What is the story of Deborah and Barak?

Wife of Lapidoth: she became a 'mother in Israel,' and was a prophetess and 'judged Israel;' it was she who incited Barak to attack Jabin, who had oppressed Israel twenty years. This led to the defeat of their enemies, the death of Sisera by the hand of Jael, and the destruction of Jabin. A remarkable song of triumph by Deborah over the enemies of God followed the victory. Judges 4 and 5. Deborah is a beautiful instance of how, under God, the faith of a single person may be the means of arousing those under deep depression into activity and thence to victory.

Son of Abinoam, of Naphtali. He was called by Deborah the prophetess (who judged Israel at that time) to collect from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon 10,000 men that God might deliver into his hand Sisera, the captain of the army of Jabin, king of Canaan, who had 900 chariots of iron, and who had mightily oppressed the children of Israel twenty years. It required great faith to attack so strong an enemy with such a small force; and Barak had not this strong faith in God; he said he would not go unless Deborah would go with him. Deborah consented to go, but told Barak that it would not be to his honour; Sisera would fall by the hand of a woman. When the armies were face to face it was still Deborah that had to tell Barak when to arise to the attack.

Jehovah discomfited Sisera and his chariots and his host, by the swords of the Israelites, and apparently the overthrow was completed by a severe storm and the overflowing of the river Kishon. Judges 4:6-17; Judges 5:20-21. The Canaanites being smitten, Sisera left his chariot and fled for refuge to the house of Heber the Kenite, where he was killed by Jael, Heber's wife. Judges 4:18-24. Judges 5: gives the song of Deborah and Barak over the victory. Barak's faith is like that of many who can follow if another will lead, though they cannot take a first place; it is very gracious of God to mention Barak in Heb. 11:32 as one in the cloud of witnesses who had become victorious by their faith.

1894 157 The sins of Israel had brought them once more into the bondage of the Canaanites, who treated them with exceptional severity — contrasted with the comparatively mild and wise rule of their previous conquerors, the Philistines. The highways, Deborah says, were deserted: the inhabitants cowered and slunk through the by-ways to hide themselves from the brutal Sisera and his troops, who seem from Judges 5:30, etc., to have been of the type of "Kirke's lambs" or the infamous Mérode's brigade of the original "marauders." In this extremity God raised up Deborah as a prophetess who, assisted by Barak, a cool, steady, able soldier, took up His people's cause.

Again the people fell under the power of their foes, and Jabin, king of Hazor, enslaved them. His oppression is described as "mighty." Yet God began to work, he fell and was subdued. The elect vessel for this fresh service was Deborah, a prophetess. She roused up and inspired the tremulous Barak. There was another vessel used in a secondary way, and this was Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, again a woman; and yet again there was an instrument used, particularly as regarded Sisera, the captain of Jabin's host, and this was "a nail of the tent" — just an iron spike used for holding the ropes.

Directed by a woman, Barak and his ten thousand men confronted Jabin's mighty host and utterly defeated them, though they were fortified by nine hundred chariots of iron. "All the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left" is the terse record of Scripture. To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent pin! Barak had been told previously that the enterprise he so reluctantly and timidly undertook should not be for his honour; and so it turned out. The very weakness and insignificance of the means employed made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.

After the death of Ehud, Israel resumed their sinful ways, and Jehovah gave them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, the captain of whose army was Sisera. This powerful king, with his nine hundred chariots of iron, "mightily oppressed the children of Israel twenty years" (Judges 4:1-3). Under the oppression of Jabin, the children of Israel cried to Jehovah, and in spite of all their repeated failures, He heard their cry.

"And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh." (Jud.4:6-9)

And so Deborah sat under her palm tree, a spirit of victory in her heart. "And she sent and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, out of Kadesh-naphtali", and she said a very significant thing to Barak: "Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? And I will draw unto thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand" (vv.6-7). Now there is not a single evidence of doubt, uncertainty, or hesitancy in this message from Deborah, it is as clear and distinct as it is possible to be. She said, 'The Lord has commanded you Barak to go with those two tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. He has even indicated the precise number who are to be called out of those tribes, and you are to go and fight, and the battle is won. The Lord will deliver him into thine hand'. Now that is a very wonderful message for anyone to receive, she was a prophetess, she had received it from the Lord, and now she was directing a man, and he had the right to be there, this is where the man should have been, in the leadership, directing affairs, and it really was an indictment against the manhood of Israel that a woman was giving this message.

Well, what kind of man was he? Well, he said, "If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go" (v.8). What a pathetic kind of man! How he failed to appreciate the message that had been delivered to him. The message was one of certainty, of power, it had nothing to do with Deborah, it was all about the Lord, what the Lord would do, and if only Barak had received the message in the way in which it was delivered what an opportunity he had to shine in his leadership. Instead of that, God's government came in, and the prophetess gave another word, 'All right, Barak,' she said, 'I will go, but you have missed your opportunity. Now God will deliver the captain of Jabin's army into the hands of a woman.' That is the story as we take it down to the end of the chapter. Deborah gave the message of the Lord. It came to pass as she said it would. The army was defeated, the captain of the army was killed by a woman, and the Lord subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan, at that time.

"And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

"And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? And I will draw to thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and will deliver him into thine hand. And Barak said to her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

"And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent to the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the river of Kishon. And Deborah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword and there was not a man left." (Judges 4:1-16.)

Sisera, hearing of the movement of Barak and his men, was well prepared with an army including 900 chariots of iron (vv. 12-13). But this was nothing to the God of Israel, and Deborah's faith was undaunted. Her words to Barak were firm and decided, telling him to act immediately, for this was the day the Lord had delivered Sisera into Barak's hand. "Has not the Lord gone out before you?" were words of strong encouragement to Barak (v. 14).

With the Lord going before, the victory was assured and decisive. Sisera, his chariots and all his army were totally routed (v. 15). Sisera himself left his chariot and fled on foot. He evidently escaped the observation of the Israelites, but otherwise "not a man was left of all the Canaanite army" (v.16).

Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, when soundly defeated by Israel, was able to escape alone, and to find the tent of Heber the Kenite (v. 17), whom he thought to be friendly to him because there was no conflict at that time between Heber and Jabin. When Sisera approached, Jael, the wife of Heber, met him with welcoming words (v. 18), inviting him into the tent, where she covered the weary man with a blanket. He asked for water to drink, and she gave him milk.

Then he instructed her to stand at the tent door while he slept, and to lie to anyone who might come to ask if any man was in the tent (v. 20). But she had no such intention. Instead, while he was asleep, she took a tent peg and a hammer and drove the peg through his temple so powerfully that the peg pierced into the ground below (v. 21). If her action had been with selfish motives, this would have been murder, but since Sisera was an oppressor of the people of God and it was a time of war, the Lord approved of her killing this enemy of God.

Wife of Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, who was head of an Arab clan which was established in the north of Palestine. When Sisera's army was defeated by Barak and Deborah, he left his chariot and fled on foot to the tent of Jael, whose husband was at peace with Jabin. Jael invited him into her tent, and bade him not to fear, gave him milk to drink, and covered him up. Being weary he fell asleep, and Jael with a hammer drove a tent-peg through his temples till it entered the ground. Judges 4:17-22; Judges 5:6, 24.

Great indignation has been expressed at this act of Jael, and even Christians have blamed her severely; but it was foretold that Jehovah would "sell Sisera into the hand of a woman;" and immediately after the deed, it is added, "So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel." And Deborah, in her song of praise, pronounced Jael to be "blessed above women." It is clear from this song that Sisera was an enemy not only of God's people, but of the Lord Himself, for she prophetically utters the words, "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord." Compare Num. 10:35. Hence God empowered Jael to take his life — as He had led Joshua in some instances to destroy the women and children of the places conquered by him. Where an act is clearly the execution of God's righteous judgement, it rises altogether above what would be justifiable under ordinary circumstances of hospitality or of warfare. Of course in some instances the thing accomplished may be according to the will of God, but not the way in which it is effected.

Barak and his army had missed Sisera and were looking for him after this. When Barak approached the tent of Heber, Jael came out to meet him (v. 22) and invited him into her tent to find the man he was looking for. Then Barak would realize the truth of Deborah's prophecy that the Lord would sell Sisera into the hands of a woman (v. 9).

Thus God subdued Jabin, king of Canaan that day (v. 32), and Israel was able to apply more and more pressure on him until he was destroyed. After this we read of no more military action of the Canaanites against Israel in the book of Judges.