Female Scripture Biography, Volume I

by F. A. Cox

Without detracting however from the military genius of Barak, or ascribing an undue pre-eminence to Deborah, it may be readily believed, that so disproportionate a force as that of the Israelites at first acted, and very properly acted, on the defensive, till a favourable conjunction of circumstances occurred; and, perhaps, some miraculous sign, or some divine inspiration on the mind of the prophetess, suggested the moment of attack. [[25]] It is in fact impossible to determine with any precision where human skill ceased to operate, and where divine interposition commenced; and so imperfect is our present acquaintance with the laws by which spirit and matter are connected, that our speculations will certainly be fruitless, and may therefore be pronounced unwise. Let us be grateful, that the fact of divine operation on the human mind is fully ascertained, and by every sincere Christian pleasingly experienced; and that, though "all the Lord's people" are not "prophets," the language of kind encouragement can never be expunged from the sacred page, "If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give THE HOLT SPIRIT to them that ask him?"

In obedience to the orders of Deborah, Barak immediately put his little band of intrepid warriors in motion. The result was such, as under these circumstances might, however astonishing, have been reasonably expected; for "if God be for us, who can be against us?" The mighty hosts of Canaan, amounting, according to the estimate of Josephus, to three hundred thousand foot, and ten thousand horse, vanished before the valiant arm of Israel, nerved as it was by an energy from heaven. Barak poured the irresistible torrent of war upon his presumptuous foes, and swept them away.

Josephus states, that "when they were come to a close fight, there came down from heaven a great storm, with a vast quantity of rain and hail; and the wind blew the rain in the face of the Canaanites, and so darkened their eyes, that their arrows and slings were of no advantage to them; nor would the coldness of the air permit the soldiers, to make use of their swords; while this storm did not so much incommode the Israelites, because it came in their backs. They also took such courage upon the apprehension that God was assisting them, that they fell upon the very midst of their enemies, and slew a great number of them. So that some of them fell by the Israelites, some fell by their own horses, which were put into disorder, and not a few were killed by their own chariots."

Scarcely does the history of the world furnish an example of so complete a victory, accompanied by so utter an annihilation of the enemy. Curiosity might wish to trace the various movements of that memorable day, the plan of battle, the occasion of defeat, the exploits of individual heroes, and a thousand other circumstances, with which fancy often decorates the head of the hero, and amplifies the page of the historian; but with a majestic simplicity so eminently characteristic of the sacred narrative, it is stated that "the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword, before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left." Who will compare with this simple record the language of Cæsar, though so often celebrated, "Veni, vidi, vici--I came, I saw, I conquered;" words at least as remarkable for egotism as for laconic force: or who would represent the battle of Zela, and the defeat of the Pharnaces as worthy of being named in connection with the memorable victory of Tabor.

Sisera, defeated, dispirited, and alone, fled to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, a family which was at this time at peace with the king of Canaan. It was an additional reason to hope for security from the enemy's pursuit, that the custom of the country interdicted intrusion of all strangers into the woman's apartment. Jael moreover went forth to invite this defeated general under her protection, and encouraged him to expect every attention that humanity could dictate in this moment of extremity. No wonder he resigned himself with a fearless confidence to her care, and prepared to seek in "balmy sleep" an oblivion of all his distractions. She furnishes him with a refreshing draught of milk, though he only requested water; covers him with a mantle, and undertakes to guard him from all unwelcome intrusion, by standing at the door of the tent, to answer the interrogatories of any inquisitive stranger. But no sooner did he drop into a sound sleep, than, seizing upon the first weapons that her situation afforded, a nail and a hammer, and approaching softly to the unconscious general, she drove the nail into his temple, and transfixed him to the ground. Hastening from her tent, in the transport of success, to meet Barak, who was in eager pursuit, she conducted, him to the corpse of his prostrate foe. "So God subdued on that day, Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the children of Israel."

Let us dismiss Jael, for the present, from our meditations, and offer a reflection or two on the fate of Sisera.

I. No event recorded upon the page of history is more calculated to impress upon our minds the assertion of Solomon, than that to which we have just given our attention: "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong ... for man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so ere the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them." Nothing could have been more improbable, according to human calculations, than the result of this extraordinary battle. Who that had seen the far-stretching troops of the king of Canaan overspreading, like a vast inundation, the vicinity of Kishon and Harosheth, whose polished armour glittered along the valley to the rising sun, accustomed to victory, breathing revenge, and headed by the most distinguished general of the age--who that had viewed their prodigious forces, consisting of infantry and cavalry, in contrast with the diminutive strength and contemptible numbers of the Israelitish army, but must have considered the attack as the feeble effort of an unaccountable infatuation? But though HE who "sitteth upon the circle of the earth," could have interposed at once to crush the foe by the thunder of his power, ten thousand men of Israel were appointed to execute his purpose against the devoted Canaanites, to show that it is his will to work by human means;--he required the employment of only ten thousand, to prove that all human skill and success is mere instrumentality, and that the honour of victory is to be attributed to the God of battles.

2. The enemies of God and his people shall perish ingloriously. This is not the only instance. Pharaoh makes ready his own chariot, and takes with him all the chariots of Egypt, in eager pursuit of Israel, just escaped from his relentless oppression. In the pride of his strength he proclaims, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my lust shall be satisfied upon them--I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them;" but there was an arm of superior might that seized the unresisting elements, and launched them upon the rash adventurer and his guilty myriads. "Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?"--Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sends Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, with a great host against Jerusalem, in the reign of Hezekiah. Mark their insolent blasphemy: "Hearken not unto Hezekiah when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?" A letter was afterward sent to the king to the same effect, commencing with this blasphemous sentence, "Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee." Hezekiah instantly repairs to the temple, opens his letter in the immediate presence of the Eternal, and supplicates his great name for that interference in the present extremity, which would deliver his people, and promote his own glory. His prayer is heard. From the heaven of heavens an angelic envoy is despatched to the Assyrian encampment, and with the flaming sword of almighty indignation, smites a hundred and eighty-five thousand of the boasting foe; "and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses." Herod ventures upon the dangerous experiment of persecuting the church of God: he dares, with an untrembling hand, to put James to the sword, and ultimately imprison Peter for the same horrid purpose: but he who "sitteth in the heavens" held the presumptuous criminal in "utter derision," despatched an angel to break off the chains by which his servant was bound, and laid his finger upon the royal rebel to extinguish his glory and his pride for ever; "he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." Ah! the immortality of the soul elevates it above mortal power, and the utmost that a persecutor can do is, by a painful stroke, to put a Christian into speedier possession of his promised blessedness. "A tyrant is mortal, his empire expires with his life; and were he to employ the whole course of his life in tormenting a martyr, and in trying to impair his felicity, he would resemble an idiot throwing stones at the lightning, while in an indivisible moment, and with as inconceivable rapidity, it caught his eye as it passed from the east to the west."

"Thou dull stupid man, who art not stricken with the idea of a God, whose will is self-efficient, and who alone can act immediately on an immaterial soul, come and behold some sensible proofs of that infinite power, of which metaphysical proofs can give thee no idea! And thou, proud insolent man! go aboard the last-built vessel, put out to sea, set the most vigilant watch, surround thyself with the most formidable instruments: what art thou, when God uttereth his voice?' What art thou, when the 'noise' resounds? What art thou, when torrents of rain seem to threaten a second deluge, and to make the globe which thou inhabitest one rolling sea? What art thou when lightnings emit their terrible flashes? What art thou when the 'winds' come roaring 'out of their treasures?' What art thou then? Verily, thou art no less than thou wast in thy palace. Thou art no less than when thou wast sitting at a delicious table. Thou art no less than thou wast when every thing contributed to thy pleasure. Thou art no less than when at the head of thine army, thou wast the terror of nations, shaking the earth with the stunning noise of thy warlike instruments: for, at thy festal board, within thy palace, among thy pleasures, at the head of thine armies, thou wast nothing before the King of nations. As an immaterial and immortal creature, thou art subject to his immediate power; but, to humble and to confound thee, he must manifest himself to thee in sensible objects. Behold him, then, in this formidable situation: try thy power against his: silence 'the noise of the multitude of waters:' fasten the vessel that 'reeleth like a drunken man;' smooth the foaming waves that 'mount thee up to heaven;' fill up the horrible gulfs whither thou goest 'down to the bottoms of the mountains;' dissipate the lightning that flasheth in thy face; hush the bellowing thunders; confine the winds in their caverns; assuage the anguish of thy soul, and prevent its melting and exhaling with fear. How diminutive is man! How many ways hath God to confound his pride! He uttereth his voice, and there is a noise of a multitude of waters in the heavens. He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. Who would 'not fear thee, O King of nations?"

It is necessary, however, to remark, that we are not authorized always to expect the strict exercise of retributive justice in the present state. Some remarkable visitations have, in all periods, roused the attention of an astonished world, and powerfully appealed to the understanding of men, in vindication of the character, and in proof of the existence, of a superintending Providence. Tyrants have been hurled from their thrones, empires uprooted from their foundations, and the "poor set on high from oppression;" but these dispensations have not been regular, nor can they be calculated upon as certain, or in general, perhaps, as probable. They have been sufficiently numerous to indicate an observant though invisible eye fixed upon human affairs; but not so frequent as to supersede the Christian's anticipations of a day of final and impartial judgment. The present may indeed be considered rather as a time of permitted, confusion, the period of moral chaos, in which the elements of a new creation exists, but in a disorganized state; in which the principles of depraved human nature are permitted to develope themselves, and human passions are suffered to act in an ample field of exertion with comparatively little control, and for the purpose of ultimately promoting the glory of God. Hereafter "the morning stars" will "sing together," and all "the sons of God" again "shout for joy," when "all things that offend shall be gathered out of his kingdom," when sinners shall be everlastingly degraded, Christ for ever exalted, the most mysterious dispensations shine with transparent brightness in the light of eternity, and the unfading paradise of the saints bloom amidst the wrecks of time.