15. The Oppressors - the Canaanites
The Oppressors - the Canaanites
"And the Lord sold [Israel] into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel." (Judges 4:2-3)
If ever the people of God required all this, it was at the time of Deborah. Here was this mighty king of the Canaanites, Jabin, and for twenty years he had held the nation of Israel in bondage. The meaning of the name Canaan is ’merchant’, and all through the Bible we find people who make a trade of things, whether it is the people of God, or the truth of God, or any other kind of thing, and generally they are portrayed in a very bad character. The worst of all, of course, was Judas, who was prepared to trade his master for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). Surely this is the most outstanding incident and illustration of this kind of thing. When we come to the book of Revelation, we see great Babylon judged, the smoke of whose torment goes up to heaven, and we find that all the traders of the world have done business with her (Revelation 18:9-19). All the different trades and all the different materials and all the things of value have been connected with this great, evil system that is against God. The book of Revelation presents two cities, Babylon and the New Jerusalem (Revelation 18:1-24; Revelation 19:1-21; Revelation 21:2-27; Revelation 22:1-5), the question to ask is which city are we seeking to promote? For what are we building? We either promote the one or the other. If we are not those who make a trade of the word of God, that is, using it for our own benefit, we are trading for Christ, we are working for Him, we are sacrificing, we are working, we are doing the things that are pleasing in His sight. We are not marked by the spirit of the Canaanite, personal gain or selfishness, but rather sacrificing and seeking to promote the things of the Lord. This is, of course, the spirit of the Lord Himself. In the words of the parable, He sold all that He had in order to gain the treasure that was in the field (Matthew 13:44) and to obtain the pearl (Matthew 13:45-46) for Himself; the Lord Jesus Christ who was so rich, and yet became so poor in order to enrich others (2 Corinthians 8:9). This is contrary to the Canaanite. The Canaanite is prepared to get more, and more, and more. Suppose he makes others poor? That does not matter as long as he makes a gain, that is all that matters.
Now this is the kind of spirit that was holding the nation of Israel in bondage, and nobody seemed to care. Forty thousand spears in Israel, and not one lifted up in defence of God and His interests until this woman arose, Deborah, the prophetess.