They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
Deborah's triumphant song memorializes Israel's great deliverance from Jabin king of Canaan and his captain Sisera, declaring that when the people turned aside to worship new gods at the shrines of Baal and Moloch, conflict came upon them even to their gates. That choosing of idols brought twenty years of grievous oppression in which villages were deserted, highways stood empty, travelers took byways, and places of drawing water became places of robbery and murder, while intrigue of the enemy left forty thousand in Israel without shield or spear so that only ten thousand under Barak could be armed to meet Sisera's iron chariots. In that helpless crisis Deborah was raised up as prophetess and judge to call the leaders from idolatry to battle, Israel humbled itself and cried to the Lord in repentance and faith, and God gave a victory that subdued the Canaanites and gave the land rest forty years, to His glory alone and as warning to surrounding kings and princes not to harm His people. That battle of Megiddo in the days of Deborah and Barak stands among the great conflicts of that Old Testament battlefield, serving as an object lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and the events of the sixth and seventh plagues. When leaders take the lead and the people offer themselves willingly the Lord is to be blessed, whereas the unarmed forty thousand picture those who now stay idle from the work through love of ease and dread of labor, and every division of His people is called instead to the courage and faithfulness of Barak's ten thousand and of Zebulon and Naphtali, lest they be regarded as were the inhabitants of Meroz.
Song Setting and Meaning
The verse stands in Deborah's sublime and impassioned song, her triumph poem in Judges 5:1-31 memorializing Israel's great victory over Sisera and the Canaanites. It belongs to Deborah and Barak's triumphant song recounting Jael's part in delivering Israel from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression, composed to memorialize that great event. It belongs to one composite record of Israel backsliding from God followed by suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, then returning to God followed by forgiveness and deliverance. That record displays the perversity and unbelief of the people against the long-suffering and goodness of God, amid awful moral surroundings and the demoralizing influences of the tribes permitted to remain in the land of promise.
Choosing new gods was Israel's spiritual decline into idolatry and separation from God by worship at the shrines of Baal and Moloch. Negligence and backsliding gave the heathen a chance to repossess much of the land and become strongly fortified in different places, re-establishing Baalism in many parts of Palestine. War in the gates came through grievous oppression by Jabin and Sisera that left property and life in constant danger for twenty years. Villages and lonely dwellings were deserted as the people crowded into walled cities, the high roads stood empty while travelers went by unfrequented byways, and even the places for drawing water became places of robbery and murder. Those who wished to worship the true God were in many cases driven from their homes and lived in constant danger of violence.
No shield or spear seen among forty thousand means Israel was left completely unarmed, with no sword or spear to be found. Intrigue of the enemy had prevented them from procuring weapons, so that Zebulon and Naphtali could arm only ten thousand men under Barak against Sisera, captain of Jabin's army. The brave ten thousand went forth to meet the foe without the aid of their brethren. This helpless and distressed condition of spiritual decline, with war at the gates and no visible shields or spears among forty thousand, was the crisis in which Deborah was raised up as prophetess and judge. The poem recalls the call to Israel's leaders to turn from idolatry and take their place in the battle led by Barak. With humiliation and repentance Israel turned from idolatry and cried to the Lord for deliverance, which He gave through Deborah the prophetess, and under Deborah and Barak Israel overcame Sisera's oppression and iron chariots through faith.
The verse ascribes to God all the glory of deliverance from that condition and bids the people praise Him for His wonderful works. It calls upon the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God wrought for Israel and to take warning not to do them harm. It shows that honor and power belong to God and not to men or to their idols, as displayed in awful exhibitions of divine power and majesty at Sinai. That deliverance effectually subdued the Canaanites and gave the land peace forty years, though prosperity did not bring Israel nearer to God. The victory to which the verse belongs is the one by which the Israelites first gained possession of the Plain of Jezreel.
Prophecy and Present Application
The verse belongs to the account of Barak's victory over the Canaanites in the day of Deborah and Barak. That victory was the battle of Megiddo, one of the great conflicts associated with Megiddo. Megiddo is the Old Testament battlefield linked with the gathering of the nations for battle. That battle of Megiddo serves as an object lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and for the events of the sixth and seventh plagues.
When the leaders take the lead in Israel and the people offer themselves willingly, Jehovah is to be blessed. The heart is toward the governors of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. United leadership and willing service by ministers, officers and believers stirs enthusiasm and home missionary zeal in every church and isolated company. The forty thousand in Israel without sword or spear picture church members now who stay at home because they love not the work. They remain idle in the campaign for the sale of Christ's Object Lessons because they dread to work.
Negligence now is as wrong as then. Those who refuse to help risk being regarded by the angel as the inhabitants of Meroz were regarded. In contrast to the courage of Barak's ten thousand soldiers and the faithfulness of Zebulon and Naphtali, every division of God's people is called to be faithful and courageous rather than like the unarmed forty thousand.
Deborah's triumphant song memorializes Israel's great deliverance from Jabin king of Canaan and his captain Sisera, declaring that when the people turned aside to worship new gods at the shrines of Baal and Moloch, conflict came upon them even to their gates. That choosing of idols brought twenty years of grievous oppression in which villages were deserted, highways stood empty, travelers took byways, and places of drawing water became places of robbery and murder, while intrigue of the enemy left forty thousand in Israel without shield or spear so that only ten thousand under Barak could be armed to meet Sisera's iron chariots. In that helpless crisis Deborah was raised up as prophetess and judge to call the leaders from idolatry to battle, Israel humbled itself and cried to the Lord in repentance and faith, and God gave a victory that subdued the Canaanites and gave the land rest forty years, to His glory alone and as warning to surrounding kings and princes not to harm His people. That battle of Megiddo in the days of Deborah and Barak stands among the great conflicts of that Old Testament battlefield, serving as an object lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and the events of the sixth and seventh plagues. When leaders take the lead and the people offer themselves willingly the Lord is to be blessed, whereas the unarmed forty thousand picture those who now stay idle from the work through love of ease and dread of labor, and every division of His people is called instead to the courage and faithfulness of Barak's ten thousand and of Zebulon and Naphtali, lest they be regarded as were the inhabitants of Meroz.
Song Setting and Meaning
The verse stands in Deborah's sublime and impassioned song, her triumph poem in Judges 5:1-31 memorializing Israel's great victory over Sisera and the Canaanites. It belongs to Deborah and Barak's triumphant song recounting Jael's part in delivering Israel from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression, composed to memorialize that great event. It belongs to one composite record of Israel backsliding from God followed by suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, then returning to God followed by forgiveness and deliverance. That record displays the perversity and unbelief of the people against the long-suffering and goodness of God, amid awful moral surroundings and the demoralizing influences of the tribes permitted to remain in the land of promise.
Choosing new gods was Israel's spiritual decline into idolatry and separation from God by worship at the shrines of Baal and Moloch. Negligence and backsliding gave the heathen a chance to repossess much of the land and become strongly fortified in different places, re-establishing Baalism in many parts of Palestine. War in the gates came through grievous oppression by Jabin and Sisera that left property and life in constant danger for twenty years. Villages and lonely dwellings were deserted as the people crowded into walled cities, the high roads stood empty while travelers went by unfrequented byways, and even the places for drawing water became places of robbery and murder. Those who wished to worship the true God were in many cases driven from their homes and lived in constant danger of violence.
No shield or spear seen among forty thousand means Israel was left completely unarmed, with no sword or spear to be found. Intrigue of the enemy had prevented them from procuring weapons, so that Zebulon and Naphtali could arm only ten thousand men under Barak against Sisera, captain of Jabin's army. The brave ten thousand went forth to meet the foe without the aid of their brethren. This helpless and distressed condition of spiritual decline, with war at the gates and no visible shields or spears among forty thousand, was the crisis in which Deborah was raised up as prophetess and judge. The poem recalls the call to Israel's leaders to turn from idolatry and take their place in the battle led by Barak. With humiliation and repentance Israel turned from idolatry and cried to the Lord for deliverance, which He gave through Deborah the prophetess, and under Deborah and Barak Israel overcame Sisera's oppression and iron chariots through faith.
The verse ascribes to God all the glory of deliverance from that condition and bids the people praise Him for His wonderful works. It calls upon the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God wrought for Israel and to take warning not to do them harm. It shows that honor and power belong to God and not to men or to their idols, as displayed in awful exhibitions of divine power and majesty at Sinai. That deliverance effectually subdued the Canaanites and gave the land peace forty years, though prosperity did not bring Israel nearer to God. The victory to which the verse belongs is the one by which the Israelites first gained possession of the Plain of Jezreel.
Prophecy and Present Application
The verse belongs to the account of Barak's victory over the Canaanites in the day of Deborah and Barak. That victory was the battle of Megiddo, one of the great conflicts associated with Megiddo. Megiddo is the Old Testament battlefield linked with the gathering of the nations for battle. That battle of Megiddo serves as an object lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and for the events of the sixth and seventh plagues.
When the leaders take the lead in Israel and the people offer themselves willingly, Jehovah is to be blessed. The heart is toward the governors of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. United leadership and willing service by ministers, officers and believers stirs enthusiasm and home missionary zeal in every church and isolated company. The forty thousand in Israel without sword or spear picture church members now who stay at home because they love not the work. They remain idle in the campaign for the sale of Christ's Object Lessons because they dread to work.
Negligence now is as wrong as then. Those who refuse to help risk being regarded by the angel as the inhabitants of Meroz were regarded. In contrast to the courage of Barak's ten thousand soldiers and the faithfulness of Zebulon and Naphtali, every division of God's people is called to be faithful and courageous rather than like the unarmed forty thousand.