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CHAPTER 15 : The Oppression of Jabin and Sisera - Deborah and Barak -
The Battle of Taanach - The Song of Deborah
(JUDGES 4, 5)
DARKER and darker are the clouds which gather around Israel, and stranger and more
unexpected is the deliverance wrought for them. It had begun with Othniel, truly a "lion
of God." But after the "lion of God" came one left-handed, then a woman, then the son
of an idolater, and then an outlaw of low birth, as if it were ever to descend lower and
lower, till the last stage is reached in the Nazarite, Samson, who, as Nazarite, is the
typical representative of Israel's calling and strength, and, as Samson, of Israel's
weakness and spiritual adultery. Yet each period and each deliverance has its
characteristic features and high points. The narrative opens as if to resume the thread of
Israel's continuous history, only temporarily broken by Ehud's life: "And the children of
Israel continued^202 to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah - and Ehud was dead." This
furnished a long wished-for opportunity.
It had been about a century before when a Jabin ("the prudent" or "understanding," - no
doubt the monarch's title, like Pharaoh or Abimelech) had marshaled the chieftains of
Northern Palestine against Joshua, and been signally defeated (Joshua 11:1-10). Since
then his capital had been restored and his power grown, till now it seemed the fitting
moment to recover his ancient empire. As we understand the narrative, the hosts of
Jabin had swept down from Hazor in the far north, and occupied the possessions of
Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar. While Jabin himself continued in his capital, his
general, Sisera ("mediation," "lieutenant"?) held the southern boundary of the annexed
provinces, making his head-quarters at Harosheth ha Gojim - "the smithy of the nations"
- perhaps so called from being the arsenal where his iron war-chariots, armed with
scythes, were made. The site of this place is probably somewhere in the neighborhood
of Bethshean, which afterwards formed the southernmost point of Galilee. Evidently it
must have been south of Mount Tabor, to which Barak afterwards marched from
Kedron, in the north of Naphtali. For, irrespective of the utterly helpless state of the
country, as described in Judges 5:6, Sisera would not have allowed Barak to turn his
flank or to march on his rear.^203 The occupation of the north of Palestine by Sisera had
lasted twenty years. Relief must have seemed well-nigh hopeless. On the one hand, the
population was wholly disarmed (Judges 5:8); on the other, Sisera had no less than nine
hundred war-chariots - means of attack which Israel most dreaded. But as often before,
so now, suffering led Israel to cry unto the Lord - and help was soon at hand.
One of the most painful circumstances in the history of the Judges is the utter silence
which all this time seems to envelop Shiloh and its sanctuary. No help comes from the
priesthood till quite the close of this period. Far away in Mount Ephraim God raised up
a woman, on whom He had poured the spirit of prophecy. It is the first time in this
(^)