Judges 5:1-11

the Song of a “Mother in Israel”

Judges 5:1

One of the noblest odes in literature! It celebrates a mighty victory through the enthusiastic consecration of the people, who laid themselves as freewill offerings on the altar of their country's deliverance, Judges 5:2; Judges 5:9. There is a greater cause that summons us today, for we fight “not against flesh and blood, but… against the rulers of the darkness of this world,” Ephesians 6:12.

The singer recites the mighty deeds of the Exodus, Judges 5:4. She feels that the present hour is not less full of God. Let us dare to believe that today is as sublime as any day of the past, and live as though it were. She describes the desolations caused by the foe: the divested caravans, the deserted roads, the defenseless, weaponless people, Judges 5:6. She tells how men mustered in the city gates to take their part in the great effort to which she called them, Judges 5:9. Ye daughters of Deborah, who know God, wake again and sing till your hearts grow hot again; and ye brethren of Barak, arm yourselves for battle against the lies, fashions and sins that curse both the Church and the world!