The song of Deborah and Barak: ‘Let those who love the Lord be like rising of the sun in its might’
[Judges 5:1-31]
There is a memory in my heart that I cannot forget. There is one morning scene that is unforgettable. I cannot forget the moment I woke up early in Paju in Korea several years ago when I stood alone in a rice fields and watched the rising sun crying in tears in singing the gospel song “Heart and Soul.” In my memory, at the time, only one woman in the paddy field wore her head towel and was working very hard. I was far away from her and I looked at the mountain and the sky and faced the rising sun and sang this gospel song: “I never want anything in my life to take your place. I never want to live by any other grace. My longing and my heart's desire is to see your face O Lord and become a friend of God. I love you day and night I love you all of life, I love you Lord heart and soul I long to be a friend of God.” Don’t you desperately want to be a faithful friend of God? Don’t you want to love the Lord with all your heart and soul? I confess with my heart and with my lips, "I love you day and night I love you all of life."
While praying for me as a pastor during the past Sunday's service, our church Elder Yoon held onto Daniel 12:3 and prayed: “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” It is my wish and prayer to be a pastor who brings many people back to the Lord by shining the light of Jesus Christ in this dark world. I want to shine the light of Jesus. I want to shine the love and the gospel of Jesus Christ in this dark world. I want to shine the light of the salvation of the Lord in this world. I hope and pray that all of us may be like the brightness of the expanse of heaven and like the stars who shine the light of Jesus Christ forever and ever.
When we look at Judges 5:1-31, we see the song of Deborah, one of the great judges of Israel who shed the light of God's salvation and of “Barak the son of Abinoam” (4:6). This song was sang by Deborah and Barak after they won the battle with God's help against Jabin king of Canaan, who oppressed the sons of Israel severely for 20 years (v. 3), and the commander of his army Sierra (v. 2) who called together all his chariots, 900 iron chariots and all the people who were with him (v. 13). The conclusion of this song is 5:31 - “Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD; But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might." And the land was undisturbed for forty years.” In other words, the conclusion of the song of Deborah and Barak asked God for those who love the Lord to be like the rising of the sun. Deborah and Barak plead with God to let the Israelites become like the sun, gradually spreading the light all over the world. Based on this word, under the heading “The song of Deborah and Barak: ‘Let those who love the Lord be like rising of the sun in its might’” I want to think about two things.
First of all, I want to think about who are those who love the Lord. We can think about it in three ways:
First, those who love the Lord are those with willing volunteers.
Look at Judges 5:2, 9 – “When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves-- praise the LORD! … My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!” After victory with God's help in the war against Canaan, Judge Deborah and Barak sang the song and urged the all the Israelites to ‘praise the Lord’ twice (vv. 2, 9). Why did Deborah and Barak exhort all the Israelites to praise God? What was the reason? The reason was because the leaders who lead the Israelites and all the Israelites who follow them were willing to volunteer in the war against the Canaanite commander Sierra and his army. In other words, Deborah and Barak exhorted the Israelites to praise God twice because of those Israel leaders and their followers who fought the battle the God’s war voluntarily. The reason was because God made them to willingly offer themselves to fight the God's war. We can know this because it was impossible, in human perspective, that the Israelites to willingly offer themselves to fight the war against the Canaanites. Imagine that Sierra, the general of king of Canaan Jabin, and his army had 900 chariots of iron (4:3, 13). In contrast, the Israelites had only 40,000 volunteers but they were without a shield or spear (5:8). How could they wage a war against the Canaanites with that number of people who were even without weapons? Nevertheless, the Bible says twice that 40,000 Israelites had willingly offer themselves to fight the battle. What is more interesting is that in Judges 4:6, 14, there were 10,000 Israelites who went with Barak to fight the Canaanite army but in Judges 5:8 the Bible says there were 40,000 Israelites. The number doesn’t match. According to Dr. Park, the so-called “40,000” numbers do not refer to regular soldiers statistically, but to the masses of Israel who were mobilized for the river Kishon war (Park). If this claim is correct, I think the Israelites not only had no weapons for the war but also they had 30,000 civilians, not trained soldiers. In common sense, how can these Israelites fight against the Canaanites and win? In common sense, this is a nonsense war. However, the Israeli leaders and their followers willingly offered themselves and went to war. If this wasn’t what God did to the Israelites, then what was it? To what extent did God make the Israel leaders and their followers to willingly offer themselves to fight the war? The Bible Judges 5:18 says that they risked their very lives. Are we willingly offering ourselves to the Lord even to the point of risking our very lives?
The Christians who willingly offer themselves to fulfill the Lord’s given mission to them are beautiful. This reminds me the gospel song “Mission” verse 1: “I will follow Jesus who has walked This road of suffering water and blood That was shed for us That’s the path I’ve chosen to go Through the mountains or the raging seas To the end of the world I go in peace Giving all of me to the lost and hurt I will gladly answer God’s call. Here I am, Lord send me to the world Father use me as You will Take my heart, my life, my everything Send me and I will go.” Won’t you be willing to offer your lives to the Lord who died on the cross and gave you the gracious gift of eternal life, salvation? Those who love the Lord and who are like the sun when it rises in strength are those who willingly offer themselves to God.
Second, those who love the Lord are those who depend on God's saving power.
Look at Judges 5:4-5: “O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.” Here Deborah and Barak praised God for the leaders of Israel and the people who followed them, who were willing to devote themselves to the war against Sierra, the general of the Canaanite king Jabin, and to praise all the people of Israel. Then in Judges 5:4-5, they praised God's saving act of being with the Israelites and made them to pass through the wilderness in the days of Moses (v. 4) (Park). In particular, Deborah and Barak sang the power of salvation revealed by God in Exodus as they said such words as “the earth shook” (v. 4) and “The mountain quaked” (v. 5). The lesson this gives us is that, like Deborah and Barak, we should look back to the past when we experienced God's salvation and give praise to God because we are grateful for the grace of salvation God has given us in the present. In other words, like Deborah who experienced the grace of God’s salvation through the Israel's leaders and their followers who willingly offered themselves and volunteered to fight and to win the battle against Sierra, the Canaanite king Jabin’s general and thus praised God by also praising the Almighty God’s power of salvation in Exodus, we too should sing the song that glorify God while we are experiencing the grace of salvation in the present and remembering the grace of salvation in the past. The reason is because our unchanging God, who is the same yesterday and today and forever, is the covenant God and the true and faithful God who has saved us not only in the past but also in the present and in the future. Thus, in Judges 5:4-5, Deborah and Barak first sang the power of God and of salvation, remembering God's salvation grace in the days of Moses, and then in Judges 5:6-8, they sang the song of remembrance, recalling why the Israelites were invaded by Jabin, the Canaanite king, and were oppressed. The reason was because of the sin of idolatry that the Israelites were committing. Look at Judges 5:8 – “When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.” Here the phrase “they chose new gods” means the Israelites “once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord” after Ehud died (4:1) and it refers to the sin of worshiping the idols that even their ancestors didn’t know (5:8). As a result, the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan” (4:2), and he cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years (v. 3). So the Israelites cried out to the Lord (v. 3), and God raised up Judges Deborah among the Israelites (v. 4). Deborah “sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor” (v. 6). And through Deborah God promised Barak to lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into Barak’s hands (v. 7). Then on the day when God put Canaanite general Sierra into Barak's hands, God went ahead of Barak (v. 14) and defeated Sierra and all his chariots and all his army in front of Barak (v. 15). How was this possible? How could the Israelites have defeated Sierra and his army, the mighty nation of Canaan? Look at Judges 5:20 – “From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.” What does it mean? It means that even things in the heavens fought to defeat Sierra. That is, as there was climatic fluctuation and the sky was clouded and the clouds covered the stars, it was as if the stars were on the battlefield, and the storm that flooded the Gison River caused Sierra's army to drift and completely ruined (Park). Eventually, Creator God who moved the nature, in His providence, was with the Israelites to defeat the numerous Canaanites general Sierra and his army through their dedicated leaders and people by making the river Kishon to sweep them away so that all the Canaanite soldiers and their chariots were destroyed (v. 21). Interestingly, the Canaanites at that time never went to the swampy land with their chariots during the rainy season (Walvoord). This means that when Sierra, his army and their 900 chariots or iron went to the Kishon River, it wasn’t rainy season. Therefore, on the dry land, they seemed to lead many chariots to war against Israel, but with the intervention of the God of Israel, the rain came down from heaven and the Kishon River overflowed, causing the chariots and the army to be swept away and be destroyed. In the end, the God of salvation was with the dedicated and volunteered people of God who loved the Lord and revealed His power of salvation, causing the Israelites to destroy their enemies. What lesson does this teach us? I think there is at least two lessons:
(1) We must know that war belongs to God.
Although Canaanite King Jabin and his general Sierra were thoroughly prepared for war with Israel and had a strong army and weapons, God was with Israel and fought for them, so they had to lose the war. Just as God fought for Israel in the days of Exodus, so that Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his armies and chariots were immersed in the Red Sea, all the troops and chariots of the Canaanite general Sierra were destroyed by God when He made the river Kishon to sweep them away.
(2) We must rely on God's saving power.
We must believe in the faithful covenant God who has given us the grace of salvation in the past can save us in the present. And we must not only sing the grace of God's salvation that we have received in that faith, but also we must be able to praise God by faith that the same God of salvation will deliver us. In the meantime, we must realize why we have this suffering and persecution at the present time as the cause of our sins, and make that suffering and persecution as an opportunity to repent our sins. Therefore, we must not only be delivered from our crisis, but also from our sins as well. Then we will be able to praise our great God of salvation while truly enjoying freedom from sin and suffering.
Third, those who love the Lord are those who resolved and practice.
Look at Judges 5:15-16: “And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed at his heels; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great resolves of heart. Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the piping for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.” After Deborah and Barak experienced God destroying all the Canaanite general Sierra and his army and making the Canaanite king Jabin to subdue before the sons of Isarel (4:23), they sang the song of victory and praised those Israelites who participated in the Kishon River war and condemned those who didn’t (5:14-18) (Park). The tribes that were praised were Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh, Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali. Deborah and Barak especially 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali that Barak was from and the sons of Zebulun (4:6) because they despised their lives even to death (5:18). However, among the tribes of Israel, Reuben, Gilead (the land of the tribe of Gad), and Dan and Asher were condemned for not participating in the war with Canaan (v. 17). The reason was because they didn’t participate in the war and remained in idle (Park). In particular, among the tribes who were condemned, this is what the Bible says about the tribe of Reuben, ”… Among the divisions of Reuben There were great resolves of heart. Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the piping for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great searchings of heart” (vv. 15b-16). What does it mean? Deborah and Barak lamented that the Reubenites, who had many livestock and were shepherding the sheep, lived on many streams and ranches in peace, were great resolves of heart for the battle against the Canaanites but didn’t put it into practice (Park). Interestingly, in Numbers 32:1, the Bible tells us that these Reubenites "had an exceedingly large number of livestock." So when they saw the land of Jazel and the land of Gilead, where it was suitable for their livestock (v. 1) they came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar and the leaders of the congregation of Israel (v. 2) and said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan” (v. 5). When Moses heard this, he rebuked them, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? "Now why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them?” (vv. 6-7). At this rebuke of Moses, the Reubenites and the Gadites armed after Moses' command and joined the war in which God drove out their enemies before Him. But in Judges 5, the tribes of Reuben and of Gad didn’t participate in the war against the Canaanite general Sierra and his army. In particular, the Reubenites did not act, even though they were great resolves of heart. When I thought about why they greatly resolved and didn't put into action, I think a reason was because they were settled for their peaceful and comfortable life. In other words, I think the Reubenites were great resolved of heart but didn’t actually participate in the war against the Canaanites in Moses’s time because they already settled down in the east of Jordan and were living comfortable as they were shepherding their sheep. Thus, as Deborah and Barak were singing, they condemned the Reuben tribes and other tribes who didn’t participate in the war.
Those who truly love the Lord are not just resolved in their hearts. Rather, they clearly move their determination to action. Look at Daniel. In Daniel 1:8, “Daniel made up his mind.” In other words, not only that Daniel decided not to defile himself with the king’s choice of food or with the wine which he drank (v. 8) but also he practiced according to his decision. Then God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials (v. 9) so the commander of the officials tested Daniel and his three friends for a vegetarian meal and drink water for 10 days as Daniel asked (vv. 12-14). As a result, “At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice food” (v. 15). “So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables” (v. 16). God's grace and mercy accompany God's glory to those who are determined and put into action. What must we do? We, like Daniel, must resolve and put it into action. Those who love the Lord make decisions and then put them into action.
Finally, I want to think about is what does it means by God makes those who love Him, those with willing volunteers, those who depend on God’s saving power and those who resolved and practice “like the rising of the sun in its might”. I want to think in two ways:
First, the word that God makes those who love Him like the rising of the sun in its might means that God will make them the light of victory to sine mightily in this dark sinful world.
When I think about the Deborah and Balak’s song in Judges 5:1-31, I remember what David said as he went about fighting Philistine General Goliath. Perhaps the reason is because David’s fight with the Philistine general Goliath is similar to Deborah and Barak’s fight against Canaan general Sierra with their volunteers of Israel. Look at 1 Samuel 17:45-47: “Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. "This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands.” Do you believe that the battle is the Lord’s? God already gave the word of promise to Barak through Judge Deborah in Judges 4:7. And that word of that promise was that God would give the Canaanite general Sierra, his army and his chariots of irons into Barak’s hand. What does it mean? God promised Barak to be victorious. And the faithful God fulfilled that promised word. God defeated Sierra, his army, and all his chariots before Barak with the edge of the sword (v. 15). The same God is giving this word of promise to us even through King Saul's mouth: “Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail” (1 Sam. 26:25).
God has given us the word of promise that we will surely prevail. Therefore, we can offer the praise “Victory, it will be mine” to God in faith: “Victory, it will be mine (X2) Through the blood of Jesus, Savior Victory, it will be mine. It will be mine Victory’s all I need Through the blood of Jesus Savior Always victory.” I hope and pray that we are victorious in our spiritual battle. May we be victorious in our fight against ourselves, sin, the world, and Satan and death. Just as Jesus died on the cross and rose again, and overcame death and Satan, I pray that we be victorious over death and Satan as well. I bless you in the name of Jesus that all of us live and shine the light of the triumph of Jesus Christ in this sinful and dark world.
Second and last, the word that God makes those who love Him like the rising of the sun rise in its might means that they God will make them to shine forth the light of salvation in this dark world.
Our God is the God give the power of salvation to us. The God of salvation has given us a mission. What is that mission? Look at Jesus' great command in Matthew 28:18-20: “… All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason is because the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). We must shine the light of God's salvation by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul didn’t consider his life of any account as dear to himself, so that he might finish his course and the ministry which he received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24). Shouldn’t we have this kind of mission and shine the light of His gospel and of His salvation in this the dark world? This reminds me the gospel song “Vision”: “At the throne of our God we gather And join to praise His holy name Because of His great love, God gave His only son Jesus Christ has redeemed us from our sins On the cross, God poured out His love so freely A stream that flows forevermore to every tribe and tongue All nations join the song Endless praise to salvation’s one true Lord. To the Lord of all, who’s seated on the throne And to the Lamb of God This saving grace belongs To the Lord of all, who’s seated on the throne And to the Lamb of God We cry aloud forevermore.”
The Lord makes those who love the Lord to be like the rising of the sun in its might. The Lord makes those who offer their lives to the Lord to be like the rising of the sun in its might. The Lord makes those who depend wholly on the power of His salvation to be the rising of the sun in its might. The Lord makes the sun rise powerfully for those who are great resolves of heart to do and act before Him. I hope and pray that the Lord makes us to be rising of the sun in its might so that we may shine the light of victory, the light of gospel and love, and the light of salvation in this dark and sinful world.
(v. 1) Heralds of the light, be swift, haste your going; Shatter the fetters of night.
Peoples still without the truth wait unknowing. Beam forth the Gospel of Light.
Heralds of Light, speed away! Let shine the bright Gospel ray.
End the night of sin, Let the brightness in! Heralds of light, speed the day.
(v. 2) Do the work of God, with pow'r of His giving; He your Companion will prove.
Tell the love of God for all people living. Beam forth the Gospel of Love.
Heralds of Light, speed away! Let shine the bright Gospel ray.
End the night of sin, Let the brightness in! Heralds of light, speed the day.
(v. 3) Bear the truth of God, the fire of His altar; Faint not in age or in youth.
Crossing seas and mountains, rest not, nor falter. Beam forth the Gospel of Truth.
Heralds of Light, speed away! Let shine the bright Gospel ray.
End the night of sin, Let the brightness in! Heralds of light, speed the day.
(v. 4) North and South and East and West, go, obeying, God your sup-port in the strife.
For the dead and blind in sin, go forth praying. Beam forth the Gospel of Life.
Heralds of Light, speed away! Let shine the bright Gospel ray.
End the night of sin, Let the brightness in! Heralds of light, speed the day.
(Hymn “Heralds of the Light, Be Swift”)
Praying to shine forth the light of victory and the light of salvation in this dark world,
Pastor James Kim