Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
In Deborah's triumphant song giving God all the glory for deliverance from Sisera's oppression, Zebulun and Naphtali are honored as those who bravely risked their lives unto death in the high places of the field to join Barak at Tabor and help overthrow nine hundred iron chariots. They fought the Canaanite enemy though their force was small and many of their fellow Israelites withheld help. In the crisis they discerned the importance of the time, accepted God's message, justified Him and gave themselves to His work even to death, bringing salvation to themselves and the people, in contrast to those who would not discern His providence and brought a curse upon themselves by staying back. Their faithful courage is held up as the standard of service, and the exalted ground where they sacrificed shows the field of soul-winning work such as canvassing to be a high and honored place to be entered with the same self-sacrifice.
Setting and Language
Judges 5:18 belongs to Deborah's song, a triumph poem celebrating Israel's deliverance and victory over Sisera's army. The song recounts that deliverance, gives God all the glory, and presents the victory as a display of His power and majesty. The verse belongs to the composite record of Judges 3 to 17 of backsliding from God, consequent suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, returning to God, forgiveness and deliverance. That record shows the perversity and unbelief of the people amid the awful moral surroundings and demoralizing influences of the tribes permitted to remain in the land of promise, and it shows the long-suffering goodness of God who always uses the best He has, the ones willing to be used. The verse belongs to the earliest poetry of Israel, which rose among the Galilean hills when Barak of Naphtali triumphed over the Canaanites, and it vindicates Galilee's claim to honor for the intellectual vigor, mental freshness and force of its people.
The verse belongs to the account of Barak and Deborah's victory through which the Israelites first gained possession of the Plain of Jezreel. That plain's position across major trade routes made it important for commerce and a continual cause of strife. It is part of the account of Barak's victory over the Canaanites, one of the great battles associated with Megiddo, the Old Testament battlefield where Israel fought the enemies of God's people. The verse contains the Hebrew word nephesh, translated there as lives in the phrase about jeoparding their lives unto the death, one of 118 places in the Old Testament where nephesh is translated life or lives instead of soul, showing that soul means life.
Judges 5 is part of the account of Deborah the prophetess helping Barak. It shows that women may speak for God in public service. It shows that they may serve publicly for God. They may do so without usurping authority. They may do so without acting arrogantly.
Battle and Prophecy
Zebulun and Naphtali jeoparded their lives unto death by fighting bravely in the high places of the field as part of the rally to join Barak at Tabor and fight for Israel. Their risk was borne in the battle against Sisera that brought Israel deliverance from Jabin's oppression. In that battle their faith helped overthrow the oppression of Sisera's nine hundred iron chariots.
They fought the Canaanite enemy though their force was small and many of their fellow Israelites withheld help. The lack of help from others made their willingness to risk their lives stand out against those who stayed behind. Their battle was fought at Megiddo.
That battle at Megiddo serves as an object lesson connected with the gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and with the seventh plague. The risking of life on the heights of the open country thus points beyond its own day to the final gathering and judgment. Zebulun and Naphtali were the forefathers of the later Galileans, and their courage lived on in their sons.
Those sons were first to face Roman armies in revolt after revolt and last to hold the ruins of Jerusalem stone by stone. They defended their fortresses one after another against all odds out of patriotism guided by zeal for faith. In this the courage shown in jeoparding life unto death on the heights continued through generations.
Faithful Example Applied
Zebulun and Naphtali were faithful and courageous in the day of Barak and Deborah, risking their lives in the struggle, and their conduct stands as the standard of faithful service. In a crisis they discerned the importance of the time, accepted the message God sent, justified God and defended His cause. They gave themselves to the work of the Lord even to jeoparding their lives unto death in the high places of the field, and by that self-surrender brought salvation to themselves and to the people.
This stands in contrast to those who could not discern God's providence and did not believe His testimony. Those others withheld themselves from helping the Lord against the mighty and thereby brought a curse upon themselves. Zebulun and Naphtali answered the call to go up against Sisera and the Canaanites when brave soldiers were needed and others stayed behind, risking their lives unto death in battle.
The place of their sacrifice is called exalted ground, showing that the field where the gospel is carried by soul-winning work such as canvassing is a high and honored place. In those same borders of Zebulun and Naphtali Christ began His work. Their courage is therefore the pattern for forsaking all to scatter the printed page and win souls.
In Deborah's triumphant song giving God all the glory for deliverance from Sisera's oppression, Zebulun and Naphtali are honored as those who bravely risked their lives unto death in the high places of the field to join Barak at Tabor and help overthrow nine hundred iron chariots. They fought the Canaanite enemy though their force was small and many of their fellow Israelites withheld help. In the crisis they discerned the importance of the time, accepted God's message, justified Him and gave themselves to His work even to death, bringing salvation to themselves and the people, in contrast to those who would not discern His providence and brought a curse upon themselves by staying back. Their faithful courage is held up as the standard of service, and the exalted ground where they sacrificed shows the field of soul-winning work such as canvassing to be a high and honored place to be entered with the same self-sacrifice.
Setting and Language
Judges 5:18 belongs to Deborah's song, a triumph poem celebrating Israel's deliverance and victory over Sisera's army. The song recounts that deliverance, gives God all the glory, and presents the victory as a display of His power and majesty. The verse belongs to the composite record of Judges 3 to 17 of backsliding from God, consequent suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, returning to God, forgiveness and deliverance. That record shows the perversity and unbelief of the people amid the awful moral surroundings and demoralizing influences of the tribes permitted to remain in the land of promise, and it shows the long-suffering goodness of God who always uses the best He has, the ones willing to be used. The verse belongs to the earliest poetry of Israel, which rose among the Galilean hills when Barak of Naphtali triumphed over the Canaanites, and it vindicates Galilee's claim to honor for the intellectual vigor, mental freshness and force of its people.
The verse belongs to the account of Barak and Deborah's victory through which the Israelites first gained possession of the Plain of Jezreel. That plain's position across major trade routes made it important for commerce and a continual cause of strife. It is part of the account of Barak's victory over the Canaanites, one of the great battles associated with Megiddo, the Old Testament battlefield where Israel fought the enemies of God's people. The verse contains the Hebrew word nephesh, translated there as lives in the phrase about jeoparding their lives unto the death, one of 118 places in the Old Testament where nephesh is translated life or lives instead of soul, showing that soul means life.
Judges 5 is part of the account of Deborah the prophetess helping Barak. It shows that women may speak for God in public service. It shows that they may serve publicly for God. They may do so without usurping authority. They may do so without acting arrogantly.
Battle and Prophecy
Zebulun and Naphtali jeoparded their lives unto death by fighting bravely in the high places of the field as part of the rally to join Barak at Tabor and fight for Israel. Their risk was borne in the battle against Sisera that brought Israel deliverance from Jabin's oppression. In that battle their faith helped overthrow the oppression of Sisera's nine hundred iron chariots.
They fought the Canaanite enemy though their force was small and many of their fellow Israelites withheld help. The lack of help from others made their willingness to risk their lives stand out against those who stayed behind. Their battle was fought at Megiddo.
That battle at Megiddo serves as an object lesson connected with the gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and with the seventh plague. The risking of life on the heights of the open country thus points beyond its own day to the final gathering and judgment. Zebulun and Naphtali were the forefathers of the later Galileans, and their courage lived on in their sons.
Those sons were first to face Roman armies in revolt after revolt and last to hold the ruins of Jerusalem stone by stone. They defended their fortresses one after another against all odds out of patriotism guided by zeal for faith. In this the courage shown in jeoparding life unto death on the heights continued through generations.
Faithful Example Applied
Zebulun and Naphtali were faithful and courageous in the day of Barak and Deborah, risking their lives in the struggle, and their conduct stands as the standard of faithful service. In a crisis they discerned the importance of the time, accepted the message God sent, justified God and defended His cause. They gave themselves to the work of the Lord even to jeoparding their lives unto death in the high places of the field, and by that self-surrender brought salvation to themselves and to the people.
This stands in contrast to those who could not discern God's providence and did not believe His testimony. Those others withheld themselves from helping the Lord against the mighty and thereby brought a curse upon themselves. Zebulun and Naphtali answered the call to go up against Sisera and the Canaanites when brave soldiers were needed and others stayed behind, risking their lives unto death in battle.
The place of their sacrifice is called exalted ground, showing that the field where the gospel is carried by soul-winning work such as canvassing is a high and honored place. In those same borders of Zebulun and Naphtali Christ began His work. Their courage is therefore the pattern for forsaking all to scatter the printed page and win souls.