Judges 4:2
And the LORD sold them 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 LORD sold them 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.
The Lord gave Israel into the power of Jabin the Canaanite king who reigned in Hazor, whose army was commanded by Sisera dwelling in Harosheth of the Gentiles. He permitted them to fall under that rule because they separated themselves from Him by backsliding, idolatry and sin. The bondage was grievous and lasted twenty years, with Sisera's nine hundred iron chariots making property and life unsafe, highways deserted, villages forsaken, and Israel left without weapons of defense. When with humiliation and repentance they cried to the Lord, He raised up Deborah the prophetess and Barak to deliver them, and by faith they overthrew Sisera and proved his chariots were not unconquerable. That victory over Jabin and Sisera belongs with the great battles at Megiddo and stands as an object lesson with prophetic meaning for the final gathering at Armageddon.
Historical Setting and Oppression
The verse places Israel in servitude under Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned at Hazor in northern Canaan near Lake Merom, with Sisera as commander of his army dwelling at Harosheth of the Gentiles. Jabin was a name borne by more than one king, and this Jabin was not the Jabin named in Joshua. His predecessor had united with other kings against Israel in Joshua's time, had been defeated, and had seen Hazor burned, but the Canaanites afterward rebuilt the city and a new Jabin rose to power.
Sisera was a capable and successful general, and his forces included nine hundred chariots of iron. The oppression under him was grievous and lasted twenty years, keeping property and life in constant danger. Villages and lonely dwellings were deserted for walled cities, highways lay unoccupied while travelers went by unfrequented byways, many were robbed and murdered at places for drawing water, and Israel was left unarmed so that among forty thousand men not a sword or spear could be found.
The verse belongs to the period between Joshua's death and Samuel's rise, when Israel was repeatedly brought into backsliding and captivity to surrounding enemies. It stands in the repeated cycle found in Judges 3 to 17 of backsliding, suffering and oppression, returning to God, forgiveness and deliverance. That cycle exposed the perversity and unbelief of the people amid the awful moral surroundings and demoralizing influences of the tribes they had permitted to remain in the land of promise, and it magnified the long-suffering and goodness of God.
Cause, Deliverance, and Prophecy
The Lord sold Israel into the power of Jabin and permitted them to fall under him because they separated themselves from Him by idolatry, backsliding and sins. That servitude under Jabin king of Canaan with Sisera his captain was backsliding bringing its consequent suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, part of the repeated cycle in Judges 3 to 17 of backsliding, suffering and oppression, returning to God, forgiveness and deliverance. It exposed the perversity and unbelief of the people amid the awful moral surroundings and demoralizing influences of the tribes they permitted to remain in the land of promise, and it magnified the long-suffering and goodness of God.
The verse records one of the great national crises and captivities in which God raised up leaders called saviours to deliver the nation, whose deeds give the book of Judges its name. This twenty-year bondage under Jabin's forces led by Sisera set the scene for God to raise up Deborah and Barak to lead the people toward deliverance. It belongs to the account of Israel's oppression and God's victory through Barak and Deborah over Israel's oppressors.
When Israel turned from idolatry and with humiliation and repentance cried to the Lord for deliverance, the cry was not in vain, for God chose to deliver His people through Deborah and Barak. Deborah was a woman in Israel illustrious for piety and known as a prophetess to whom the people came for counsel and justice, who helped Barak. Her public service for God is an example that does not forbid women from bearing testimony, and the setting summons Israel's tribes to join Barak in resisting Jabin's rule and freeing their people. The Israelites later overthrew Sisera under Deborah and Barak through faith, though his army had nine hundred iron chariots, showing that iron chariots did not make their enemies unconquerable, and the conflict ends in Sisera's defeat and Israel's victory.
Barak's victory over the Canaanites is one of the great victories associated with Megiddo, the Old Testament battlefield where major conflicts took place between Israel and its enemies. The battle in the days of Deborah and Barak is presented as an object lesson for the events associated with the sixth and seventh plagues and the final gathering at Armageddon. The Barak and Deborah account in Judges 4:1-24 thus holds prophetic significance beyond its history, with metaphorical meaning hitherto generally unnoticed.