“So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.
Parallel Translations
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“So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.
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So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
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So perish all Thine enemies, O LORD; but they that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
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Cross-references (31)
Passages linked to Judges 5:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 37:6 he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun.
- 2 Samuel 23:4 shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.’
- Psalms 19:4-5 Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
- Psalms 89:36 His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me.
- Psalms 91:14 “Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
- Daniel 12:3 Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.
- 1 Corinthians 8:3 But if anyone loves God, the same is known by him.
- James 1:12 Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.
- 1 Peter 1:8 whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory,
- Judges 3:11 The land had rest forty years, then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
- Psalms 83:9-18 Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon; who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, “Let’s take possession of God’s pasture lands.” My God, make them like tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind. As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm. Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, Yahweh. Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish; that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.
- Psalms 97:10 You who love Yahweh, hate evil! He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
- Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light that shines more and more until the perfect day.
- Hosea 6:3 Let’s acknowledge Yahweh. Let’s press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”
- Matthew 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
- James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- Psalms 97:8 Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced because of your judgments, Yahweh.
- Exodus 20:6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
- Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
- Judges 3:30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. Then the land had rest eighty years.
- Psalms 48:4-5 For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together. They saw it, then they were amazed. They were dismayed. They hurried away.
- Psalms 58:10-11 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”
- Psalms 68:1-3 Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
- Psalms 92:9 For, behold, your enemies, Yahweh, for, behold, your enemies shall perish. All the evildoers will be scattered.
- Ephesians 6:24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Amen.
- 1 John 4:19-21 We love him, because he first loved us. If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
- 1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
- Revelation 6:10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
- Revelation 18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
- Revelation 19:2-3 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.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Shall grow daily more and more in God’s favor.
Shall grow daily more and more in God’s favor.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 5:31 So let all thine enemies perish, O…
Jdg 5:31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but [let] them that love him [be] as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
Ver. 31. So let all thine enemies perish, &c.] "Let them be as dung for the earth"; {Psa 83:10} yes, do thou dung thy vineyard with their dead carcasses.
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Be as the sun.] Let them do great exploits, live and die with glory.
And the land had rest forty years.] Counting from those eighty. {Jdg 3:30}
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 So, i.e. so suddenly, so surely, so effectually and…
So, i.e. so suddenly, so surely, so effectually and irrecoverably.
When he goeth forth in his might; when he first riseth, and so goeth on in his course, which he doth with great might, even as a strong man that runneth a race, Psa 19:5, and so as no creature can stop or hinder him; even so irresistible let the people be.
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Forty years; how to be computed, See Poole "Jdg 3:11".
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord!.... As…
So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord!.... As Sisera and his army did, and be disappointed as his mother and her ladies were; which is not only a wish or prayer that it might be, but a prophecy that so it would be:
but let them that love him; that love the Lord superlatively and sincerely, with all their heart and soul, and from love serve and fear him:
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be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might; in the middle of the day, when its heat and light are the greatest, and in the summer solstice, in the month of June, when the sun is in Cancer, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel observe, and it is hottest: the sense is, let the true friends of God be as bright and as glorious, and increase in light, lustre, and splendour, as that glorious luminary in midday, and be no more liable to be resisted and stopped by their enemies, and as much out of the reach of them as that is:
and the land had rest forty years; these are not the words of Deborah, whose song ends with the last clause, but of the writer of this book; which years, according to most, are to be reckoned from the death of Ehud, including the twenty years' bondage under Jabin, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel; so that strictly speaking the rest was but twenty years; one would think they should be reckoned from the victory obtained over Jabin king of Canaan.
Next: Judges Chapter 6
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 So let - That is, so suddenly, so surely,…
So let - That is, so suddenly, so surely, so effectual and irrecoverably. Deborah was a prophetess and this prayer was a prediction, that in due time all God's enemies shall perish. In his might - When he first riseth, and so goeth on in his course, which he doth with great might, even as a strong man that runneth a race, and so as no creature can stop, or hinder him; even so irresistible let thy people be. Such shall be the honour and such the joy of all that love God in sincerity, and they shall shine forever as the sun in the kingdom of their father.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 5:31. So let thine enemies perish, O Lord…
Jdg 5:31. So let thine enemies perish, O Lord — That is, so suddenly, so surely, so effectually and irrecoverably; an elegant apostrophe of the prophetess this, in turning and addressing her speech to God; that as her speech began with him, so it might likewise conclude with him. And with what gracefulness, and, at the same time, with what grandeur and sublimity does she change the subject! How was it possible for her to conclude her song in a finer manner than by this sudden, but, at the same time, earnest wish that all the enemies of Jehovah might perish as Sisera had done. And that all that love him might, like the rising sun, proceed from strength to strength, till they should arrive at the highest pitch of glory. Deborah was a prophetess, and this prayer may be considered as a two-fold prediction, importing both that, in due time, all God’s enemies shall perish; and that those who love him in sincerity, and persevere in so doing, shall shine for ever as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
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 A most striking conclusion, in which the spiritual truth,…
A most striking conclusion, in which the spiritual truth, which the whole narrative is intended to convey, comes out. The enemies of the Lord will perish like the host of Sisera, and all their hopes will end, like those of Sisera’s mother, in bitter disappointment and shame; but all that love our Lord Jesus Christ shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Compare Mat 13:43; Dan 12:3.
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 Rising. Hebrew, when he goeth forth in his might."…
Rising. Hebrew, when he goeth forth in his might." Let the just advance in virtue, and glory, as the sun becomes more beautiful and hot as he leaves the horizon, on a clear summer day. This comparison is often applied to the servants of God, Ecclesiasticus xvi. 16., 2 Kings xxiii. 5., and Matthew xiii. 45. (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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 31. So shall perish — Or, so let all…
31. So shall perish — Or, so let all thy enemies perish. “The prophetess does not stop to say that all the hopes of Sisera’s mother were dashed to the ground, but she implies this in another abrupt apostrophe, in which she invokes like destruction upon all the enemies of Jehovah. This abruptness makes a far more vivid impression than any language.” — Robinson.
As the going forth of the sun — A bold and striking figure, which forcibly and truly indicates the rising and growing power of the true Israel of God.
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Rest forty years — The result of this great victory over Jabin’s host, a victory that has no parallel in the history of the Judges. Joshua’s great battle at Merom seemed to have crushed the northern Canaanites; but from that fearful blow they rallied again, and regained, apparently, nearly all their ancient power. But by this defeat of Sisera’s host the kingdom of Hazor seems to have been utterly ruined, and we hear no more of Canaanitish dominion in northern Palestine. Hence the prophetess conceived this victory as a type of Jehovah’s ultimate triumph over all his foes.
How many of the sacred books have their divine songs! In Genesis (49) we have Israel’s dying blessing, a psalm prophetic of the destinies of his children; in Exodus (15) Moses celebrates the triumph at the Red Sea; in Numbers (23, 24) are the wondrous oracles of Balaam; and in Deuteronomy (32, 33) the last song of Moses. Here in Judges we have Deborah’s song; in 1 Samuel (2) Hannah’s magnificat; and in 2 Samuel (22, 23) David’s songs of triumph over all his foes. In the New Testament (Luke 1) we have the Magnificat of Mary and the song of Zacharias; “and all these songs,” says Wordsworth, “are preludes to the new song, the song of Moses and the Lamb, which the saints of the Church glorified, from all nations, will sing at the crystal sea, with the harps of God, (Rev_14:1-3; Rev_15:2-4,) when all the enemies of Christ and his Church will have been subdued, and their victory will have been consummated for ever.”
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 31. Conclusion.
31. Conclusion.
So let all thine enemies perish] With the same completeness, with the same overthrow of proud confidence. The language recalls Psa_68:2-3; Psa_92:9. It is taken for granted that Israel’s enemies are Jehovah’s also. Jehovah’s friends are compared to the rising of the sun, an impressive figure which fitly closes the Ode. It is remarkable to find such an expression as them that love him at this early date. This idea is strongly characteristic of Deut., and of Dtc. passages in the Hexateuch, e.g. Exo_20:6 = Deu_5:10; cf. the late Psa_31:23; Psa_97:10; Psa_145:20.
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And the land had rest] A chronological note added by the Rd; see on Jdg_3:11.
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 (31) So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord.—The…
(31) So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord.—The abrupt burst in which the song rushes, as it were, to its conclusion, is very grand. The total frustration of the hopes of the princesses is all the more forcibly implied by the scorn with which it is left unexpressed. The one word “so” sums up the story in all its striking phases; and this passionate exclamation accounts, in part, for the intensity of feeling which runs through the whole poem, by showing that Deborah regards the battle as part of one great religious crusade. The completeness of the overthrow caused it to be long remembered as an example of Israel’s triumph over God’s enemies (Psa_83:9-10; Psa_83:12-15). When the Christian warriors of the first crusade were riding deep in the blood of the murdered Saracens, after the capture of Jerusalem, they were fully convinced that they were “doing God service;” and so filled were they with religious emotion, that at vesper-time they all suddenly fell upon their knees with streaming tears. The general dissemination of a feeling of pity—pity even for our worst enemies—is a very modern feeling, and still far from universal.
But let them that love him.—This is probably the right reading, though it was early altered into “they that love thee.”
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As the sun when he goeth forth in his might.—For the metaphor, comp. Psa_19:4-5; Psa_68:1-3; Dan_12:3; Mat_13:43.
And the land had rest.—This is not a part of the song, but concludes the whole story (Jdg_3:11; Jdg_3:30; Jdg_8:28). This is the last we hear of any attempt of the Canaanites to re-conquer the land which they had lost, although we see a small and spasmodic outbreak of this race in the story of Abimelech (Judges 9.).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A fine application of the whole subject! Each such…
A fine application of the whole subject! Each such victory was a foretaste of the final victory over sin and death, and of the glory of the redeemed Church.
The sunlike life. Pro_4:18.
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A beautiful simile. Many points of resemblance between the course and nature of the sun and the character and life of the Christian.
I PROGRESS. Steady. By gradual, regularly increasing advance. The hours and days and years can be measured by it. We can calculate upon it. Continual. Not by fits and starts. Ever forward, even when not seen. Culminating. Noon is splendour and strength; sunset is fulfilment.
II ILLUMINATION. In the Christian life nothing need be concealed. We are "children of the light, and of the day." Openness, honesty, actions of simplicity and good report. Knowledge is light, and it is by knowing the Eternal that we live. The spiritual are the light of the world. Christ is so par excellence; but all Christians shine with his brightness, and exhibit his character. We are so to live as that others can take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus, and that they may follow us as we follow him. The figure also suggests that Christians may become clear, and bright, and free from darkness as light itself is. Spiritual illumination is not ever a borrowing from without. We may have light and life in ourselves. The sun is independent of circumstances, and shines on even when half the world is dark. It is also a figure for vindication and triumph. The day shall declare how much! The glory and beauty of the spiritual man shall then be revealed. M.
The triumph of the Church.
The triumph of Israel after the overthrow of the Canaanites is an illustration of the ultimate triumph of the Church.
I THE FACT OF THIS TRIUMPH. We have encouragements to think that the Church will not only be saved, but will be saved with honour will triumph.
1. This implies the destruction of her enemies. We need not look for that in violence, after the manners of the Crusades or of the Inquisition.
(1) Spiritual foes, such as sin, temptation, death, will cease to exist.
(2) Human foes will cease to be foes by the turning of enmity into submission to Christ.
1. It implies the bestowal of honour on the Church. She shall shine like the sun, no longer despised.
2. It implies the enjoyment of great happiness. Darkness represents sorrow; sunlight represents joy.
3. It implies the gift of power. No influence on earth is so powerful as that of the sun. The people of God will have opportunity for noble service and for the exercise of large faculties.
4. It implies the exercise of benevolence. The sun scatters light, warmth, life. He brings new life out of the death of winter, and spreads beauty and glory over the face of the earth. The triumph of the Church will not be like that of old tyrannies, marked by bloodshed and misery, but a source of life and joy and glory to all within its reach. There is healing in the wings of the Sun of righteousness.
II THE SOURCE OF THIS TRIUMPH.
1. It is accorded by God. Deborah speaks of it in prayer. It was not the courage of the warrior, but the unseen help of God that secured the victory to Israel. We grow fearful as we see the raging might of evil, and compare this with the trembling weakness of our own hearts. But God is with us; he makes the cause of the Church his own. Christ has already conquered, and now he calls us only to meet defeated foes.
2. It is secured through devotion to God. The enemies of God perish. These are not men whom God treats as enemies, but such as set themselves in enmity against him. They who triumph are the lovers of God. The essence of religion is love to God, and this is here the ground of the assurance of victory given by him.
3. It is attained by silent and gradual means. The sun does not burst out suddenly, he makes no noise to announce the coming day. So the triumph of the Church is gradual as the growing dawn, silent as the spreading light. Yet, like the light, it wall be recognised by its visible presence and its bountiful fruits. A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain So let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord.
Jdg_5:31
So let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord.
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The imprecations of the Old Testament
I have chosen this verse rather than any detailed utterances from the imprecations that are found in the imprecatory Psalms, because I believe it contains the key that will enable us to solve the inner meaning and the spiritual relations of these imprecations. It is always, I think, a wise thing to get a principle, if possible, where it is clearly stated, rather than where it is hidden by a mass of obscure material. Once we get the principle--the key of the question--we can then use it to bring order into what may appear at first sight to be disorder. I examine the modern theory that asserts that these imprecatory passages were inspired by unholy personal vindictiveness. The recoil from rigid theories of inspiration has caused some to run riot. They make swift work of anything that offends their taste or that they cannot immediately comprehend--they cut it out with the ready pen-knife. This seems an easy way of getting over difficulties. Yet, theory or no theory, there is a living unity and congruity in the Scriptures which demands recognition, and will revenge itself upon indiscriminate mutilation. But, someone may ask, is it not reasonable to suppose that even some of the Old Testament saints, under a fit of provocation, may have indulged in fierce imprecations, in such curses as these. I hesitate even to answer that in the affirmative. But that is not all you have to suppose. You have not only to suppose that one of these saints could lose his self-control and his spiritual sense so far as to indulge in terrible curses, inspired by personal malignity, but you have also to suppose that he deliberately threw that vindictive outburst into a high form of literary composition, bestowing upon it great literary care and skill; that he put it into the form of a sacred psalm, and deliberately designed that that furious outburst of evil and vindictive passion should be preserved and perpetuated. You have yet further to suppose that that man, inspired by the Satanic passion within him, having composed his psalm, was able to induce the elect nation, the people whose religious and spiritual intuitions were so marvellous, whom God was training in such a special manner, you have to suppose that that people adopted into their sacred book some of the most Satanic utterances ever given expression to by a member of their own or any other race. I would have you also note this. The most terrible imprecations occur in the Book of Psalms, and the Book of Psalms reaches the high water mark of spiritual thought and conception among the Jews. Such a supposition reduces the spiritual history of Israel to complete chaotic confusion. There is another consideration that is worthy of notice. These imprecatory Psalms, especially the 69th, are quoted in the New Testament more frequently perhaps than any other passage in the Old Testament Scriptures, quoted as forming a true and legitimate part of the sacred Scriptures of the Jews, quoted, mark you, not by fossilised and prejudiced Jews, but by the apostles of Jesus Christ.
II. place these utterances in their true setting in the writings of the Old Scriptures. You will now understand why I have chosen these words as my text. So let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord. Thine enemies. This is the key that unlocks the whole matter. The ancient inspired writers never asked for the descent of judgment on their own personal account simply, but always as a vindication and assertion of eternal righteousness. There are two things we must remember, however, in considering these prayers for the extermination of the ungodly. The first is that these prayers refer primarily, almost, if not altogether, exclusively to the government of God upon this earth. When the psalmist prays that the wicked may be blotted out of the book of life, he is not speaking in the language of the New Testament, but in that of the Old, and from the standpoint of the earth. He is not praying for spiritual and eternal condemnation; he is praying that the race of the ungodly may be exterminated from this world. We must remember, further, that it is the wicked, as such, upon whom these judgments are denounced. The imprecation has force only in so far as the wicked continues in his wickedness.
III. Compare these utterances with the New Testament standpoint. It is easy to see, first, that the New Testament has a clearer view of the eternal scope of Gods government. It does not trouble us as it did the Jew when we see the ungodly flourish here, because we know that this life is but a short time in the annals of human life. We know that this earths history is only a speck in the history of the human race. Then there is another advance. We have larger conceptions of the love and forbearance of God. The ancient Jew could not understand the possibility of salvation for all. The world was divided into two parts for him--the righteous and the wicked; and they stood on each side of the moral line, and there was scarcely any crossing over. And especially did the Jewish nation in its entirety stand out in opposition to the other nations of the earth. The Jew had very little hope of Gods loving them, and bringing them into the joy of His grace. The ancient Jew desired righteousness to be vindicated by the victory of the righteous over the wicked; we rather desire that righteousness may be glorified by the victories of love, and that all men may be brought out of the sphere of destruction into the life and glory of God. But do not forget that that old principle of judgment was true. It is still in force, although it is now subordinate to the principle of life and hope; but we must not lose sight of it. Do not spurn these old solemn, terrible denunciations because Christ has set them in a blaze of love. (John Thomas, M. A.)
Jewish zeal, a pattern to Christians
What a contrast do these words present to the history which goes before them! Here is the picture of indolence and unfaithfulness leading to cowardice, to apostasy, and to national ruin. On the other hand consider, by way of contrast, the narrative contained in the chapter which ends with the text. Here is a picture of manly obedience to Gods will--a short trial of trouble and suffering--and then the reward, peace. What the Old Testament especially teaches us is this: that zeal is as essentially a duty of all Gods rational creatures as prayer and praise, faith and submission; and, surely, if so, especially of sinners whom He hath redeemed; that zeal consists in a strict attention to His commands--a scrupulousness, vigilance, heartiness, and punctuality which bears with no reasoning or questioning about them--an intense thirst for the advancement of His glory; a shrinking from the pollution of sin and sinners; an indignation, nay, impatience, at witnessing His honour insulted; a quickness of feeling when His name is mentioned, and a jealousy how it is mentioned; a fulness of purpose, an heroic determination to yield Him service at whatever sacrifice of personal feeling; an energetic resolve to push through all difficulties, were they as mountains, when His eye or hand but gives the sign: a carelessness of obloquy, or reproach, or persecution, a forgetfulness of friend and relative, nay, a hatred (so to say) of all that is naturally dear to us, when He says, Follow Me. These are some of the characteristics of zeal. Now, it has sometimes been said that the commands of strenuous and stern service given to the Israelites, for instance, those relative to their taking and keeping possession of the promised land, do not apply to us Christians. There can be no doubt it is not our duty to take the sword and kill the enemies of God as the Jews were told to do. But it does not hence follow that the temper of mind which they presuppose and foster is not required of us; else, surely, the Jewish history is no longer profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Mans duty, perfection, happiness, have always been one and the same. What was the holiness of an Israelite is still the holiness of a Christian, though the Christian has far higher privileges and aids for perfection. It is impossible, then, that all these duties imposed on the Israelites of driving out their enemies, and taking and keeping possession of the promised land, should not in some sense or other apply to us; for it is clear they were not in their case mere accidents of obedience, but went to form a certain inward character, and as clear is it that our heart must be as the heart of Moses or David if we should be saved through Christ. This is quite evident if we attentively examine the Jewish history and the Divine commands which are the principles of it. For these commands, which some persons have said do not apply to us, are so many and varied, and repeated at so many and divers times, that they certainly must have formed a peculiar character in the heart of the obedient Israelite, and were much more than an outward form and a sort of ceremonial service. Let us consider some of the commands I have referred to, and the terms in which they are conveyed. For instance, that for the extirpation of the devoted nations from the land of Canaan (Deu_7:1-5; Deu_7:16). Next observe this merciless temper, as profane people would call it, but as well-instructed Christians say, this godly zeal, was enjoined upon them under far more distressing circumstances, viz., the transgressions of their own relations and friends (Deu_13:6-9). Now, doubtless, we at this day are not to put men to death for idolatry; but, doubtless also, whatever temper of mind the fulfilment of this command implied in the Jew, such, essentially, must be our temper of mind, whatever else it may be also; for God cannot speak two laws, He cannot love two characters--good is good, and evil is evil (Psa_19:7-8; Psa_19:10-11). A self-mastering, fearless obedience was another part of this same religious temper enjoined on the Jews, and still incumbent, as I dare affirm, on us Christians (Jos_23:6). It required an exceeding moral courage in the Jews to enable them to go straight forward, seduced neither by their feelings nor their reason. Nor was the severe temper under review a duty in the early ages of Judaism only. The Book of Psalms was written at different times, between Davids age and the captivity, yet it plainly breathes the same hatred of Sin and opposition to sinners (Psa_139:21-24). Further still, after the return from the captivity, after the prophets had enlarged the compass of Divine revelation, and purified and heightened the religious knowledge of the nation, still this rigid and austere zeal was enjoined and enforced in all its ancient vigour by Ezra. The Jews set about a reformation; and what was its most remarkable act? Let us attend to the words of Ezra (Ezr_9:3-4). Now, I do not say that every one ought to have done what Ezra did, for he was supernaturally directed; but would the course he adopted have ever entered into the mind of men of this day, or can they even understand or acquiesce in it, now that they know it? for what did he? He offered a confession and intercession in behalf of the people; then at length he and the people came to a decision, which was no other than this--to command all persons who had married foreign wives to put them away. He undid the evil as well as hindered it in future. What an act of self-denying zeal was this in a multitude of people! These are some out of many instances which might be brought from the Jewish history in proof of the duty of strict and severe loyalty to God and His revealed will. There was an occasion when our Lord is expressly said to have taken upon Him the zeal which consumed David (Mat_21:12-13). Surely, unless we had this account given us by an inspired writer, we should not have believed it! To put aside form, to dispense with the ministry of His attendant angels, to act before He had spoken His displeasure, to use His own hand, to hurry to and fro, to be a servant in the work of purification, surely this must have arisen from a fire of indignation at witnessing His Fathers house insulted which we sinners cannot understand. But anyhow it is but the perfection of that temper which, as we have seen, was encouraged and exemplified in the Jewish Church. Such is the pattern afforded us by our Lord; to which add the example of the angels which surround Him. Surely in Him is mingled goodness and severity ; such, therefore, are all holy creatures, loving and severe. We read of their thoughts and desires in the Apocalypse (Rev_14:7; Rev_16:5-7; Rev_18:5-6), all which passages imply a deep and solemn acquiescence in Gods judgments. Thus a certain fire of zeal, showing itself, not by force and blood, but as really and certainly as if it did--cutting through natural feelings, neglecting self, preferring Gods glory to all things, firmly resisting sin, protesting against sinners, and steadily contemplating their punishment--is a duty belonging to all creatures of God, 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. And such, in fact, has ever been the temper of the Christian Church, in evidence of which I need but appeal to the impressive fact that the Jewish Psalter has been the standard book of Christian devotion from the first down to this day. Now I shall make a few observations in conclusion, with a view of showing how meekness and charity are compatible with this austere and valiant temper of the Christian soldier.
1. Of course it is absolutely sinful to have any private enmities. Not the bitterest personal assaults upon us should induce us to retaliate. We must do good for evil, love those who hate, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who despitefully use us. It is only when it is impossible at once to be kind to them and give glory to God that we may cease to act kindly towards them. We hate sinners by putting them out of our sight, as if they were not, by annihilating them, in our affections. And this we must do, even in the case of our friends and relations, if God requires it. But in no case are we to allow ourselves in resentment or malice.
2. Next, it is quite compatible with the most earnest zeal to offer kind offices to Gods enemies when in distress. I do not say that a denial of these offices may not be a duty ordinarily, for it is our duty, as St. John tells us in his second Epistle, not even to receive them into our houses. But the case is very different where men are brought into extremity.
3. And, further, the Christian keeps aloof from sinners in order to do them good. A true friend is he who speaks out, and, when a man sins, shows him that he is displeased at the sin. (J. H. Newman, D. D.)
The enemies and friends of Jehovah
I. The true character and certain doom of the ungodly.
1. The term enemies will apply to all the unrenewed portions of mankind. The heart is positively hostile, etc.. Carnal mind is enmity against God, etc.
(1) There are the daring enemies of God, who sceptically treat His revelation, yea, deny His being. They attack His rule; despise His word; rail at His servants; try to subvert His cause.
(2) There are the profane and reckless enemies of God, who defy, contemn the Most High--Pharaoh, Belshazzar, Herod.
(3) There are those who are wickedly neutral, and who temporise in religion.
2. Now as to the doom of the enemies of God they will all perish except they repent; all have one condemnation, sentence, woeful abode. It will include--
(1) Utter shame and confusion;
(2) total wretchedness and misery;
(3) eternal ruin and despair.
II. The illustrious representation given of the friends of Jesus: Them that love Him. In the enemy we look for hate; in the friend, love. Now love to Jesus is--
1. A Divine principle of God and from God. The result of regeneration.
2. A pre-eminent principle. Above all, it has the centre, it reigns, it subordinates.
3. It is manifest. Lives, breathes, speaks, acts. Moves all the springs of the heart. Affects all the machinery of life. Loosens the tongue, employs the hands and feet. Mark the representation--Let them that love Him be as the sun, etc. Now, the metaphor will apply--
(1) To the exalted station which they occupy. Sin debases, sinks, etc. Religion exalts.
(2) To the spiritual rays they diffuse abroad. Ye were once darkness, etc. Now lights, etc. Arise, shine, etc.
(3) As fertilising and beautifying all around. Now, believers shed moral beauty all around. Holy virtues, heavenly graces, Christ-like feelings, all tend to expel the winter of moral evil and misery, like the sun.
(4) Irresistibly advancing in their glorious career.
(5) Like the sun setting in celestial radiance and moral splendour. However bright the career, it must cease on earth. See the aged Christian declining, etc.; at last it sets--but watch the scene. No stormy sky, no threatening tempest, no cloud; all still and tranquil and clear; the whole horizon mellowed with the golden glory.
(6) As the sun rising in another hemisphere and shining in fairer worlds. Is that setting sun annihilated? He rises in another land as he sets in this. So with those who once shone here, etc. They are lost to us but they still live, and are more radiant, shine brighter, etc.
Application:
1. Let the subject be the test of character. Are we enemies? etc.
2. Learn the supreme excellence of true religion. Godliness leads to honour, usefulness, blessedness, and glory.
3. Let the enemies of God consider. Kiss the Son lest He be angry, etc.
4. Let the professed friends of Jesus exemplify their principles. (J. Burns, D. D.)
The rival armies
I. the enemies of the Lord.
1. Their character.
(1) The idolater. The giving up the throne of our being to any king but God.
(2) The forgetful.
(3) The indifferent. As God adds to His mercies we subtract from our thanks.
(4) The undecided. An insult to God, for He has granted evidence sufficient.
(5) The reckless. Those who defile, despise, and disgrace the unutterable goodness of the Lord.
2. Their doom. They perish,
(1) As without God, and so cut off from the only source of true life.
(2) As without God and so without hope.
(3) As fighting against God and so doomed to certain defeat.
II. The friends of the Lord. As the sun when he goeth forth in his might. The figure refers not to the period from sunrise to sun set but from sunrise to the meridian of his splendour. It is a striking metaphor as setting forth the glorious ongoing and enlivening influence of the Christian character.
1. Very quiet.
2. Gladdening.
3. Regular and sure.
4. Increasing in brightness. (H. G. Parrish, B. A.)
Rejoicing at the death of an oppressor
Hearing a whole choir of birds chirping merrily together, my curiosity was excited to inquire into the occasion of their convocation and merriment, when I quickly perceived a dead hawk in the bush, about which they made such a noise, seeming to triumph at the death of an enemy. I could not blame them for singing the knell of one who, like a cannibal, was wont to feed upon their living bodies, tearing them limb from limb, and scaring them with his frightful appearance. Over this bird, which was so formidable when alive, the most timid wren or titmouse did not now fear to chirp or hop. This occurrence brought to my mind the case of tyrants and oppressors. When living, they are the terror of mankind; but when dead, they are the objects of general contempt and scorn. When the wicked perish, there is shouting (Pro_11:10). The death of Nero was celebrated by the Romans with bonfires and plays; birds ate the naked flesh of Pompey; Alexander lay unburied thirty days; but a useful and holy life is generally closed by an honourable and lamented death.
The victorious course of the Divine kingdom
The song closes with an apostrophe or prediction of a similar and sure disappointment and fatal issue for every evil cause; while brighter and brighter must wax the course of Gods kingdom on the earth, like the sun shining forth in its strength towards the effulgence of perfect day. It is at once a principle, a prediction, and a prayer.
1. A principle: for there is a Divine cause and interest of God in the world, often obscured by human passion, often clouded with sad disaster, like the sun wading through mist and storm, but destined ever to re-assert itself and establish its bright ascendancy.
2. A prediction. Every inimical interest must and shall give way and succumb to His undying kingdom, with the seed Divine of immortal youth within its bosom--
And the power of each foe, as if smote with the sword,
Shall melt like the snow in the glance of the Lord.
3. A prayer. So is it, so it shall be: and so says the singer, let it be. (A. H. Drysdale, M. A.)
Let them that love Him be as the sun.
Christians like the sun
I. The character of Gods people: They love Him.
1. This love has been implanted in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. Formerly they hated Him and His service.
2. Their love is sincere. It must be so if the Spirit has created it in the heart (Eph_6:24). The love of many, however, is merely professional.
3. This love is supreme: Whom have I in heaven but Thee? etc.
4. This love is practical. It dwells in the heart and shows itself in the life.
5. It is self-denying.
II. The similitude by which the character of Gods people is illustrated.
1. The sun receives its light from the creative energy of God (Psa_136:8). So Christians have derived their light from God Himself (2Co_4:6).
2. Christians resemble the sun in beauty: Truly light is sweet, And a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. So Christians are beautiful in their individual spiritual character--in their associated character.
3. The sun is a visible object; it excites attention and inspires admiration. The course of Christians is not hidden; they are lights of the world, cities set on a hill, living epistles (Mat_5:16).
4. The Christian resembles the sun in usefulness. What a dark world this would be if the natural sun were to cease its shining? What would the world be without Christianity?
(1) As the rising sun dispels clouds and darkness, so the believer rises above the changes and calamities of life--he dispels the mists and darkness of prejudice; proves that religion does not tend to licentiousness, that it is not a system of melancholy.
(2) Like the sun, the Christian spreads the most salutary and delightful effects around. The sun is the great spirit of the world, in the light of which all things are made to rejoice. So the life of the Christian and the benevolent efforts of the Church, in conjunction with Divine power, are calculated to make the desert blossom as the rose, etc. (Isa_35:1-2).
(3) The influence of the sun is very extensive, reaching to every creature. The charity of Christians would save the whole world.
5. The light of the sun is irresistible. Who can say to it, Hitherto shalt thou come? etc. No one can stop the work of the Church, for it is Gods work (Isa_55:11). O Christians, like the sun, shine more and more unto the perfect day. They grow in grace, in knowledge, purity, peace, joy, till their course terminates in the meridian noontide splendour of heaven. (Helps for the Pulpit.)
Love makes suns
If we think of the singer, of the age, and the occasion of the song, such purely spiritual, lofty words must seem very remarkable.
I. Note, first, how here we have a penetrating insight into the essence of religion. This woman had been nourished upon a more or less perfect edition of what we know as the Mosaic law. Her faith had been fed by forms. She moved amidst a world full of the cruelties and dark conceptions of a mysterious Divine power which torture heathenism apart from Christianity. She had forced her way through all that, and laid hold of the vital centre. And there, away out amidst cruelty and murder, amidst the unutterable abominations and terrors of heathenism, in the centre of a rigid system of ceremonial and retaliation, the womans heart spoke out and taught her what was the great commandment. Deborah had got as far, in a moment of exaltation and insight, as the teaching of the apostle John, although her thought was strangely blended with the fierceness of the times in which she lived. Her approval of Jaels deed by no means warrants our approving it, but we may thankfully see that though she felt the fierce throbbing of desire for vengeance, she also felt this--Them that love Him; that is the Alpha and Omega of all. Our love must depend on our knowledge. Deborahs knowledge was a mere skeleton outline as compared with ours. Contrast the fervour of emotional affection that manifestly throbbed in her heart with the poor, cold pulsations which we dignify by the name of love, and the contrast may put us to shame.
II. Further, note the grand conception of the character which such a love produces: Let them be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. Think of the fierce eastern sun, with sunbeams like swords, that springs up from the east and rushes to the zenith, and nothing is hid from the heat thereof--a sun the like of which we, in our cloudy skies, know little about, but which, to the Oriental, is the very emblem of splendour and of continuous victorious power. There are two things here--radiance and energy, light and might. As the sun when he goeth forth in his strength. Deborah was a prophetess, and people say, What did she prophesy? Well, she prophesied the heart of religion in reference to its essence, and, as one sees by this phrase, in reference to its effects. What is her word but a partial anticipation of Christs saying, Ye are the light of the world; and of His disciples utterance, Ye were sometimes darkness, and now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of the light? Is Deborahs aspiration fulfilled about me? Let each of us ask that. As the sun when he goeth forth in his strength--would anybody say that about my Christian character? Why not? Only because the springs have run low within is the stream low through the meadows. Only because the love is cold is the light feeble. There is another thing here. There is power in sunlight as well as radiance. On that the prophetess especially lays a finger. As the sun when he goeth forth in his strength. She did not know what we know, that solar energy is the source of all energy on this earth, and that, just as in the deepest analysis there is no power but of God, so in the material region we may say that the only force is the force of the sun, which not only stimulates vegetation and brings light and warmth--as the pre-scientific prophetess knew--but in a hundred other ways, unknown to her and known to modern science, is the author of all change, the parent of all life, and the reservoir of all energy. And so we come to this thought: the true love of God is no weak, sentimental thing, such as narrow and sectional piety has often represented it to be, but it is a power which will invigorate the whole of a man and make him strong and manly as well as gentle and gracious; being, indeed, the parent of all the so-called heroic and of all the so-called saintly virtues. If you love God you will surely be a strong man as well as an emotional and affectionate Christian. That energy is to be continuous and progressive. The sun that Deborah saw day by day spring from his station in the east and climb to his height in the heavens and ray down his beams, has been doing that for millions of years, and it will probably keep doing it for uncounted periods still. And so the Christian man, with continuity unbroken and progressive brilliance and power, should shine more and more till the unsetting noontide of the day.
III. Here is a prophecy of which the utterer was unaware. There is a contrast drawn in the words of our text and in those immediately preceding. So, says Deborah, after the fierce description of the slaughter--so let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord! but let them that love Thee be as the sun when he shineth in his strength. She contrasts the transiency of the lives that pit themselves against God with the perpetuity that belongs to those which are in harmony with Him, because the livers are lovers of Him. The truth goes further than she probably knew; certainly further than she was thinking when she chanted these words. Let us widen them by other words which use the same metaphor and say, They that be wise--that is a shallower word than them that love Thee--they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. Let us widen and deepen them by sacreder words still, for Jesus Christ laid hold of this old metaphor and said, describing the time when all the enemies shall have perished and the weeds have been flung out of the vine-yard, Then shall the righteous blaze forth like the sun in the kingdom of My Father. A brilliancy that will fill heaven with new galaxies, bright beyond all that we see here, amidst the thick atmosphere and mists and clouds of the present life! (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Interposing power
I. The object: Them that love Him.
II. The request: Let them be as the sun. I think the chief doctrine here intended is that of infallibility. First, the sun is a faithful witness in heaven. The sun has never failed yet, and never can fail. When He goeth forth in His might. The Scriptures are clear that the people are all predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ; that what He is they are to be. Did not Jesus Christ go forth in His might in His humiliation; and doth He not also go forth in His might in His exaltation?
III. The repose here mentioned: The land had rest forty years. How is it that they had rest forty years? Well, they had rest, liberty, and quiet, enjoying all the privileges of the promised land during these forty years, by one of the most simple things. It was by simply rejecting all false gods, and abiding by the God of Israel, and just bringing up a little of past history, and learning that this God, who had delivered them from Egypt, this God, who had sustained them through the wilderness, this God that brought them into the promised land and planted them there, He, and He alone, was God; and the consequence was that their liberty remained, their harvests were good, their vintage was good, their flocks and their herds increased, and they were every way happy. Just so now; if we would have spiritual rest, spiritual settlement, and real prosperity, it must be by simply abiding by that truth that represents the great God to us as a Saviour, that represents Him in a covenant ordered in all things and sure--simply abiding by that. Now how was it they had rest no longer than forty years? I can hardly tell; but you do not get through the next chapter before you stumble upon an altar, and say, What altar is this? This is not the Lords; no, it is Baals. And here is a beautiful grove and gardens--everything made pleasant to the flesh, a great display. Well, how in the world Baal got in again I do not know, but I should not wonder if it was either by trade affairs, or else by matrimonial affairs, or else by both. (James Wells.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Judges
LOVE MAKES SUNS
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Jdg 5:31.
These are the closing words of Deborah, the great warrior-prophetess of Israel. They are in singular contrast with the tone of fierce enthusiasm for battle which throbs through the rest of the chant, and with its stern approval of the deed of Jael when she slew Sisera. Here, in its last notes, we have an anticipation of the highest and best truths of the Gospel. ‘Let them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in His might.’ If we think of the singer, of the age and the occasion of the song, such purely spiritual, lofty words must seem very remarkable.
I. Note, then, first of all, how here we have a penetrating insight into the essence of religion.
This woman had been nourished upon a more or less perfect edition of what we know as the ‘Mosaic Law.’ Her faith had been fed by forms. She moved amidst a world full of the cruelties and dark conceptions of a mysterious divine power which torture heathenism apart from Christianity. She had forced her way through all that, and laid hold of the vital centre. And there, a way out amidst cruelty and murder, amidst the unutterable abominations and terrors of heathenism, in the centre of a rigid system of ceremonial and retaliation, the woman’s heart spoke out, and taught her what was the great commandment. Prophetess she was, fighter she was, she could burst into triumphant approval of Jael’s bloody deed; and yet with the same lips could speak this profound word. She had learned that ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind,’ summed up all duty, and was the beginning of all good in man. That precept found an echo in her heart. Whatever part in her religious development may have been played by the externalisms of ceremonial, she had pierced to the core of religion. Advanced modern critics admit the antiquity of Deborah’s song, and this closing stanza witnesses to the existence, at that early period, of a highly spiritual conception of the bond between God and man. Deborah had got as far, in a moment of exaltation and insight, as the teaching of the Apostle John, although her thought was strangely blended with the fierceness of the times in which she lived. Her approval of Jael’s deed by no means warrants our approving it, but we may thankfully see that though she felt the fierce throbbing of desire for vengeance, she also felt this-’Them that love Him; that is the Alpha and the Omega of all.’
Our love must depend on our knowledge. Deborah’s knowledge was a mere skeleton outline as compared with ours. Contrast the fervour of emotional affection that manifestly throbbed in her heart with the poor, cold pulsations which we dignify by the name of love, and the contrast may put us to shame. There is a religion of fear which dominates hundreds of professing Christians in this land of ours. There is a religion of duty, in which there is no delight, which has many adherents amongst us. There is a religion of form, which contents itself with the externals of Christianity, and that is the religion of many men and women in all our churches. And I may further say, there is a religion of faith, in its narrower and imperfect sense, which lays hold of and believes a body of Christian truth, and has never passed through faith into love. Not he who ‘believes that God is,’ and comes to Him with formal service and an alienated or negligent heart; not he who recognises the duty of worship, and discharges it because his conscience pricks him, but has no buoyancy within bearing him upwards towards the object of his love; not he who cowers before the dark shadow which some call God; but he who, knowing, trusts, and who, knowing and trusting ‘the love which God hath to us,’ pulses back the throbs of a recipient heart, and loves Him in return-he, and he only, is a worshipper. Let us learn the lesson that Deborah learnt below the palm-trees of Lapidoth, and if we want to understand what a religious man is, recognise that he is a man who loves God.
II. Further, note the grand conception of the character which such a love produces.
‘Let them be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.’ Think of the fierce Eastern sun, with ‘sunbeams like swords,’ that springs up from the East, and rushes to the zenith, and ‘nothing is hid from the heat thereof’-a sun the like of which we, in our cloudy skies, never see nor feel, but which, to the Oriental, is the very emblem of splendour and of continuous, victorious power. There are two things here, radiance and energy, light and might.
‘As the sun when he goeth forth in his strength.’ Deborah was a ‘prophetess,’ and people say, ‘What did she prophesy?’ Well, she prophesied the heart of religion-as I have tried to show-in reference to its essence, and, as one sees by this phrase, in reference to its effects. What is her word but a partial anticipation of Christ’s saying, ‘Ye are the light of the world’; and of His disciple’s utterance, ‘Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light’?
It is too plain to need any talking about, that the direct tendency of what we venture to call love to God, meaning thereby the turning of the whole nature to Him, in aspiration, admiration, longing for likeness, and practical imitation, is to elevate, ennoble, and illuminate the whole character. It was said about one woman that ‘to love her was an education.’ That was exaggeration; but it is below the truth about God. The true way to refine and elevate and educate is to cultivate love to God. And when we get near to Him, and hold by Him, and are continually occupied with Him; when our being is one continual aspiration after union with Him, and we experience the glow and rapture included in the simple word ‘love,’ then it cannot but be that we shall be like Him.
That is what Paul meant when he said, ‘Now are ye light in the Lord.’ Union with Him illuminates. The true radiance of saintly character will come in the measure in which we are in fellowship with Jesus Christ. Deborah’s astronomy was not her strong point. The sun shines by its own light. We are planets, and are darkness in ourselves, and it is only the reflection of the central sun that ever makes us look silvery white and radiant before men. But though it be derived, it is none the less our light, if it has passed into us, as it surely will, and if it streams out from us, as it no less surely will, in the measure in which love to God dominates our whole lives.
If that is so, dear brethren, is not the shortest and the surest way to have our faces shining like that of Moses when he came down from the mountain, or like Stephen’s when he ‘saw the heavens opened,’ to keep near Jesus Christ? It is slow work to hammer bits of ore out of the rock with a chisel and a mallet. Throw the whole mass into the furnace, and the metal will come out separated from the dross. Get up the heat, and the light, which is the consequence of the heat, will take care of itself. ‘In the Lord’ ye shall be ‘light.’
Is Deborah’s aspiration fulfilled about me? Let each of us ask that. ‘As the sun when he goeth forth in his strength’-would anybody say that about my Christian character? Why not? Only because the springs have run low within is the stream low through the meadows. Only because the love is cold is the light feeble.
There is another thought here. There is power in sunlight as well as radiance. On that truth the prophetess especially lays a finger; ‘as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength.’ She did not know what we know, that solar energy is the source of all energy on this earth, and that, just as in the deepest spiritual analysis ‘there is no power but of God,’ so in the material region we may say that the only force is the force of the sun, which not only stimulates vegetation and brings light and warmth-as the pre-scientific prophetess knew-but in a hundred other ways, unknown to her and known to modern science, is the author of all change, the parent of all life, and the reservoir of all energy.
So we come to this thought: The true love of God is no weak, sentimental thing, such as narrow and sectional piety has often represented it to be, but it is a power which will invigorate the whole of a man, and make him strong and manly as well as gentle and gracious; being, indeed, the parent of all the so-called heroic and of all the so-called saintly virtues.
The sun ‘goeth forth in his strength,’ rushing through the heavens to the zenith. As one of the other editions of this metaphor in the Old Testament has it, ‘The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more until the noontide of the day.’ That light, indeed, declines, but that fact does not come into view in the metaphor of the progressive growth towards perfection of the man in whom is the all-conquering might of the true love of Jesus Christ.
Note the context of these words of our text, which, I said, presents so singular a contrast to them. It is a strange thing that so fierce a battle-chant should at the end settle down into such a sweet swan-song as this. It is a strange thing that in the same soul there should throb the delight in battle and almost the delight in murder, and these lofty thoughts. But let us learn the lesson that true love to God means hearty hatred of God’s enemy, and that it will always have to be militant and sometimes stern and what people call fierce. Amidst the amenities and sentimentalities of modern life there is much necessity for remembering that the Apostle of love was a ‘son of thunder,’ and that it was the lips which summoned Israel to the fight, and chanted hymns of triumph over the corpses borne down by the rushing Kishon, which also said: ‘Let them that love Him be as the sun when he shineth forth in his strength.’ If you love God, you will surely be a strong man as well as an emotional and affectionate Christian.
That energy is to be continuous and progressive. The sun that Deborah saw day by day spring from his station in the east, and climb to his height in the heavens, and ray down his beams, has been doing that for millions of years, and it will probably keep doing it for uncounted periods still. And so the Christian man, with continuity unbroken and progressive brilliance and power, should shine ‘more and more till the unsetting noontide of the day.’
III. That brings me to the last thought, which passes beyond the limits of the prophetess’ vision. Here is a prophecy of which the utterer was unaware.
There is a contrast drawn in the words of our text and in those immediately preceding. “So,” says Deborah, after the fierce description of the slaughter of Sisera-’So let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord! but let them that love Thee be as the sun when he shineth in his strength.’ She contrasts the transiency of the lives that pit themselves against God with the perpetuity that belongs to those which are in harmony with Him. The truth goes further than she probably knew; certainly further than she was thinking when she chanted these words. Let us widen them by other words which use the same metaphor, and say, ‘they that be wise’-that is a shallower word than ‘them that love Thee’-’they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’ Let us widen and deepen them by sacreder words still; for Jesus Christ laid hold of this old metaphor, and said, describing the time when all the enemies shall have perished, and the weeds have been flung out of the vineyard, ‘Then shall the righteous shine forth like the sun, in the Kingdom of their Father,’ with a brilliancy that will fill heaven with new splendours, bright beyond all that we see here amidst the thick atmosphere and mists and clouds of the present life!
Nor need we stop even there, for Jesus Christ not only laid hold of this metaphor in order to describe the eternal glory of the children of the Kingdom, but at the last time that human eyes on earth saw Him, the glorified Man Christ Jesus is thus described: ‘His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.’ Love always tends to likeness; and love to Christ will bring conformity with Him. The perfect love of heaven will issue in perfect and perpetual assimilation to Him. Science tells us that the light of the sun probably comes from its contraction; and that that process of contraction will go on until, at some point within the bounds of time, though far beyond the measure of our calculations, the sun himself shall die, the ineffectual beams will be paled, and there will be a black orb, with neither life nor light nor power. And then, then, and after that for ever, ‘they that love Him’ shall continue to be as that dead sun once was, when he went forth in his hot might.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 like the sun when it rises in its might
like the sun when it rises in its might
The people of Israel wish to be like the sun that rises because no nation's army is powerful enough to stop the sunrise. (See: Simile)
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the land had peace
Here "the land" represents the people of Israel. AT: "and the people of Israel lived peacefully" (See: Metonymy)
for forty years
"for 40 years" (See: Numbers)
translationWords
perish
Yahweh
raise
might
peace
year
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.