JUDGES - Christian Identity Forum

96 Judges
every manslayer to flee there” (Dt. 19:3). There was no effective
sanctuary without clear, open, and kept up roadways. If God’s
sanctuary protection is to be restored to His people, then the
guardian priests will have to clear the roads. This is Barak’s
priestly work, and the work of an army of Nazirites.
Verse 7a includes a Hebrew word that occurs nowhere else
in the Old Testament except in verse llb. Scholars have guessed
that it may mean “villagers, peasants,” but recently it has been
suggested that it refers to irons I am in no position to decide
this question, though I lean towards the “iron” translation as
more attractive. At any rate, I shall comment on the text both
ways.
Assuming verse 7a refers to the peasantry, we see an example
of the principle that the overall cultural effect of the loss of
special sanctuary is the loss of general sanctuary as well. The
peasantry who lived in the countryside were the prey of the Canaanites.
Massive state taxation was killing agriculture, and
people were leaving their lands; and of course, peasant girls and
wives were continual prey. Once the highways to the special
sanctuaries were restored, however, the peasantry would be
safe. And so it is that when the special sanctuary of the Church
is unprotected, then society at large is unprotected; but when
the highway to the Church is rebuilt, then God extends general
sanctuary over all of life. Judgment and restoration begin at the
house of God.
Assmning verse 7a refers to iron, we have here an indication
that Sisers and the Canaanites had carefully removed all tools
and weapons of iron from Israel. This is reiterated in verse 8b.
Since Israel lacks iron, God must act as Iron on her behalf, as
verse llb indicates.
Verse 7b tells us that Deborah’s purpose was to be a mother
in Israel. We have discussed that at length, but there is one more
point to be made. A mother implies a new birth, and clearly
what Israel needed was repentance and a new birth.
Verse 8a is interesting, because the two phrases do not seem
to be parallel, yet they are. If men rebel against the Lord and
choose new gods, then it will naturally follow that there will be
3. Giovanni Garbini, “*Parzon ‘Iron’ in the Song of Deborah?” Journal of
Semitic Studies 23 (1978): 23f.