies, it was under circumstances when keeping friends with them would have been a desertion of the truth. We hate sinners by putting them out of our sight as if they were not, by annihilating them in our affections. But in no case are we to allow ourselves resentment or malice.
II. It is quite compatible with the most earnest zeal to offer kind offices to God’s enemies when in distress. God "maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
III. The Christian keeps aloof from sinners in order to do them good. He does so in the truest and most enlarged charity.
A true friend is he who speaks out, and when a man sins, shows him that he is displeased at the sin. The Psalmist speaks in this spirit when after praying God to persecute the ungodly with His tempest, he adds "fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Thy name, O Lord."
J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iii., p. 173.
Reference: Jdg 5:31.—J. Van Oosterzee, Year of Salvation, vol. ii., p. 411.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Deborah's Triumph Song
Deborah's Triumph Song
This song celebrates the victory of Judges 4 but from the point of view, not of a later annalist, but of a contemporary poet—very possibly (though see Jdg_5:12) the prophetess herself. The lyric outburst is one of the finest in any language; its style (though many of the words are now very obscure) is typical of the best Hebrew poetry. Its independence of Judges 4 may be inferred from the variations it exhibits. Sisera is represented as king: the majority of the tribes, not Zebulun and Naphtali only, are summoned: and the manner of Sisera's death is different. It says much for the fidelity of the compiler that he did not attempt to 'edit' these apparent discrepancies.
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1-5. Introductory.
1. For the avenging of Israel] RV 'for that the leaders took the lead in Israel.' The Hebrew word most probably has to do with 'letting loose'; perhaps, 'with the streaming locks of warriors.'
3. A good instance of the 'parallelism' of Hebrew poetry; parallel, and sometimes almost identical thoughts are placed side by side. Abundant instances can be found in almost every Psalm. For the kings and princes, cp. Psa_2:2; Hab_1:10.
4. Seir] the mountainous region which extends from the E. of the Dead Sea to the head of the Red Sea. The northern half of it was inhabited by Edom. Towards the southern end of it is Sinai (Jdg_5:5). Jehovah is still thought of as dwelling in the desert, where He had first revealed Himself to Israel, and where He delivered them from Egypt. Cp. Psa_18:7; Isa_64:1; Hab_3:10.
6-11. The Oppression.
6. Shamgar] mentioned (if he is the same man) in Jdg_3:31 here, the reference can hardly be to a Judge and deliverer. So with Jael; perhaps another individual is intended; or the correct name has fallen out of the text.
Unoccupied] Because of the insecurity of the country.
7. The villages] RV 'rulers'; the word occurs in v. 11, and probably means 'peasantry.' The great trade routes were empty, and even rural life stagnated.
8. The first two clauses are very obscure; the second should perhaps be 'the barley-bread failed.'
10. Speak] (RV 'tell') means properly 'meditate upon it.' Of the three classes addressed, the first consists of magistrates or leading men, the second (in judgment should be, as RV, 'on rich carpets') of the wealthy, the third of the people.
11. The words in italics, supplied by the translators, help us to make sense of this v., though they cannot be considered certain. In contrast to Jdg_5:6 there is now deep peace throughout the whole country-side.
12-23. The gathering of the tribes, and the battle.
12. Captivity] either 'thy captives' or 'thy captors'; cp. Psa_68:18; Eph_4:8.
13. RV is more probable; 'then came down a remnant of the nobles and of the people.' The two classes are joined as in Jdg_5:2 and Jdg_5:9.
14. RV 'out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek.' This seems to suggest that Amalek once possessed the land of Ephraim; but see on Jdg_12:15. The largest and smallest tribes are mentioned together, as in Hos_5:8. Machir] a clan of Manasseh (apparently used here for the whole tribe) which is generally connected with Grilead. Pen of the writer] RV 'marshal's staff'; the 'writer' is the officer who musters the troops.
15. He was sent] RV 'into the valley they' (the men of Issachar) 'rushed forth at his feet.' Reuben dwelt in N. Moab, E. of the Dead Sea; in the later history the tribe is never heard of, as, from this v., is not surprising. For the divisions] RV 'by the watercourses' (so in Jdg_5:16).
17. Gilead] i.e. 'the people Uving in Gilead.' Reuben and Manasseh have been already mentioned; hence, Gad. Dan] would seem to have already migrated to the N. and to have connected itself with the seafaring Phoenicians (Jdg_18:7). For Asher, see Jdg_1:31. Breaches] RV 'creeks,' or harbours.
19. Kings] the petty chiefs of districts and towns among the Canaanites. Taanach.. Megiddo] see on Jdg_1:27.
20, 21. The very forces of nature were in alliance against Canaan. Kishon, though second to the Jordan (35 m. long from source to sea), is often, in parts, dry in the summer. Like other mountain-fed streams, it rises rapidly after a storm; here, its torrents sweep away the Canaanite chariots.
21. Strength] Abstract for concrete.
22. RV 'Then did the horsehoofs stamp by reason of the pransings.' This v., describing the battle, would seem naturally to precede Jdg_1:21., describing the rout.
23. Meroz] an unknown place. The mention of Jael immediately after suggests that the villagers of Meroz might have done what Jael did with such success.
24-27. The Death of Sisera.
24. Sisera, according to the code of the times, on entering Jael's tent, was entitled to protection. Could a prophetess, it has been asked, invoke a blessing on an act of sheer treachery? (cp. Jdg_4:17). There may have been extenuating circumstances of which we are ignorant; more probably the v. is simply an utterance of the poet's joy at an act without which the victory would have been imperfect, and might have proved fruitless: see Intro. § 7. Women in the tent] Bedouin women: nomads.
25, 26. These vv. say nothing about Sisera's lying down to sleep, and they suggest that he was killed in the act of drinking (note 'smote off' instead of smote through'): but (see Jdg_5:27) this is not absolutely necessary.
25. Butter] Properly sour milk or curds. Lordly dish] A bowl fit for nobles.
27. The repetition is highly effective.
28-30. Ironical representation of the expectation at Sisera's home.
28. Cried] in eager, half-anxious tones.
30. Have they not sped?] rather, 'Do they not find?'—the form of the word denotes an unfinished action, which accounts for the delay.
A damsel or two] rather, 'A slave-girl, two slave girls, for each brave man'. Prey] RV 'spoil.' Needlework on both sides] means two pieces of needlework (for each man). RV 'embroidery.'
31. Final prayer. The last clause is added by the editor.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain The Song of Deborah and Barak
CHAPTER 5
The Song of Deborah and Barak
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1. The praise of Jehovah (Jdg 5:1-5)
2. The condition of the people and their deliverance (Jdg 5:6-11)
3. The celebration of the victory and the victors (Jdg 5:12-22)
4. The fate of the enemy (Jdg 5:23-31)
This is one of the prophetic songs of the Bible. It is full of the fire of passion and enthusiasm, reflecting the character of the woman through whom the deliverance had been wrought. It has been classed with the barbaric outbursts of the battle-hymns and odes of triumph of heathen nations, likened to some wild chant of a victor, whose blood-thirst has been quenched in the cruel overthrow of his enemies. Such estimates of this song, so often made by the critics of the Bible, are incorrect. Deborah speaks as a prophetess. She begins with ascribing praise to Jehovah; she ends with Jehovah. This prophetic outburst is marked by limitations. She has no glimpse of the final victory which is mentioned in other songs of triumph, and especially in the Psalms. There are phrases which the Holy Spirit utters through Deborah, which He used in other prophetic songs. The following passages of Scripture may be compared with Deborah’s words and will be helpful in the closer study of this chapter. Exo 15:1-9; Deu 32:1-3; Deu 32:16-17; Psalm 67:1-4, 8, 11, 34- 35; Psa 83:9-10; Hab 3:1-4; Psa 18:7; Psa 77:11-12; Luk 1:28; Luk 1:71-74.
While all this is true and we do not forget that Deborah was the chosen instrument, raised up to effect the great deliverance, we also must recognize the strong human element which is so prominent. One must beware of giving to the deeds done, especially to the deed of Jael in its detail, divine sanction and endorsement. It was an act of courage and of faith; she was moved by faith and that faith led her to kill Sisera, the enemy of Israel.
“The act of Jael, who smote a nail into the temples of the sleeping Sisera, does not claim our approbation; still, when we estimate the character of the act, the extenuating circumstances are entitled to attention--the times in which she lived, her ardent and enthusiastic devotion to the cause of Israel, the general and glowing hatred of the tyrannical oppressor of the people, etc. If such considerations are allowed to plead in favor of a Charlotte Corday, much more appropriately do they vindicate the act of a Jael. The same remark applies to the act of Ehud, which, according to our moral principles, was an assassination worthy of reprobation alone.” (J.H. Kurtz, Sacred History)
Meroz is especially mentioned (verse 23). Deborah speaks with authority then, and has her message from the Angel of the Lord. He said: “Curse ye, Meroz, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.” Meroz might have helped, but they lived there in luxuries. Meroz means “built of cedars”; they dwelt in palaces of cedars and lived in ease, unconcerned about the condition of their brethren. And the angel of the Lord said that they did not call up to the help of the Lord. The indifference they manifested in not helping their brethren is thus charged as not helping the Lord against the mighty. As in the New Testament so here the Lord identifies Himself with His suffering people. God deliver His people today from the indifference of Meroz, which is high treason against the Lord and His cause!
Verses 24-31 are a vivid description of what took place. The mother of Sisera is seen awaiting the return of her victorious son. She expects nothing but good and her wise ladies are with her. It is a remarkable irony. Thus all the enemies of Jehovah will perish, while for those who love Him there is glory and rest in store. Deborah could only express a longing that the enemies might perish, and those that love Him be as the sun in might and splendour. It was her prayer. We know more through the full light of prophecy how the enemies of God will perish and the glory shall be for those who love Him.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Glory and Power of Israel
The Glory and Power of Israel
v. 1. Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day, the song having been composed by Deborah in celebration of the great victory, saying,
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v. 2. Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves, literally, "for the free exhibition of warlike valor in Israel," namely, when the people with their leaders wholly devoted themselves to God. and hazarded their lives in the strength of this faith, "for the willing war-service of the people, praise Jehovah. " To God alone all glory and honor shall ever be given.
v. 3. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes, namely, all those of the heathen nations round about; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel, literally, "I to Jehovah, I will sing, will play to Jehovah, the God of Israel," her song demanding all the more attention since she is a prophetess filled with the, Spirit of God. After this inspiring introduction the singer reminds the hearers of some of the great deeds of God in the past.
v. 4. Lord, when Thou wentest out of Seir, when Thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, namely, when He prepared for the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, His coming at that time being compared to the rising of a mighty thunderstorm in the East, in the highlands of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. Cf Exo 19:16; Hab 3:10.
v. 5. The mountains melted from before the Lord, flowed away, as it were, by reason of mighty earthquakes, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel, for it was there that the disturbance was concentrated. Psa 97:5. After this rehearsal of God’s wonderful majesty, Deborah pictures the distress of Israel before the victory just gained.
v. 6. In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, who proved himself a hero in a local attack on the Philistines, Jdg 3:31, in the days of Jael, even though this heroic woman was then already living, yet Israel as a whole was in a miserable plight, the highways were unoccupied, the people of Israel had ceased to use them for fear of their enemies, and the travelers walked through byways, made use of hidden paths, often with crooked and zigzag courses, in order to escape the vigilance of their enemies.
v. 7. The inhabitants of the villages ceased, the open, unfortified hamlets were deserted for fear of marauding bands, they ceased in Israel, until that I, Deborah, arose, that I arose a mother in Israel, to nurse and protect the people with motherly care.
v. 8. They, the people of Israel, chose new gods, the cause of their downfall, the reason for their misery; then was war in the gates, as a result of their having forsaken the old, the everlasting God, Deu 32:17. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? There were no warriors left to protect the country against the fury of the enemies.
v. 9. My heart is toward the governors of Israel, she was with them heart and soul, she inspired them with hope and trust in Jehovah, that offered themselves willingly among the people, devoting themselves to the cause of conquering the Lord’s enemies. Bless ye the Lord.
v. 10. Speak, ye that ride on white asses, the nobles of the people should meditate upon the deeds of the Lord,ye that sit in judgment, on splendid rugs or mats such as were used on saddles, and walk by the way, for the simple wayfarers, the poor and lowly among the people, were also included in this admonition.
v. 11. They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of His villages in Israel; then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates. This is a picture of peace times. Instead of the noise and shouting of those contending at the cisterns, anxious to get away before some band of the enemies might come along, they could now take their time and sound forth songs of praise to Jehovah for His deeds of righteousness, also in restoring freedom to the inhabitants of the open hamlets, for the people could now return without fear to the gates of their towns and cities, since the power of the oppressor was broken.
v. 12. Awake, awake, Deborah; awake, awake, utter a song; there was need of her singing her most inspiring song in imparting enthusiasm to the soldiers whom she had bidden Barak assemble. Arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive; for by fighting and leading the enemy captive he would end the conflict, thou son of Abinoam.
v. 13. Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people; the Lord made me have dominion over the mighty, literally, "Then went down a remnant of the powerful, the people; Jehovah went down for me among the mighty. " It was indeed only a small remnant of the powerful, a fraction of mighty Israel that went forth to battle with the tyrant, but the Lord was in their midst at the call of Deborah, and therefore they could freely risk the conflict.
v. 14. Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; for to this tribe belonged Joshua, the hero against the Amalekites, Exodus 17. After thee, Benjamin, among thy people; for it was Ehud of this tribe who had rendered Benjamin illustrious. Out of Machir came down governors, men who had proved themselves able leaders of the people, also in this campaign, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer, or, "the staff of him who musters well," men distinguished for leadership.
v. 15. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah, although they brought no troops, their presence proved their interest in the campaign; even Issachar, and also Barak; he was sent on foot into the valley, he had only infantry under his command, but he made his furious, overwhelming attack nevertheless. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart; the tribe of Reuben, in its habitations along its brooks in the east country, reflected so long upon the necessity and the possibility of joining the army of Barak until it was too late.
v. 16. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds to hear the bleatings of the flocks? Because the Reubenites preferred the security of their homes, they are here addressed with bitter irony. For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart; they meditated and considered the matter well enough, but they were unable to arouse themselves to action.
v. 17. Gilead abode beyond Jordan, both the tribes of Reuben and Gad seemed to consider their living east of Jordan sufficient excuse for not joining their brethren; and why did Dan, whose territory was so near, remain in ships? letting his own commercial interests take preference over the needs of his brethren. Asher continued on the seashore, dwelling securely in his harbors, and abode in his breaches, in the small bays on which the harbors were located.
v. 18. Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. The men of Zebulun willingly offered their souls, their lives, for the liberation of their country, and those of Naphtali on the heights of their mountainous territory. Their praise, therefore, is sung in this hymn. The soldiers of the Lord who freely set forth to battle with the enemies of Christ, with the weapons of the Spirit, are to be commended, but those who remain idle while their brethren are engaged in campaigns which threaten the very existence of the Church, deserve to be severely reprimanded.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On that day
On that day
The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "On the day the Israelites defeated the army of King Jabin" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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Deborah
See how you translated this name in Judges 4:4.
Barak ... Abinoam
See how you translated these names in Judges 4:6.
when the people gladly volunteer for war
"when the men agree to fight in battle"
translationWords
Israel
praise
Yahweh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.