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December 23, 1914.
A FAMILY PAPER.
Inthe Sabbath School
Lesson 2. January 10, 1915.
By Rev. P. F. Reade.
DEBORAH AND BARAK DELIVER ISRAEL.
Judges 4:4-23; 5:1-22. Commit verses 14, 15
ot Ch. 4.
Golden Text: The righteous cried, and Jehovah
heard, and delivered them out of all their troubles.—Psalm
34:17.
DAILY READINGS.
Monday, 4.—Judges 5:4-16.
Tuesday, 5.—Judges 5:1-22.
Wednesday, 6.—Genesis 14:11-24.
Thursday, 7.—Exodus 14:15-25.
Friday, 8.—1 Samuel 30:16-25.
Saturday, 9.—Isaiah 37:26-36.
Sabbath, 10.—Isaiah 59:9-21.
Lesson Psalms.
27:1-3, 7, 8, No. 65.
35:1-4, 6, No. 89.
83:1-5 No. 225.
44:14 No. 119.
COMMENTS.
Critical and Explanatory.—Verse 4. Deborah (a
bee). She was the only female ruler Israel ever
had except the foreign usurper Athaliah. Lapidoth
(firebrands) is mentioned nowhere else.
Verse 5.—Under the palm tree. It is still common,
in the east, to administer justice in the
open air. The judges had civil as well as military
authority.
Verse 6.—Barak (lightning). An appropriate
name for such a warrior. Kedesh-naphtali. So
called to distinguish it from another Kedesh in
Issachar. It is situated on an eminence a little
to the north of the Sea of Galilee. The name of
the modern village is Kades. Mount Tabor. An
isolated mountain of Galilee at the north-east
corner of the plain of Esdraelon. Here the Israelites
could muster upon the broad height and,
when the proper moment came, hurl themselves
upon tho Canaanites below.
Verse 7.—^River Kishon (modern Nahr Mukutta),
so called from its winding course, is only a
torrent, dry most of the time, but liable to swell
suddenly and overflow its banks in the spring.
This occurred in April, 1799, when multitudes of
the Turkish army were drowned.
Verse 8.—If thou wilt go. Prompted partly by
fear, partly by a desire to stimulate the troops
and also to lend Divine sanction to the uprising,
Barak made the strange request.
Verse 9.—I will surely go. Deborah's unhesitating
faith and courage are in strong contrast to
Barak's timidity. Hand of a woman. Jael; see
V. 22.
Verse 10.—Up at his feet, i. e., after him; see
V. 14.
Verse 11.—Heber the Kenite. See ch. 1:16.
Unto the plain. A mistranslation for "unto the
oak (or terebinth).," Zaanaim means "migrations."
Verse 13.—Harosheth. The site is unknown.
It must have been situated somewhere in Galilee.
River of Kishon. The battle-field was evidently
chosen by Sisera himself.
Verse 14.—Barak went down. From the broad
top of Mount Tabor to the plain of Jezreel. It
showed the confldence that Barak and his troops
reposed in Deborah.
Verse 15.—The Lord discomfited Sisera. Barak
was the^ instrument, but Jehovah was the real
agent. Sisera's army (men, horses, chariots)
were intermingled in wild confusion, the disorder
resulting from a supernatural panic. See
ch. 5:20, 21. Josephus relates that, just as the
battle began, a violent tempest came on, with a
great downfall of rain and a hailstorm, which,
driving full in the faces of the Canaanites, so
blinded and benumbed them with cold, that they
could not use their bows with effect nor hold
their swords. Off his chariot, which, by reason
had seen the mighty works of God. They became
tired of the righteous work of driving out
the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite,
the Hivite and the Jebusite and settled
among them, taking the daughters of the heathen
for wives and giving their own daughters to
heathen sons in return. Is it any wonder that
Jehovah, Who is a jealous God, sold them into
Oic hands of their enemies,—Cushan-rishathaim
of Mesopotamia and Eglon of Moab Again,
knowing Jehovah to be a God of mercy and loving
kindness, do we wonder at the raising up of
an Othniel or an Ehud to deliver the chosen people
from under the yoke And now that Ehud
is dead they again forget God, and the whole
dismal story has to be repeated, varied only in
certain respects,—the oppressor is not ot the
same nationality, the leaders of a seemingly forlorn
hope are of a somewhat different stripe or
from a different tribe, and the circumstances of
the deliverance are not precisely the same. But
here, as in former deliverances, we see an occasion,
a summons and a triumph.
1. The immediate occasion of the present distress
in Israel is Jabin, King of Canaan, whose
ancestor of the same name was defeated by
Joshua. Hazor and the other iCanaanitish cities
which Joshua had destroyed were gradually rebuilt
and re-fortifled, while the Hebrews, oblivious
to the danger because busied with worldly
affairs, lapsed into foolish confidence. "At Harosheth
of the Gentiles, under the shadow of Carmel,
near the mouth of the Kishon, armoiers
were busy forging weapons and building chariots
of iron;" which same chariots, to the extent of
nine hundred, formed the backbone of the army
of 'Sisera, captain of the host. And now that
everything is ready, the flercetroops hurl themselves
with irresistible fury upon the Israelites
who, unable to withstand the onset, are quickly
subdued, and for twenty years made to bear the
yoke of servitude or allowed only a nominal independence.
Shamgar had fought ofl the Philistines
on the southern border, but elsewhere, and
particularly in Deborah's native home, the 'Canaanite
is everywhere master of the situation.
So swept is the land by the invader that the
highways are no longer used, and only obscure
bypaths or defiles are followed by the Hebrew
traveller. No weapons are these people permitted
to keep in their dwellings though war is
everywhere In the gates, and no respite is afforded
though the people are going from one god
to another seeking relief (ch. 5:6-8). Then it is
that 'Deborah arises, a prophetess and mother in
Israel.
2. Born before the time of oppression but
still you'ng while that i^ppression was at its
height Deborah, with others, felt keenly the
shame of tyranny and abuse, for the soldiers
of Jabin were quartered in their villages, wasting
their property and assessing the crops, even
before they were reaped. While this sort of
treatment made the majority thriftless and sullen
it only served to inflame high-spirited natures
like that of the Hebrew maiden. Her own
country of Issachar being under the close surveillance
of Jabin at Hazor she left her home
and went into the hill-country of Ephraim. "Here,
under a palm tree, she began to prophesy and
judge and grow to spiritual power among the
tribes." Her abode soon grew to be a place of
rendezvous for the tribes and those gathered
about her who feared Jehovah, first to humble
themselves for the sin of idolatry, and then to
take solemn vows to aid their country in her
hour of need. Not all came to this solemn meeting
place, for nothing is said of Simeon or Judah;
Reuben, although he has great resolves of heart,
is content to sit among the sheepfolds; Gad and
Manassah remain beyond the Jordan; Asher,
held in check by the fortress of Hazor, abides
by his creeks; Dan is busy trying to establish his
maritime trade. But Ephraim and Benjamin and
Zebulun and Issachar and Naphtali are ready to
jeopardize their lives and to follow Deborah and
H; rosheth, his immense cavaloa.le of chariots
thundering in the van. He follows the Kishon
until he reaches Tannach whence, swinging
northward, he crosses the river and advances
upon the Hebrews, now visible beyond the slope
of Moreh. The crucial moment has arrived.
"Up," cries Deborah, "for this is the day in which
the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand.
Is not the Lord gone out before thee" Sisera's
troops become entangled among the streams
which here converge to the river Kishon and
which, swollen by the rains, are difficult to
cross. Barak waits until evening before beginning
the attack and then, keeping near the
shoulder of IMoreh, where the ground is not
broken by the streams, he impetuously assails
the chariots which are still struggling in the
swamps and marshes. In the waning light all
becomes confusion. Kishon sweeps away many
of the Canaanite host and the rest, after a brief
stand, are hurled into flight by the Hebrews, who
have forded the river and taken them- in the rear.
It is a November night and meteors are flashing
in the sky and appearing as an omen of evil
to the disheartened Canaanites,—the stars in
their courses are fighting against Sisera. The
rout is complete and only a fragment of the once
proud army flnds shelter within the gates of
Harosheth. "So God subdued on that day Jabin
the Lesson King II. of Canaan before the January children of 10, Israel. 1915.
And the LESSON hand of the FOR children THE CHILDREN. of Israel prevailed
more and By more Anna against Pritchard Jabin, George. the King of Canaan,
until Deborah they and had Barak destroyed Deliver Jabin, Israel. king of
Canaan." Judges 4:4-23; 5:1-22.
What is the terrible thing that is going on now
in Europe, John, and killing off all the men
"War." Today we will hear how two women
saved their country in time of war many, many
years ago.
Over a thousand years before Jesus came to
earth, the Jews were living in, Palestine, and a
great many of them around and near the Sea
of Galilee. On the table sink this pan of water
in the sand for the Sea of 'Galilee, and pile up
the sand forming the hills and valleys of Palestine.
This mountain southwest of the Sea is
Mount Tabor. These clothespins scattered over
Palestine are the Jews and these sticks up north
are the enemies, the Canaanites and their leader
Sisera.
The Jews have again forgotten God, so when
they worship idols can God help them do wrong.
Bud "No." And these Canaanites come down
all over their fields and destroy them, and rob the
homes and do all the harm they can. The Jews
no longer dare walk or travel along the main
roads.
Down here near Jerusalem in Ephraim stand
this leafy twig for a palm tree and place this
cardboard tent under it. Deborah lives here. She
is a 'prophetess of God and is Judge of the Israelites.
Here come the people from all over Palestine
to Deborah to be judged. Were the Judges
good. May "Yes." Deborah Hves very close to
God and he tells her more than he does other
people. Deborah tries to lead the people back to
God. One day she sends word to Barak who lives
up North to come to her. Here he comes and
she tells him God wants him to gather ten thousand
of the Jews and lead them to Mount Tabor.
Then Sisera will lead his great host with his
chariots against the Jews, but God will help the
Jews to win. Barak is afraid to go alone. "If
thou wilt go with me, then I will go." Deborah
says alright she will go along. So they go u^
here North and West of the Sea and gather together
the ten thousand Jews as God said and
lead them to Mt. Tabor.
Now when Sisera hears about Barak and Deborah
gathering the Jews on Mount Tabor, he
comes against them with nine hundred iron chariots
and a great large army. Use these boxes
with spools for wheels for the chariots. "Up,"
says Deborah to Barak, "for this is the day in
which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine
hand." So Barak leads the Jews down against
of its elegan'ce and superior size, would have
betrayed the rank of the rider.
'Barak must bowed Deoples had Joshua Jehovah."
and His again Kishon Verse EXPOiSITORY.—"And wild how people been have did in and swept panic, whom 18.,—Not heartily servile unable that become his Oh, forgot of great fell these which followers.
worship sick to a the an elders ere numbers monotony man deliver very easy of was God his the recording left. who Baalim prey history evil of the out away children! their of outlived base The of that and was it fathers gods overflowing
sentence,
of Asheroth sword him sight hand finished. writer of Israel
rest, the and of
northern mand Zebulun.' Lord to cluded ments Mount Kedesh-naphtali command zeal Barak, being 3. of The (ch. of informed Tabor auietly ways whom the Jehovah districts: " clans 5:13-18). the by people,—whence 'ten towards troops, the from have of by thousand shore iprophetess And the command Deborah, at the Tabor, Barak, length so uprising, different of other men Galilee,—the they brings obeying assembled. has stirring to of two journey cities moves maintain Naphtali host called go "by the together up towards one of out by detach­
Sisera, from com­
and
the
se­
to of flows a ing drive Sisera. roads terrible Sisera. right in become It the storm (•Continued is near. The mud, toward muddy which river As Ellsworth evening. the on swells helps and battle page marshy. the The and begins 9.) Jews 'chariot the River fields God by Can hinder­
Kishon wheels sends you and