Holy Bible

Then sang Deborah and Barak. Judges 5:1-11 Leaders who lead J. Stalker, D. D. This is far better given in the Revised Version: "For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, for that the people offered themselves willingly, bless ye the Lord." The poetess gives two reasons why her enterprise was successful. I. THE FIRST REASON OF SUCCESS WAS THAT THE LEADERS TOOK THE LEAD. They were not engaged elsewhere; they did not linger; they were not too excessively modest. They were in the forefront of the enterprise in resource and enthusiasm and execution. The leaders in those days in Israel were the heads of the tribes. In ancient society there was always an arrangement which provided natural leaders to whom the people could look. In spite of what some people may say to the contrary, there is a great deal of loyalty still in the people to what might be called their natural leaders, and I may say this, that our aristocracy have immense advantages on their side if only they have the heart to give themselves to public work. It is the man with the biggest and clearest and keenest brain that is the leader in modern times. The thinker, the orator, the author, the journalist, the inventor, the scientist — these are the men to whom we now look to give the watchword and lead us in public work. I think it is vain to deny that money is great power in modern times, and the making of it is a rough test of ability, although it is a very humble illustration of my text. In politics and in reforms in the Church and the municipality we should get quit of those awful wrongs and abuses which disfigure our life, and we could raise our people to higher and nobler life if only the leaders would take the lead. Unfortunately they do not do it. Very often the best causes have to do without those that should be the leaders. They do not get the people with ten talents, and have to struggle along as best they can with the people who have one talent, and who use it for the glory of God and the good of men. This may be due to the fact that those who should be leaders are occupied with their own affairs, and have no heart for the public interest. Those who have most of this world's means and influence are often living a life of frivolity and selfishness. Those who are engaged in the struggle of life are often thinking of nothing but enriching them selves. Those who have the finest culture often keep aloof from the profane multitude. Or the fact that the leaders do not take the lead may be due to timidity and over-caution. Any change that alters the status quo must give annoyance and cause loss to somebody. When once a reform is matter of history, and is put down in books of history, all men praise it, but while it is being accomplished few men praise and many oppose. I remember a few years ago there was hardly a newspaper in the country in which there was not a leader in praise of Wilberforce and the noble men who co-operated with him in that great reform. But in his own day Wilberforee and his coadjutors were not praised at all. They were even exposed to personal violence. Every evil name was flung at them. Drunkenness is inflicting on our country evils so vast and potent that any considerable diminution of it, say the reduction of it by half, would be a reform infinitely greater than those reforms by which our statesmen are at present winning their laurels. But if a statesman of the first mark, a man of the calibre of Mr. Balfour or Mr. Chamberlain or Mr. Morley, were to take the lead on this subject, he would simply be shrieked at by all who are engaged in that traffic. II. The other reason given by this ancient heroine for her success was THAT THE PEOPLE WILLINGLY FOLLOWED. Leaders cannot win a cause; it is won by the followers. Now sometimes the people do not follow even when the leaders take the lead. 1. Instead of that, they wish themselves to take the lead. Many a cause has been wrecked by the jealousies and suspicions of those who have thought they were fit for positions greater than were assigned to them. We often hear of the need of first-class leaders, but I sometimes think what the world needs most is great numbers of men who are willing to take the second place, or the third place, or the fourth place, and to work as heartily there as if they were in the first place. That requires even more heroism. The man who is in the first place attracts the eyes of all, and may receive his reward in fame, but the man who works well in an obscure place only receives the reward of the cause itself. 2. Another reason why the people do not always follow is that they are criticising instead of following. Now I should not like to conclude without referring to the last words of my text, "Bless ye the Lord." Deborah attributed the success to the leaders taking the lead and the people following willingly, but she went beyond these means, and traced all to the Lord. ( J. Stalker, D. D. ) Leaders W. L. Watkinson. Now in this text we are called upon to celebrate our leaders, "for that the leaders took the lead in Israel." Deborah, with a fine instinct, perceived the singular value of great and heroic leaders. In some directions to-day there is a disposition to obscure greatness, to deny, I was going to say, the supreme value of splendid talents. Oh, let us recognise the rights of the people. We must never forget in this world the wonderful importance of the man as against the multitude. The Roman soldier was a master in his art and profession, but what would all the Roman soldiers have been but a rabble without Caesar? I dare say those sailors four centuries ago were brave and skilful Italians and Spaniards, but they would have done very little with that barque on the Atlantic without Columbus. You may have fine masons and painters, but if St. Peter's is to be built in Rome or St. Paul's in London you must have Michael Angelo in one place and Sir Christopher Wren in the other. Oh, no, let us acknowledge the multitude, and all the rights that pertain to them, but that need not for a moment obscure our mind as to the appreciation of men of supreme genius. "For the leaders that took the lead bless ye the Lord." The great architects, the great navigators, the great captains; they are all great gifts of God to humanity. Outside a great leader is the architect of civilisation, and in the Church a great leader is the organiser of victory. ( W. L. Watkinson. ) Deborah: a mother in Israel A. Whyte, D. D. Deborah was an extraordinary woman. In strength of understanding, in strength of will, in soundness of judgment, in splendid courage, in warmth of heart, and, withal, in what we would nowadays call literary genius, Deborah was an absolute miracle of many sides. There was neither king, nor captain, nor judge, nor prophet, nor psalmist, nor a man to be called a man in all Israel in those evil days till Deborah arose with all those things in herself. To begin with, Deborah's name came to be known outside of her own house by her strong sense and her open, fair, masculine mind. Her neighbours were constantly falling into disputes and quarrels, and the way Deborah dealt with all those disputes and quarrels soon made her name famous. Her house in Mount Ephraim was a refuge to all the oppressed. Her palm tree was a strong tower to which all the afflicted people continually came up. At the same time, with all that, Deborah's name would never have come down to us had it not been for the terrible oppression that lay on all Israel from their enemies round about. But while all this went on Deborah was only walking all the closer with her God at Bethel. Deborah does not put it into her song — she cannot put everything into one song — but how she would go out to meditate and to pray under Jacob's ladder after her day's work was done! How she would seek wisdom and direction at that House of God. What was it that made Deborah arise at last and come forth from her own house to be the mother in all Israel she was and is? Was it the death of Lapidoth, her husband, that made her a widow indeed, and set her free to fellow out her mighty hopes for the house of Israel? Had her sons been carried into captivity of the King of Canaan; and had it been better for her daughters that they had never been born? It was some of these things, it was all these things taken together that at last roused up the slumbering lioness in Deborah's bosom, and made her swear beside the sacred stone in Bethel that Israel should be set free. But, after all, Deborah was only a woman. And to discomfit Sisera and his nine hundred chariots of iron demanded a man at the head of ten thousand men; while in all the tribe of Ephraim there was nothing but women. And Deborah sent, says her history, and called Barak the son of Abiuoam out of Kadesh-Naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, go, and draw toward Mount Tabor, and I will draw out Sisera the captain of Jabin's army, and I will deliver him into thine hand. Arise, Barak, and lead captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. In what is perhaps the most beautiful volume of sermons that has been published in England since Dr. Newman came down from the English pulpit, though a very different volume in many ways, the late Master of Balliol says that the first of Christian duties in our day is the removal of the evils of our great towns. Now one of the two worst evils of all our great towns will never be removed till a mother like Deborah arises in our Israel. There is one evil in all our great towns that our Barak-like men may and must remove. And my heart is toward the governors of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the people. But the other great evil is one that the women, and more especially the mothers, of our great towns must take into their own hands. It will need Deborah and Barak too. It will need all Deborah's strength of understanding, and all her strength of will, and all her soundness of judgment, and all her warmth of heart, and all her splendour of courage, and all her wholeness of devotion, as well as all her genius, to speak it home and to write it home to our slow and selfish hearts. But you are not a queen, or a princess, or a peeress, and because you cannot do everything you sit still and do nothing. No. But have you not a fire-side, and a lady friend or two, and a spare hour on a Saturday or a Sabbath night? Have you no imagination? Have you no heart? Have you no apprehension? Have you no son or nephew? ( A. Whyte, D. D. ) National mercies and national sins D. Moore, M. A. I. THE GROUNDS OF THANKFULNESS which Deborah thought she and the whole nation had. 1. She insists, first, upon the cheerful willingness of the people, their ready alacrity in obeying the call of the Lord their God, when by her voice He summoned them to arms. Oh! that there were such a heart in each one of us! Spiritual readiness is the attitude and the grace of angels. God desires, and will have, from us all, hearty service. Whether as regards our substance or our time, our talents or our affections, the Word declares, "God loveth a cheerful giver." 2. Deborah notices gratefully the interference of God Himself in behalf of the nation. What could Israel, in their enslaved and enfeebled state, have done against Jabin's nine hundred chariots? Of what avail would have been the willingness of the people or the valour of the chiefs if the Lord had provided no succours? But the Lord had provided them. And like mercies have been vouchsafed to us with regard to our personal and individual conflicts with sin and Satan. Satan is especially called the "prince of the power of the air "; what would the rude implements of earthly warfare avail against such an antagonist? No; God puts the spiritual against the spiritual; He brings the arms of an invisible providence to bear upon the spiritual fortunes of a child of God, and to keep him from falling. Angels are ministering to us whilst we sleep; the elements are combining for our good, even when we know not the very existence of evil; and never till we are beyond the reach of evil and sin shall we know how the Lord "fought" for our souls "from heaven," or how "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera." 3. Deborah finds matter of thankfulness in the peaceful and happy state of the country contrasted with its condition under the oppressions of Jabin; and to this part of Deborah's song I entreat your special attention. Her picture of two countries, or at least of the same country under two different governments, will be found to have such an astonishing parallel that I hope every heart amongst us will be lifted up to God with silent thankfulness. Observe, then, first, Deborah speaks of a country where all trade was stopped: "In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied." The great public thoroughfares were all closed; the caravans could no longer convey their merchandise from city to city; the merchants found their occupation gone. Then, secondly, she says that in this country travelling had become unsafe: "The travellers walked through byways." The complete lawlessness of the people and the bold effrontery of the robber made those who had occasion to travel seek the most lonely and unfrequented byways. Every step they took was taken with fear; they saw death or danger at every turn. Then, thirdly, she says that there was no tilling of the ground: "The inhabitants of the villages ceased." The constant incursions of lawless hordes had driven the villagers from their peaceful employments; the cessation of commerce throughout the land had closed the market for their grain; whilst for the sake of personal safety the poor villagers were obliged to leave their humble abodes and take refuge in walled and fenced cities. Fourthly, she says that there was no administration of justice. The "people of the Lord" could not "go down to the gates" — "the gates" signifying, as you are aware, in the Jewish language, the courts of justice. In the eighth verse she gives the reason why all judicial proceedings were suspended: "Then was war in the gates." The courts of justice resounded with the noise of arms; the gravity of the judge was merged in the zeal of the soldier; the magistrates had lost all dignity and the people all respect for law. Lastly, she says that no dependence could be placed on the military strength of the country: "Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?" All energy was now gone; all public spirit had decayed; anarchy and misrule held sovereign away, and order and good government were banished from the land. I need not stay to tell you where this awful picture of national misery and misrule has but a too faithful counterpart. I pass on to another picture, which, God be praised, hath its counterpart also. "What is the state of our country now?" asks Deborah. "Why, our nobles ride secure on white asses; our judges, without fear, sit in judgment at the gates, undisturbed by the noise of archers in the places of drawing water; and the people, as they walk by the way, rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord. Now all is peaceful among us; our ships ride upon the sea; our caravans throng the highways; our villages revive amid the busy industry of pruning-hook and ploughshare; and now all that remains for us is to testify, by a song of thankfulness, our gratitude to God." Neither should there be lost upon us Deborah's invitation to different classes of society to join in this song of gratitude. First, you will perceive, she calls upon the noble and the wealthy: "'Speak, ye that ride on white asses.' Who gave you your wealth? Who has preserved to you your wealth? To whom alone is the praise due that your substance has not been wrested from you by bands of marauders; that you have not been driven from your country by the insecurity of property; that, under the protecting shadow of equal laws, you can now lie down with safety, none making you afraid?" Then, secondly, she speaks to magistrates and judges. "'Speak, ye that sit in judgment.' Who has preserved your office in all its reverence? Who has continued your lives in all their sacredness? Who has kept your authority in all the respect in which the people hold it?" Then, thirdly, she addresses herself to those who are engaged in the ordinary occupations of life. "'Speak, ye that walk by the way'; following your peaceful employments without fear of the public robber, without dread of lawless assemblages, reposing under your own vine and your own fig-tree; rehearse the wonderful works of God. Yes, 'high and low, rich and poor,' rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even His righteous acts towards the inhabitants of the villages of Israel." And have we no part to bear in Deborah's song? Oh! shall there be a British heart cold or British tongue dumb while we think of our signal, eminent — I might almost say solitarily enjoyed blessings? "Awake, awake," England; "awake, awake, utter a song." Let us, while we bewail her sins and confess her pride, mourn over her luxurious living when thousands are starving for the bread of life — let us also bless God for His mercies to this our land. Let us bless Him that blood hath not yet stained our streets; that our ears tingle not with the sound of artillery; that the file and the hammer are yet heard in our shops; and that our churches are still open, where we may praise and worship God. II. SOME CAUSES OF SORROW AND STERN REBUKE. The Lord's cause had triumphed, as triumph it ever will, whether we "come to the help of the Lord" or not. Still the names of those shall be told up who come to the Lord's help, in order that it may be seen who are to be shutout from the triumph, who are to have no part in the joy, who are to have no mention in God's book of remembrance, save to their dishonour and their shame. 1. First, some are noticed reprehensibly by Deborah because of the contentions and strifes among them: "For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart." Oh! take ye good heed; for if at this moment you are cherishing an unkind feeling towards any human being, you are cherishing that which is an eternal foe to godliness; you are cherishing that which may drive the Spirit of God from your souls; you are cherishing that which in your dying hour will cause you bitter searchings of heart. 2. But another sin which Deborah notices, as excluding the parties who had committed it from all part in Israel's triumph, is the sin of slothfulness — the love of ease, an unwillingness to endure the hardships and encounter the difficulties of the Christian life: "Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks?" Are there not many who never make a sacrifice, never impose on themselves any form of restraint, who are conscious of nothing worthy of the name of effort, whose life is one of gilded, cushioned, luxurious ease, without one struggle or one act of self-denial? 3. But another occasion of unfaithfulness to the Lord's cause is an absorbing interest in worldly engagements: "Dan remained in ships," and "Asher continued on the sea-shore." Oh! be not deceived by that refined artifice of Satan which tempts you to persist in the pursuit of that which he persuades you is lawful. Heaven has fixed its own law of preferences, has determined which of two interests shall be sacrificed if an occasion arise in which we must sacrifice one. What amount of "corn and wine and oil" will compensate us for the loss of the "light of God's countenance"? What emergency or extremity in our domestic affairs could ever supersede that imperative law, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you"? 4. There is one more excluding sin mentioned by Deborah, the sin of religious indifference — the sin of a Gallio-like, uncaring, unthinking spirit — the sin of a Loadicean lukewarmness about the things of God. "Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof." Why? For any positive sin which they had committed? For any great scandal which they had brought on the Lord's name and cause? No, but "because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." It seems as if God were speaking from the thick cloud to each one amongst us, and asking, not "What have you left undone?" but "What have you done?" — done for God, done for eternity, done for "the help of the Lord against the mighty"? And think not to escape with the plea that opportunity is wanting for thus serving God. I tell you that every relation in life affords scope for this pious activity. As masters, you may counsel; as parents, you may teach; as friends, you may speak "a word in season"; as rich, you may give of your substance to promote good works; as poor, you may promote benevolent objects by daily and earnest prayer. But if in none of these ways you are conscious of helping the Lord, if neither by your counsel, nor by your encouragement, nor by your example, nor by your prayers, you come to the Lord's help, then are you included among "the inhabitants of Meroz," and the curse of Meroz abides upon your souls. ( D. Moore, M. A. ) I, even I The big "I" D. Davies. Archdeacon Hare tells us that of all peoples, so far as he knows, the English people are the only people who write the first personal pronoun in one capital letter, "I." He further tells us that this fact lets in a good deal of light upon the English character, much that is favourable to the Englishman, and perhaps a good deal that is unfavourable. Now I will dwell — I. Upon two of THE FAVOURABLE THINGS he mentions. 1. He says that the letter "I," that stands up by itself, expresses the freedom and independency of the Englishman. It is a good thing to be free and independent. But I don't want you children to be independent in the wrong sense. You are very dependent little creatures, and have all been very dependent ever since you were born — so dependent upon your mother's care and your father's love. I want you to feel that you are very dependent indeed, and above all that you are very dependent upon God. But yet there is a sense in which we ought to be independent and free. The boy who does not insist upon exercising his own freedom and independency is very soon despised, and he very soon goes to the bad. 2. The letter "I" also denotes the Englishman's firmness. It is wonderful how firm we can be if we have planted our foot in the right place. No one is so firm as the man who has planted his foot upon the Rock of Ages, or the Truth as it is in Jesus. When a man has learnt what the Saviour expects of him, and says, "God helping me, I will do it," he puts down his foot upon a foundation which can never give way. II. I will mention now two of THE UNFAVOURABLE THINGS referred to by Archdeacon Hare. 1. He tells us that the letter "I" shows a certain amount of arrogance. He says that the proudest word in English, to judge by its way of carrying itself, is this "I." There it is, lifting its head up above everybody else, and looking down with contempt upon its little neighbours. Now theft is not a good thing. That is utterly unlike the Lord Jesus. He was meek and gentle in spirit: He never looked down upon any one, but welcomed poor broken-down sinners to His presence, and ever spoke a kind word to the world's outcasts. 2. The capital "I" represents the Englishman's reserve and isolation. It loves to stand alone, and does not believe in mixing up with others. Let us no longer hold ourselves aloof, but be kind and gentle to all. Whenever you meet another, do not gather yourself up in your little coat, and conclude that you must be better than he; but be ready to draw near and shake hands with another little boy; and, if he is poorer than you, there is a special chance for you to do him a little kindness. Remember that it is the will of Jesus that we should be very kind to each other, and in His name, yea, and for His sake, bless all. ( D. Davies. ) They chose new gods; then was war in the gates The soldier's honour T. Adams. Here is — 1. The apostasy of the people: "They chose new gods." This I call the alarm; for ungodliness calls to war. If we fight against God, we provoke God to fight against us. Then — 2. A laying on of punishment. God meets their abomination with desolation; the hand of justice against the hand of unrighteousness: "Then was war in the gates." This I call the battle. Then — 3. A destitution of remedy: "Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?" Sin had not only brought war, but taken away defence — sent them unarmed to fight. And this I call the forlorn hope. I. THE ALARM: "They chose new gods." Their idolatry may be aggravated by three circumstances or degrees. They are all declining and downwards: there is evil, worse, and worst of all. 1. "They chose." Here is a frank choice, no compelling. They voluntarily took to themselves, and betook themselves to, other gods. There is evil, the first degree. 2. "Gods." What! a people trained up in the knowledge of one God: "Jehovah, I am; and there is none besides Me." The bees have but one king, flocks and herds but one leader, the sky but one sun, the world but one God. 3. "New gods." Will any nation change their gods? No; the Ekronites will keep their god, though it be Beelzebub; the Ammonites will keep their god, though it be Melchom; the Syrians will stick to their god, though it be Rimmon; the Philistines will not part with their god, though it be Dagon. And shall Israel change Jehovah, the living God? This is worst of all. II. We come now to THE BATTLE: "Then was war in the gates." If Israel give God an alarm of wickedness, God will give them a battle of desolation. Idolatry is an extreme impiety; therefore against it the gate of heaven is barred ( 1 Corinthians 6:9 ). Let us view the punishment as it is described: "Then was war in the gates." 1. The nature of it: "War." War is that miserable desolation that finds a land before it like Eden, and leaves it behind it like Sodom and Gomorrah, a desolate and forsaken wilderness. Let it be sowed with the seed of man and beast, as a field with wheat, war will eat it up. In itself it is a miserable punishment. 2. The time: "Then." When was this war? In the time of idolatry. "They chose new gods; then." When we fight against God, we incense Him to fight against us. Yet if timely repentance step in, we escape His blows, though He hath not escaped ours. But if Israel's sins strike up alarm, Israel's God will give battle. If they choose new gods, the true God will punish. "Then was war." It is a fearful thing when God fights. 3. The place: "In the gates." This is an extreme progress of war, to come so near as the gates. If it had been in the land of their enemies, a preparation of war a great way off, the noise of war — yea, if it had come but to the coasts and invaded the borders, as the Philistines did often forage the skirts of Israel, yet it had been somewhat tolerable, for then they had but seen it only. "Thou hast shewed Thy people grievous things" ( Psalm 60:3 ) — shewed, but not inflicted; shaken the rod, but not scourged us. But here war is come to their thresholds, yea, to the heart of the land, to defy them in the very gates. And now they more than hear or see it; they feel it. You now see the punishment. Happy are we that cannot judge the terrors of war but by report, that never saw our towns and cities burning, our houses rifled, our temples spoiled. We have been strangers to this misery in passion, let us not be so in compassion. Let us think we have seen these calamities with our neighbours' eyes, and felt them through their sides. III. We now come to the FORLORN HOPE: "Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?" Was there? There was not.This question is a plain negative. Here is the want of help; great misery, but no remedy; not a spear to offend, no, not a shield to defend. War, and war in the gates, and yet neither offensive nor defensive weapon! It takes away all, both present possession and future possibility; help and hope. You see now all the parts of the affliction: the alarm in sin, the battle in war, and the forlorn hope in the want of remedy. Two useful observations may hence be deduced — 1. That war at some times is just and necessary; indeed, just when it is necessary: as here. For shall it come to the gates, and shall we not meet it? Yea, shall we not meet it before it come near the gates? There is, then, a season when war is good and lawful. Now there are two cautions observable in the justness of wars —(1) That they be undertaken upon just and warrantable cause. That they be prosecuted with an honest mind. The cause must be just.(a) The peace of the people; for we must aim by war to make way for peace. We must not desire truce to this end, that we may gather force for an unjust war; but we desire a just war that we may settle a true peace.(b) The health and safety of our country: some must be endangered that all may not be destroyed.(c) The glory of the kingdom; and that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wars for God are called God's battles. The destruction of their cities that revolt from God to idols, and the whole spoil, is for the Lord; it is the Lord's battle and the Lord's spoil ( Deuteronomy 13:16 ).(2) The next caution, after a good ingression, is to be sure of a good prosecution. We say of the surgeon that he should have a lady's hand and a lion's heart; but the Christian soldier should have a lady's heart and a lion's hand. I mean, though he deal valiant blows, yet not destroy without compassion. 2. The other inference that may hence be deduced is this, that munition and arms should at all times be in readiness. Wise men in fair weather repair their houses against winter storms; the ant labours in harvest that she may feast at Christmas. Be long in preparing for war, that thou mayest overcome with more speed. A long preparation makes a short and quick victory. I have held you long in the battle; it is now high time to sound a retreat. But as I have spoken much of Israel's affliction, so give me leave to speak one word of the prophetess's affection, and of this only by way of exhortation: "My heart is set on the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord." Here is the subject in which this affection resides and the object on which this affection reflects. The subject wherein it abides is the heart — a great zeal of love. Not only the affection of the heart, but the heart of affection: "My heart is set." The object on which it reflects is double, man and God; the excellent creature, and the most excellent Creator; the men of God, and the God of men. Upon men: "My heart is towards the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people." Upon God: "Bless ye the Lord." Among men two sorts are objected to this love: superiors in the first place, inferiors in the latter. To the commanders primarily, but not only; for if they offered themselves willingly among the people, as we read it, then certainly the people also willingly offered themselves, as the other translations read it, "Those that were willing amongst the people." 1. To the governors of our Israel; that they offer for themselves willingly to these military designs, not on compulsion. His brows deserve no wreathed coronet that is enforced. Come with a willing mind. In every good work there must be cheerfulness in the affection and carefulness in the action. God loves a cheerful giver; so thou gainest no small thing by it, but even the love of God. "Whatsoever good thing thou doest," saith , "do it cheerfully and willingly, and thou doest it well." You that have the places of government, offer willingly your hands, your purses, yourselves, to this noble exercise. Your good example shall hearten others. 2. Now for you that are the materials of all this, let me say to you without flattery, Go forth with courage in the fear of God, and the Lord be with you. Preserve unity among yourselves, lest as in a town on fire, whilst all good hands are helping to quench it, thieves are most busy to steal booties; so whilst you contend, murmur, or repine one at the honour of another, that subtle thief, Satan, through the crack of your divisions, step in, and steal away your peace. Offer yourselves willingly; and being offered, step not back. Remember that it is base for a soldier to fly. And remember always the burden of this song, which everything that hath breath must sing, "Bless ye the Lord." ( T. Adams. ) Delivered from the noise of archers in

Benson Commentary Judges 5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, Jdg 5:1 . Then sang Deborah — The composer of this song, one of whose special gifts, as a prophetess, it was to sing God’s praises, 1 Chronicles 25:1-3 . And Barak — Who was now probably become a judge, in consequence of this great deliverance which God had wrought by him. On that day — In which they had completed their victory, by the destruction of Jabin’s kingdom. Whether they two only sang this song, or the elders of the people, called together into one assembly, sang it with them, is not certain. The text, however, only speaks of its being sung by them two; and Dr. Kennicott has expressed his opinion strongly, that they sang it in alternate verses, answering each other, and that the not observing this has rendered many parts of it obscure, and of difficult interpretation, and destroyed the force and beauty of the whole. “It is certain,” says he, “though very little attended to, that it is said to have been sung by Deborah and by Barak. It is also certain, there are in it parts which Deborah could not sing; as well as parts which Barak could not sing. And therefore it seems necessary, in order to form a better judgment of this song, that some probable distribution should be made of it; while those words which seem most likely to have been sung by either party, should be assigned to their proper name; either to that of Deborah the prophetess, or that of Barak the captain-general. For example: Deborah could not call upon Deborah, exhorting herself to awake, &c., as in Jdg 5:12 . Neither could Barak exhort himself to arise, &c., in the same verse. Again: Barak could not sing, Till I Deborah arose, a mother in Israel, in Jdg 5:7 . Nor could Deborah sing about a damsel or two for every soldier, in Jdg 5:30 : though indeed, as to this last article, the words are probably misunderstood.” The doctor, therefore, to do more justice, as he judges, to “this celebrated song,” which, he says, is deservedly admired, furnishes us with a new translation of it, assigning therein to Deborah and Barak the parts which he supposes each to have sung, and representing them, through the whole, as answering each other. See Kennicott’s Remarks on Select Passages of the Old Testament, p. 94. We must leave the reader to judge for himself what weight there is in what the doctor advances, and shall only observe as to this hymn in general, that, like the songs of Moses, (Exodus 15.; and Deuteronomy 32,) it is distinguished in the Hebrew, as being poetry, and in our present translation would appear to more advantage if printed in hemistics. See on Deuteronomy 32:1 . It must be evident to every reader, that it is expressed in another kind of style than that of the historical part of this book; and in language so majestic, in such a variety of elegant figures, and such natural expressions of those affections which the occasion requires, that none of the ancient Greek or Latin poets have equalled the noble flow of these divine strains. Judges 5:2 Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. Jdg 5:2 . Praise ye the Lord, &c. — This verse seems to be no more than the exordium, or preface to the song, expressing the subject or occasion of it, namely, the avenging of Israel, or the deliverance of them from Canaanitish slavery, and the people’s willingly offering themselves to battle. Houbigant renders the verse thus — “Because the leaders of Israel undertook the war, Because the people willingly offered themselves, Praise ye the Lord.” And Dr. Kennicott supposes that the first line was sung by Deborah: that Barak answered her in the second, and that they both joined in the last, which, according to the Hebrew, he more properly translates, Bless ye Jehovah. Judges 5:3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. Jdg 5:3 . Hear, O ye kings, &c. — The prophetess begins her song with summoning the attention of the neighbouring kings and princes, that they might understand and lay to heart what God had done for Israel, and learn from thence not to oppress them, lest the same vengeance which had fallen upon Jabin and his people should be inflicted on them. I , even I, will sing unto the Lord — She declares that Jehovah should be the object of her praise, who, she would have the world to know, was superior to all in power, and would defend his people while they depended on him alone. Judges 5:4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. Jdg 5:4 . Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir — Thus the prophetess, by a sudden apostrophe, addresses him, not as their present deliverer, but as the God who had formerly exerted his miraculous power to bring them into the promised land; leaving her hearers to recollect, that it was the same power which had now subdued the Canaanites, that at first expelled them; the same power which had now restored to the Israelites the free enjoyment of their country, that at first put them in possession of it. In other words, being to praise God for the present mercies, she takes her rise higher, and begins her song with the commemoration of the ancient deliverances afforded by God to his people; and the rather, because of the great resemblance this had to them, in the miraculous manner of them. Seir and Edom are the same place, and these two expressions mean the same thing, even God’s marching at the head of his people, from Seir or Edom, toward the land of Canaan. The earth trembled — God prepared the way for his people, and struck a dread into their enemies, by earthquakes, as well as by other terrible signs. The heavens dropped — That is, thou didst send storms and tempests, thunder and lightning, and other tokens of thy displeasure upon thine enemies. The books of Moses, indeed, do not mention any earthquake as happening during their march from Seir in Edom, to war against Sihon and Og, and take possession of their land; but it is highly probable, from what is repeatedly spoken of the terror occasioned by their march, and the universal fear that was spread round because of them, that it was attended with such commotions of nature. See Psalm 68:7-8 ; Isaiah 64:3 ; Habakkuk 3:6 ; Deuteronomy 1:19-20 . Judges 5:5 The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel. Jdg 5:5 . The mountains melted — Or flowed with floods of water, poured out of the clouds upon them, and from them flowing down in mighty streams upon the lower grounds, and carrying down part of the mountains with them. Even that Sinai — Or rather, As did Sinai itself. The whole verse might be better translated, The mountains flowed down at the presence of Jehovah; as did Sinai itself at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel. And Dr. Kennicott supposes that, when the ode was sung, the first clause was uttered by Deborah, the second by Barak, and that they both joined in the third. The prophetess here slides into the mention of a more ancient appearance of God for his people at Sinai, it being usual with the inspired writers, in repeating former actions, to put divers together in a narrow compass. The sense is, No wonder that the mountains of the Amorites and Canaanites melted and trembled, when thou didst lead thy people toward them; for even Sinai itself could not bear thy presence, but melted in like manner before thee. Judges 5:6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways. Jdg 5:6 . In the days of Shamgar, &c. — In this and the two following verses Deborah, to give the Israelites a just sense of their deliverance, and excite them to greater thankfulness, represents the miseries to which the Canaanites had reduced them by twenty years’ oppression; their public roads or high-ways were deserted for fear of robbers or violence; their villages depopulated; their cities blocked up, and their country overrun with the enemy’s soldiers; while themselves were disarmed, dispirited, and helpless; till it pleased God to look down upon them with compassion, and raise up deliverance for them. In the days of Jael, &c. — Jael, though an illustrious woman, effected nothing for the deliverance of God’s people. The travellers walked through by-ways — Because of the Philistines and Canaanites, who, besides the public burdens which they laid upon the Israelites, waited for all opportunities to do them mischief secretly; watching for travellers in common roads, as is usual with enemies in times of war; and because of the wicked even of their own people, who, having cast off the fear of God, and there being no king in Israel to punish them, broke forth into acts of injustice and violence, even against their own brethren. The Jael mentioned in this verse is generally taken to be the wife of Heber, who slew Sisera. But “the phrase, in the days of Jael, implies times past, and supposes that Jael was dead as well as Shamgar. Besides, what honour could redound to the prophetess from such a comparison? Is it worthy of a boast, that she, who was judge in Israel, had done more in delivering them from the enemy than Heber’s wife, who was only a sojourner in Israel, and whose husband was at peace with the enemy? The Jael, therefore, here mentioned, seems to have been a prophetess raised up before Deborah to judge Israel, but who died without delivering them. It is true indeed the name of this prophetess is not mentioned before; but neither are any of the transactions of the time in which she is supposed to have lived recorded; nor is Shamgar’s name mentioned more than once, Jdg 3:31 , and then principally on account of that single exploit, of slaying six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad.” — Dodd. Judges 5:7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. Jdg 5:7 . The inhabitants of the villages ceased — The people forsook all their unfortified towns, not being able to protect them from military insolence. A mother — That is, to be to them as a mother, to instruct, and rule, and protect them, which duties a mother owes to her children. Judges 5:8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? Jdg 5:8 . They chose, &c. — That is, the Israelites, after the death of Ehud, forsook the Lord, and served other gods. And they did not only submit to idolatry when they were forced to it by tyrants, but they freely chose it. New gods — New to them, and unknown to their fathers, and new in comparison of the true and everlasting God of Israel, being but of yesterday. There was war in the gates — That is, in their walled cities, which have gates and bars; gates are often put for cities; then their strong holds fell into the hands of their enemies. Was there a shield? &c. — There was not. The meaning is not, that all the Israelites were without arms; but, either they had but few arms among them, being many thousands of them disarmed by the Canaanites and Philistines, or that they generally neglected the use of arms, as being without all hope of recovering their liberty. Judges 5:9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD. Jdg 5:9 . My heart is toward the governors — I honour and love those, who, being the chief of the people in wealth and dignity, did not withdraw themselves from the work, as such usually do; but exposed themselves to the same hazards, and joined with their brethren in this noble but dangerous attempt. It seems by this that there were some of the greatest men in the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun, who, of their own accord, hazarded their lives among the common people in this service. And toward these Deborah expresses singular affection; and with the praises of God intermixes the commendation of those who were his instruments in this deliverance. Bless ye the Lord — Who inclined their hearts to this undertaking, and gave them success in it. This she adds like a prophetess of the Lord, who, when she commends the most deserving of men, would not fail to raise their thoughts to God, the original source of all that is excellent and praiseworthy. Judges 5:10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way. Jdg 5:10 . Speak ye — Celebrate the praise of our mighty God, and give him thanks. The word ????? , sichu, however, here rendered, Speak ye, more properly signifies to consider, meditate, or reflect deeply, namely, on the miserable condition they were in before, and on the great deliverance God had wrought out for them. Ye that ride on white asses — That is, magistrates and nobles, who used to do so, Jdg 10:4 ; Jdg 12:14 . These could not appear in any splendour during the servitude and oppression under Jabin, but now were restored to their dignity, which she calls upon them to consider, and for which to praise the Lord. There were few horses in Judea but what were brought out of other countries, so that the greatest persons rode on asses, as appears by the sacred history; but in this country they were commonly of a red colour, (whence, as Bochart observes, an ass hath the name of ???? , chamor, ) and therefore white, or, as he translates the word, whitish asses, or those streaked with white, were highly esteemed for their rarity. Ye that sit in judgment — Those that sat as judges in the gates, which were no longer possessed by the enemies, she here exhorts to join with the nobles before mentioned. And walk by the way — The merchants, traffickers, and others, who could now travel safely about their business, which they durst not do before this deliverance, Jdg 5:6 ; for which, therefore, they were bound to praise God. Judges 5:11 They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates. Jdg 5:11 . From the noise of archers — From the triumphant noise and shouts of archers, rejoicing when they met with their prey. Together with the princes, judges, and merchants, she would have the shepherds praise the Lord every time they came to water their flocks; remembering how they were formerly disturbed by the archers lurking in the woods or thickets, who shot whole quivers of arrows at them and their cattle, whereby they were put to great difficulty and danger in watering their cattle, which now they brought safely to the pits or springs. There shall they rehearse, &c. — When they come to those places with freedom and safety, which before they could not approach but with extreme danger, they shall rehearse the righteous and gracious acts of the Lord, who had taken a just vengeance on their oppressors, and most graciously delivered them from their tyranny. Toward the inhabitants of his villages — She would have the meanest peasants bear them company in the praises of God; for now they lived as quietly in their open villages as if they had been in the strongest cities. Then shall the people go down to the gates — The great prophetess sums up all in these words, that the whole country was bound to praise the Lord, every man having liberty to go down safely to the gates of his own city, from whence, undoubtedly, many had been driven by the Canaanites, and forced to wander abroad. The gates of their cities, it must be observed, were the chief places to which both city and country resorted for public business and matters of justice, from both of which they had been debarred by their oppressors, but which would now resume their wonted course, and the people have free access and passage, either in or out of their gates, as their affairs required. And they who had been compelled to leave their cities would now return in peace and triumph. Judges 5:12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. Jdg 5:12 . Awake, awake, Deborah — Stir up thyself, with all that is within thee, to admire and praise Jehovah. This work needs, and well deserves, the utmost liveliness and vigour of soul. Thus, having called upon all others, she now excites herself, with the most earnest and zealous affection, (expressed by the repetition of the same thing four times,) to celebrate the wonderful works of God. One cannot help observing the decorum which the prophetess observes in speaking of herself. Though she went along with Barak to levy his forces, accompanied him to the field of battle, and gave him the word of command when to charge the enemy, ( Jdg 4:9-14 ,) yet, suitably to her sex and office, she only speaks of uttering a song of praise on the occasion, while she assigns to him, under God, the glory of the victory, and the honour of the triumph. Arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive — She calls on Barak to show his captives and spoils, that the Israelites might see how great reason they had for giving thanks to God. Some ask what captives he could have to lead when the whole army of Sisera was cut off? Jdg 4:16 . To which the answer is easy, that when Barak, after he had routed their army, pursued his victory as far as Harosheth, he doubtless took many prisoners, and probably not a few of the best quality, and brought them captive with him out of the country. Judges 5:13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty. Jdg 5:13 . Then he made him that remaineth have dominion, &c. — This verse is very obscure, nor is it easy to fix the sense of the original, the principal verb in the sentence, ??? , jerad, which occurs in both clauses of it, meaning both to have, or to cause to have dominion, and also to descend, or come down. According to our translation, which seems as accurate as any proposed, the sense is, that God had not only preserved a remnant of his people from the fury of the oppressor, and from the destruction which Sisera designed, but also now gave them the victory, and thereby the dominion over the nobles of Canaan, who had been combined against them. The Lord made me have dominion — Though but a weak woman. But Dr. Kennicott’s translation of the verse, which is countenanced by the Seventy, is, “Then, when the remainder descended after their chiefs, Jehovah’s people descended after me against the mighty:” which interpretation agrees in substance with that of the ingenious Mr. Green and some others. Judges 5:14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. Jdg 5:14 . Out of Ephraim, &c. — The prophetess, having directed their praises to the Author of their deliverance, proceeds to speak with commendation of the instruments of it, and gives us the muster of those tribes which freely offered themselves to battle. She assigns the first place to the tribe of Benjamin; the second to those of her own tribe who were settled in Amalek; the third to the Manassites beyond Jordan; the fourth to the tribe of Zebulun; and the last to the tribe of Issachar. There was a root of them against Amalek — This translation is very obscure, and therefore it might be better rendered, and more agreeably to the Hebrew, Out of Ephraim came down those who were planted, or whose rest was in Amalek; meaning some of the tribe of Ephraim, who were settled in or about the mount of Amalek. See Jdg 12:15 . And out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer — Mr. Green has observed, and with great reason, that there is a manifest impropriety in penmen coming down to a battle; and that the word ????? , shebet, which is here translated a pen, never signifies so throughout the Scriptures, but always a sceptre, or staff of command; and therefore he thinks our translation has mistaken the meaning here, and that it ought to be translated, And out of Zebulun those that rule or lead with the sceptre. The word ??? , soper, rendered writer, he thinks belongs to the next verse, and should be translated numbered. This certainly would make that verse more plain and significant. It would then be, And the princes of Issachar were numbered with Deborah; that is, these princes, together with Barak the general, were mustered along with Deborah herself. Judges 5:15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. Jdg 5:15 . He was sent on foot — Or, when he was sent, with his foot, into the valley. This is not an immaterial remark of the prophetess. It expresses that the tribe or people of Issachar, following the counsel and example of their princes, were as hearty and valiant in the cause as Barak their general; and as he marched on foot to attack Sisera with his horses and nine hundred armed chariots, and that into the valley or plain, where horses and chariots are chiefly useful, so did they, with no less courage and resolution. This she said to show that the battle was Jehovah’s, and that he saveth not by horses, nor by chariots. For the divisions of Reuben — Or , separations, not so much of one from another, (for they seem to have been all well agreed in abiding at home with their sheep,) as of all from their brethren, from whom they were divided no less in their designs and affections than in their situation by the river Jordan: and they would not join their interests and forces with them in this common cause. Great thoughts — Or, great searchings, great and sad thoughts, and debates, and perplexities of mind among the Israelites, to see themselves deserted by so great and potent a tribe as Reuben was. Judges 5:16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Jdg 5:16 . Why, &c. — Having mentioned with honour the tribes that willingly offered themselves, the prophetess proceeds to expostulate with those who, when summoned to the assistance of their brethren, shamefully refused to arm in the common cause. The first two that she upbraids are Reuben and Gad, who were more solicitous about their cattle than their brethren. The next two are Dan and Asher, who were as meanly intent upon their commerce. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds? — Why wast thou so unworthy and cowardly that thou wouldst not engage thyself in so just, so necessary and so noble a cause, but didst prefer the care of thy sheep, and thy own ease and safety, before this generous undertaking? Reuben thought neutrality their wisest course; being very rich in cattle, Numbers 32:1 . They were loath to run the hazard of so great a loss, by taking up arms against so potent an enemy as Jabin: and the bleatings of their sheep were so loud in their ears that they could not hear the call of Deborah and Barak. Judges 5:17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches. Jdg 5:17 . Gilead abode, &c. — Or, why did Gilead abide? Gilead was divided between the children of Machir and the tribe of Gad, Joshua 13:24-31 . The children of Machir came down to the battle, and therefore the tribe of Gad can only be meant here, the land of Gilead being put for the inhabitants of it. Beyond Jordan — In their own portions, and did not come over Jordan to the help of the Lord, and of his people, as they ought to have done. Why did Dan remain in ships? — Their coast being near the sea, they were wholly intent on their merchandise, and therefore did not join in this land expedition. Asher continued on the sea-shore — Where their lot lay. Abode in his breaches — Either in his creeks and small havens, where vessels lay to go out to sea, or in their broken and craggy rocks and caves. Judges 5:18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. Jdg 5:18 . Zebulun and Naphtali, &c. — These were the two tribes out of which Barak, by the order of God, ( Jdg 4:6 ,) drew ten thousand men, who charged the enemy from mount Tabor; and Deborah here celebrates their gallant behaviour. That jeoparded their lives — Hebrew, ?? Š, cherep, despised their lives, or exposed them to the danger of death, as making no account of them, in comparison of joining with their brethren to shake off the yoke of the Canaanites, and recover their liberty. They chose rather to venture upon a generous and honourable death than to enjoy a shameful and servile life. In the high places of the field — That is, upon that large and eminent plain in the top of mount Tabor, where they put themselves in battle array, and expected the enemy; though, when they saw that the Canaanites did not come up to them, they marched down to meet them. Judges 5:19 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. Jdg 5:19 . The kings came and fought — There were divers petty kings in those parts who were subject to Jabin. Taanach and Megiddo were two eminent cities not far from mount Tabor, nor from the river Kishon. They took no gain of money — Some interpret this as meaning they fought without pay, whether from mere hatred of the Israelites, and a desire to be revenged on them, or from a full hope and confidence of paying themselves abundantly out of Israel’s spoils. But it may be intended as a sarcasm upon the kings of Canaan for their lucrative views in fighting against Israel. They came to the help of Jabin for lucre’s sake; namely, to enrich themselves with the spoils; but the Israelites fought for liberty. Judges 5:20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Jdg 5:20 . They fought from heaven — The prophetess, having in the foregoing verse mentioned who were the allies and helpers of Jabin, does here, in a very magnificent manner, represent who were the allies and helpers of Israel. They fought from heaven on this side; namely, the very angels of God themselves, the hosts of heaven, the armies of the Almighty. The very stars in their courses fought for Israel against Sisera — The elements, by the order of God, came to their assistance. The air and waters ranged themselves on their side; the rivers, even the small streams, lift up themselves and swept away their enemies. This is the magnificent and tremendous idea which the prophetess gives us of this victory over Sisera: see on Jdg 4:15 . In the poetical scriptures, thunder and lightning are represented as the artillery of heaven. The Prophet Habakkuk, speaking of the defeat of the confederate kings of Canaan by Joshua, where there is no mention of thunder and lightning in the history, thus addresses Jehovah, Habakkuk 3:11 — The sun and moon stood still in their habitation; By their light thine arrows went abroad; And by their shining thy glittering spear. Judges 5:21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. Jdg 5:21 . The river of Kishon — Which, though not great in itself, was now much swelled by the foregoing storm and rain, and therefore drowned those who, being pursued by the hand of God and by the Israelites, were forced into it, and thought to pass over it, as they did before. Ancient river — So called, either, first, in opposition to those rivers which are of a later date, being made by the hand and art of man; or, secondly, because it was a river anciently famous for remarkable exploits, for which it was celebrated by the ancient poets or writers, though not here mentioned. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength — Thou, O Deborah, though but a weak woman, hast, by God’s assistance, subdued a potent enemy; a beautiful apostrophe this of the prophetess; turning her speech to herself, as it were, to congratulate herself on the success of the commission which she had received from God to stir up Barak, and on the great efficacy of her prayers to God; for it cannot be doubted but that she implored help from Heaven, while Barak fought with Sisera. Judges 5:22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones. Jdg 5:22 . Then were the horse-hoofs broken — This verse finely expresses, and gives us the strongest image of, the confusion and rapidity of the flight of Sisera’s captains and great men, as well as of the multitude, from God and Israel; which was such that the very hoofs of their horses were broken by their swift and violent running over the stony ground. Prancings — Or, because of their fierce or swift courses. The word ??? , dahar, here rendered prancings, is used also Nahum 3:2 , where, from the word it is joined with, says Dr. Dodd, it must mean the clattering of the horse on full speed. The marginal reading, tramplings, or plungings, he thinks preferable to the text, and observes, that the meaning of it cannot perhaps be better expressed than by the well-known line of Virgil: Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. “‘They shake with horny hoofs the solid ground.” Dr. Waterland proposes that ?????? , abiraiv, here rendered their mighty ones, should be translated their mighty horses, an interpretation which the word will easily bear, and which increases the force and beauty of the passage, as they were doubtless “not common horses, but their best and strongest, whose hoofs were broken on this occasion.” The reader will observe that it was not the custom to shoe their horses in these ancient times, and indeed, according to Tavernier, Montfaucon, and others, they have at present excellent horses in Arabia and Tartary which are never shod. See Dodd. Judges 5:23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty. Jdg 5:23 . Curse ye Meroz — A place then, no doubt, eminent and considerable, though now there be no remembrance of it left, which possibly might be the effect of this bitter curse; as God cursed Amalek in this manner, that he might utterly blot out their remembrance. And this place, above all others, may be thus severely cursed, because it was near the place of the fight, and therefore had the greatest opportunity and obligation to assist their brethren. The angel, &c. — She signifies that this curse proceeded not from her ill-will toward that place, but from divine inspiration; and that if all the rest of the song should be taken but for the mere aspirations and effusions of a pious soul, but liable to mistake, yet this branch of it was immediately directed to her by the Lord, the angel of the covenant. To the help of the Lord — Of the Lord’s people; for God takes what is done for or against his people as if it were done to himself. The cause between God and the mighty, the principalities and powers of the kingdom of darkness, will not admit of a neutrality. Judges 5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. Jdg 5:24 . Blessed, &c. — This is a beautiful and striking transition, whereby the prophetess passes from the curse pronounced by the command of the angel on the Merozites to the blessing of Jael, on whom she passes the finest encomium, because, though only a sojourner in Israel, she had done them most signal service in taking off Sisera, their most inveterate enemy. Blessed above women — Celebrated and endowed with all sorts of blessings more than they. In the tent — In her tent and habitation; in her house and family, and all her affairs. The Kenites lived not in houses, but in tents. But the tent is here mentioned as an allusion to the place where the fact was done. Judges 5:25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. Jdg 5:25 . He asked water, &c. — The original here is very poetical and elegant, and not badly imitated in our translation of it, if it were placed in hemistics thus: He asked water, and she gave milk; She brought forth butter in a lordly dish. The last clause, however, perhaps had better be rendered, cream in a princely bowl; that is, she brought forth the choicest of her milk in the best dish or bowl she had; not indeed such a one as the luxury of after ag

Expositor's Bible Commentary Judges 5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, DEBORAH’S SONG: A DIVINE VISION Jdg 5:1-31 THE song of Deborah and Barak is twofold, the first portion, ending with the eleventh verse, a chant of rising hope and pious encouragement during the time of preparation and revival, the other a song of battle and victory throbbing with eager patriotism and the hot breath of martial excitement. In the former part God is celebrated as the Helper of Israel from of old and from afar; He is the spring of the movement in which the singer rejoices, and in His praise the strophes culminate. But human nature asserts itself after the great and decisive triumph in the vivid touches of the latter canto. In it more is told of the doings of men, and there is picturesque fiery exultation over the fallen. One might almost think that Deborah, herself childless, glories over the mother of Sisera in the utter desolation which falls on her when she hears the tidings of her son’s defeat and death. Yet this mood ceases abruptly, and the song returns to Jehovah, Whose friends are lifted up to joy and strength by His availing help. The main interest of the twofold song lies in its religious colour, for here the pious ardour of the Israel of the judges comes to finest expression. As a whole it is more patriotic than moral, more warlike than religious, and thus unquestionably reflects the temper of the time. What ideas do we find in it of the relation of Israel to God and of God to Israel, what conceptions of the Divine character? Jehovah is invoked and praised as the God of the Hebrews alone. He seems to have no interest in the Canaanites, nor compassion towards them. Yet the grandeur of the Divine forth going is declared in bold and striking imagery, and the high resolves of men are clearly traced to the Spirit of the Almighty. Duty to God is linked with duty to country, and it is at least suggested that Israel without Jehovah is nothing and has no right to a place among the peoples. The nation exists for the glory of its Heavenly King, to make known His power and His righteous acts. A strain like this in a war song belonging to the time of Israel’s semi-barbarism bears no uncertain promise. From the well spring out of which it flows clear and sparkling there will come other songs, with tenderer music and holier longing, -songs of spiritual hope and generous desire for Messianic peace. 1. The first religious note is struck in what may be called the opening Hallelujah, although the ejaculation, "Bless the Lord," is not, in Hebrew, that which afterwards became the great refrain of sacred song. "For that leaders led in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly: Bless ye Jehovah." Here is more than belief in Providence. It is faith in the spiritual presence and power of God swaying the souls of men. Has Deborah seen at last, after long efforts to rouse the careless people, one and another responding to her appeals and seeking her tent among the hills? Has she witnessed the vows of the chiefs of Issachar and Zebulun that they would not be wanting in the day of battle? Not to herself but to the God of Israel is the new temper ascribed. Jehovah, Who touched her own heart, has now touched many another. For years she had been aware of holier influences than came to her from the people among whom she lived. In secret, in the silence of the heart, she had found herself mastered by thoughts that none around her shared. She has well accounted for them. Jehovah has spoken to her, Jehovah caring still for His people, waiting to redeem them from bondage. And now, when her prophetic cry finds echo in other souls, when men who were asleep rise up and declare their purpose, especially when from this side and that companies of brave youths and resolute elders come to her-from the slopes of Carmel, from the hills of Gilead-the fire of hope in their eyes, how otherwise explain the unspringing of energy and devotion than as the work of the Spirit that has moved her own soul? To Jehovah is all the praise. Common enough in our day is a profession of belief in God as the source of every good desire and right effort, as inspiring the charity of the generous, the affection of the loving, the fidelity of the true. But if our faith is deep and real it brings us much nearer than we usually feel ourselves to be to Him Who is the Life indeed. The existence and energy of God are assured to those who have this insight. Every kindness done by man to man is a testimony against which denial of the Divine life has no power. Though the intellect searching far afield makes out only as it were some few and indistinct footprints of a Mighty Being Who has passed by, seen at intervals on the plains of history, then lost in the morasses or on the rocky ground, there ought to be found in every human life daily evidence of Divine grace and wisdom. The good, the true, the noble constantly appeal to men, find men; and through these God finds them. When a magnanimous word is spoken, God is heard. When a deed is done in love, in purity, in courage or pity, God is seen. When out of languor and corruption and self-indulgence men arise and set their faces to the steep of duty, God is revealed. He in Whom we trust for the redemption of the world never leaves Himself without a witness, whether faith perceives or unbelief denies. The human story unfolds a Divine urgency by which the progress, the evolution of all that is good proceed from age to age. Man has never been left to nature alone nor to himself alone. The supernatural has always mingled with his life. He has resisted often, he has rebelled; yet conscience has not ceased, God has not withdrawn. This living energy of Jehovah, not only as belonging to the past but discovered in the new zeal of Israel, Deborah saw, and in virtue of the revelation she was far before her time. For the fresh life of the people, for the willing self-devotion of so many to the great cause, she lifted her voice in praise to Israel’s Eternal Friend. 2. The next passage may be called a prologue in the heavens. Partly historical, it is chiefly a vision of Jehovah’s age-long work for His people. In words that flash and roll the song describes the glorious advent of the Most High, nature astir with His presence, the mountains shaking under His tread. The seat of the Divine Majesty appears to the prophetess to be in Seir. She looks across the hills of the south and passes beyond the desert to that place of mystery where God spoke in thunder and proclaimed Himself in the Law. The imagery points to the phenomena of earthquake and a fearful lightning storm accompanied with heavy rain. These, the most striking natural symbols of the supernatural, form the materials of the strophe. Perhaps even as the song is chanted the thunders of Sinai are echoed in a great storm that shakes the sky and rolls among the hills. The outward signs represent the new impressions of Divine power and authority which are startling and rousing the tribes. They have heard no voices, seen no tokens of God for many a year. He Who led their fathers out of bondage, He Who marched with them through the desert, has been forgotten; but He returns, He is with them again. The office of the prophetess is to celebrate God’s presence and excite in the dull souls of men some feeling of His majesty. Sinai once trembled and was dismayed before God. The great peak beside which Tabor is but a mound flowed down in volcanic glow and rush. It is He Whose coming Deborah hears in the beating storm, He Whose victorious feet shake the hills of Ephraim. Have the people forsaken their King? Let them seek Him, trust Him now. Under the shadow of His wings there is refuge; before His arrows and the fierce floods He pours from heaven who can stand? It has been well said that for the Israel of ancient times all natural phenomena-a storm, a hurricane, or a flood-had more than ordinary import. "Forbidden to recognise and, as it were, grasp the God of heaven in any material form, or to adore even in the heavens themselves any constant symbols of His being and His power, yet yearning more in spirit for manifestations of His invisible existence, Israel’s mind was ever on the stretch for any hint in nature of the unseen Celestial Being, for any glimpse of His mysterious ways, and its courage rose to a far higher pitch when Divine encouragement and impulse seemed to come from the material world." From the images of Baal and the Ashtaroth Israel had turned; but where was their Heavenly King? The answer came with marvellous power when Deborah in the midst of the roiling thunder could say, "Lord, when Thou wentest forth out of Seir, when Thou marchest out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped. The mountains flowed down at the presence of Jehovah." If the people bethought themselves of the clear demonstration of Divine majesty made to their fathers, they would realise God once more as the Ruler in heaven and earth. Then would courage revive, and in the faith of the Almighty they would go forth to victory. Now was there in this faith an element of reason, a correspondence with fact? Is it fancy and nothing else, the poetic flight of an ardent soul eager to rouse a nation? Have we here an arbitrary connection made between striking natural events and a Divine Person throned in the heavens Whose existence the prophetess assumes, Whose supposed claim to obedience haunts her mind? In such a question our age utters its scepticism. An age it is of science, of positive science. Toiling for centuries at the task of understanding the phenomenal, research has at length assumed the right to tell us what we must believe concerning the world-what we are to believe, observe, for it is a new creed and nothing else that confronts us here. "The government of the world," says one, "must not be considered as determined by an extramundane intelligence, but by one immanent in the cosmical forces and their relations." Another says: "The world or matter with its properties which we term forces must have existed from eternity and must last forever-in one word, the world cannot have been created. The ever-changing action of the natural forces is the fundamental cause of all that arises and perishes." Or again, not most recent in time but entirely modern in temper, we have the following: "Science has gradually taken all the positions of the childish belief of the peoples; it has snatched thunder and lightning from the hands of the gods. The stupendous powers of the Titans of the olden time have been grasped by the fingers of man. That which appeared inexplicable, miraculous, and the work of a supernatural power has by the touch of science proved to be the effect of hitherto unknown natural forces. Everything that happens does so in a natural way, i.e. , in a mode determined only by accidental or necessary coalition of existing materials and their immanent natural forces." Here is dogma forced on faith with fine energy; and what more is to be said when judgment is given-"I have searched the heavens, but have nowhere found the traces of a God"? We hear the boast that no song of Hebrew seer can withstand this modern wisdom, that the superstition of Bible faith shall vanish like starlight, before the rising sun. To science every opinion shall submit. But wait. It is dogmatism. against belief after all, authority against authority, and the one in a lower region than the other, with vastly inferior sanctions. Natural science declares the present result of its observation of the universe, investigation brief, superficial, and limited to one small corner of the whole. Yet these deliverances are to be set above the science which deals with existence on the highest plane, the spiritual, solving deepest problems of life and conscience, finding perpetual support in the experience of men. The claim is somewhat large; it lacks the proof of service; it lacks verification. Science boasts greatly, as is natural to its adolescence. But at what point can it dare to say, Here is final truth, here is certainty? We do not repel our debt to the discoverer when we maintain that natural science is only watching the surface of a stream for a few miles along its course, while the springs far away among the eternal hills and the outflow into the infinite ocean are never viewed. Are we taunted with believing? Those who taunt us must supply for their part something more than inference ere we trust all to their wisdom. The "Force" that is so much invoked, what is it so far as the definitions of science go? Effects we see; Force never. All statements as to the nature of force are pure dogma. It is declared that there are necessary and eternal laws of matter. What makes them necessary, and who can prove their everlastingness? Using such words men pass infinitely beyond material research-they infer-they assert. In the region of natural science we can affirm nothing to be eternal, and even necessity is a word that has no warrant. It is only in the soul, in the region of moral ideas, we come on that which endures, which is necessary, which has constant reality. And it is here that our belief in God as universal Creator, the Source of power and life, the One Agent, the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, finds root and strength. The battle between materialism and religious faith is not a battle in which facts are arrayed on one side and inferences and dreams on the other. The array is of facts against facts, as we have said, and with an immense difference of value. Is it an established sequence that when the electricity in the clouds is not in equipoise with that of the earth, under certain conditions there is a thunderstorm? It is surely a sequence of higher moment that when the sense of righteousness seizes the minds of men they rise against iniquity and there is a revolution. There natural forces operate, here spiritual. But on which side is the indication of eternity? Which of these sequences can better claim to give a key to the order of the universe? Surely if the evolution of the ages, so far, has culminated in man with his capability of knowing and serving the true, the just, the good, these facts of his mind and life are the highest of which we can take cognisance, and in them, if anywhere, we must find the key to all knowledge, the reason of all phenomena. Evolutionary science itself must agree to this. In the movements of nature we find no advance to fixity and finality. Nature labours, men labour with or against nature; but the flux of things is perpetual; there is no escape from change. In the efforts of the spiritual life it is not so. When we strive for equalness, for verity, for purity, we have glimpses then of the changeless order which we must needs call Divine. Here is the indication of eternity; and as we investigate, as we experience, we come to certitude, we reach larger vision, larger faith. That which endures rises clear above that which appears and passes. Returning to Deborah’s song and her vision of the coming of God in the impetuous storm, we see the practical value of Theism. One great idea, comprehensive and majestic, leads thought beyond symbol and change to the All-righteous Lord. To attribute phenomena to "Nature" is a sterile mode of thought; nothing is done for life. To attribute phenomena to a variety of superhuman persons limits and weakens the religious idea sought after; still one is lost in the changeable. Theism delivers the soul from both evils and sets it on a free upward path, stern yet alluring. By this path the Hebrew prophet rose to the high and fruitful conceptions which draw men together in responsibility and worship. The eternal governs all, rules every change; and that eternal is the holy will of God. The omnipotence nature obeys is the omnipotence of right. Israel returning to God will find Him coming to the help of His people in the awful or kindly movements of the natural world. Our view in one sense extends beyond that of the Hebrew seer. We find the purpose disclosed in natural phenomena to be somewhat different. Not the protection of a favoured race, but the discipline of humanity is what we perceive. Ours is an expansion of the Hebrew faith, revealing the same Divine goodness engaged in a redeeming work of wider scope and longer duration. The point is still in doubt among us whether the good, the true, the right, are invincible. Those who go forth in the service of God are often borne down by the graceless multitude. From age to age the problem of God’s supremacy seems to remain in suspense, and men are not afraid, in the name of foulest iniquity, to try issues with the best. Be it so. The Divine work is slow. Even the best need discipline that they may have strength, and God is in no haste to carry His argument against atheism. There is abundance of time. Those bent on evil or misled by falsehood, those who are on the wrong side though they consider themselves soldiers of a good cause may gain on many a field, yet their gain will turn out in the long run to be loss, and they who lose and fall are really the victors. There is defeat that is better than success. Other ages than belong to this world’s history are yet to dawn, and the discovery will come to every intelligence that he alone triumphs whose life is spent for righteousness and love, in fidelity to God and man. 3. Let it be allowed that we find the latter canto of Deborah’s song expressive of faith rather than of clear morality, pointing to a spiritual future rather than exhibiting actual knowledge of the Divine character. We hear of the righteous acts of the Lord, and the note is welcome, yet most likely the thought is of retributive justice and punishment that overtakes the enemies of Israel. When the remnant of the nobles and the people come down-that remnant of brave and faithful men never wanting to Israel-the Lord comes down with them, their Guide and Strength. Meroz is cursed because the inhabitants do not go forth to the help of Jehovah. And finally there is glorying over Sisera because he is an enemy of Israel’s Unseen King. There is trust, there is devotion, but no largeness of spiritual view. We must, however, remember that a song full of the spirit of battle and the gladness of victory cannot be expected to breathe the ideal of religion. The mind of the singer is too excited by the circumstances of the time, the bustle, the triumph, to dwell on higher themes. When fighting has to be done it is the main business of the hour, cannot be aught else to those who are engaged. A woman especially, strung to an unusual pitch of nervous endurance, would be absorbed in the events and her own new and strange position; and she would pass rapidly from the tension of anxiety to a keen passionate exultation in which everything was lost except the sense of deliverance and of personal vindication. When that is past which was an issue of life or death, freedom or destruction, joy rises in a sudden spring, joy in the prowess of men, the fulness of Divine succour; neither the prophetess nor the fighters are indifferent to justice and mercy, though they do not name them here. Deborah, a woman of intense patriotism and piety, dared greatly for God and her country; of a base thing she was incapable. The men who fought by the waters of Megiddo and slew their enemies ruthlessly in the heat of battle knew in the time of peace the duties of humanity and no doubt showed kindness, when the war was over, to the widows and orphans of the slain. To know and serve Jehovah was a guarantee of moral culture in a rude age; and the Israelites when they returned to Him must have contrasted very favourably in respect of conduct with the devotees of Baal and Astarte. For a parallel case we may turn to Oliver Cromwell. In his letter after the storming of Bristol, a bloody piece of work in which the mettle of the Parliamentary force was put keenly to proof, Cromwell ascribes the victory to God in these terms:-"They that have been employed in this service know that faith and prayer obtained this city for you. God hath put the sword in the Parliament’s hands for the terror of evil doers and the praise of them that do well." Of victory after victory which left many a home desolate he speaks as mercies to be acknowledged with all thankfulness. "God exceedingly abounds in His goodness to us, and will not be weary until righteousness and peace meet, and until He hath brought forth a glorious work for the happiness of this poor kingdom." Read his dispatches and you find that though the man had a generous heart and was a sworn servant of Christ the merciful, yet he breathes no compassion for the royal troops. These are the enemy against whom a pious man is bound to fight; the slaughter of them is a terrible necessity. Just now it is the fashion to depreciate as much as possible the moral value of the old Hebrew faith. We are assured in a tone of authority that Israel’s Jehovah was only another Chemosh, or, say, a respectable Baal, a being without moral worth, -in fact, a mere name of might worshipped by Israelites as their protector. The history of the people settles this uncritical theory. If the religion of Israel did not sustain a higher morality, if the faith of Jehovah was purely secular, how came Israel to emerge as a nation from the long conflict with Moabites, Canaanaites, Midianites, and Philistines? The Hebrews were not superior in point of numbers, unity, or military skill to the nations whose interest it was to subdue or expel them. Some vantage ground the Israelites must have had. What was it? Justice between man and man, domestic honour, care for human life, a measure of unselfishness, -these at least, as well as the entire purity of their religious rites, were their inheritance; through these the blessing of the Eternal rested upon them. There could never be a return to Him in penitence and hope without a return to the duties and the faith of the sacred covenant. We know therefore that while Deborah sings her song of battle and exults over fallen Sisera there is latent in her mind and the minds of her people a warmth of moral purpose justifying their new liberty. This nation is again a militant church. The hearts of men enlarge that God may dwell in them. Israel’s triumph, shall it not be for the good of those who are overcome? Shall not the people of Jehovah, going forth as the sun in his might, shed a kindly radiance over the lands around? So fine a conception of duty is scarcely to be found in Deborah’s song, but, realised or not in Old Testament times, it was the revelation of God through Israel to the world. DEBORAH’S SONG: A CHANT OF PATRIOTISM Jdg 5:1-31 WE have already considered the song of Deborah as a declaration of God’s working more broad and spiritual than might be looked for in that age. We now regard it as exhibiting different relations of men to the Divine purpose. There is a religious spirit in the whole movement here described. It begins in a revival of faith and obedience, prospers despite the coldness and opposition of many, grows in force and enthusiasm as it proceeds, and finally is crowned with success. The church is militant in a literal sense; yet, fighting with carnal weapons, it is really contending for the glory of the Unseen King. There is a close parallel between the enterprise of Deborah and Barak and that which opens before the church of the present time. No forced accommodation is needed to gather from the song lessons of different kinds for our guidance and warning in the campaign of Christianity. Here are Deborah herself, a mother in Israel, and the leaders who take their places at the head of the armies of God. Here also are the people willingly offering themselves, imperilling their lives for religion and freedom. The history of the past and the vision of Jehovah as sole Ruler of nature and providence encourage the faithful, who rise out of lethargy and leave the byways of life to take the field in battle array. The levies of Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali represent those who are decisively Christian, ready to hazard all for the gospel’s sake. But Reuben sits among the sheepfolds and listens to the pipings for the flocks, Dan remains in ships, Asher at the haven of the sea; and these may stand for the self-cultivating, self-serving professors of religion. Jabin and Sisera again are established opponents of the right cause; they are brave in their own defence; their positions look most formidable, their battalions shake the ground. But the stars from heaven, the floods of Kishon, are only a small part of the forces of the King of heaven; and the soul of Israel marches on in strength till the enemy is routed. Meroz practically helps the foe. Those who dwell within its walls are doubtful of the issue and will not risk their lives; the curse of sullen apostasy falls upon them. Jael is a vivid type of the unscrupulous helpers of a good cause, those who, employing the weapons and methods of the world, would fain be servants of that kingdom in which nothing base, nothing earthly can have place. And there are the children of the hour, the fine ladies of Harosheth whose pleasure and pride are bound up with oppression, who look through the lattices and listen in vain for the returning chariots laden with spoil. 1. The leaders and head men of the tribes under Deborah and Barak, Deborah foremost in the great enterprise, her soul on fire with zeal for Israel and for God. Deborah and Barak show throughout that spirit of cordial agreement, that frank support of each other which at all times are so much to be desired in religious leaders. There is no jealousy, no striving for preeminence. Barak is a brave man, but he will not stir without the prophetess; he is quite content to give her the place of honour while he does the martial work. Deborah again would commit the task to Barak’s hands in complete reliance on his wisdom and valour; yet she is ready to appear along with him, and in her song, while she claims the prophetic office, it is to Barak she renders the honours of victory-"Lead thy thraldom in thrall, thou son of Abinoam." Rarely, it must be confessed, is there entire harmony among the leaders of affairs. Jealousy is too often with them from the first. Suspicion lurks under the council table, private ambitions and unworthy fears make confusion when each should trust and encourage another. The fine enthusiasm of a great cause does not overcome as it ought the selfishness of human nature. Moreover, varieties in disposition as between the cautious and the impetuous, the more and the less of sagacity or of faith, a failure in sincerity here, in justice there, are separating influences constantly at work. But when the pressing importance of the duties entrusted to men by God governs every will, these elements of division cease; leaders who differ in temperament are loyal to each other then, each jealous of the other’s honour as servants of truth. In the Reformation, for example, prosperity was largely due to the fact that two such men as Luther and Melanchthon, very different yet thoroughly united, stood side by side in the thick of the conflict, Luther’s impetuosity moderated by the calmer spirit of the other, Melanchthon’s craving for peace kept from dangerous concession by the boldness of his friend. Their mutual love and fidelity showed the nobleness of both, showed also what the Protestant Gospel was. Their differences melted away in enthusiasm for the Word of God, which one thought of as a celestial ambrosia, the other as a sword, a war, a destruction springing upon the children of Ephraim like a lioness in the forest. The Divine work was the life of each; each in his own way sought with splendid earnestness to forward the truth of Christ. Church leaders are responsible for not a little which they themselves condemn. Differences do not quickly arise among disciples when the teachers are modest, honourable, and brotherly. Paul cries, "Is Christ divided? Were ye baptised into the name of Paul? What is Apollos? What is Paul? Ministers by whom ye believed." When our leaders speak and feel in like manner there will be peace, not uniformity but something better. God’s husbandry, God’s building will prosper. But it is declared to be jealousy for religion that divides-jealousy for the pure doctrine of Christ-jealousy for the true church. We try to believe it. But then why are not all in that spirit of holy jealousy found side by side as comrades, eagerly yet in cordial brotherhood discussing points of difference, determined that they will search together and help each other until they find principles in which they can all rest? The leaders of different Christian bodies do not appear like Deborah and Barak engaged in a common enterprise, but as chiefs of rival or even opposing armies. The reason is that in this church and the other there has been a foreclosing of questions, and the elected leaders are almost all men who are pledged to the tribal decrees. In the decisions of councils and synods, and not less in the deliverances of learned doctors apologising each for his own sect and marking out the path his party must travel, there has been ever since the days of the apostles a hardening and limiting of opinion. Thought has been prematurely crystallised and each church prides itself on its own special deposit. The true church leader should understand that a course which may have been inevitable in the past is not the virtue of today and that those are simply adhering to an antiquated position who affirm one church to be the sole possessor of truth, the only centre of authority. It may seem strange to advise the churches to reconsider many of the ideas built into creed and constitution and to reject all leaders who are such by credit of sitting immovable in the seats of the rabbis, but the progress of Christianity in power and assurance waits upon a new brotherliness which will bring about a new catholicity. Under guides of the right kind the churches will have qualities and distinctions as heretofore, each will be a rendezvous for spirits of a certain order, but frankly confessing each other’s right and honour they will press on abreast to scale and possess the uplands of truth. To be sure something is said of tolerance. But that is a purely political idea. Let it not be so much as named in the assembly of God’s people. Does Barak tolerate Deborah? Does Moses tolerate Aaron? Does St. Peter tolerate St. Paul? The disciples of Christ tolerate each other, do they? What marvellous largeness of soul! One or two, it appears, have been made sole keepers of the ark, but are prepared to tolerate the embarrassing help of well meaning auxiliaries. Neither charity of that sort nor flabbiness of belief is asked. Let each be strongly persuaded in his own mind of that which he has learned from Christ. But where Christ has not foreclosed inquiry, and where sincere and thoughtful believers differ, there is no place for what is called tolerance; the demand is for brotherly fellowship in thought and labour. Deborah was a mother in Israel, a nursing mother of the people in their spiritual childhood, with a mother’s warm heart for the oppressed and weary flock. The nation needed a new birth, and that, by the grace of God, Deborah gave it in the sore travail of her soul. For many a year she suffered, prayed, and entreated. Israel had chosen new gods and in serving them was dying to righteousness, dying to Jehovah. Deborah had to pour her own life into the half dead, and compared to this effort the battle with the Canaanites was but a secondary matter. So is it always. The Divine task is that of the mother-like souls that labour for the quickening of faith and holy service. Great victories of Christian valour, patience, and love are never won without that renewal of humanity; and everything is due to those who have guided the ignorant into knowledge, the careless to thought, and the weak to strength through years of patient toil. They are not all prophets, not all known to the tribes: of many such the record waits, hidden with their God, until the day of revealing and rejoicing. Yet Barak also, the Lightning Chief, has honourable part. When the men are collected, men newborn into life, he can lead them. They are Ironsides under him. He rushes down from Tabor and they at his feet with a vigour nothing can resist. If we have Deborah we shall also have Barak, his army and his victory. The promise is not for women only but for all in the private ways and obscure settlements of life who labour at the making of men.