Consequences of Sin

“When Ehud was dead,” the author of Judges tell us, “the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD.” The sickening pattern continues; though free from the tyranny of Moab, the Israelites remain enslaved to sin and soon wander away from God when His deliverer dies. Thus, God allows them to be subjugated again. This time, however, their oppressor rises up from among the Canaanites—Jabin, who reigns in Hazor, north of the Sea of Galilee in the territory of Naphtali. He may be descended from a king of the same name who reigned in Hazor when it fell to Joshua (Josh. 11:1, 10). This Jabin now conquers Israel with his general, Sisera, and the latest military technology—iron chariots, of which he possesses 900.

The author notes that these Canaanites oppress the Israelites “harshly.” Having been invaded and defeated in blitzkrieg fashion by the Israelites years before, they are doubtless gleeful to extract a measure of revenge. And their proximity to Israel makes them able to do it with greater ease than the Moabites and Mesopotamians, who were forced to occupy Israel and rule it from a distance. Thus, Jabin’s hand is heavy on Israel. But the people of Israel seem to have thoroughly forgotten their merciful God; only after suffering under Jabin’s rule for 20 years do they finally cry out to Him.

This is the point in the typical Judges narrative when we usually are told that God raises up a deliverer, a judge. And, indeed, we do now meet a judge, but a judge unlike any other in this book. The author tells us that “Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.” Furthermore, it is said that the Israelites come to her “for judgment” as she sits beneath a certain palm tree in the mountains of Ephraim. Whereas almost all of those designated as “judges” are military/political leaders, people who deliver Israel from oppressors, Deborah seems to fill the role of “judge” as we understand the term: one who makes legal decisions. Further, she is doing her “judging” during a time of oppression. Thus, Deborah is not being introduced as the deliverer of this episode. However, she is something equally significant. As a prophetess, she is the conduit for the Word of God by which the deliverer is raised up. We will see how her role plays out in tomorrow’s study.