A TALE OF TWO MOTHERS (Judges 5:1-31)
INTRODUCTION:
I had the honor of having my mother visit two weeks ago, she was a blessing to my family and me. We enjoyed visiting, hearing stories of her childhood and just being together, I do not know how many more times that will happen, and I cherish the opportunities to be with her. Mothers are important to all of us. We all have one, our relationship with them may have been a happy one or an unhappy one, some have not had the enjoyment of their mothers because of various circumstances that may have taken them away. We each owe our very existence to our biological mothers, and for most of us we owe much, much more to them. I owe my salvation to my mother as I said a couple of weeks ago, she was the one who shared the way of salvation with me that led me to put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Motherhood extends through generations, from great grandmother to grandmother to mother, and the influence that these generations have had on us and on society is immense.
Last week we began to look at Judges 5 and noted that it is different from the rest of the book of Judges. It is a song of celebration in the midst of the time of the judges, it is a victory song of praise to the LORD, the God of Israel, during a very dark period in the nation of Israel. That is the first thing that makes this chapter different, a second difference is how prominently women are featured in it, and not just women but mothers. There is one mother, Deborah, at the beginning (and we will see what kind of mother she is in a bit) and another mother at the end, the mother of Sisera, Israel’s enemy and oppressor. This is worth taking note of and to see how it contributes in a very significant way to the construction of the song and how it makes its impact on us. So, let’s look at each of these mothers after we pray and read this chapter again.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Judges 5 again and I will read the whole chapter again for context, but I will be focusing mainly on just a few verses concerning the two mothers in our chapter. Please stand if you are able for the reading of God’s Word.
Judges 5:1-31,
“Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying, ‘That the leaders led in Israel, That the people volunteered, Bless the Lord! Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! I—to the Lord, I will sing, I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel. Lord, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, Even the clouds dripped water. The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord, This Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel. In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, And travelers went by roundabout ways. The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Until I arose, a mother in Israel. New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel. My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, The volunteers among the people; Bless the Lord! You who ride on white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, And you who travel on the road—sing! At the sound of those who divide flocks among the watering places, There they shall recount the righteous deeds of the Lord, The righteous deeds for His peasantry in Israel. Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates. Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and take away your captives, O son of Abinoam. Then survivors came down to the nobles; The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors. From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down, Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples; From Machir commanders came down, And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of office. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed at his heels; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great resolves of heart. Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the piping for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great searchings of heart. Gilead remained across the Jordan; And why did Dan stay in ships? Asher sat at the seashore, And remained by its landings. Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death, And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field. The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo; They took no plunder in silver. The stars fought from heaven, From their courses they fought against Sisera. The torrent of Kishon swept them away, The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength. Then the horses’ hoofs beat From the dashing, the dashing of his valiant steeds. “Curse Meroz,” said the angel of the Lord, “Utterly curse its inhabitants; Because they did not come to the help of the Lord, To the help of the Lord against the warriors.” Most blessed of women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Most blessed is she of women in the tent. He asked for water and she gave him milk; In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds. She reached out her hand for the tent peg, And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer. Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head; And she shattered and pierced his temple. Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell dead. Out of the window she looked and lamented, The mother of Sisera through the lattice, “Why does his chariot delay in coming? Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?” Her wise princesses would answer her, Indeed she repeats her words to herself, “Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil? A maiden, two maidens for every warrior; To Sisera a spoil of dyed work, A spoil of dyed work embroidered, Dyed work of double embroidery on the neck of the spoiler?” Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord; But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.’ And the land was undisturbed for forty years.” (Judges 5:1–31, NASB95)[1]
DEBORAH – A MOTHER IN ISRAEL (Judges 5:7)
Last Sunday we looked briefly at the phrase, “on that day…” in verse one and noted that it directed our attention back to chapter four where we have described for us what took place on that day to bring about this song of rejoicing in what God had done for Israel. It was in chapter four that we met Deborah and that introduction is important for how we understand her. The circumstances of the period in which Deborah rose to prominence were desperate ones. Remember that Jabin the king of Canaan and the commander of his military forces, Sisera, had been severely oppressing Israel for 20 long years, any hope of deliverance had begun to fade many years before these events. Chapter 5 gives us more details of the conditions when Deborah arose. In verse six we learn that in those days the main roads were abandoned, they were empty because people were afraid to use them. If they had to travel, they tried to do so unnoticed by going on lesser known, lesser traveled paths. We learn that village life ceased because of the oppression, normal community activities were impossible. It was every man and his family for themselves. War was in the gates directly threatening every town.
It was under these circumstances that Deborah rose to prominence and implemented the kind of leadership described for us in chapter four, verses four and five. We learned that she was the wife of Lappidoth, which tells us she was womanly in that sense, it also tells us that she had a private, domestic life that was separate from her public life. Nothing about that private, domestic life is given to us. Was her marriage a happy one? Did she have any children (none are mentioned)? Was she a mother at all in the normal sense? I do not know if you think about those things, I do, and I want more information. But none is given because the focus of the passage is not on her home life but on her public life. Even before we are told that she is married, we are told that she is a prophetess and then that she was judging Israel.
As I mentioned briefly a few weeks ago, the fact that Deborah was a prophetess was clearly the most important thing about her. It was through this prophetess that God spoke His Word into Israel’s situation and began to change it. It was through Deborah that the LORD raised up Barak the deliverer who broke Israel’s bondage to Jabin and Sisera. She was a figure like Samuel—not a warrior herself, but a critical instrument of change. Deborah was first and foremost a prophetess. It was, however, what she was doing that her motherliness was most clearly seen. Chapter 4 tells us that Deborah was judging Israel at that time. We are not told that God raised her up or that the Spirit was upon her, and she does not even seem to be a judge in the way the term is most commonly used in the book. It is Barak who is remembered as a judge like Gideon, Samson, and Jephthah in Hebrews 11:32. Deborah’s judging was doing something that needed to be done in Israel. Chapter 4:5 says, “She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.” (Judges 4:5, NASB95)[2] Under the strain of foreign oppression cracks began to open up in the fabric of Israelite society. There was despair, hopelessness, disunity, brokenness, and Israel was not able to defend itself against the external enemy until the internal divisions were healed, at least to some extent. By judging Israel as Deborah did, she was a significant part of the healing process. At the time, lesser matters were settled at the city gates by the elders of the city. But more serious matters required someone of greater prominence and wiser, and Deborah was someone who was recognized as such a person. She had presence and as a prophetess she spoke for God. She was a woman of character and authority. She was not just a judge of domestic or tribal affairs, she was bigger than that, she was seen in Israel as a woman of larger vision and greater leadership qualities. We are told that the sons of Israel, in other words, all Israel came to her and she helped settle their differences. She held court under a palm tree and in her words, her own words in Judges 5:7 she was “a mother in Israel.” (Judges 5:7b, NASB95)[3]
The truth is that Israel in these trying and difficult times needed to be mothered, and Deborah met that need. She clearly understood this need, and importance of doing something about it. She sings in Judges 5:7, “The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Until I arose, a mother in Israel.” (Judges 5:7, NASB95)[4] This sounds quite prideful, we would think that this prophetess, this judge in Israel would be more modest, more humble about her role. Remember, however, this comes in the middle of an exuberant victory song. Maybe she does get a little carried away in the excitement of the moment. We have to yet meet one person in Judges who is perfect, why should we expect that of Deborah. She was a real woman and real women are not perfect. Remember though that God used her in this victory, it was through her that God called and commissioned Barak. Whether it was with a little pride or not, what she spoke was truthful, she was a mother in Israel, when Israel needed mothering, so her role as a mother to her people was critical. We cannot help but admire her and be grateful that God chose to use her.
SISERA’S MOTHER – A MOTHER NOT IN ISRAEL (Judges 5:28-30)
This second mother, the mother of Sisera, is seen in these verses in a fixed moment of her life. We read in Judges 5:28-30, “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?’ Her wisest princesses answer, indeed, she answers herself, ‘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?’” (Judges 5:28–30, ESV)[5] As you read these words you cannot help feeling some connection, even sympathy. In this moment, we see her as an ordinary woman acting as any mother would act in the circumstances in which she finds herself. Maybe Sisera had assured her that this battle would be short, and he would be back soon. The truth is she is on the losing side, and her loss is terrible. Her greatest fears are about to come true, and her loss will be long and painful. She waits for a son who will never return. Those who care for her, her maidens or princesses, try to comfort her and she tries to believe what they are saying to her, repeating the words to herself, but she knows it is not true. She is on the wrong side of the line that divides the saved from the lost, the people of God from the enemies of God. If Deborah is a mother in Israel, this woman is a mother not in Israel. She is a mother in pain, we can feel it in her words. These words engage us at the level of common humanity.
I read these verses to you from the ESV because I wanted you to become aware that as we listened to the words that there is something deeply wrong with this woman who is Sisera’s mother. The words that she speaks open up for us so that we can see into her mind and what we see there is deeply disturbing. Listen to verse 30 again, “‘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?’” (Judges 5:30, ESV)[6] This final phrase in Hebrew is a bit obscure, “the neck” is a valid translation, but equally valid would be “my neck” which is probably what Sisera’s mother had in mind. She is not as big-hearted as Deborah. She wants her son for what he will bring her. Women who don’t serve her needs are nothing to her and can be divided up like property. The ESV captures the literalness of the Hebrew, “a womb or two for every man” depersonalizes them. They exist only for reproduction and the sexual pleasure of men. It should disturb you to hear a woman speak this way about other women. Especially when you consider that Deborah could have been one of them.
This woman is not only grieving but her mind is corrupt also. She is a sinner just like each of us, but the description we have of her presents a striking contrast to Deborah, our other mother in this chapter. This mother looks through a lattice, Deborah sits under a palm tree. This mother is attended to by princesses, Deborah is surrounded and attends to the needy. Sisera’s mother is served by others, Deborah serves others. This mother is consumed by her own pain, Deborah heals the pain of others. The largest difference that we see is this: Deborah sings, this woman weeps. Deborah is a mother saved; this woman is a mother lost. This brings us to the final verse of this song.
TWO TYPES OF MOTHERS (Judges 5:31)
“’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.” (Judges 5:31, ESV)[7] Do you understand what this verse is saying? Do you agree with it? I agree with it, but it is difficult because I don’t want any mother to be lost. This verse as the last verse of the whole song is not referring exclusively to Sisera’s mother. The enemies include Jabin, Sisera, and all those who participated with them in the oppression of the past twenty years that Israel experienced, and as a prayer it also refers to all future enemies of God and His people. From this verse we are confronted with two simple truths. First, in the end there are only two types of people in this world—friends of God and enemies of God. As we have talked about mothers this morning within the broad framework of friends of God and enemies of God, there are only two types of mothers—mothers who are among God’s people and rejoice in His righteous judgment and mothers who are among God’s enemies and will face His righteous judgment. It is the difference of being “…like the rising of the sun in its might” (Judges 5:31b, NASB95)[8] or perishing in utter darkness.
The second truth is this—there is only one way to enter the rest of God—the rest of salvation, and that is by being God’s friend through repentance and faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament this privilege belonged especially to Israel, but with two important qualifications. First, outsiders could come in by abandoning their past and seek refuge in Israel’s God, they had to come by faith. Two remarkable examples were Rahab the harlot and Ruth the Moabitess, but they were not alone. So being a non-Israelite did not automatically disqualify you from entering God’s rest, becoming His friend. Second, being an Israelite did not guarantee permanent inclusion. The Law of Moses provided for willful sinners to be “cut-off” (banished) from the community. The prophet Malachi made clear in his short book that on the last day only those who truly feared God would be acknowledged by Him as His people. (Malachi 3:16-18) Just as today, even in Old Testament times, being a friend of God was not an accident of birth, but a choice. This choice must still be made by each man and woman and child, that includes every mother. This last verse of Judges 5 is a prayer that what God did for Israel “on that day” He will finally do for all His true people, end their oppression by exercising His perfect justice and bringing about rest, not just for 40 years but forever.
CONCLUSION:
I will say more about Deborah next week, we are not done with this chapter yet. One more week on this unique chapter found in the book of Judges. Before we close this morning, I want to take a moment to reflect on the priceless value of mothers.
Let’s thank God for mothers like Deborah, women of character who have stepped in and provided the care that we needed as members of God’s family. I remember as I was preparing to go to the mission field the first time, I was raising support to go to Haiti and I spoke in a church in Lolo, Montana and after the service a single Mom of two girls introduced herself to me and said she wanted to become a part of my team, she wanted to be a supporter. That grew into a wonderful partnership and every so often I would get a check from her and a note telling me it was “mad money,” and I was to use it to do something for myself or for fun. When I got married to Karla, this lady accepted Karla into her family just as she had accepted me. Then she married a wonderful man from her church and both of them continued to pour out their love on us. We continued from time to time to receive another check of “mad money.” We always had a bed in their home if we were passing through, and when our children were born, they too were welcomed into her family. Our boys loved staying at her house because she had a whole room in her basement for kids that had everything any kid would want, she would let them wipe their wet, grassy feet on her nice rug, she loved us like a mom and a grandma. She went home to be with the Lord a few years ago and she is missed, but we have so many fond memories of Harriet and Jim. Harriet is remembered and I thank God for her. We must be thankful to God for such mothers in the family of God. And if you are a mother or a grandmother, pray that you too will be a source of healing love not just to your own children or grandchildren, but to God’s needy children as well.
Let’s not forget the mothers who carried us in their wombs and suffered to give us life. Pray that God will help us honor them as we should all the days of our lives, and provide for them as best we can, in their old age. Finally, we should be praying for mothers like Sisera’s mother who was lost and far from God. Let us pray that they do not remain in this state, but will have the humility to acknowledge their need for God and the faith to give themselves to Him so that on the last day they may not perish with God’s enemies, but “like the sun” rise with us to share in His eternal glory and eternal rest.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.
[6]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.
[7]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.