Judges Deborah & Barak

The next judge God gives Israel is Deborah. She and Barak will deliver Israel from yet another oppressor, whom the Lord raised up as judgment for their sins.

The vicious circle continues. Israel followed the Lord for 80 years with Ehud. Once he dies, they turn back to their old ways of bowing down to the gods of the other nations. God raised up Jabin, king of Canaan, as His instrument of correction this time. And it takes a while before Israel starts crying out to the Lord for help; again. Let’s peek in on Israel as they go through another cycle of learning.

♥ ♦ ♥

“Ehud has just crossed over into eternity” the Spirit says.

“Yes. He has” replies Father.

“What do you think the people are going to do now” asked the Spirit.

“What they always do” commented Jesus with a shake of His head.

“That is exactly what will happen Son. And We knew it before We even created them.”

“I know” replies Jesus. “But it is so discouraging watching them do it.”

“It is” agrees Father. “You know it is going to get even worse though. This is just the beginning.”

“We know” echo both Jesus and the Spirit. “And We STILL love them.”

“That is the only reason We discipline them. If We didn’t love them, We wouldn’t care what they do” says Father.

“I know” replies Jesus. “But it still HURTS.”

“Yes. It does…”

Ehud is no longer available to direct Israel in the way she should go. The people go back to what is easy. They walk away from the Lord’s statutes and begin bowing down to the Baals and Ashtaroth poles. The farther they get from the Lord the stronger their neighbor Jaban’s army becomes. Another lesson is about to begin.

Jaban has been watching Israel. He has worried that they would attack the people of Canaan at any time. He knew the history of Israel as well as any of the other kings in the land. Israel has been peaceful though and wrapped up in her own affairs. She has also appeared strong and able to defend herself, until lately. Israel is in the middle of a drought. It is a strange drought as it seems to end at her borders. It hasn’t touched the land of Jaban.

“It’s time” thinks Jaban. “Time to turn the tables on Israel and pay her back for the harm she did when she came rushing into OUR land.”

Jaban calls for his advisors. He has to put his ideas to the test. He knows he would be foolish to do otherwise. Once the advisors are all assembled, Jaban lays out his plan.

“Israel is in a drought. Her people are starving. Her resources are dwindling to nothing. We should easily be able to conquer her in the state she is in. What do you say?”

The advisors considered the king’s presentation and wholly agree. “Once we take her, we can bring in stores from our country for our troops. Let Israel continue to starve. A starving people are easier to control. They will do whatever we want to gain food.”

“Besides all that, WE have superior armament. The king’s army has 900 chariots of iron. Israel cannot possibly stand against those” offers another advisor.

Jaban nods his head decisively.  “Make it so! Bring down the might of Canaan onto the head of Israel.”

The battle for superiority was bloody and drawn out. Israel didn’t fall easily, but when she did, she was without defenses. Her men of valor all lay slain on the battlefield. Jaban had won. His chariots of Iron were the deciding factor in the lowlands.

Jaban ruled with a ruthless iron fist. He subjected the people of Israel to forced labor. He continued to employ the chariots of iron to keep Israel under his thumb. Any who dared oppose him were put to death by dragging behind the chariots or simply run over with them.

For almost 20 years Israel has cowered under the rule of Jaban. There are some secret places where a new army is rising up. Having had enough of Jaban’s cruelty, the people begin to cry out to the Lord for deliverance.

“It’s about time” says the Spirit.

“Shhh. I want to watch this” Jesus says while scooting a little farther forward in His chair.

The Father smiles, as He too hears the people’s pleas.

During the last few years, the Lord had poured His Spirit out on a woman from the hill country of Ephraim. The people have been coming to her for judgment between themselves. They are also hoping that she will help bring them relief; somehow.

The day has come. Deborah is sitting under her tree when the Lord speaks to her. “I am going to free My people. You are to speak to Barak the son of Abinoam in my name. I have placed in his heart a plan, but he needs confirmation. Call him and confirm My words.”

Deborah rises from her seat and quickly dispatches a message for Barak the son of Abinoam to come to her. It only takes a day for Barak to arrive. Deborah is alerted to his presence before he arrives, and she waits for him. He finds Deborah under her customary tree.

Barak bows before Deborah. “You sent for me my lady.”

Deborah wastes no time in getting to the matter. “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” (Judges 4:6-7)

Barak is stunned for a moment, realizing that Deborah knows exactly what the Lord said to him. He quickly regains his composure. But he is not confident in his own ability to hear the Lord. “What if the Lord changes His plan? How will I know” he thinks to himself. In an instant, he knows how to combat this problem.

“If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” (Judges 4:8)

Deborah agreed to go with him, but there would be a price for his reluctance to follow the Lord’s command. “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” (Judges 4:9)

Barak and Deborah return to Kadesh. From here, Barak sends word to the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. “Send me 10,000 men, strong and armed for battle. The Lord has given Jaban into our hands!”

Men begin pouring into Kadesh, ready to follow Barak. Since the Lord has called them to fight, they are all confident that victory is not far off. Barak makes certain that everyone has suitable weaponry and armor for the battle. There is a cache of both hidden in the hills of Ephraim. The same caves the Ehud hid such things in.

Barak waits for Deborah to give him word as to what to do next. He will not make a move without the Lord.

While Barak is waiting, Sisera, Jaban’s commander, hears of the group gathered in the hills of Ephraim. Sisera marshals all his chariots against them. The ground shakes at the sound of the chariots being drawn by the mighty horses of Canaan.

Deborah feels the hand of the Lord telling her it is time for the battle to begin. She goes to Barak immediately. She earnestly urges him on. “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?” (Judges 4:14)

That was all the encouragement that Barak needed. He and his 10,000 men come down out of Mount Tabor with fire in their eyes, strength in their arms, determination in their hearts, and faith in their God. Their battle cry is carried on the winds like the sound of mighty thunder.

Sisera’s chariots are useless in the hills. They tip and get stuck in ruts. It takes Israel only moments to swarm all over the chariots and their drivers, who work frantically to free themselves. Sisera’s men fall by the thousands to Israel’s swords. It is almost too easy.

Finally, some of the chariots have feed themselves and they begin to retreat. Barak and his men follow them. Sisera has slipped away from the battle to hide. He is running for his life. Barak overtakes the chariots and not a man remains alive by the time Israel lowers her sword.

Sisera has come to the tent of Heber the Kenite. He is a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law. He broke ties with the rest of his family years ago and has been a friend to Jaben. Sisera has no fear when Heber’s wife, Jael, meets him and beckons him into her tent.

“Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” (Judges 4:18)

Sisera quickly ducks into her tent. She motions for him to lie down and then covers him with a rug to hide his presence.

Sisera is tired and thirsty from his escape. He calls to Jael. “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” (Judges 4:19)

Jael opens a skin filled with milk and brings that to Sisera instead of water. Sisera greedily drinks it. He then gives Jael another order.

“Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” (Judges 4:20)

Jael moved over to stand in the door and Sisera fell into an exhausted sleep. As soon as she hears his snoring, she is ready to act. Although Haber is a friend of Jaben, Jael is NOT. She has seen the way Sisera treats her people. And now, she has the chance to do something about it. She waits just a little bit longer to be certain he is asleep.

As soon as Jael is sure Sisera is sound asleep, she sneaks out and gets a tent peg and a hammer. She quietly reenters her tent and goes to where Sisera is sleeping. She moves the rug back away from his head and places the tent peg gently against his temple. When he doesn’t move, Jael draws her arm back with the hammer in her hand. With ALL the force she can muster, Jael brings the hammer down on the peg and drives the peg deep into Sisera’s head. Before Sisera can rouse himself or defend himself against her, she hammers the peg home even further. She doesn’t stop driving the peg until she feels it stick into the ground on the other side of his head.

Blood pours out of the openings on both sides of Sisera head. Jael stands up and hurries from her tent. She ran in the direction Sisera had come. When she sees the army or Israel before her, she rushes up to Barak.

He looks down at her with a questioning look, wondering what a woman is doing on the battlefield.

With complete calm, Jael speaks to him. “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” (Judges 4:22b)

Jael turns and heads back towards her tent without waiting for Barak’s answer. Barak has no choice but to follow her. Jael leads him to her tent then stops and pulls the door to one side. She motions with her other hand towards the inside of her tent.

Barak looks at Jael for a moment, then looks inside her tent. He sees Sisera lying on the ground with a tent stake protruding from his head and a large pool of blood seeping into the ground beneath him.

Barak turns back to Jael, who is smiling now. “Thank you. You have done well. Israel will remember your works forever.”

Barak motions two of his men forward to retrieve Sisera’s body from Jael’s tent. They take it and throw it with the bodies of his men. Then they begin destroying the chariots. Barak has plans to melt the iron down to make weapons for the people of Israel.

As Barak’s men dismantle the chariots, Deborah and Barak rejoice in the victory.

“That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
that the people offered themselves willingly,
bless the Lord!

“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
to the Lord I will sing;
I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

“Lord, when you went out from Seir,
when you marched from the region of Edom,
the earth trembled
and the heavens dropped,
yes, the clouds dropped water.
The mountains quaked before the Lord,
even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.

“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,
and travelers kept to the byways.
The villagers ceased in Israel;
they ceased to be until I arose;
I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
When new gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates.
Was shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel?
My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
who offered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the Lord.

“Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets
and you who walk by the way.
To the sound of musicians at the watering places,
there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,
the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.

“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.

“Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, break out in a song!
Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,
O son of Abinoam.
Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.
From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,
following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from Machir marched down the commanders,
and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s staff;
the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,
and Issachar faithful to Barak;
into the valley they rushed at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.

Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds,
to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
stayed beyond the Jordan;
and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?
Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,
staying by his landings.
Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.

“The kings came, they fought;
then fought the kings of Canaan,
at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;
they got no spoils of silver.
From heaven the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
The torrent Kishon swept them away,
the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
March on, my soul, with might!

“Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs
with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,
curse its inhabitants thoroughly,
because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

“Most blessed of women be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
He asked for water and she gave him milk;
she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.
She sent her hand to the tent peg
and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;
she struck Sisera;
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.

Between her feet
he sank, he fell, he lay still;
between her feet
he sank, he fell;
where he sank,
there he fell—dead.

“Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
 Her wisest princesses answer,
indeed, she answers herself,
‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—
A womb or two for every man;
spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’

“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might (Judges 5)

With Sisera and his chariots gone, Israel regains her will to fight. She begins pushing back against Jaban and Canaan until Jaban is finally killed. His hand on them has been broken; by the hand of the Lord and a woman. Israel has another 40 years of rest from her enemies.

(to be continued)

I don’t know how Barak felt about sharing billing with two women, but I would have been fine with it. So long as the job got done, it didn’t matter who got the glory, beyond God. HE is the One who deserves all the credit. God delivered Jaban into Israel’s hands AFTER Israel turned back to Him. Too bad it won’t last…

Father God, thank You for sharing Your story with me again today. I like seeing a woman in a ‘leading role’ for a change. Deborah didn’t actually wield a sword, but her surrendering herself to Your will is what made the victory possible. Every woman ever used by You can point to Deborah when told it’s ‘man’s work’. You use women just as much as you do men. Use me too Lord, in whatever way You choose.