Judges 4:1-6
Judges 4:1
And
the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was
dead.
Israel did not waste any time in going back into evil.
The problem looks like that because they were given an 80 year respite
from their enemies, they became restless and started to once again intermingle
with the false religions which surrounded them.
Once Ehud had died they probably lacked a central leader and the people
probably started getting involved with the surrounding nations on an individual
basis.
Judges 4:2
And
the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor;
the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
This
time the Lord had sold them into the hands of King Jabin whose name means “one
who understands or one who builds.”
Hazor was located north of the Sea of Galilee in the area given to Naphtali.
The captain of his host was a man named Sisera who dwelt in Harosheth was
located about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Hazor.
Judges 4:3
And
the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of
iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
The
children of Israel had been oppressed for twenty years when they had begun to
cry unto the Lord for deliverance.
The chariots of iron which normally had sharp knives protruding from the axles
of the chariots could literally tear a person to shreds while the wheel was
rotating. In ancient times, it was
a feared weapon. King Jabin had 900
of them making him a feared ruler.
The chariots could swoop down in heartbeat and decimate the population of a
town. The word “mightily” in the
Hebrew carries with it the meaning of “vehemence, force, violence or fury.”
In other words, King Jabin used very harsh methods to subjugate the
people of Israel.
Judges 4:4
And
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
At
this time the Lord raised up Deborah who was also a prophetess as a judge of
Israel. The name “Deborah” means a “Bee.”
Rebekah had a nurse named “Deborah” and maybe the parents of this Deborah
named her after that Deborah.
Genesis 35:8 (KJV)
But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Beth-el
under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth.
Nothing is known about Lapidoth her husband whose name means “enlightened
or lamps.” This Deborah was a
fighter, warrior, and prophetess who was now going to defeat the oppressors of
Israel.
Judges 4:5
And
she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount
Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
She
probably had a palm tree named after her because it might have been the place
where she could be found most of the time, since she was a prophetess and people
came to her for advice or counsel in different matters.
The place where her palm tree was located was in the area which was in
the tribe of Benjamin in the hill country of Ephraim.
Moses did the same thing as Deborah did and that was to adjudicate the
cases of the people.
Judges 4:6
And
she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said
unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward
mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and
of the children of Zebulun?