"The Song of Deborah and Barak, Part Two”
Judges 5:12-31

April 2, 2006
by C.W. Powell

“12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
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.
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.
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.
17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
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.
20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
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.

24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, 30 Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?

31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.” (Jud 5:12-31 AV)

I. Awake, Awake. Vs. 12-15

A. There is nothing more deadly to you than deadness of soul.

1. Physical laziness will bring material poverty and all kinds of health problems.
2. Spiritual laziness will result in the growth of bad things in your soul and spiritual decline and the wrath of God. Did Paul have this in mind when he wrote, “Awake thou that sleepest and rise from the dead, and God will give you light”?
3. Hebrews warns us: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” (Heb 2:1 AV) Just to drift along, either drifting by life, or letting life drift by you. To not read your Bible; not pray; not stir the soul up to the things of Christ, being content with dead rituals, going through the motions.
4. You must not allow your soul to stagnate and move far from God. Timothy was urged to stir up the gift that was in him, and there are many such warnings in the Bible. “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” (Ro 13:11 AV)
5. “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” (1Co 15:34 AV)
6. Idolatry is the result of laziness and lethargy. Why else would men worship idols
7. “1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” (Isa 55:1-3 AV)

B. A great many men of Israel contributed to the great victory. We are to give honor to whom honor is due.

1. Barak: lead the triumphant procession: thy captivity captive: Return with the proud humbled and defeated; divide the spoils. Jesus, after his resurrection from the dead triumphed over all his enemies, ascended up on high, and gave gifts unto the people of God.
2. Barak established good government for the people; the remnant of the people of Israel what had not been scattered to other nations or slain during the occupation of the Canaanites provide the people to lead the people. Vs. 13. and gained power over the nobles that had oppressed them.
3. God takes the weak things to confound the mighty; “the Lord made me [Deborah] have dominion.” It is not sinful for a woman to have authority; it is sinful for her to usurp authority that God has not given her.
4. The tribes of Israel that contributed were

a) Ephraim and Benjamin against Amalek, the vicious and brutal people who were allied with Sisera.
b) Machir, from Mannaseh across Jordan brought officers to the army; Zebulun brought those who could write, for any army must maintain communications and order and keep histories.
c) Issachar, from whom were Deborah and Barak. Barak went on foot. Humanly speaking, it was folly to go on foot against chariots of iron, but God was with him.
d) Important here is no notice of Judah. Judah was far to the south and this campaign was in the north, up by the Sea of Galilee. The campaign was important to Judah, for defeat here would have brought pressure upon those tribes to the South. What happens in any part of the Christian Church affects every other part of it, and we are to pray for all of those of the household of faith.
e) When God begins to stir his people, he makes many to be great, and many gifts and abilities come to the front.
f) Zebulun and Naphtali hazarded their lives. [18,19] against the kings who came willing to help Sisera because of their hatred of Israel or their love of brutality.

II. The Contrast: those who were asleep and did not contribute.

A. Reuben. Divisions of heart. Great searching of heart. Some people never can make a commitment. They have great searching of heart. They stayed among the sheepfolds. The operation didn’t meet their expectations, perhaps. Maybe they found fault with the leadership; maybe they didn't like Deborah; maybe they had old feuds? Who knows; I am sure they had good reasons for the language indicates it. Perfectionism is the most deadly enemy of the church of Jesus Christ and leaves men idle and incapable of action. They find some fault somewhere and they are so self-righteous that they will not go to battle until all their standards are satisfied.
B. Gilead, Dan, Asher took the safe route. Some people are so afraid of making mistakes that they won’t do anything. They stay in the safe places. They seek their own comfort and ease. It doesn’t matter to them if everything is safe and easy for them.
C. It is important to understand the times. “The stars in the heavens fought against Sisera,” but Reuben, Gilead, Dan, Asher and Meroz did not. They were so full of themselves that they did not understand the time and the seasons. It was time to go to war, but they had great searchings of heart. Even the rivers and the elements fought on the side of Israel, but not these sorry members of the tribe of Israel.
D. A bitter curse is uttered by Deborah against the inhabitants of Meroz, because they could not take sides on the side of the work of the Lord.
E. One of the great women of the Bible and greater than all those who fiddled and faddled, is Jael, the Kenite—not even of the covenant people although descended perhaps from Abraham through Keturah. Jael is blessed above women, she did what the paralyzed men could not bring themselves do do, and won a great victory over the enemies of God. She id a workmanlike job of executing Sisera and is blessed above women. This blessing is quoted by Elizabeth and applied to the Mother of our Lord.
F. As Sisera had oppressed many and made many widows and orphans, so his wife is a widow and his children

III. Deborah's great blessing: Let all those that love the Lord be as the Sun when he goes forth in his might. Amen and Amen.

A. This is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the light of the world; and this blessing is on those who walk in the peace and joy of the Lord.
B. It is only the light of the Gospel that changes the hearts of men. It is in the preaching of the truth that men are convinced to live at peace with each other and not oppress or rule over each other. The Gospel brings the Spirit of God, as we saw last week, and where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty. Satan is the spirit of bondage and oppression; Jesus Christ came to make us free and to make us free indeed.
C. We are the children of the light, not of darkness. Do not be content to walk in the light of the sparks that you light yourself.
D. The glorious light of the Lord Jesus has shined into the world and the darkness of the old world has passed away forever. The Sun has risen in glory with the coming of Christ, but too often the church has been content to live as if Christ had not come.
E. As we saw when we went through Joshua, we saw that there is so much difference between Israel and the Church of Jesus Christ:

1. They were a fleshly people, born of a fleshly seed, the fleshly descendants of the patriarchs; the church is a spiritual people, born of the Spirit of God.
2. Their religion was a fleshy religion, consisting of fleshly and carnal ordinances; taste not, touch not, ceremonies and fleshly prohibitions and practices; we worship God in spirit and in truth; for it is not what enters the body or touches the body or adorns the body that signifies the spiritual; but that which comes out of the heart, for out of the heart are the issues of life.
3. Their weapons were carnal weapons and instruments of revenge and conquest. Our weapons are not carnal weapons but spiritual; the spiritual always trumps the carnal. We do not return evil for evil, but do good to those who despitefully use us and overcome evil with good. We are to preach the gospel for the Sword of the Spirit is the only sword given to the church. We are to good to all men, to bless not to curse, and to seek the peace of the church. The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God, as James 1:20 tells us.
4. Their inheritance was an earthly one, fitting for an earthly people, but our inheritance is in heaven where Christ is right now, and where our affections are to be.
F. But the spiritual conditions that were present in Israel during the days of Deborah and Barak are very similar to spiritual conditions that exist in the church, for basic human nature has not changed, and unless the Lord sends His spirit among us we will fall into the same spiritual errors of idolatry, lethargy, indifference, and wicked contentment. Our spiritual warfare demands energy and wakefulness on our part, for our adversary the devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and we are to resist him, not with carnal weapons, but in the faith.

“10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” (Eph 6:10-18 AV)

Amen and Amen. May God bless you.