1406.] DEBORAH AND BARAK DELIVER ISRAEL. 21 inroads or forages, frequent among Arabs, when they attack the residences where they hope for prey, 66 on the hamlet pour the waste of war, Nor spare the hoary head, nor bid the eye It is stated, that the villages were left uninhabited, that travellers were afraid to pass along the usual roads, and that ambushments were frequently made at the watering places, for those who quitted the protection of their town walls. Just such a picture has Palestine presented in later times. This sketch repre sents the "armed husbandry" of the east. The hus bandman may now be seen preparing his field and reaping his harvest with weapons in his hand, or ready by his side, while it is unsafe to pass from one town to another without an armed escort. But in those days Israel appears to have been unarmed; discord prevailed among the tribes; those remote from the plundering visitations of the enemy, were unconcerned for their brethren, and though their enemies were mighty, yet the Israelites appear to have suffered from a power not so 22 DEFEAT OF SISERA. [B. C. strong as themselves. Such are the results of divisions in a family or a nation; such are the consequences of forsaking the Lord. Barak showed some hesitation as to obeying the message delivered by Deborah. He did not doubt its being the word of God, but he required further confirmation. He knew that the tribes were divided and feeble, and more ready to follow their own particular interests, than to seek the national welfare. His doubt may have been from weakness of faith, or it may have proceeded from feeling the necessity of Divine influence, and of constant direction in the enterprise before him. We may here notice, that Barak did not decline to go forward in this service, though told that it would not be for his honour. The prophetess did not leave him in doubt as to its being the Divine will, and he did not hesitate to exert himself to the utmost. Would that we were all as ready to seek the glory of God in the first instance, assured that whatever is necessary for our good shall be added. Deborah went forth with Barak, the people willingly assembled; a sufficient number were soon gathered together on the heights of Mount Tabor, a situation inaccessible to the chariots and horsemen of the enemy. Sisera collected his host in the plain below, which formed a part of the vast expanse called the Plain of Esdraelon and the Valley of Jezreel. This plain has probably been the scene of more battles than any other spot upon the globe. From the time of Joshua to the invasion of Syria by Buonaparte, history, both sacred and common, records events of no small importance which have here been decided. And this plain is thought by many to be pointed out in the Bible, as the scene of a future combat, deeper and more severe in the conflict, as well as more important in the result, than any which has yet taken place on the earth. The Lord now fought for Israel; the contest was quickly decided. God subdued on that day Jabin the 24 DEATH OF SISERA. [B. C. king of Canaan, before the children of Israel. Sisera and his host fled before Barak and his followers. A sudden storm appears to have swelled the waters of the river Kishon, the torrent swept away many in its course. The interference evidently showed that it was from the Divine power. The panic flight of the leaders is represented by their horses' hoofs being broken by hurried trampling over the stony rocks. Sisera took refuge in the tent of Heber the Kenite, where he obtained shelter, and, as he thought, protection, having asked for refreshment, and being presented by the wife with butter-milk, then, as now, a favourite article of food in the east. But Jael, under an unusual impulse, was led to consider Sisera an enemy, and destroyed him. This also is one of the actions recorded in the history of Israel, of which we cannot judge by common rules; nor may we consider it as a precedent for imitation in our day. Deborah was inspired to describe this deliverance of Israel in a divine song or ode, which is justly considered one of the most beautiful pieces of Scripture poetry. Many translations have been made, but all of them fall far short of the unadorned beauty of the original. Thus ended one of the most eventful days in the history of Israel. Thus perish all who God's decrees oppose; FARTHER SERVITUDES-THE LAND IS DELIVERED AND JUDGED BY GIDEON-THE HISTORY OF RUTHABIMELECH, HIS AMBITION AND DESTRUCTIONTOLA AND JAIR-JEPHTHAH, HIS VICTORY AND HIS Vow. THE land of Canaan had rest forty years after the defeat of Sisera; then followed a revival of evil, with sufferings from invaders for seven years. This was a wide and sweeping destruction. Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern tribes, whose habits and manners seem to have resembled the Bedouins of the D |