Judges 5, Deborah: A Mother in Israel (3)

Chapter 4 tells the story of Deborah, Barak and Jael. The account gives the high points.  Chapter 5 is a song that was sung in praise to God, but the song and the praise is much more detailed.  Like the “Song of Moses” (Deut. 32) and the “Song of Miriam” (Ex. 15) and the Psalms, this song teaches a lot.  It gives some details that were not part of the general account.  In that sense, it is very Hebrew in style.  It is common, when telling a story, that the author will tell and then retell the story.  A great illustration is the story of Creation in Gen. 1-2.  The story is told 3 times: in 1:1, then 1:2-2:3, and then 2:4-25.  Each account added content to the event, without contradiction.

Here is a simple “outline” of the song:

v1-3: Introduction	v13-18: the People
v4-5: God’s part	v19-23: the battle is won
v6-9: Deborah’s part	v24-30: Jael’s part
v10-12: the Leaders	v31: Conclusion

The opening verses actually tell the story in a nutshell.  The emphasis on “leaders who lead” is explained with more detail in the rest of the song.  Here are a few things of note (in my view; undoubtedly you will see more).

1)                The LORD’s part (v4-5) refers Israel’s departure from Mt. Sinai and entrance into the Promised Land.

2)                v6: Shamgar was one of the judges (3:31.) It was in his time that this event took place.  Judges 4:1 says it happened when Ehud died, the judge who preceded Shamgar.  In 4:4 we see that Deborah was also judging at this time.  This gives a little insight into the nature of these “judges” God used to “deliver” Israel.  They were not “kings” who ruled the entire nation.  Deborah was located in the mountains of Ephraim (4:5).  The oppressor was the King of Hazor which is in the northern area of Israel (4:2).  We have no other details about Shamgar.  Also note in v6 that it occurred in the “days of Jael,” the honored woman.

3)                v9: The “Song” has an emphasis on “volunteerism” that you don’t see in the account in Ch. 4.  Deborah honored those leaders that “offered themselves willingly.”  The battle was fought essentially in the tribal area of Zebulun.  In 4:10 it sounds as if Barak only called Naphtali and Zebulun to fight, but in 5:14-18 we see that these were the only tribes that were willing to show up.  Reuben, Gilead (Gad and East Manasseh), Dan and Asher did not answer the call.  What God was telling Barak was that He would give victory only through the men of these two tribes.  So Barak called those who were willing and available.  Those are two quality traits for the people of God.  Consider that today.  In our last post on Deborah and Barak we will consider more on Deborah’s service for the LORD!