Volume I Part 10 (2/2)

Sisera, the captain of the Canaanitish army, having been informed of the movements of Israel, gathered together all his nine hundred chariots of iron, and encamped between Harosheth and the river Kishon. This hostile force, stretching along the circ.u.mjacent valley of mount Tabor, must have presented a formidable appearance; and it would not have been surprising, if even veteran troops, whose scared bosoms proclaimed their unretreating hardihood in battle, had been appalled to meet so mighty a preparation with only ten thousand men. But the spirit of a weak woman, when sustained by the living G.o.d, shall brave every danger. Faith shall triumph over fear, and the sword shall follow and fulfil prophetic inspirations. ”Up,”

said Deborah to Barak, ”for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand; is not the Lord gone out before thee?”

If from this spirited appeal, it might be unjust to the military character of Barak, to cherish a suspicion that he manifested some degree of reluctance to attack the army of Sisera, overawed by his numerical superiority, we cannot help perceiving the wisdom and prompt.i.tude which actuated the conduct of Deborah. She had an eye to discern, and a courage to seize, an important crisis. But what most claims our admiration is, an incessant reference to Providence, which marks all her words and actions.

Nothing of that boastful language, which indicates an arrogant mind escaped her lips. She evinced no self-adulation, and no undue dependence upon human resources. How many in similar circ.u.mstances, would have vushed forward to disproportionate battle with a blind impetuosity, trusting to _chance_, for the result: or, inspired alone by personal hatred against the foe, and a thirst for renown, would have hastened to conquer or to die! From our earliest days we have been taught to admire the heroes of cla.s.sical story, and have followed with acclamations the conquerors of later ages, who seem to have rivalled the fame of a Themistocles or a Leonidas, and to have reacted the tragical sublimities of Salamis and Thermopylae; but, in the present history, we see piety clad in the armour of heroism--the achievements of military valour ascribed solely to the higher cause of a divine superintendence--”The LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand; is not the LORD gone out before thee?”

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 circ.u.mstances 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 circ.u.mstances might, however astonis.h.i.+ng, have been reasonably expected; for ”if G.o.d 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 quant.i.ty 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 G.o.d was a.s.sisting 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 Caesar, 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 refres.h.i.+ng 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 G.o.d 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 a.s.sertion 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 G.o.d of battles.

2. The enemies of G.o.d 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 l.u.s.t 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 G.o.ds?”--Sennacherib, king of a.s.syria, 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 G.o.ds of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of a.s.syria? Where are the G.o.ds of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the G.o.ds of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?

Who are they among all the G.o.ds 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 G.o.d, 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 a.s.syrian 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 G.o.d: 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 pa.s.sed from the east to the west.”

”Thou dull stupid man, who art not stricken with the idea of a G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 mult.i.tude 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; a.s.suage the anguish of thy soul, and prevent its melting and exhaling with fear. How diminutive is man! How many ways hath G.o.d to confound his pride! He uttereth his voice, and there is a noise of a mult.i.tude 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 antic.i.p.ations 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 pa.s.sions are suffered to act in an ample field of exertion with comparatively little control, and for the purpose of ultimately promoting the glory of G.o.d.

Hereafter ”the morning stars” will ”sing together,” and all ”the sons of G.o.d” 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 s.h.i.+ne with transparent brightness in the light of eternity, and the unfading paradise of the saints bloom amidst the wrecks of time.

3. ”Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Little did Sisera imagine the fatal reverses he was destined to suffer, when in all the pride of fancied superiority, sustained by the recollection of the successes of twenty years, he made his arrangements for the battle with Barak and Deborah. What a contrast between the moment of confident preparation, and that of disgraceful retreat! What a mighty and unexpected contrast between the high-spirited general at the head of his army, and the trembling fugitive hiding himself in a tent, and slain by a woman.

Let us apply the reflection to ourselves. How often do we form our schemes, and calculate on temporal prosperities, without any due regard to the will of Providence, or any proper consideration of the uncertainty of life. ”We live without G.o.d in the world,” an omniscient Deity has no existence in our minds, and we inquire ”Who will show us any good?” as if G.o.d were not the chief good, or could not supply our happiness.

Alas! how often have we boasted of to-morrow by neglecting, in a religious sense, the most important business of to-day. It is not easy to imagine a more dangerous state of mind, than that of a person, whose resolutions of repentance and amendment all respect futurity, because he makes these very resolutions an excuse for his negligences, and even considers them as an expiation of the guilt of his procrastinating temper.

It is indeed an affecting thought, that so thick a mist surrounds us, we are not only unacquainted with the events of YEARS to come, we do not know what a DAY may bring forth. It may produce a change in our circ.u.mstances--our faculties--our friends.h.i.+ps--our hopes.--An hour--a moment, may waft us from time into eternity! ”Now,” then, ”is the accepted time, behold, NOW is the day of salvation.”--”Seek the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

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