18. The Song of Deborah and Barak

The Song of Deborah and Barak "Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying..." (Judges 5:1)

It is quite interesting that, when we turn to the Hebrews 11:1-40, it is Barak who was commended for his faith (v.32). We cannot question the inspired word of God, perhaps if we had written it we would have said Deborah was entitled to this commendation for faith, but I suppose Barak too was credited with it because in chapter 5, when the song was sung, Deborah and Barak were both together.

Perhaps we say mistakenly that this was Deborah’s song because it says, "Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day". They were joined together then. They were joined together in the action that overcame the Lord’s enemies, Deborah directed, Barak followed, the battle was won, the enemies were destroyed, and that was a time for celebration. It reminds us of that exalted song in Exodus 15:1-27, one would say much more exalted than this song, a wonderful song of praise and worship to God because victory had been accomplished. This is the only song in the book of Judges. To tell the truth, after the death of Joshua, there was not much to sing about! There was much to be sad about. Many grievous things were done in the nation of Israel. But it is always true that in the Bible, when victory is achieved, then singing begins. And it has been true right down through the history of the testimony. There are many hymnbooks in use today amongst Christians, and most of the hymns that are sung are the products of revivals of one kind or another. Whenever there is a real revival amongst the people of God, with the power of the Spirit in activity amongst them, with blessing for the unconverted, blessing for the saints of God, we find that there is a rich addition of hymns to the Lord and to God, the Father, because of what has been achieved. If you search this out you will find that this is true. Take, for instance, the marvellous enrichment to hymnology in the Methodist revival through the hymns of Charles and John Wesley; hymns that are still being sung today with fervour and feeling and value. The brethren revival too has contributed many rich hymns of worth and depth and value, and many other revivals have contributed in the same way, hymns of worth, the product of conflict and victory. And we would trust that there would yet be a revival of interest amongst the people of God. There will yet be a time of blessing in answer to the end of Revelation for the unconverted, "let him that is athirst come" (22:17). We would desire to see this before the coming of the Lord, and if it were so, then I think we could anticipate many spiritual compositions of worth and depth and feeling.

"For that leaders led in Israel..... Bless Jehovah!" (Judges 5:2, J.N.D.)

Now I do not know anything at all about textual criticism and the ancient languages of Hebrew and Greek, and I find it very difficult to understand how the Authorised says, "Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel", and Mr Darby’s translation says, "For that leaders led in Israel... Bless Jehovah!", but I, for the moment, would like to use what Mr Darby rendered, that leaders led, and when the leaders led, the people willingly offered themselves. Now this is always true. It is true in secular history that when a man of courage arises, whether it be in Scotland or England or any other place, you always find that there are people that are willing to be led. Prior to the leadership there seems to be an acquiescence in the conditions that prevail, whenever a man of courage rises up and says, ’Now look, this is what we ought to do, we are not going to accept these conditions of tyranny and bondage; I am prepared to do something for it, who is going to follow me?’ And we do find in secular history that this was often the beginning of freedom from bondage.

Now this is exactly the principle in Deborah’s song. Deborah arose, Barak arose under her direction, and the people, especially Naphtali and Zebulun, willingly offered themselves and something was achieved for the Lord.

Leadership is seen for us in the New Testament most definitely in apostolic authority, in the ministry that Paul, James, Peter and John provided for us, and also the others who were not apostles but were inspired of the Lord to give us the New Testament books. Now there we have, first of all, the authoritative leadership inspired by the Holy Spirit. In a lesser sense we have those who are called leaders, rulers, elders, pastors, overseers - people who are concerned about leading, directing or caring for the people of God. Now when this is done in a spiritual and proper manner, that is leading people to Christ, it is a great thing. I do not mean in conversion, that is the office of the evangelist, what I am referring to are elders, bishops/overseers and leaders/guides, these people are leading the saints of God to Christ. They are directing them to His glory, His power and His offices, that they might get the gain of all that is in Christ for their testimony and for their privileges. What a responsible position to be in. This is the place for mature, experienced Christians, and this is their responsibility in relation to the flock of God; not their flock, but the flock of God. And so when this is done in a spiritual, humble manner, subject to the leading of the Holy Spirit and the direction of the Lord, the people will willingly offer themselves; or will they?

They did not all willingly offer themselves here, as we shall see, but, thank God, there will always be those who will respond to true ministry that finds its centre in Christ. If it does not find its centre in Christ it will be doomed to failure eventually. It might be a very good idea, it might be a very reasonable idea, but if it is not centred in Christ it will be bound to fail. And so we find that the object of all those persons mentioned in the New Testament, who have responsibility in relation to helping the saints of God, is to lead them to Christ. In the thirteenth chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews the saints were exhorted to obey their leaders and to follow their conversation (Hebrews 13:7), says Paul, ’imitate them’. And what was the source or the substance of their conversation, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (v.8). ’Follow their example’, says Paul, ’these are the men who are seeking to lead you, not leading you astray like false shepherds, but leading you to the Lord and into the fullness of His thoughts’.

"I Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel...... They chose new gods; then was war in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?...... then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates." (Judges 5:7-8; Judges 5:11)

What a contrast! Poor weak woman, the weaker vessel that Paul speaks about, what an indictment against the forty thousand. She arose, they did not, here are two references to gates, and we have to ask, what does this mean? If you read the book of Ruth, you will remember there came the time when Boaz wanted to have Ruth for his wife but there was another man who had a prior claim according to kinship, and this matter had to be gone into; so they went up to the gate (4:1). The gate in the Old Testament represented the place of administration. In the Middle East, in many of the arid countries, this kind of thing still exists, this is where the elders of the village meet to discuss problems; I suppose very much like the local council in our own towns and cities, where they come together to discuss matters of policy and matters that require attention. So it was in Old Testament times, the gates were the places where they met together to discuss matters and to regulate them according to the mind of the Lord.

Now what does this mean for us today? It means that we do not let things slide along in a haphazard fashion in connection with any company of Christians, and hope that everything will work out all right in the end. ’Ah, yes, the Lord will look after everything. He is capable of doing this’. Of course He is quite capable; but He expects us to do what we can in relation to His interests in any place where we are set, and when the saints come together to discuss His affairs they ought to be conducted with due reverence to the kind of business we are conducting. It is not an opportunity to express our opinions in a democratic or communistic fashion, we are there to discuss the things that relate to the Lord. It is His business. I say so reverently. They are His affairs, and they have to be studied, they have to be considered, they have to be arranged and settled in a manner that is consistent with His holy name. We gather to His name, and so the gates would be the considered attention that we give to the interests of the Lord.

"For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. Why abodest thou amongst the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Gilead abode beyond the Jordan." (Judges 5:15-17)

Now, we come down to a few people who are mentioned here. In the history of Israel, when they came to the river Jordan there were nine and a half tribes who definitely settled for going over it to take possession of their inheritance, but there were Reuben and Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh who said, ’The grass is beautiful on this side of the Jordan, this is ideal for our flocks, let us settle here’ (Numbers 32:1-5).

Now, said Moses, ’If you settle here, it means you are not going to go over Jordan to possess the land that God, in His sovereignty, has give you. You are not going to answer to the mind of God for you. If you do this, you will need to answer to your obligations. I will need to accede to your request but there are responsibilities that belong to you. First of all, you will go over and help your brethren to fight to obtain the land, and when you have done that, then you can come here and dwell in Gilead, but if you do not do that, be sure that your sin will find you out’ (vv.6-23). Here the sin of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh was found out. They abode in Gilead. There was great resolve of heart on the part of Reuben.

I suppose you could imagine the elders of the tribe of Reuben saying, ’Oh, we must do something about this. Oh, we must go over to help our brethren. Oh, remember, we made a promise to Moses that we would do this kind of thing. Yes, we will need to gather our army together, get the spears ready, get the swords ready’; but they did not move an inch! There was great resolve of heart to do something but that was as far as it got. They never did a thing to help Barak and Deborah in this fight against the enemy. Well, this kind of thing can happen to Christians. How often has the Lord laid an exercise on our heart, perhaps to visit someone, perhaps to help someone, perhaps to give some tracts away, perhaps to do some form of service for Him, and we have had great resolve of heart. It seems so great to do this service for the Lord, but somehow or other it is never done. The Bible says, "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat" (Proverbs 13:4). When Deborah gave directions to Barak she said, ’Up, time to do something. Time to do this for the Lord. ’ And here was Reuben, great resolve, great ideas, but nothing was accomplished. What a sad thing if that is true of us in our Christian experience.

"......and why did Dan remain in ships?" (Judges 5:17)

Why did Dan remain in ships? I suppose it was because he was too busy looking after his fishing or trading. I suppose he must have said something like, ’Well, I am too busy to be occupied with this battle. Let them get on with it. Zebulun and Naphtali are quite able to look after this affair, I have got to carry on my business, I have got to look after my affairs. This is righteousness. It does say that we are to be diligent in our business’. It is so easy to quote a scripture when it suits us, but here was a tribe who had the opportunity to serve the Lord, and they lost it, they abode in their ships, they looked after their own personal interests.

"Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches (creeks)" (Judges 5:17)

One gets the impression, ’Well I am sticking here, I could not care less, I am not really interested. I am abiding here; this is my place, my circle, my affair, and I am not interested in what is going on in this battle against Jabin and against Sisera’. When the time of commendation came, those who were really active were the persons who were worthy of it, and so we find "Zebulun and Naphtali were a people who jeopardised their lives unto the death in the high places of the field" (v.18). Naphtali means ’wrestling’ (or ’concern’ or ’exercise’) and Zebulun means ’dwelling’ (or ’habitation’). Here was Naphtali, a tribe who was true to its name, they were concerned, they were exercised. For us today it means we pray, we do what we can, we are concerned as to how we can promote the Lord’s interests and make the local company better by our own personal exercise. We are always greatly concerned that somebody else might make it better. Brother so-and-so, sister so-and-so, they do not show much interest. We are always greatly concerned about them, perhaps rightly so; but how right it is to be deeply concerned oneself, and to make sure that we contribute in spiritual power and exercise in relation to the Lord’s interests. So Zebulun and Naphtali were worthy of commendation. What a wonderful commendation Paul gives in the sixteenth chapter of Romans to men and women who were concerned about the work of the Lord. They laboured in the Lord, some laboured much in the Lord, and many other things, they were men and women who did much for the Lord’s interests.

"They fought from heaven." or "From heaven was the fight." (Judges 5:31)

Now, if we had been left to our own resources here as Christians, the testimony of Christianity would have failed long ago. Thank God there are resources that come to us from heaven, where Christ is, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Php 4:19). "I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me" (Php 4:13). There is strength and resource coming from heaven to help every Christian, whoever they might be, to do something for the Lord for maintenance of His interests, to fight against the enemy, the enemy that we seek to overcome - "From heaven is the fight".

"So let all Thine enemies perish" (Judges 5:31)

We would all say, ’Amen’ to this. Thank God, when all the antichrists have gone, their power is overcome; thank God, when Christ rules in the world, supreme in the place that is rightfully His, when all enemies shall be under His feet. "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:43). How wonderful to look forward to that day. There is a time of victory, there is a time of reward, of commendation, and it will be when our glorious Head, our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the Man who will occupy the throne, the One who once occupied the cross, is supreme.