J
U D G E S
CHAP. V.
This chapter contains the triumphal song which was composed and
sung upon occasion of that glorious victory which
Israel
obtained
over the forces of Jabin king of
Canaan and the happy consequences of that victory. Probably it was
usual then to publish poems upon such occasions, as now; but this only is
preserved of all the poems of that age of the judges, because dictated by
Deborah a prophetess, designed for a psalm of praise then, and a pattern of
praise to after-ages, and it gives a great deal of light to the history of
these times. I. It begins with praise to God, ver. 2, 3. II. The substance of
this song transmits the memory of this great achievement. 1. Comparing God's
appearances for them on this occasion with his appearances to them on
Mount
Sinai, ver. 4, 5. 2. Magnifying their deliverance from the consideration of
the calamitous condition they had been in, ver. 6-8. 3. Calling those to join
in praise that shared in the benefits of the success, ver. 9-13. 4. Reflecting
honour upon those tribes that were forward and active in that war, and
disgrace on those that declined the service, ver. 14-19, 23. 5. Taking notice
how God himself fought for them, ver. 20-22. 6. Celebrating particularly the
honour of Jael, that slew Sisera, on which head the song is very large, ver.
24-30. It concludes with a prayer to God, ver. 31.
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The
Song of Deborah and Barak.
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B.
C. 1285.
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1 Then sang Deborah and
Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 2 Praise ye the LORD
for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered
themselves. 3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even
I, will sing unto the LORD;
I will sing praise to the LORD
God of Israel. 4 LORD,
when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped
water. 5 The mountains melted from before the LORD,
even that Sinai from before the LORD
God of Israel.
The former chapter let us know what great things God had done for Israel; in
this we have the thankful returns they made to God, that all ages of the
church might learn that work of heaven to praise God.
I. God is praised by a song, which is, 1. A very natural expression of
rejoicing. Is any merry? Let him sing; and holy joy is the very soul
and root of praise and thanksgiving. God is pleased to reckon himself
glorified by our joy in him, and in his wondrous works. His servants' joy is
his delight, and their sons are melody to him. 2. A very proper expedient for
spreading the knowledge and perpetuating the remembrance of great events.
Neighbours would learn this song one of another and children of their parents;
and by that means those who had not books, or could not read, yet would be
made acquainted with these works of God; and one generation would thus praise
God's works to another, and declare his mighty acts, Ps. cxlv. 4,
&c.
II. Deborah herself penned this song, as appears by v. 7: Till I
Deborah arose. And the first words should be rendered, Then she sang,
even Deborah. 1. She used her gifts as a prophetess in composing the song,
and the strain throughout is very fine and lofty, the images are lively, the
expressions elegant, and an admirable mixture there is in it of sweetness and
majesty. No poetry is comparable to the sacred poetry. And, 2. We may supposed
she used her power as a princess, in obliging the conquering army of Israel to
learn and sing this son. She expects not that they should, by their poems,
celebrate her praises and magnify here, but requires that in this poem they
should join with her in celebrating God's praises and magnifying him. She had
been the first wheel in the action, and now is so in the thanksgiving.
III. It was sung on that day, not the very day that the fight was, but on that
occasion, and soon after, as soon as a thanksgiving day could conveniently be
appointed. When we have received mercy from God, we ought to be speedy in our
returns of praise, while the impressions of the mercy are fresh. It is rent to
be paid at the day.
1. She begins with a general Hallelujah: Praise (or bless, for
that is the word) you the Lord, v. 2. The design of the song is
to give glory to God; this therefore is put first, to explain and direct all
that follows, like the first petition of the Lord's prayer, Hallowed be thy
name. Two things God is here praised for:-- (1.) The vengeance he took on
Israel's enemies, for the avenging of Israel upon their proud and cruel
oppressors, recompensing into their bosoms all the injuries they had done to
his people. The Lord is known as a righteous God, and the God to whom
vengeance belongs by the judgments which he executeth. (2.) The grace
he gave to Israel's friends, when the people willingly offered themselves
to serve in this war. God is to have the glory of all the good offices that
are at any time done us; and the more willingly they are done the more is to
be observed of that grace which gives both to will and to do. For these two
things she resolves to leave this song upon record, to the honour of the
everlasting God (v. 3): I, even I, will sing unto the Lord,
Jehovah, that God of incontestable sovereignty and irresistible power, even to
the Lord God of Israel, who governs all for the good of the church.
2. She calls to the great ones of the world, that sit at the upper end of its
table, to attend to her song, and take notice of the subject of it: Hear, O
you kings! give ear, O you princes! (1.) She would have them know that as
great and as high as they were there was one above them with whom it is folly
to contend, and to whom it was their interest to submit, that horses and
chariots are vain things for safety. (2.) She would have them to join with her
in praising the God of Israel, and no longer to praise their counterfeit
deities, as Belshazzar did. Dan. v. 4, He praised the gods of gold and
silver. She bespeaks them as the psalmist (Ps. ii. 10, 11), Be wise now
therefore, O you kings! serve the Lord with fear. (3.) She would have them
take warning by Sisera's fate, and not dare to offer any injury to the people
of God, whose cause, sooner or later, God will plead with jealousy.
3. She looks back upon God's former appearances, and compares this with them,
the more to magnify the glorious author of this great salvation. What God is
doing should bring to our mind what he has done; for he is the same yesterday,
to-day, and for ever (v. 4): Lord, when thou wentest our of Seir.
This may be understood either, (1.) Of the appearances of God's power and
justice against the enemies of Israel to subdue and conquer them; and so Hab.
iii. 3, 4, &c., is parallel to it, where the destruction of the church's
enemies is thus described. When God had led his people Israel from the country
of Edom he brought down under their feet Sihon and Og, striking them and their
armies with such terror and amazement that they seemed apprehensive heaven and
earth were coming together. Their hearts melted, as if all the world had been
melting round about them. Or it notes the glorious displays of the divine
majesty; and the surprising effects of the divine power, enough to make the
earth tremble, the heavens drop like snow before the sun, and the mountains to
melt. Compare Ps. xviii. 7. God's counsels are so far from being hindered by
any creature that, when the time of their accomplishment comes, that which
seemed to stand in their way will not only yield before them, but be made to
serve them. See Isa. lxiv. 1, 2. Or, (2.) It is meant of the appearances of
God's glory and majesty to Israel, when he gave them his law at Mount Sinai.
It was then literally true, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped,
&c. Compare Deut. xxxiii. 2; Ps. lxviii. 7, 8. Let all the kings and
princes know that this is the God whom Deborah praises, and not such mean and
impotent deities as they paid their homage to. The Chaldee paraphrase applies
it to the giving of the law, but has a strange descant on those words, the
mountains melted. Tabor, Hermon, and Carmel, contended among themselves: one
said, Let the divine majesty dwell upon me; the other said, Let it dwell upon
me; but God made it to dwell upon Mount Sinai, the meanest and least of all
the mountains. I suppose it means the least valuable, because barren and
rocky.
6 In the days of Shamgar
the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the
travellers walked through byways. 7 The inhabitants of the
villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I
arose a mother in Israel. 8 They chose new gods; then was
war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in
Israel? 9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that
offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.
10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by
the way. 11 They that are delivered from the noise of
archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the
righteous acts of the LORD,
even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages
in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD
go down to the gates.
Here, I. Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of
Jabin, that the greatness of their trouble might make their salvation appear
the more illustrious and the more gracious (v. 6): From the days of
Shamgar, who did some thing towards the deliverance of Israel from the
Philistines, to the days of Jael, the present day, in which Jael has so
signalized herself, the country has been in a manner desolate. 1. No trade.
For want of soldiers to protect men of business in their business from the
incursions of the enemy, and for want of magistrates to restrain and punish
thieves and robbers among them (men of broken fortunes and desperate spirits,
that, having no employment, took to rob on the highroad), all commerce ceased,
and the highways were unoccupied; no caravans of merchants, as formerly. 2. No
travelling. Whereas in times when there was some order and government the
travellers might be safe in the open roads, and the robbers were forced to
lurk in the by-ways, no, on the contrary, the robbers insulted on the open
roads without check, and the honest travellers were obliged to sculk and walk
through by-ways, in continual frights. 3. No tillage. The fields must needs be
laid waste and unoccupied when the inhabitants of the villages, the country
farmers, ceased from their employment, quitted their houses which were
continually alarmed and plundered by the banditti, and were obliged to take
shelter for themselves and their families in walled and fenced cities. 4. No
administration of justice. There was war in the gates where their courts were
kept, v. 8. So that it was not till this salvation was wrought that the
people of the Lord durst go down to the gates, v. 11. The
continual incursions of the enemy deprived the magistrates of the dignity, and
the people of the benefit, of their government. 5. No peace to him that went
out nor to him that came in. The gates through which they passed and repassed
were infested by the enemy; nay, the places of drawing water were alarmed by
the archers--a mighty achievement to terrify the drawers of water. 6. Neither
arms nor spirit to help themselves with, not a shield nor spear seen among
forty thousand, v. 8. Either they were disarmed by their oppressors, or
they themselves neglected the art of war; so that, though they had spears and
shields, they were not to be seen, but were thrown by and suffered to rust,
they having neither skill nor will to use them.
II. She shows in one word what it was that brought all this misery upon them: They
chose new gods, v. 8. It was their idolatry that provoked God to
give them up thus into the hands of their enemies. The Lord their God was one
Lord, but this would not content them: they must have more, many more, still
more. Their God was the Ancient of days, still the same, and therefore they
grew weary of him, and must have new gods, which they were as fond of as
children of new clothes, names newly invented, heroes newly canonized. Their
fathers, when put to their choice, chose the Lord for their God (Josh. xxiv.
21), but they would not abide by that choice, they must have gods of their own
choosing.
III. She takes notice of God's great goodness to Israel in raising up such as
should redress these grievances. Herself first (v. 7): Till that I
Deborah arose, to restrain and punish those who disturbed the public
peace, and protect men in their business, and then the face of things was
changed for the better quickly; those beasts of prey retired upon the breaking
forth of this joyful light, and man went forth again to his work and
labour, Ps. civ. 22, 23. Thus she became a mother in Israel, a nursing
mother, such was the affection she bore to her people, and such the care and
pains she took for the public welfare. Under her there were other governors of
Israel (v. 9), who, like her, had done their part as governors to
reform the people, and then, like her, offered themselves willingly to serve
in the war, not insisting upon the exemption which their dignity and office
entitled them to, when the had so fair an opportunity of appearing in their
country's cause; and no doubt the example of the governors influenced the
people in like manner willingly to offer themselves, v. 2. Of
these governors she says, My heart is towards them, that is, "I
truly love and honour them; they have won my heart for ever; I shall never
forget them." Note, Those are worthy of double honour that recede
voluntarily from the demands of their honour to serve God and his church.
IV. She calls upon those who had a particular share in the advantages of this
great salvation to offer up particular thanks to God for it, v. 10, 11.
Let every man speak as he found of the goodness of God in this happy change of
the posture of public affairs. 1. You that ride on white asses, that
is, the nobility and gentry. Horses were little used in that county; they had,
it is probable, a much better breed of asses than we have; but persons of
quality, it seems, were distinguished by the colour of the asses they rode on;
the white being more rare were therefore more valued. Notice is taken of
Abdon's sons and grandsons riding on ass-colts, as indicating them to be men
of distinction, ch. xii. 14. Let such as are by this salvation
restored, not only to their liberty as other Israelites, but to their dignity,
speak God's praises. 2. Let those that sit in judgment be sensible of
it, and thankful for it as a very great mercy, that they may sit safely there,
that the sword of justice is not struck out of their hand by the sword of war.
3. Let those that walk by the way, and meet with none there to make
them afraid, speak to themselves in pious meditations, and to their
fellow-travellers in religious discourses, of the goodness of God in ridding
the roads of those banditti that had so long infested them. 4. Let those that
draw in peace, and have not their wells taken from them, or stopped up, nor
are in danger of being caught by the enemy when they go forth to draw, there,
where they find themselves so much more safe and easy than they have been, there
let them rehearse the acts of the Lord, not Deborah's acts, nor Barak's,
but the Lord's, taking notice of his hand making peace in their borders, and
creating a defence upon all the glory. This is the Lord's doing.
Observe in these acts of his, (1.) Justice executed on his daring enemies.
They are the righteous acts of the Lord. See him pleading a righteous cause,
and sitting in the throne judging aright, and give him glory as the Judge of
all the earth. (2.) Kindness shown to his trembling people, the inhabitants
of the villages, who lay most open to the enemy, had suffered most, and
were most in danger, Ezek. xxxviii. 11. It is the glory of God to protect
those that are most exposed, and to help the weakest. Let us all take notice
of the share we in particular have in the public peace and tranquility, the
inhabitants of the villages especially, and give God the praise of it.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah:
awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou
son of Abinoam. 13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion
over the nobles among the people: the LORD
made me have dominion over the mighty. 14 Out of Ephraim was
there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy
people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle
the pen of the writer. 15 And the princes of Issachar were
with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the
valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of
heart. 16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the
bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great
searchings of heart. 17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did
Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his
breaches. 18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that
jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in
Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. 20
They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon.
O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. 22 Then were the
horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty
ones. 23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD,
curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help
of the LORD,
to the help of the LORD
against the mighty.
Here, I. Deborah stirs up herself and Barak to celebrate this victory in the
most solemn manner, to the glory of God and the honour of Israel, for the
encouragement of their friends and the greater confusion of their enemies, v.
12. 1. Deborah, as a prophetess, must do it by a song, to compose and sing
which she excites herself: Awake, awake, and again, awake, awake,
which intimates the sense she had of the excellency and difficulty of the
work; it needed and well deserved the utmost liveliness and vigour of soul in
the performance of it; all the powers and faculties of the soul in their
closest intensity and application ought to be employed in it. Thus too she
expresses the sense she had of her own infirmity, and aptness to flag and
remit in her zeal in this work. Note, Praising God is work that we should
awake to, and awake ourselves to, Ps. cviii. 2. 2. Barak, as a general, must
do it by a triumph: Lead thy captivity captive. Though the army of
Sisera was cut off in the field, and no quarter given, yet we may suppose in
the prosecution of the victory, when the war was carried into the enemy's
country, many not found in arms were seized and made prisoners of war. These
she would have led in chains after Barak, when he made his public entry into
his own city, to grace his triumphs; not as if it should be any pleasure to
him to trample upon his fellow-creatures, but thus he must give glory to God,
and serve that great purpose of his government which is to look upon those
that are proud and to abase them.
II. She gives good reason for this praise and triumph, v. 13. This
glorious victory had made the remnant of Israel, and Deborah in particular,
look very great, a circumstance which they owed entirely to God. 1. The
Israelites had become few and inconsiderable, and yet to them God gave
dominion over nobles. Many of them were cut off by the enemy, many died of
grief, and perhaps some had removed their families and effects into foreign
parts; yet those few that remained, by divine assistance, with one brave and
generous effort, not only shook off the yoke of oppression from their own
neck, but got power over their oppressors. As long as any of God's Israel
remain (and a remnant God will have in the worst of times) there is hope, be
it ever so small a remnant, for God can make him that remains, though it
should be but one single person, triumph over the most proud and potent. 2.
Deborah was herself of the weaker sex, and the sex that from the fall had been
sentenced to subjection, and yet the Lord that is himself higher than the
highest authorized her to rule over the mighty men of Israel, who willingly
submitted to her direction, and enabled her to triumph over the mighty men of
Canaan, who fell before the army she commanded; so wonderfully did he advance
the low estate of his handmaid. "The Lord made me, a woman, to have
dominion over mighty men." A despised stone is made head of the
corner. This is indeed the Lord's doing, and marvellous in our eyes.
III. She makes particular remarks on the several parties concerned in this
great action, taking notice who fought against them, who fought for them, and
who stood neuter.
1. Who fought against them. The power of the enemy must be taken notice of,
that the victory may appear the more glorious. Jabin and Sisera had been
mentioned in the history, but here it appears further, (1.) That Amalek was in
league with Jabin, and sent him in assistance, or endeavoured to do it.
Ephraim is here said to act against Amalek (v. 14), probably
intercepting and cutting off some forces of the Amalekites that were upon
their march to join Sisera. Amalek had helped Moab to oppress Israel (ch.
iii. 13) and now had helped Jabin; they were inveterate enemies to God's
people--their hand had always been against the throne of the Lord
(Exod. xvii. 16); and therefore they were the more dangerous. (2.) That others
of the kings of Canaan, who had somewhat recovered themselves since their
defeat by Joshua, joined with Jabin, and strengthened his army with their
forces, having the same implacable enmity to Israel that he had, and those
kingdoms, when they were in their strength, having been subject to that of
Hazor, Josh. xi. 10. These kings came and fought, v. 19. Israel
had no king; their enemies had many, whose power and influence, especially
acting in confederacy, made them very formidable; and yet Israel, having the
Lord for their King, was too hard for them all. It is said of these kings that
they took no gain of money, they were not mercenary troops hired into
the service of Jabin (such often fail in an extremity), but they were
volunteers and hearty in the cause against Israel: they desired not the
riches of silver, so the Chaldee, but only the satisfaction of helping to
ruin Israel. Acting upon this principle, they were the more formidable, and
would be the more cruel.
2. Who fought for them. The several tribes that assisted in this great exploit
are here spoken of with honour; for, though God is chiefly to be glorified,
instruments must have their due praise, for the encouragement of others: but,
after all, it was heaven that turned the scale.
(1.) Ephraim and Benjamin, those tribes among whom Deborah herself lived,
bestirred themselves, and did bravely, by her influence upon them; for her
palm-tree was in the tribe of Ephraim, and very near to that of Benjamin (v.
14): Out of Ephraim was there a root, and life in the root, against
Amalek. There was in Ephraim a mountain called the mount of Amalek,
mentioned, ch. xii. 15, which, some think, is here meant, and some read
it, there was a root in Amalek, that is, in that mountain, a strong
resolution in the minds of that people to make head against the oppressors,
which was the root of the matter. Herein Benjamin had set them a good example
among his people. "Ephraim moved after thee, Benjamin;"
though Benjamin was the junior tribe, and much inferior, especially at this
time, to Ephraim, both in number and wealth, yet when they led Ephraim
followed in appearing for the common cause. If we be not so bold as to lead,
yet we must not be so proud and sullen as not to follow even our inferiors in
a good work. Ephraim was a at a distance from the place of action, and
therefore could not send forth many of its boughs to the service; but Deborah,
who was one of them, knew there was a root of them, that they were hearty
well-wishers to the cause. Dr. Lightfoot gives quite another sense of this.
Joshua, of Ephraim, had been a root of such victories against Amalek (Exod.
xvii.), and Ehud of Benjamin lately against Amalek and Moab.
(2.) The ice being broken by Ephraim and Benjamin, Machir (the half-tribe of
Manasseh beyond Jordan) and Zebulun sent in men that were very serviceable to
this great design. When an army is to be raised, especially under such
disadvantages as Barak now experienced from the long disuse of arms and the
dispiritedness of the people, it is of great consequence to be furnished, [1.]
With men of courage for officers, and such the family of Machir furnished them
with, for thence came down governors. The children of Machir were
particularly famous for their valour in Moses' time (Num. xxxii. 39), and it
seems it continued in their family, the more because they were seated in the
frontiers. [2.] With men of learning and ingenuity for secretaries of war, and
with such they were supplied out of Zebulun: thence came men that handle
the pen of the writer, clerks that issued out orders, wrote circular
letters, drew commissions, mustered their men, and kept their accounts. Thus
must every man, according as he has received the gift, minister the same,
for the public good (1 Pet. iv. 10); the eyes see, and the ears hear, for the
whole body. I know it is generally understood of the forwardness even of the
scholars of this tribe, who studied the law and expounded it, to take up arms
in this cause, though they were better skilled in books than in the art of
war. So Sir Richard Blackmore paraphrases it:--
The scribes of Zebulun and learned men,
To wield the sword, laid down the pen.
(3.) Issachar did good service too; though he saw that rest was good,
and therefore bowed his shoulder to bear, which is the character of
that tribe (Gen. xlix. 15), yet they disdained to bear the yoke of Jabin's
tribute, and now preferred the generous toils of war to a servile rest. Though
it should seem there were not many common soldiers enlisted out of that tribe,
yet the princes of Issachar were with Deborah and Barak (v. 15),
probably, as a great council of war to advise upon emergencies. And, it should
seem, these princes of Issachar did in person accompany Barak into the field
of battle. Did he go on foot? They footed it with him, not consulting their
honour or ease. Did he go into the valley, the place of most danger? They
exposed themselves with him, and were still at his right hand to advise him:
for the men of Issachar were men that had understanding of the times, 1
Chron. xii. 32.
(4.) Zebulun and Naphtali were the most bold and active of all the tribes, not
only out of a particular affection to Barak their countryman, but because,
they lying nearest to Jabin, the yoke of oppression lay heavier on their necks
than on those of any other tribe. Better die in honour than live in bondage;
and therefore, in a pious zeal for God and their country, they jeoparded
their lives unto the death in the high places of the field, v. 18.
With what heroic bravery did they charge and push on even upon the chariots of
iron, despising danger, and setting death itself at defiance in so good a
cause!
(5.) The stars from heaven appeared, or acted at least, on Israel's side (v.
20): The stars in their courses, according to the order and direction
of him who is the great Lord of their hosts, fought against Sisera, by
their malignant influences, or by causing the storms of hail and thunder which
contributed so much to the rout of Sisera's army. The Chaldee reads it, from
heaven, from the place where the stars go forth, war was waged against Sisera,
that is, the power of the God of heaven was engaged against him, making use of
the ministration of the angels of heaven. Some way or other, the heavenly
bodies (not arrested, as when the sun stood still at Joshua's word, but going
on in their courses) fought against Sisera. Those whom God is an enemy to the
whole creation is at war with. Perhaps the flashes of lightning by which the
stars fought was that which frightened the horses, so as that they pranced
till their very hoofs were broken (v. 22), and probably overturned the
chariots of iron which they drew or turned them back upon their owners.
(6.) The river of Kishon fought against their enemies. It swept away
multitudes of those that hoped to make their escape through it, v. 21.
Ordinarily, it was but a shallow river, and, being in their own country, we
may suppose they well knew its fords and safest passages, and yet now,
probably by the great rain that fell, it was so swollen, and the stream so
deep and strong, that those who attempted to pass it were drowned, being
feeble and faint, and unable to make their way through it. And then were the
horse-hoofs broken by means of the plungings. So it is in the margin, v.
22. The river of Kishon is called that ancient river because described
or celebrated by ancient historians or poets, or rather because it was
designed of old, in the counsel of God, to serve his purposes against Sisera
at this time, and did so, as if it had been made on purpose; thus the water
of the old pool God is said to have fashioned long ago for that use to
which it was put, Isa. xxii. 11.
(7.) Deborah's own soul fought against them; she speaks of it with a holy
exultation (v. 21): O, my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
She did it by exciting others to do it, and assisting them, which she did with
all her heart. Also by her prayers; as Moses conquered Amalek by lifting up
his hand, so Deborah vanquished Sisera by lifting up her heart. And when the
soul is employed in holy exercises, and heart-work is made of them, through
the grace of God the strength of our spiritual enemies will be trodden down
and will fall before us.
3. In this great engagement she observes who stood neuter, and did not
side with Israel as might have been expected. It is strange to find how many,
even of those who were called Israelites, basely deserted this glorious cause
and declined to appear. No mention is made of Judah nor Simeon among the
tribes concerned, because they, lying so very remote from the scene of action,
had not an opportunity to appear, and therefore it was not expected from them;
but for those that lay near, and yet would not venture, indelible marks of
disgrace are here put upon them, as they deserved.
(1.) Reuben basely declined the service, v. 15, 16. Justly had he long
ago been deprived of the privileges of the birth-right, and still does his
dying father's doom stick by him: unstable as water, he shall not excel.
Two things hindered them from engaging:-- [1.] Their divisions. This jarring
string she twice strikes upon to their shame: For the divisions of Reuben
(or in these divisions) there were great thoughts, impressions, and
searchings of heart. Not only for their division from Canaan by the
river Jordan, which needed not to have hindered them had they been hearty in
the cause, for Gilead abode beyond Jordan, and yet from Machir of Gilead came
down governors; but it means either that they were divided among themselves,
could not agree who should go or who should lead, each striving to gain the
posts of honour and shun those of danger, some unhappy contests in their tribe
kept them from uniting together, and with their brethren, for the common good,
or that they were divided in their opinion of this war from the rest of the
tribes, thought the attempt either not justifiable or not practicable, and
therefore blamed those that engaged in it and did themselves decline it. This
occasioned great searchings of heart among the rest, especially when the had
reason to suspect that, whatever Reuben pretended, his sitting still now
proceeded from a cooling of his affections to his brethren and an alienation
of mind from them, which occasioned them many sad thoughts. It grieves us to
see our mother's children angry with us for doing our duty and looking strange
upon us when we most need their friendship and assistance. [2.] Their business
in the world: Reuben abode among the sheepfolds, a warmer and safer
place than the camp, pretending they could not conveniently leave the sheep
they tended; he loved to hear the bleatings of the flocks, or, as some
read it, the whistlings of the flocks, the music which the shepherds
made with their oaten reeds or pipes, and the pastorals which they sung; these
Reuben preferred before the martial drum and trumpet. Thus many are kept from
doing their duty by the fear of trouble, the love of ease, and an inordinate
affection to their worldly business and advantage. Narrow selfish spirits care
not what becomes of the interests of God's church, so they can but get, keep,
and save money. All seek their own, Phil. ii. 21.
(2.) Dan and Asher did the same, v. 17. These two lay on the sea-coast,
and, [1.] Dan pretended he could not leave his ships but they would be
exposed, and therefore I pray thee have me excused. Those of that tribe
perhaps pleaded that their sea-trade disfitted them for land-service and
diverted them from it; but Zebulun also was a haven for ships, a sea-faring
tribe, and yet was forward and active in this expedition. There is no excuse
we make to shift off duty but what some or other have broken through and set
aside, whose courage and resolution will rise up against us and shame us. [2.]
Asher pretended he must stay at home to repair the breaches which the sea had
in some places made upon his land, and to fortify his works against the
encroachments of it, or he abode in his creeks, or small havens, where his
trading vessels lay to attend them. A little thing will serve those for a
pretence to stay at home who have no mind to engage in the most necessary
services because there are difficulty and danger in them.
(3.) But above all Meroz is condemned, and a curse pronounced upon the
inhabitants of it, Because they came not to the help of the Lord, v.
23. Probably this was some city that lay near the scene of action, and
therefore the inhabitants had a fair opportunity of showing their obedience to
God and their concern for Israel, and of doing a good service to the common
cause; but they basely declined it, for fear of Jabin's iron chariots, being
willing to sleep in a whole skin. The Lord needed not their help; he made it
to appear he could do his work without them; but no thanks to them: for aught
they knew the attempt might have miscarried for want of their hand, and
therefore they are cursed for not coming to the help of the Lord, when
it was in effect proclaimed, Who is on the Lord's side? The cause
between God and the mighty (the principalities and powers of the kingdom of
darkness) will not admit of neutrality. God looks upon those as against him
that are not with him. This curse is pronounced by the angel of the Lord,
our Lord Jesus, the captain of the Lord's host (and those whom he curses
are cursed indeed), and further than we have warrant and authority from
him we may not curse. He that will richly reward all his good soldiers will
certainly and severely punish all cowards and deserters. This city of Meroz
seems to have been at this time a considerable place, since something great
was expected from it; but probably, after the angel of the Lord had pronounced
this curse upon it, it dwindled, and, like the fig-tree which Christ cursed,
withered away, so that we never read of it after this in scripture.
24 Blessed above women
shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women
in the tent. 25 He asked water, and she gave him
milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. 26 She put her
hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the
hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and
stricken through his temples. 27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he
lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down
dead. 28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried
through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry
the wheels of his chariots? 29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea,
she returned answer to herself, 30 Have they not sped? have they not
divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of
divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of
needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take
the spoil? 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.
Deborah here concludes this triumphant song,
I. With the praises of Jael, her sister-heroine, whose valiant act had
completed and crowned the victory. She had mentioned her before (v. 6)
as one that would have served her country if it had been in her power; now she
applauds her as one that did serve it admirably well when it was in her power.
Her poetry is finest and most florid here in the latter end of the song. How
honourably does she speak of Jael (v. 24), who preferred her peace with
the God of Israel before her peace with the king of Canaan, and though not a
native of Israel (for aught that appears) yet heartily espoused the cause of
Israel in this critical conjuncture, jeoparded her life as truly as if she had
been in the high places of the field, and bravely fought for those whom she
saw God fought for! Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. Note,
Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a very low and narrow sphere of
activity, if they serve God in that according to their capacity, shall in no
wise lose their reward. Jael in the tent wins as rich a blessing as Barak in
the field. Nothing is more confounding, grievous, and shameful, than
disappointment, and Deborah here does most elegantly describe two great
disappointments, the shame of which was typical of sinners' everlasting shame.
1. Sisera found a fatal enemy where he expected a firm and faithful friend.
(1.) Jael showed him the kindness of a friend, and perhaps at that time
intended no other than kindness, until God, by an immediate impulse upon her
mind (which impulses then were to be regarded, and carried so much of their
own evidence with them that they might be relied upon, but cannot now be
pretended to), directed her to do otherwise, v. 25. He asked only for
fair water to quench his thirst, but she, not only to show her housewifery and
good housekeeping, but to express her respect to him, gave him milk and
brought forth butter, that is (say some interpreters), milk which had
the butter taken from it; we call it butter-milk. No (say others), it was milk
that had the butter still in it; we call it cream. Whichsoever it was, it was
probably the best her house afforded; and, to set it off, she brought it in
a lordly dish, such as she called so, the finest she had, and better than
she ordinarily used at her own table. This confirmed Sisera's opinion of her
friendship, and made him sleep the faster and the more secure. But, (2.) She
proved his mortal enemy, gave him his death's stroke: it is curiously
described, v. 26, 27. [1.] How great does Jael look, hammering
Sisera, as it is in the margin, mauling that proud man who had been so
long the terror of the mighty, and sending him down slain to the pit with his
iniquities upon his bones! Ezek. xxxii. 27. She seems to have gone about
it with no more terror nor concern than if she had been going to nail one of
the boards or bars of her tent, so confident was she of divine aid and
protection. We read it she smote off his head, probably with his own
sword, which, now that his head was nailed through, she durst take from his
side, but not before, for fear of waking him. But because there was no
occasion for cutting off his head, nor was it mentioned in the history, many
think it should be read, she struck through his head. That head which
had been proudly lifted up against God and Israel, and in which had been
forged bloody designs for the destruction of God's people, Jael finds a soft
place in, and into that with a good will strikes her nail. [2.] How mean does
Sisera look, fallen at Jael's feet! v. 27. At the feet of this female
executioner he bowed, he fell; all his struggles for life availed not; she
followed her blow until he fell down dead. There lies extended the deserted
carcase of that proud man, not on the bed of honour, not in the high places of
the field, not having any glorious wound to show from a glittering sword, or a
bow of steel, but in the corner of a tent, at the feet of a woman, with a
disgraceful wound by a sorry nail struck through his head. Thus is shame the
fate of proud men. And this is a very lively representation of the ruin of
those sinners whose prosperity slays them; it flatters and caresses them with
milk and butter in a lordly dish, as if it would make them easy and happy, but
it nails their heads and hearts too to the ground in earthly-mindedness, and
pierces them through with many sorrows; its flatteries are fatal, and sink
them at last into destruction and perdition, 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10.
2. Sisera's mother had the tidings brought her of her son's fall and ruin when
she was big with expectation of his glorious and triumphant return, v.
28-30, where we have, (1.) Her fond desire to see her son come back in
triumph: Why is his chariot so long in coming? She speaks this, not so
much out of a concern for his safety, or any jealousy of his having miscarried
(she had no fear of that, so confident was she of his success), but out of a
longing for his glory, which with a feminine weakness she was passionately
impatient to see, chiding the lingering chariot, and expostulating concerning
the delays of it, little thinking that her unhappy son had been, before this,
forced to quit that chariot which they were so proud of, and which she thought
came so slowly. The chariots of his glory had now become the shame of his
house, Isa. xxii. 18. Let us take heed of indulging such desires as these
towards any temporal good thing, particularly towards that which cherishes
vain-glory, for this was what she here doted on. Eagerness and impatience in
our desires do us a great deal of prejudice, and make it intolerable to us to
be crossed. But towards the second coming of Jesus Christ, and the glories of
that day, we should thus stand affected (Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly),
for here we cannot be disappointed. (2.) Her foolish hope and confidence that
he would come at last in so much the greater pomp. Her wise ladies answered
her, and thought they gave a very good account of the delay; yea, she (in
her wisdom, says the Chaldee) tauntingly made answer to herself, "Have
they not sped? No doubt they have, and that which delays them is that they
are dividing the prey, which is so much that it is a work of time to
make a distribution of it." In the spoil they pleased themselves with the
thought of, observe, [1.] How impudently, and to the reproach and scandal of
their sex, these ladies boast of the multitude of damsels which the soldiers
would have the abusing of. [2.] How childishly they pleased themselves with
the hope of seeing Sisera himself in a gaudy mantle of divers colours;
how charmingly would it look! of divers colours of needle-work,
plundered out of the wardrobe of some Israelitish lady; it is repeated again,
as that which pleased their fancy above any thing, of divers colours of
needle-work on both sides, and therefore very rich; such pieces of
embroidery they hoped Sisera would have to present his mother and the ladies
with. Thus apt are we to deceive ourselves with great expectations and
confident hopes of honour, and pleasure, and wealth in this world, by which we
prepare for ourselves the shame and grief of a disappointment. And thus does
God often bring ruin on his enemies when they are most elevated.
II. She concludes all with a prayer to God, 1. For the destruction of all his
foes: "So, so shamefully, so miserably, let all thy enemies
perish, O Lord; let all that hope to triumph in Israel's ruin be thus
disappointed and triumphed over. Do to them all as unto Sisera,"
Ps. lxxxiii. 9. Though our enemies are to be prayed for, God's enemies, as
such, are to be prayed against; and, when we see some of God's enemies
remarkably humbled and brought down, this is an encouragement to us to pray
for the downfall of all the rest. Deborah was a prophetess, and this prayer
was a prediction that in due time all God's enemies shall perish, Ps. xcii. 9.
None ever hardened his heart against God and prospered. 2. For the exaltation
and comfort of all his friends. "But let those that love him, and
heartily wish well to his kingdom among men, be as the sun when he goeth
forth in his strength; let them shine so bright, appear so glorious in the
eye of the world, cast such benign influences, be as much out of the reach of
their enemies, who curse the rising sun because it scorches them; let them rejoice
as a strong man to run a race, Ps. xix. 5. Let them, as burning and
shining lights in their places, dispel the mists of darkness, and shine with
more and more lustre and power unto the perfect day." Prov. iv.
18. Such shall be the honour, and such the joy, of all that love God in
sincerity, and for ever they shall shine as the sun in the firmament of our
Father.
The victory here celebrated with this song was of such happy consequence to
Israel that for the best part of one age they enjoyed the peace which it
opened the way to: The land had rest forty years, that is, so long it
was from this victory to the raising up of Gideon. And well would it have been
if, when the churches and the tribes had rest, they had been edified, and
had walked in the fear of the Lord.
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