Judges 5:15, commentary and pictures

Judges 5:15 belongs to Deborah's triumphant song celebrating Israel's deliverance from twenty years of oppression under Jabin king of Canaan and the victory of Barak over Sisera. It honors Issachar because its leaders and people stood with Deborah and went with Barak when he was sent on foot into the valley for battle, while the divisions of Reuben stayed back in deep deliberation instead of helping in the conflict. The song gives God all the glory for the deliverance and calls on surrounding kings and princes to hear what He has done for Israel and take warning. The battle at Megiddo to which it belongs serves as an object lesson for Armageddon in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues. It shows that God uses a woman in public testimony for His glory, so that women may proclaim His truth in a modest and Christian way without usurping authority to teach and rule. It warns that great stirrings of heart and good desires without action are negligence, for to stay home through love of ease when the Lord calls to battle against a mighty foe brings the same regard as fell on those who refused to help.

Historical Setting and Song

The book of Judges records Israel's experiences between Joshua's death and the raising up of Samuel. That period is estimated at about 350 years by one chronology and longer by others. It was lived amid awful moral surroundings and the demoralizing influences of the tribes permitted to remain in the promised land. It shows repeated backsliding from God followed by suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, and returning to God followed by forgiveness and deliverance. It reveals the perversity and unbelief of the people and the long-suffering and goodness of God, who delivers by the best He has, those willing to be used, even when they seem unpromising.

The verse is part of the account of Barak's victory over the Canaanites, which is associated with Megiddo, the Old Testament battlefield where major conflicts between Israel and its enemies took place. The broad plain of Jezreel is called a valley, and through the victory of Deborah and Barak the Israelites first gained possession of it.

The verse belongs to Deborah's song in Judges 5:1-31, the earliest poetry of Israel rising among the hills of Galilee when Barak of Naphtali triumphed over the Canaanites. That origin vindicates Galilee's claim to honor for the intellectual vigor and mental freshness and force of its people. It is a most sublime and impassioned triumphant song celebrating Israel's deliverance from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression and triumph over Sisera. It recounts Jael's surprising role in that deliverance. It is a triumph showing how mightily God can work for His people.

The song ascribes to God all the glory of deliverance and bids the people praise Him for His wonderful works. It calls upon the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God has wrought for Israel and to take warning not to do them harm, showing that honor and power belong to God and not to men or to their idols. It stands with a portrayal of the awful exhibitions of divine power and majesty displayed at Sinai. It stands with a setting before Israel of their helpless and distressed condition under the oppression of their enemies, and with a glowing relation of the history of their deliverance.

Issachar and Reuben Contrasted

Issachar is given honorable mention for joining in the struggle against Sisera in the valley battle. The princes and leaders of Issachar were with Deborah, and the people of Issachar were with her as well. Issachar was also with Barak, who was sent on foot down into the valley to meet the foe.

That wholehearted going down stands over against the divided response of Reuben. The divisions and clans of Reuben pondered what to do instead of joining the battle. They were absorbed in deep deliberation and great thoughts of heart rather than coming to help in the conflict.

Those great searchings of heart as Israel prepared for battle can also be taken in a good sense. In that sense they searched their hearts and remembered disobedience to God and broken vows. They recognized that obedience would have spared them many troubles, and they made resolutions for the future. God blessed them in that heart searching.

Prophecy, Doctrine, and Duty

The battle at Megiddo to which this verse belongs is an object lesson for Armageddon and is to be studied in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues of Revelation 16. The verse belongs to Deborah's song and shows God using a woman in a public capacity to His glory. Deborah stands as a prophetess alongside Barak and helping him, bearing testimony for God, helping in His work, and proclaiming His truth in a womanly, Christian way with a public part in His cause. Women may bear such public testimony for God with modesty without usurping authority. The command for women to keep silence in the churches does not forbid such testimony and proclamation, but only corrects blameworthy disorders where women are out of place in assuming authority to teach and rule.

The divided response recorded here shows that staying at home and refusing to help the cause of the Lord against a mighty foe through love of ease or dread of work is negligence. Such negligence now is as wrong as it was then and brings the same regard from the angel as fell on Meroz. Every division of God's people in the present call, including the campaign for the sale of Christ's Object Lessons, is to be as faithful as Zebulun and Naphtali were and as courageous as Barak's ten thousand soldiers were. They are not to be idle like those who refused to help or like the forty thousand found without sword or spear.

The great thoughts of heart among the divisions of Reuben mean good intentions, desires, and impressions without action. When the call came to fight the Canaanites under Sisera, whom neglect had let increase and fortify until brave soldiers were needed, the men of Reuben felt desire to answer the call but stayed by their sheepfolds thinking without acting. Their great thoughts could amount only to impressions and lead no further. The verse thus warns of the danger of thinking about a good work without acting on it, a condition existing today toward the canvassing work, where many have great thoughts of heart about entering it but do nothing more.