Israel's relationship with Midian has been a rocky one. Like the Israelites, the Midianites were a nation descended from Abraham (as we learn in Genesis 25:1-2). Moses had lived among the Midianites when he fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian. His wife, Zipporah, was the daughter of a priest of Midian. Israel's Kenite allies were descendants of this family of

God is just and, therefore, His wrath is poured out against sin. Either we will receive the wrath due for our sins in eternity, or, putting our trust in Christ Jesus, we find that He has already paid the penalty. Sometimes, the consequences of our sins fall upon us in this life. For Sisera, the result of his wicked oppression

In this passage, Deborah sings the praises of Jael, whom God used to bring about Sisera's death. As the prophetess had spoken in Judges 4:9, the LORD had sold Sisera into the hand of a woman. Here, the event recorded in Judges 4:17-21 is recounted poetically.The Kenites were a people who dwelt in tents. Being the wife of a Kenite,

In today's reading we find the war in which Jabin was finally defeated poetically recounted. Jabin held sway over many Canaanite kings and their cities. As God, Himself, brought about Israel's victory, even the stars are poetically said to have fought on Israel's behalf. The forces of these kings came out to do battle with Israel. The battle against Sisera

Judges 4:6 informs us that the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali took part in the battle against Sisera. However, it seems they did not go unaided by the other tribes of Israel in the war against Jabin that followed. Ephraim, Benjamin, Issachar and Machir (the half of Manasseh living east of the Jordan) joined the battle against the Canaanites. The

As Deborah praised the leaders for taking the lead in Israel in verse two, now she laments the lack of good leadership that preceded her rise. It seems that the days of Shamgar the Judge, whose exploits are mentioned in Judges 3:31, overlapped the days of Deborah. While the LORD has used Shamgar to liberate Israel from the Philistines in

As Judges 5:7 indicates, Deborah, herself composed this song in celebration of Israel's victory over Sisera and Jabin. Verse one tells us she and Barak sang it on the day Jabin was destroyed. The song is addressed to leaders. Although there was no king in Israel in the days of the judges, the "kings" and "princes" of verse three may

The defeat of Sisera and his army is not the end of the story. The destruction of the army and the death of Sisera is merely the beginning of Jabin's downfall. Jabin, King of Hazor, has been oppressing Israel for twenty years. Now that the people have cried out to God for deliverance, He is saving them, not just from

Of all of the Canaanite army, only its commander, Sisera has survived the battle. When he sees that defeat is inescapable, he gets down from his chariot and flees on foot. While the Israelites have been busy pursuing Sisera's army to Harosheth-hagoyim, Sisera has run north from Mount Tabor, twenty miles or more to where Heber the Kenite is encamped

As God has revealed through Deborah, when Barak gathers Israel's army at Mount Tabor, God draws Sisera out to battle at the river Kishon. Recall from Judges 4:3 that Sisera had 900 chariots of iron. Verse 13 tells us that Sisera brings his entire force, including all his chariots, to fight Israel. They travel from Harosheth-hagoyim (the forest of the