Judges 5

CHAPTER 5THEME: The song of Deborah and BarakIn the fourth chapter of Judges we saw the incident concerning Deborah. You will recall that they were dark days. In fact, it was dark all over the land. The incident concerning Deborah, Barak, and Jael took place in the northern part of Israel. God gave Israel a great deliverance. This song is one of praise to God and a rehearsal of the entire episode.

Judges 5:1

Their song is very poetic, to be sure. Deborah confesses that she is a mother in Israel and was not looking for a job at all. The fact that she took the lead is no reflection on her. She was God’s choice. History affords many such examples. There was Molly Pitcher, the wife of a Revolutionary soldier, who, at the battle of Monmouth, manned the cannon at which her husband had just fallen. Other examples are Joan of Arc, the French heroine, and Zenobia, queen of Palmyra. Deborah was one of the outstanding judges. She far exceeded Othniel in ability. It is an evidence of decline, however, when women come into the position of authority. It is a sign of weakness and of a flabby age. We have already seen that weak-kneed general, Barak. He was a sissy. He wanted to stay way back behind the fighting lines. In fact, he wanted to stay home and did not want to fight at all. Deborah had to agree to go with him before he was willing to go and battle the enemy. Many years ago I heard Dr. Harry Ironside tell of a woman who was preaching in a park as he and one of his friends were walking by. His friend said, “It is a shame for a woman to get up and preach like that. I deplore it. She should not be doing that.” Dr. Ironside replied, “I agree with you that it is a shame, not that a woman is preaching, but that there is not a man to take her place.” Regardless of what you might think (and I know I may sound very out of date, especially in this day of women’s rights), America is paying an awful price for taking women into its defense system and into industry. I made this statement as far back as 1948, and I am no prophet, but I predicted a backwash of immorality if women left the home. Well, it certainly came to pass. First there was an epidemic of women shooting their husbands, deserting their children, becoming dope peddlers, and committing suicide. There are many things that are considered a menace in our countryinflation, crime, foreign aggressionbut I feel that the greatest danger is that women are leaving their place in the home. Deborah actually did not want to leave her home. However, Jabin was king of the Canaanites, and God had sold Israel into slavery to them. When the time of deliverance came, Barak, who commanded Israel’s army, did not want to go into battle. God, however, promised victory. The victory was won, but it was an ignominious victory for Barak. After the battle Deborah and Barak sang a song that was one of the first songs of the human race.

Judges 5:6

The song mentions Shamgar. He was the judge, you remember, that used an ox goad. He had judged during a time of lawlessness and grave immorality. It was not safe to walk the highways; the highways were unoccupied. Travelers walked through the byways because it was not safe to take the main route. It is becoming increasingly unsafe to travel today also. Women do not dare walk the streets at night alone. Deborah knew all about this kind of danger because lawlessness reigned in her day. Then her song mentions the lack of leadership. Rulers had ceased to rule. There was no great man who could lead. Deborah was a mother. She had a mother’s heart. Very candidly, she did not want to take the lead, but there was no man to assume the leadership. How tragic was this situation. She wanted something better for her children than what she saw about her. Because of her desire, she became a judge in Israel. She stepped out and took the lead in a day when her nation had denied God.

Judges 5:8

Israel denied Godas men do todayonly instead of becoming atheists, they became polytheists. They began to worship many gods. Think of the multitudes today that are living without God! Deborah did not want her children to grow up this way and that is why she stepped out as she did. Do you remember the hopes that this country had after World War II? Everyone in the United States thought they were going to have peace at last. Many people thought they would live in peace and sin, and it would be nice. They forgot to read Psa_85:10 which says, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Friend, peace and righteousness do not even speak to each other todayI do not even think they know each other! It is interesting that God did not let us live comfortably in peace and sin. God did not let Israel live that way either.

It is also interesting to note that Israel lacked a defense. They had nothing with which to meet the enemy. Deborah sang, “…then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?” Israel had no help at all.

Judges 5:9

The conditions were not all bad. There were some godly rulers. Deborah wanted them to know that she gave them her support. It was the godless crowd that she rejected.

Judges 5:10

The gates were the place of assembly. Wherever people were going to meet, instead of talking about the common topics of the day, as they had in the past, they would talk about the righteous acts of God.

Judges 5:12

After Israel’s victory over the enemy, Deborah once again tells Barak to take command. But he does not take charge, and she has to continue as the leader. She found she had dominion over the mighty.

Judges 5:14

The tribes now join in.

Judges 5:15

Some of the tribes didn’t help. Reuben sent no reinforcements to the battle. They were not there to lend support when it was badly needed. They were neighbors and close by, but they did nothing. They felt like they should stay with their flocks and apparently did not trust someone else to watch their animals. They acted as if there was no war. They burned their draft cards and did not come. The tribe of Issachar, on the other hand, stood with Deborah and Barak.

Judges 5:17

Dan was busy in commerce. The folk in that tribe did not want to come to the battle. Asher continued on the seashore. You know, human nature never changes. As in Deborah’s day, many folk today have let their country down, and they should not have done that.

Judges 5:18

These two tribes really fought.

Judges 5:19

Israel had some allies that were formerly enemies. They helped at the waters of Megiddo which is near what will be Armageddon one day.

Judges 5:20

I don’t believe this is merely a poetic expression. My feeling is that it could truly be said that heaven, that God was against this enemy.

Judges 5:21

Frankly, I cannot identify Meroz. However, one thing I know for sure and that is that I would not want to be an inhabitant of the city of Meroz. They did not come to help the work of the Lord and so they were cursed. Today, also, there are multitudes of folks who are not coming to help the work of the Lord.

Judges 5:24

The heroine of the day was Jael, not Barak, in spite of her dastardly deed. But this was a time of war and the aftermath of war. All around was the holocaust of battle, broken bodies, and the fruit of war. Men’s souls were blackened and scarred. The foliage of civilization was removed like thin veneer. Snarled and gnarled, the trunk of barbarianism was revealed. What Jael did was an awful thing. Woman has been created finer than man. There is something fine that has gone out of life today, and I think it centers in womanhood. Now a mother’s heart is revealed. Deborah remembers that Sisera, although he was the enemy, had a mother. And even though she extols Jael for what she did, she thinks of Sisera’s mother.

Judges 5:28

The mother of Sisera knew in her heart what had happened. She knew he had been slain. She had thought all of the time that he would be coming home, but he did not come. Even in this case, the heart of Deborah went out to this woman because she was a mother.

Judges 5:31

There have been mothers in the past who have overcome handicaps in evil daysevil days like those in which Deborah lived. Read the story of Augustine. He had a marvelous mother by the name of Monica, who prayed for him. He was a debauched college professor, and he finally came to the feet of Jesus Christ. There was also Susanna Wesley who prayed for her two sons, John and Charles Wesley. Now I am not talking about worshiping womanhood or motherhood, friend, but I do want to say that we are getting far away from God’s conception of it. What a picture we have in Deborah and her song!