Though Shamgar had stopped the Philistine invasion of
Israel, Israel had steadily turned further from God and things continued to get
worse, as we see in Judges 5:6-8. “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in
the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked
through byways. The inhabitants of the
villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I
arose a mother in Israel. They chose new
gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty
thousand in Israel?”
In Shamgar’s day there had been bands of raiders or robbers
so that the people didn’t dare travel the main roads, sticking to the less
traveled roads in hopes of not being attacked.
People were afraid to stay in the small farming villages, moving to the
larger towns for protection. By the time
Deborah began to judge Israel they had turned to other gods, and the attacks
were even on the fortified cities, and Israel was running out of weapons to
defend themselves. There were a large number
of men who wanted to defend Israel, but none of them were willing to take the
leadership, as Judges 5:9-11 tells us. “My heart is toward the governors of Israel,
that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD. Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that
sit in judgment, and walk by the way. They that are delivered from the noise of
archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous
acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his
villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.” Since
none of the men had stepped forward, God awakened Deborah to the need and she
convinced Barak to follow what God was leading him to do, as Judges 5:12 tells
us. “Awake,
awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy
captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. “
When Barak stepped forward with Deborah’s support there were
a lot of people who stepped up as well, from every walk of life and from
different tribes. Judges 5:13-15a tells
us, “Then he made him that remaineth have
dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over
the mighty. Out of Ephraim was there a
root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of
Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the
writer. And the princes of Issachar were
with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the
valley.”
There were also a lot of people who did not show up. The tribe of Reuben spent a great deal of
time discussing whether they should leave their herds or not, as we see in
Judges 5:15b-17. “For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear
the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great
searchings of heart. Gilead abode beyond
Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and
abode in his breaches.” The people
in Gilead counted on the Jordan River to keep the enemies away, while Dan was
too caught up in their sea going businesses and the tribe of Asher was too busy
trading and fishing along the coast to be concerned about what was
happening.
Today, a lot churches are depending on having one hundred
percent of the people support an idea as proof it is what God wants. God frequently asks us to do things other
people think are foolish or unnecessary.
Barak and Deborah went ahead without most of the nation of Israel’s
support, as we see in Judges 5:18. “Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that
jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.” Thanks to God’s help, they were victorious
even though nt everyone helped ut as Judges 5:19-22 states. “The
kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters
of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. They fought from heaven; the stars in their
courses fought against Sisera. The river
of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou
hast trodden down strength. Then were
the horsehoofs broken by the means of the prancings, the prancings of their
mighty ones.”
When we are truly following the Spirit’s leadership we will
accomplish God’s purpose whether anyone supports us or not. When we demand one hundred percent backing
before we start, we are allowing the most unspiritual person to dictate what
the church does. God is able to deal
with those who refuse to follow him.
Meroz was a near by town who knew what was going on and refused to get
involved. Judges 5:23 condemns them for
that failure, “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the
inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help
of the LORD against the mighty.” Today,
nothing remains to indicate where Meroz was located.
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