1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.
At the beginning of each Judge story, we will see the continual drift of Israel into sin. Once the Judge dies, leaderless, Israel falls into sin and into the hands of an oppressor. In this case it is Jabin, the King of Canaan. Remember, God allowed some of the governments of the Promised Land to continue. This was necessary for God to test the Israelite’s faith. Jabin’s reign is twenty years, and he is technologically advanced with a large array of iron-fitted chariots.
4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading[a] Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.
Deborah, a prophetess, is raised up as the next Judge. She is the only female Judge and one of the few women prophetesses recorded in scripture (Miriam Exodus 15:20, Huldah 2 Kings 22:14, Anna Luke 2:36, Philip’s 4 daughters Acts 21:8-9).
6 She 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 them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”
Deborah wasn’t going to do this job alone. It has nothing to do with being a woman; Barak served a great purpose in the deliverance of Israel. As directed by God, Barak was to take his army and climb up Mt. Tabor. As they laid in wait, Deborah was to lure Sisera’s chariots to the river valley in Kishon. There, she says, the Lord will give Sisera into his hands.
It doesn’t seem possible, does it? Sisera is highly-powerful. There is little 10,000 men can do against an army equipped with iron-equipped chariots. The chariots weren’t necessarily made of iron, but the wheel spokes were reinforced with the metal, making them hundreds of times stronger. One of the problems with chariots were the wheels. Over treacherous ground and through hard turns the wheels would weaken and break, rendering the chariot useless.
8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” 9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 There Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.
Barak trusts Deborah’s relationship with God more than he trusted his military prowess, or even perhaps his own relationship with God. But does his trust lay in Deborah or in God- or both? He is listed as one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.
In this, Barak will not receive the honor of the victory; it will be her’s instead. This could have been a deal-breaker for Barak. But he instead follows Deborah’s leading, showing a deep degree of faith.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. 12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.
Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, a Jew, comes across the great commander Sisera and tells him of Barak’s movements. This causes Sisera to move all of his chariots to the Kishon river valley, in the shadow of Mt. Tabor. There is no reason Sisera would have any doubt of success; he has the clear upper hand.
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left.
Once the chariots are in the Kishon valley, near the river, Barak is told to attack. It seems impossible that victory would come to Barak; he is highly outmatched. But nonetheless it does - they are routed - and Sisera is forced away on foot.
Although there isn’t much context, we can see one thing: Barak acted with a faith that is admirable. Once Deborah told him this was the moment to act, he acted. Deborah, acting in a sense like a king (1 Samuel 8:20), shows Barak that when he followed God, like Joshua had before, victory was assured.
Secondly, we have the battle itself. It seems otherworldly, like it happens in a flash, but that isn’t the case. We learn a little more in Judges 5:21, when we learn that God sent a sudden rainstorm, which made the grassy conditions of the valley into a marshland. The strong chariots are suddenly stuck, powerless, and easily overcome by Barak’s forces.
17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. 20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’” 21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. 22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.
Sisera, fleeing on foot, finds the tent of Heber, the man who fed him the information about Barak’s position. He hides there, and Heber’s wife, Jael, takes care of him. In middle-eastern culture, hospitality is premium. If you are a guest in someone’s house, the cultural component is to protect and serve that person.
But here is where the story twists. Jael takes care of him, lulls him into a false sense of security, then kills him. It is logical to think that Deborah would have been the woman who took the glory of the kill (Judges 4:9), simply because she was the judge to bring Israel back into alliance.
23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.
Since the people of Israel cried out to God, God’s promise was not revoked. He sent a savior (Judge) to realign Israel with God. Sisera was presented to Barak and in the same day Jabin was subdued. But the fight wasn’t over with the death of Sisera or the subjugation of Jabin. The Israelites had to fight, grow stronger, and take it into their own hands. Once destroyed, Israel would enjoy another period of peace.