Judges 4:14, commentary and pictures

Deborah gave Barak the signal to advance on the appointed day with the assurance that the Lord had delivered Sisera into his hand and had gone out before him, and Barak then went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men to meet a far superior force with nine hundred iron chariots. The Lord Himself fought for Israel, so that skill, numbers and equipment could not withstand them, Sisera's hosts were thrown into panic and utterly destroyed, and the victory belongs to God alone though Israel acted with courage in leaving its strong position for the open plain. The triumph of the few over the many shows that success in battle does not belong to the strong, for God can accomplish great things through feeble means. The command to rise for this is the day is a call to act promptly when God opens the way, trusting that He goes before His workers to prepare hearts and openings so that little effort brings decisions. The battle at Megiddo is an object lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague, to be studied with the sixth and seventh plagues.

Battle Setting and Forces

Deborah gave Barak the signal to move with Up, for this is the day, assuring him that the Lord had delivered Sisera into his hand and had gone out before him. Encouraged by that assurance that the very day for signal victory had come, Barak led ten thousand men down from their strong position on Mount Tabor into the open plain and boldly charged to meet Sisera. In this Deborah took the lead and Barak led the men after her, showing leaders taking the lead and the people offering themselves willingly, and showing obedient faith in God's direction through Deborah as prophetess even when receiving guidance through her might offend some. The words Up, for this is the day are the Lord's command to act at the appointed moment when God opens the way.

The verse belongs to the record of Israel's backsliding, resulting oppression, return to God, forgiveness and deliverance, which shows God's long-suffering and goodness. Specifically it belongs to the deliverance from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression, in which Deborah and Barak had part and Jael played a decisive part by killing Sisera. In that deliverance the Kishon swept away the Canaanite chariots and troops when Barak descended from Mount Tabor to fight Sisera.

Israel was poorly prepared and terrified by the vast army spread in the plain beneath them, while Sisera had assembled an immense and well-equipped force expecting to surround the Hebrews and make them an easy prey. That force included nine hundred chariots of iron, dreaded iron chariots described as built with large scythe-like knives fastened to the axles to cut down ranks like wheat before the sickle, together with veteran troops and all implements of warfare. Yet Israel in faith could overcome enemies with iron chariots, for under Deborah and Barak a small seemingly weak force of ten thousand broke that much stronger army, and the terrain made the nine hundred iron chariots a disadvantage to Sisera.

The battle was fought on the plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel near Megiddo, an Old Testament battlefield of the Megiddo region where Israel fought the enemies of God's people and a major battlefield associated with Galilee and Israel's earliest poetry. Barak assembled his ten thousand men on Mount Tabor, within sight across the plain of the waters of Megiddo where Sisera assembled his host, about six hours walk from Mount Tabor to Megiddo. The same plain of Esdraelon where Deborah directed Barak's battle against Sisera is crossed by the modern railway. That victory of Deborah and Barak was Israel's first possession of the Plain of Esdraelon, though the Canaanites nevertheless retained Megiddo and other towns there until the time of the kings.

Divine Victory and Leadership

The assurance that the Lord had gone out before them means that the God of battle Himself fought for Israel, so that neither skill in warfare nor superiority of numbers and equipment could withstand them. Encouraged by Deborah's declaration that the very day for signal victory had come, Barak led ten thousand men down from their strong position on Mount Tabor into the open plain and boldly charged the enemy with courage and promptness. Israel was poorly prepared and terrified by the vast army spread in the plain beneath, with all implements of warfare and dreaded iron chariots built with large scythe-like knives fastened to the axles to cut down ranks like wheat before the sickle, while Sisera had assembled an immense and well-equipped force expecting to surround the Hebrews and make them an easy prey. At God's going before them the hosts of Sisera became panic-stricken and sought only escape, vast numbers were slain, and the strength of the invading army was utterly destroyed. Israel acted in going down and charging, but God alone could have discomfited the enemy, and the victory could be ascribed to Him alone. The scene presents the battle as God's work which leaders and people are called to join with courage, prayer, and action.

The triumph God wrought for His people with few against many shows that success in battle does not necessarily belong to the strong and that God can accomplish great things through feeble means. Deborah and Barak's small, seemingly weak force, a handful of men, broke Sisera's much stronger army of nine hundred iron chariots and veteran troops. In faith Israel could thus overcome enemies with iron chariots.

The verse shows leaders taking the lead and the people offering themselves willingly, with Deborah taking the lead by urging Barak forward and Barak leading the ten thousand men down from Mount Tabor to meet Sisera. It illustrates obedient faith in God's direction through Deborah as prophetess, with the campaign's plan and counsel given through her as one whom God recognized as ruler of Israel, even when receiving divine guidance through her might offend some. She lived under a palm tree in a humble residence from which that counsel came. She gave Barak the signal to act, declaring the appointed day had come and assuring him the Lord had delivered Sisera into his hand and had gone before him, and Barak then descended. His hesitation to trust God's word meant that a woman, rather than he, would receive the honor for Sisera's defeat.

Barak went to battle under the Spirit of the Lord's direction, so his military action was directed by God and not unauthorized violence. The assurance that God goes before His people and has gone ahead gives them confidence to act and calls them to take earnest part in the work.

Prophecy Doctrine and Application

The clash led by Deborah and Barak at Megiddo stands as a lesson in miniature for the final gathering of the nations to Armageddon under the sixth plague, and it belongs to study together with the sixth and seventh plagues. It is one of the Old Testament battles of the Megiddo region in which Israel met the enemies of God's people, and Barak's victory over the Canaanites belongs to that great battlefield history. The account of Barak and Deborah carries prophetic significance as a figure or metaphor, among those events and characters of Scripture whose prophetic meaning has generally gone unnoticed.

Deborah was acknowledged as prophetess and ruler of Israel through whom counsel was given to the people, dwelling under a palm tree in a humble residence and lending decisive help to Barak. Her part shows divine honor bestowed on a woman by granting her a share in worship and work, proving that women may take part in the worship of God and in public service when humble, modest and faithful. Her speaking of God's truth to Barak, bidding him advance with assurance of Sisera delivered into his hand and the Lord gone out before him, followed by his descent from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men, proves that bearing testimony for Christ, helping in His work and proclaiming His truth in womanly Christian ways is lawful for women. Such public testimony for Christ is permitted without usurping authority over men, exercised with becoming modesty, while the command for women to keep silence in the churches corrects blameworthy disorders of being out of place and concerns governmental matters of ruling or controlling authority in the church, which women are not to assume.

The summons to rise because this is the day is a command to act at the appointed moment, assuring that God has delivered the enemy into the hand and has gone before, answered by descent from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men. Applied to the present, it urges God's people to seize providential opportunities to carry the message to the world without delay when God opens the way. Confidence rests on the Lord going out before His workers and preparing the way, so that hearts are ready to embrace truth before preachers arrive, openings prove better than expected, and hearers decide to obey and even begin to observe the Sabbath before ever hearing preaching or meeting believers. In such prepared fields a few Bible readings, a little reading matter, or a single sermon is enough for them to take their stand.