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1Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:
2"That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
that the people offered themselves willingly,
bless the LORD!
3"Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
to the LORD I will sing;
I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.
4"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.
5The mountains quaked before the LORD,
even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.
6"In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,
and travelers kept to the byways.
7The villagers ceased in Israel;
they ceased to be until I arose;
I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
8When new gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates.
Was shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel?
9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
who offered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the LORD.
10"Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets
and you who walk by the way.
11To 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.
12"Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, break out in a song!
Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,
O son of Abinoam.
13Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty.
14From 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;
15the 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.
16Why 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.
17Gilead 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.
18Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
19"The kings came, they fought;
then fought the kings of Canaan,
at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;
they got no spoils of silver.
20From heaven the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21The torrent Kishon swept them away,
the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
March on, my soul, with might!
22"Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs
with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23"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.
24"Most blessed of women be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25He asked water and she gave him milk;
she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.
26She 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.
27Between her feet
he sank, he fell, he lay still;
between her feet
he sank, he fell;
where he sank,
there he fell—dead.
28"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?'
29Her wisest princesses answer,
indeed, she answers herself,
30'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?'
31"So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!
But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might."
And the land had rest for forty years.
There is a third contrast depicted in our song. It is the contrast between those Israelites who joined the battle and those who did not. The theme already surfaces in the opening words of the poem: "…when people willingly offer themselves, bless the Lord!" (5:2). Yes, bless the Lord, for you might not see this too often. In the middle section of the song, 5:13-18, we have accumulating references to Israelite tribes. Ten of them are mentioned (Makir is a code name for Manasseh [5:14], so is Gilead for Gad [5:16]), but only six responded to the call to arms. Reuben is one of those who resisted. 5:15-16 twice mention that Reuben seriously reflected upon the situation. But thinking and meditating by itself won't put bread on the table. "Let me think about it."—This will often be the response of Christians when they are asked to sacrifice something for the ministry. Too often, I am afraid, it means no more than, "No, but I refuse to make this plain to you, for I know I have no excuse."
The Reubenites are being asked a sardonic question by the poet: "Why did you stay at home to sit around campfires and had musicians entertain you with shepherd's pipes?" This is an image of people who cannot be bothered. In the end, their agenda was more important to them than God's.
The book of Judges has many sub-plots. One of them has now been introduced in a forceful fashion, namely, the lack of unity among the Israelites. This theme, like everything else, grows worse as you read through the book. The closing chapters record full scale civil war and genocide among the tribes. The lack of unity is here traced to a lack of willingness to offer oneself voluntarily. The people do not put God first in their lives. Unity does not always mean agreement, but it always implies sacrifice for others, and for God. "In view of the mercy of God, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1).
We must also be wary of falling into a mode of comparing ourselves with others. What if parents would say to their kid, "Look, you're 10 years old now, and we've been there for you all the time. Now we want you to take over; you fend for yourself. As for us, we have done enough." Parents would not say this to their children! But if we give ourselves to our blood relations, then Christian brothers and sisters ought to do the same for each other. Unity in the body comes when the members offer themselves willingly. This is our way of life as followers of Christ, and not merely a brief, occasional episode.
The motivation for this way of life is our unity in/with Christ. He lived a perfect life of total service and made up for any lack on our part. He gave his life for you and put himself in the line of fire. I presume he never complained to the Father that he was doing so much, and we so little, if anything. After all, he wants us to know that it is he who carries us, and not we him. If this is so, then let us carry one another. For by the grace and power of God we can do this. We can learn this.
The author of these devotionals, the Rev. Martin Emmrich, is an ordained OPC minister (Westminster OPC, Corvallis, Oregon) as well as the author of Pneumatological Concepts in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book on the teaching of Hebrews on the Holy Spirit. We are happy to make these devotionals on Ecclesiastes and other passages of Scripture available to you.
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