What response would you expect from a person delivered? What does the repressed person feel when they are exonerated from oppression, pain, and bondage? I think joy and thankfulness would overflow from these freed people. After Deborah and Barak freed Israel from their oppression by the king of Canaan they sang a song. This song is starts in Judges 5:2,3 saying, “That the leaders led in israel, That the people volunteered, Bless the Lord! Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! I–to the Lord, I will sing, I will sing, I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.” This song sung, by Deborah and Barak, gives thanks to God for all that He did in helping the people of Israel. Why was a song used to retell what happened? In Deuteronomy 31 and 32 Moses teaches a song to the people of Israel so that after they fall away the song will remind them that they have fallen away. The song of Deborah and Barak would be remembered by the people of Israel.
I find it interesting how this song of praise and thanks to God also tells about how the sons of Reuben, Gilead (Gad or Manasseh), Dan, and Asher didn’t come to the aid of their brothers. Why did these sons of Israel not come to the aid of their brethren? Did apathy strike at the hearts of the Israelites? Was the mindset of the people like that which is common in todays culture: “If it doesn’t directly concern me, I don’t care!”? In the midst of the disrepect shown by the sons of Reuben, Gilead, Dan, and Asher we are shown the faith of a Jael, the wife of Herber, who killed Jabin king of Canaan. The song is beautiful as you look at all the imagery and emotion that is shown in the text. After the deliverance from Deborah and Barak the Israelites had forty years of peace.
Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from slavery. I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land, and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed me” ‘
Judges 6:8-10
The words of the prophet above were spoken to the Israelites after they cried out in despair to God seeking deliverance from Midian. What did the people think when the words were spoken to them? After the prophet spoke the angel of the Lord visited a man named Gideon and the story of how God raised him to deliver the Israelites is detailed in Judges 6. Do you ever feel that you are the least likely to make a difference? Do you see your own strength and think that you will never be strong enough? Take heart because you are just as Gideon, weak and helpless apart from God! Gideon was the youngest son in one of the least families of the tribe of Manasseh but God used him to destroy the altar to Baal and the Asherah to the pagan gods. After the destruction of the altar Gideon rallied the people of Israel. The story of what Gideon did is encouraging but what is truly encouraging to me today is Gideon’s doubt, fear, and worry. Why do I find doubt, fear, and worry encouraging? Gideon knew that he was unable to accomplish what God wanted apart from Him and he need the assurance that God was working and in control. Gideon keeps asking God to assure him that he is not crazy and that it truly is God who is calling to him. This is exactly how I feel many time in my life. I wonder if God is really working around me and if His strength is truly enough. Take a moment to remember that Gideon was used in the midst of a complacent culture, he was told by God to tear down his own fathers altar to Baal, and he was was just a common person. Gideon is a perfect example of mans weakness made strong by God. The next time you find yourself wondering if God is there, if He will aid you, or if the path your on is what He wants remember Gideon and find strength in your weakness.
