A SONG OF CELEBRATION (Judges 5:1-31)
INTRODUCTION:
This morning we come to something completely different, it is different from the rest of the book of Judges. Judges chapter 5 is poetry, the rest of the book is prose, we have a song instead of narrative. Over the last two weeks we have looked at the judgeship of Barak which included many people, we looked at Deborah and Barak, at Jabin and Sisera and Heber and his wife Jael. The history and the events surrounding the judgeship of Barak was told to us in chapter 4. Now different from the rest of the book we come to a time of reflection and celebration, and that comes to us in the form of a song. Since there is no other chapter like this anywhere else in Judges, I am going to treat this chapter differently. Instead of going through it verse by verse, I am going to look at three aspects of it over the next three weeks. This morning we are going to look at it from the aspect of singing, then from the aspect of mothers, and finally from the aspect of mavericks. This morning we will examine this chapter from the point of view of singing. Let’s pray and then join in the celebration by hearing the song sung by Deborah and Barak.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Judges 5. We are going to take the time this morning to read the entire chapter, 31 verses. This song is attributed to Deborah, that she authored it and then sang it with Barak. Listen and follow along as I read God’s Word penned by the prophetess who judged Israel.
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]
A SURPRISE IN JUDGES (Judges 5:1-31)
The book of Judges is not an easy read. Israel was going through a rough patch during the period of the judges. What we read in this book is grim and at times shocking. As you read it you find a lot of dark and depressing things. It goes from bad to worse. As you read you keep hoping things will get better, but they never do, at least not for very long. Israel was in a bad way in the days of the judges, brought about by their own choices and God’s discipline for the choices they made, forsaking the LORD, doing what was evil in His sight, choosing to serve and worship other gods, false gods. The LORD had warned them of the consequences of going after the gods of the Canaanites, and they ignored the warning and Judges is the sons of Israel suffering the consequences.
It is an unhappy history that repeats itself over and over. When you are unhappy you are not likely or even inclined to sing. Judges is the type of book that smothers singing rather than encouraging it. So why do we have this song here in chapter 5? And not just any song, but 31 verses of exuberant praise and celebration. It is one of the most surprising things in the whole book of Judges.
WHY A SONG? (Judges 5:1-31)
Why a song? The answer to that question is partially found in verse 1, the reason for the song is because of what happened on the “day” that verse one refers to, it says, “Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day…” (Judges 5:1, NASB95)[2] Judges four told us what happened on that day. Israel had been severely oppressed for twenty years, they had been conquered and ruled by an evil tyrant, Jabin the king of Canaan and he had used his general Sisera with his nine hundred iron chariots to keep the sons of Israel in line. Between Jabin in the north and Sisera in the south they squeezed northern Israel between them and were slowly for 20 years squeezing the life out of them. Judges 5:6-8 tell us what life was like during those 20 years under the thumb of Jabin, verse 6 tells us the highways were abandoned, the people were too afraid to travel on them, they went by other lesser-known routes. Verse 7 tells us that peasantry or village-life ceased, it was too dangerous to live out in the village, people moved into the walled cities. Normal life was impossible. Verse 8 tells us that war was in the city gates. The enemy, the oppressor had nine hundred iron chariots, Israel had nothing. The end of verse eight says that not a shield or spear was seen among 40 thousand in Israel. Israel had no hope, the oppressor was powerful, seemingly invincible. Fear was the look that everyone had in their eyes. No hope, no relief.
Then one day, “on that day…” (Judges 5:1b, NASB95)[3] something happened that changed everything. After 20 years of bondage and fear, their bonds were suddenly broken, and they were free. That’s why they sang this song. Remember this is what happened on the shores of the Red Sea when the LORD had delivered their ancestors from their slavery in Egypt and had drowned the Egyptian army in the sea. Exodus 15 records for us the song that they sang, Exodus 15:1 says, “Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.” (Exodus 15:1, NASB95)[4] and for 18 more verses they sing praise to the LORD for His deliverance. The same thing happened years later when the LORD delivered the people of Israel from their exile in Babylon, and you can read this song in Isaiah 26. One day in the future this is what all God’s redeemed and delivered people will do in heaven as we read in Revelation 5:9-10, “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.’” (Revelation 5:9–10, NASB95)[5] Singing is a natural and proper response to deliverance. It is what people do when God saves them to show their gratitude and happiness to Him. Judges 5 then is the natural response to Judges 4; it completes what took place in Judges 4 by giving thanks and praise to God.
THEMES OF THE SONG (Judges 5:1-31)
There are several themes that make up the different stanzas of this song. Some themes stand out more prominently than others, some are just sub-themes to the overarching theme of giving praise to God for His deliverance.
LEADERS AND VOLUNTEERS (Judges 5:2; 5:9)
The first theme that we come to and that is seen throughout the song is the theme of leaders who led and the people, the volunteers (normal people like you and me) who responded to the leadership. Verse 2 says, “That the leaders led in Israel, That the people volunteered, Bless the Lord!” (Judges 5:2, NASB95)[6] then down in verse 9 we read, “My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, The volunteers among the people; Bless the Lord!” (Judges 5:9, NASB95)[7] One thing that is made clear from these verses is that the victory, the deliverance being celebrated in this song did not come easily. For victory, a battle had to be fought, and war is never nice. The people of Israel had been avoiding this necessity for twenty years, keeping their heads down, staying off the highways, taking side roads and less traveled roads, suffering quietly. Then one day there were leaders—people of strength and character that God raised up, like Deborah and Barak—leaders who knew that the issue could no longer be avoided. They knew that the battle had to be fought and with that understanding they were willing to make a stand and face whatever came. When the leaders rose up and made their stand then there were men and women, ordinary men and women, who were willing to answer their call and stand with them, to face with them whatever came and see it through. And against all odds the battle was won.
GOD THE WARRIOR (Judges 5:4-5)
Good leaders are essential to the life of God’s people. So are those who willingly offer themselves to support the leaders. That is part of what this song is about. But it is not the main theme or the main focus. The reason being that no matter how courageous Israel’s leaders were, no matter how willing their supporters were, they would not have won the battle if God had not shown up and given them the victory. Remember that Barak was reluctant at first, but when Deborah agreed to go with him, he accepted his commission from God and began to make preparations for the battle that had to be fought. When Deborah spoke to Barak again from the LORD, it was a word about the LORD, she said in Judges 4:14, “Arise! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hands; behold, the Lord has gone out before you.” (Judges 4:14, NASB95)[8] She said that the LORD had gone out before him and when he obeyed, he found it was true. This going out of the LORD before Barak is described for us in Judges 5:4-5 where it says, “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.” (Judges 5:4–5, NASB95)[9] God came like a mighty warrior marching into battle. Israel had seen him do this before, when he had destroyed Pharaoh and his chariots and army drowning them in the Red Sea. In their song after that deliverance at the Red Sea they sang in Exodus 15:3-6, “The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.” (Exodus 15:3–6, NASB95)[10]
“The Lord is a warrior” (Exodus 15:3a, NASB95)[11] How do you feel about that description of God? Christians of a former generation felt no embarrassment about it at all, last Sunday we sang as our closing hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers” which is not a hymn that is sung too often in churches anymore. We talk of God as our loving heavenly Father and Jesus as the Good Shepherd and so they are but talking of God as a warrior has almost completely disappeared from Christian jargon. Because of this some Biblical truth is at stake. We need everything the Bible has to teach about God, not just those things we feel comfortable with. Why is it important that the LORD is a warrior? It is important because on our own we cannot win the battles we face. To follow Jesus is to step into a war zone. We live in a world that is hostile to the gospel and becoming more hostile every day. Behind those who oppose the gospel are spiritual powers that are far beyond our capacity to deal with, trying hard to overcome them will fail, the enemy is too strong for us. To have victory, God must win it for us and give it to us. The good news is the most important battle has already been won, and the Lord Jesus who won it for us has promised to be with us in all the battles that we will face as His followers.
This is how it was for Barak; the enemy was too strong; they had no hope against Sisera and his 900 chariots unless God the warrior went before them and fought for them. He did and that is what they sing about in this chapter.
GOD THE LORD OF NATURE (Judges 5:4; 5:19-21)
God the warrior is the Lord of nature and look at how God fought for the Israelites. Verse 4 says, and I believe the ESV better captures what is being described here, “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.” (Judges 5:4, ESV)[12] The NASB says the heavens dripped and the clouds dripped, but the word is better translated as drop or pour down. The song goes onto say in verses 19-21, “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.” (Judges 5:19–21, NASB95)[13] Commentator Barry Webb describes what we would have seen if we had been there. He writes, “The enemy was advancing eastward along the Jezreel plain, following the course of the Kishon River. At the eastern end Barak and his men had rushed down from Mount Tabor and were moving westward across the plain to engage them. As they did the skies began to darken—quickly. A storm approached from the south, from the direction of Edom. It swept across the Dead Sea, gathering moisture and increasing in intensity as it came up the Jordan Valley into the central highlands. Then, with the precision of a smart bomb, its mighty clouds broke open and dropped their payload of flooding rain right at the source of the Kishon River. Suddenly all the small streams and dry wadis leading down to the valley floor became raging torrents. By the time Barak and his men reached the banks of the Kishon where the battle was to take place the enemy was already defeated. Sisera’s fancy chariots had all bogged down, and the drivers were all scrambling down from them and beginning to run.”[14] This can be the only explanation as to why Sisera left his chariot to flee on foot, his chariot was stuck in the mud.
What took place here was no accident, this is the hand of the Lord of creation who literally moved heaven and earth to save and deliver His people. When something like this happens, the only response, the only right thing to do is to acknowledge it as an act of grace on the part of God and give Him the praise for it, give Him the glory by telling others what He has done for you. This is what Deborah and Barak did, “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.” (Judges 5:3, NASB95)[15] Notice how God is referred to in this verse, the LORD (Yahweh) the God of Israel. This is covenant language, language that recalls to mind God’s special relationship to His people Israel. This is even more clear when this song in verse 5 describe the quaking of Mount Sinai when God descended on it to make His covenant with Israel after they had been delivered from Egypt. This outburst of praise in Judges 5 marks what just happened as another God-moment in the history of the LORD’s covenant relationship with His people. The God who saved them from slavery in Egypt has saved them again from the slavery of Jabin and Sisera. This also reveals to us that God remains committed to His covenant relationship with His people and at this moment they recognize this and are thankful. This chapter is without a doubt Israel’s finest moment in the whole book of Judges. Then as we least expect it, like a cloud blocking out the sun on an otherwise perfect day, a darkness suddenly falls over the song. Some in Israel did not play their part.
Those who did not play their part led to a sense of disappointment and betrayal and this is reflected in verses 13-17 and verse 23. When we were in chapter 4 only Barak’s tribe of Naphtali and the neighboring tribe of Zebulun were mentioned as sending troops. But here in chapter 5 we see that they were not the only ones who came to fight. The roll call of those who did and did not participate begins with Ephraim, the tribe of Deborah, the southernmost of the northern tribes and as they were the heartland of Israel, we would expect them to come first and they do sending men and following them are the men of Benjamin. Next there is mention of Machir who was a son of Manasseh and they sent troops, then Zebulun and Issachar are mentioned. In the second half of verse 15 the unity of the nation dissolves and the song becomes darker. The tribe of Reuben deliberated what they should do and, in the end, stayed with their sheep. The people of Gilead which included the tribe of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh on the other side of the Jordan stayed home. The Danites, we are told stayed with their ships on the Mediterranean Sea. And the tribe of Asher, another northern tribe next to Zebulun did not come but stayed close to the coast. These tribes that did not participate are made all the more blameworthy by the contrast in verse 18 of the heroism and self-sacrifice of Zebulun and Naphtali who risked their lives to the death on the heights of the field.
The harshest rebuke of all is against Meroz in verse 23. “‘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.’” (Judges 5:23, NASB95)[16] The location of this town is unknown, the fact that it is mentioned immediately after the rout of Sisera’s forces described in verses 19-22 it may have been a town that was in a place where they could have cut off the flight of Sisera’s forces. The fact that they did nothing was particularly shameful and inexcusable. The verse says they did not come to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the warriors. In other words, it was not just God’s people they failed, but God Himself, to whom they owed covenant loyalty. Because of this we have the appearance of the “angel of the LORD,” God special messenger to utter the curse on Meroz and its people. This is the darkest moment in the song and marks in a very striking way the serious nature of the offense. In some circumstances doing nothing can be the worst sin of all.
All of Israel had cause to praise God and give thanks for His deliverance, but not all could sing. We can assume that those who did not participate in the battle did not come to the celebration and if they did, they must have hung their heads in shame as their unfaithfulness was recalled. I believe there were very mixed emotions at this celebration. It is true the deliverance at the Kishon river was great, a true victory. The foreign oppressor was gone, but Israel was still far from well. God still had a lot of work to do with His people.
CONCLUSION:
As we close, and I know I have gone long this morning I have a question. Have you ever considered the importance of singing in the Bible? Both the Old and New Testament are punctuated with songs. Starting in Exodus 15 and going all the way to Revelation where we find several songs. Right in the middle, in the largest book of the whole Bible, is a book of 150 songs. The hymn book of the Old Testament people of God, singing is central and prominent in the Bible.
It has also been a part of Christianity for more than 2000 years. The singing of the psalms was a big part of Christian worship from the beginning and not only that, but the psalms have been the inspiration for countless Christian hymns. Our Scripture reading from Ephesians 5 this morning said that singing God’s praises is a sign of being filled with the Spirit. Singing is not just an add on to the Christian life, it is central and a standard part of the Christian life. Of all other major world religions, only Christianity has congregational singing at its heart.
The song we began looking at today in Judges 5 has several things to teach us about the nature or the characteristics of a Biblical song. First, it is a natural and proper response to salvation. Deborah and Barak sang on the day they were delivered from 20 years of oppression. Deliverance is a joyful thing; it should cause people to sing. Second, such singing is God-centered. In verse 3 they declared that they would sing to the Lord, they would sing praise to the Lord. We saw that their song had a number of subthemes, but it was essentially God-directed and God-focused. The over-arching theme was about God, who He is and what He has done for His people. Third, the song thanks God for His servants, leaders who lead and volunteers who stand with them. Fourth, it acknowledges the reality of human failure as seen in the case of Meroz and its inhabitants. Fifth, it gives expression to the full range of human emotions, from jubilation to disappointment and questioning to righteous anger. These strong feelings are theologically grounded and directed to God as the primary audience and witness of the song. These same qualities can be found in the psalms and in the best traditional hymns and songs. We need strong singing like this in the church today and I thank God for our music team and the great job that they do. Singing is God’s gift to His people, inviting us to engage with our great God with our hearts, minds, and spirits.
The song of Judges 5 reminds us that things are never so grim that there can’t be victory with God. Remember this is the song of a people who were hopeless for 20 years. This song also reminds us that such singing is not just a gift, but a choice. Verse 3 says, “I—to the LORD, I will sing” (Judges 5:3a, NASB95)[17] So choose to sing. Sing this kind of song, it glorifies God and builds up those with whom you sing it. If Israel had reason to praise God for delivering them, how much more reason do we have who have received God’s grace and the great deliverance won for us through the Lord Jesus Christ. That truth should set your heart to singing.
[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]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]Webb, Barry G., Preaching the Word: Judges and Ruth : God in Chaos. Wheaton, IL : Crossway, 2015.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. (Emphasis mine)