No King in Israel (10)

If we were looking at chapter 5 of Judges purely from a literary standpoint, we might call it largely redundant. While it contains a few interesting bits of information we will comment on here, for the most part it simply recapitulates much of the historical narrative from the previous chapter in the form of a Hebrew song of praise to God. A secular editor might be inclined to cut to the chase and move us right on to Gideon’s storyline.

Thankfully, our Editor had a better idea.

When men and women stop what they are doing to give thanks to God (“Bless the Lord! Bless the Lord!”), he takes note. Sometimes, as in this case, he even preserves their feeble efforts to articulate their appreciation long beyond anything they might imagine. Think about it: this song is 3,500 years old or thereabouts. It’s surely been copied and recopied hundreds of times, and translated and retranslated. Given its vintage, it retains a few phrases and stylistic quirks the modern reader will find unfamiliar, but the version we have in English leaves no doubt what its author was trying to say and the jubilant frame of mind that inspired it.

II. Twelve Judges in Chronological Order (continued)

4. Deborah (continued)

Judges 5:1 — Hallelujah Chorus

“Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:”

The attentive reader cannot miss that this is Deborah’s song. Perhaps somebody else wrote the music, or perhaps she crafted the lyrics to fit a familiar Hebrew tune. Many hymns and psalms we enjoy today were written over other people’s melodies. Either way, Deborah definitely wrote the lyrics: she mentions herself in the first person in verse 7. This makes sense given the respective roles of Deborah and Barak in the victory they are celebrating. Deborah used words to encourage and inspire; Barak got out there and swung the blade at the enemy. He was probably not a poet of note.

All the same, Deborah makes little of her own role in the song, and much of those who followed her and Barak into battle. This self-deprecation is even evident in the style of the song, which is a duet rather than a solo.

Even if we didn’t have this first verse to tell us, or the short lines and poetic formatting in our Bibles, it would be obvious from the frequent word repetitions and odd sentence structure that somebody was trying to fit the words into a melody line, increasingly so as the song builds to its climax. The repeating lyric patterns are most notable in verses 7, 12, 15-16, 21, 27 and 30, and would probably be even more evident in Hebrew.

Judges 5:4-5 — From Edom

“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.”

The army that fought against the king of Hazor in the north was made up of northern tribes: Zebulun, Naphtali and Issachar. These three felt Jabin’s oppression most acutely; all their tribal allotments were across the Jordan from Hazor, his seat of power. In fighting Sisera, 10,000 men marched from their homes in the north to gather at Mount Tabor, a little west and south of the Sea of Galilee, and to draw the general’s attention. West of Mount Tabor, the river Kishon runs northwest from Mount Gilboa all the way to the Mediterranean. According to the song, the river played a major part in the victory. Harosheth-hagoyim, where the army of Jabin met its end, is halfway up the Kishon on the east bank. All these locations are far in the north of Israel.

Here’s a curious thing: why is it that in crediting the Lord for his help in the victory, God is described as marching from the region of Edom, specifically from Mount Seir, 300 km to the south of Mount Tabor? That’s quite a march!

The image of the Lord coming to his people’s deliverance from the south, specifically Edom, echoes later passages of scripture. Isaiah begins his 63rd chapter with the question, “Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? ‘It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.’ ” The reference is obviously both Messianic and future. Those “crimsoned garments” are also found in Revelation 19. Perhaps Deborah’s words foreshadow the second coming of the Lord Jesus, in which deliverance for his earthly people is very much the agenda.

Judges 5:8-9 — An Admission of Guilt

“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.”

This is not a prayer of confession, but Deborah acknowledges the guilt of Israel by pointing out that when a people abandons their God for new ones, war becomes inevitable. Idolatry is intolerable to the Lord, and the nation that embraced it suffered accordingly. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand?” The question is rhetorical, and the answer is no. Until God stood up to deliver his people, they could not even defend themselves.

Unlike other times the Lord raised an army through a judge or prophet, this group from the north was apparently ready to do whatever God required of them. Deborah repeatedly stresses the willingness of the leadership to put themselves at risk against Jabin’s army, and it is perhaps for this reason that she pushed Barak to get going. God had given Zebulun and Naphtali a willing spirit to follow him. He had only to step forward and do what God required of him.

Judges 5:14-15 — The Commendations

“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.”

So far as the record goes, the tribe of Ephraim was not involved in this battle. Mount Tabor, where Israel gathered for war, is in the tribal allotment of Naphtali. But the battle only happened because God gave his word to a woman sitting under a palm in Ephraim. That was the “root” from which grew Israel’s revolt against their oppressors. This is also the only time the tribe of Benjamin is mentioned in connection with the battle, but the participation of some from that tribe is plausible given their pugnacious disposition and their proximity to Deborah’s palm.

This is also the only reference to Machir in the two chapters. Machir was the son of Manasseh and settled in Gilead, on the far side of the Jordan, closer to Hazor than members of any other tribe. Any commanders who came from Machir had good reason to contend with the “king of Canaan”.

All these are commended for their eagerness in going to battle against Israel’s enemy.

Judges 5:15-17 — The Recriminations

“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. Gilead 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.”

After the commendations, we get the recriminations. The tribe of Reuben stayed home with the sheep rather than coming to war alongside their brothers. “Gilead” refers primarily to Manasseh, but also to Reuben and Gad, the Transjordan tribes who stayed home. Asher and Dan are also indicted for their lack of involvement, but it’s also probable that Jabin’s oppressive rule affected these tribes less severely than the tribes nearer Hazor.

Judges 5:20 — Stars in Battle

“From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.”

This is probably not just hyperbole. Stars and angels are frequently associated in scripture. The seven stars of Revelation are the angels of the seven churches, and the falling stars of Revelation 12 are often thought to be angels. In Job, the Lord speaks of the morning stars singing together in connection with the “sons of God” shouting for joy. So the “stars” here likely also signify angelic forces and spiritual powers and principalities involved in the unseen spiritual aspect of the battle. We only know that Sisera’s army, notwithstanding its 900 iron chariots, was routed by the troops led by Barak. The previous chapter’s narrative gives no obvious indication of miraculous assistance, but it was clearly occurring behind the scenes, and Deborah draws attention to it.

Judges 5:23 — Another Obscure Reference

“ ‘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.’ ”

This is the only time Meroz is mentioned in scripture, and scholars think it must have been a place in northern Palestine. Of all the groups criticized for failure to participate, this is the only one cursed. Perhaps their rejection of Barak’s call to arms was egregious or insulting.

Judges 5:30 — Spoils of War

“ ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil? — A womb or two for every man; spoil of dyed materials for Sisera …’ ”

Jael is again commended for her handiness with a tent peg, and the song finishes with an imaginary scene in Sisera’s home, where his mother awaits the commander who will never return. Historical references to raping and pillaging are often glossed over. This is not the case here. Even the women of Hazor acknowledge Sisera’s delay may be due to his enjoying the “spoils of war”. If we were ever tempted to feel badly on behalf of the losers in the book of Judges, we probably should not. They were not nice people.

Judges 5:31 — Forty Years

“And the land had rest for forty years.”

Forty-year periods are commonplace in scripture, from forty years of wandering in the wilderness to multiple forty-year periods in Judges, both of rest and oppression. Saul, David and Solomon all ruled Israel for forty years. The meaning behind and purpose of various forty-year periods may be debated, and there may even be some minor rounding involved to get to those numbers, but to me it’s evidence of something at work far above and outside the schemes of man. Such “coincidences” don’t happen at random over and over again.