God of the Valleys – The Valley of Violence

God of the Valleys – The Valley of Violence.

“One day the prophet and judge Deborah sent for Barak and said to him, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. And I will call out Sisera, commander of the Canaanite king Jabin, along with all his chariots and warriors. There I will give you victory over him, says the Lord.” (Judges 4:6-7).

The Jezreel Valley was a valley quite famous in the Bible, and certainly infamous as well. It is twenty-five miles long and ten miles wide and in close proximity to Mount Tabor, the Plain of Megiddo, and the Kishon Rover. That area of Jezreel had a violent reputation because of its strategic location. It was a biblical battleground which saw over thirty battles in Scripture. This ancient hill, valley and plain was the site of Deborah’s great victory (Judges 4 and 5), where Gideon had his unexpected win at battle (Judges 6), where Saul was defeated (I Samuel 31), and where king Josiah died at the hands of the Egyptians (2 Kings 23).It was famous for being the home of Gideon, and infamous for being the home of the evil royals King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Jezreel was the site of the Lord’s punishment for the king and queen’s paganism… Ahab had the heads of all seventy of his sons delivered to him in baskets (2 Kings 10:7). And the queen didn’t fare much better. She was thrown out the palace window in Jezreel where she was promptly devoured by a pack of wild dogs. (2 Kings 23:30). The Bible can be rather gruesome. Wait till you see Jael. Despite its violent history, the Valley of Jezreel remains today as the breadbasket of Israel, lying at the “heart” of the nation. Jezreel is mostly a thriving farmland today and lives up to its name, which means “God sows.”

Perhaps the most famous battle waged in Jezreel was that of Deborah, who gathered her troops on Mt. Tabor, fought in the valley, and won the war in the Kishon River. Deborah holds a unique place in Biblical heroism. Deborah was the fourth judge during this era in Israel’s history, and the only woman in a long line of judges. Her courtroom was under a palm tree named in her honor. She was famous for her national leadership, and was renowned in rabbinic tradition for her skills as an insightful mediator and impartial advisor in matters of justice. Deborah was an effective judge, but she was also a military leader, and a prophetess of Yahweh, and was even referred to as “the mother of Israel.” (5:7). She obviously had an intimate relationship with the Lord, and full confidence in and dependence upon the God Of Israel. Deborah was an outstanding example of historic leadership during the era when Israel so easily fell into apostasy. Even her military general Barak would not go into battle without her. Deborah’s name means “bee” or “wasp”. One Hebrew scholar said that Deborah was “a bee in peace and a wasp in war.” Deborah is an inspiration to all, male or female, who want to be an obedient mouthpiece and leader for God during time of national distress. She was one of the few judges who was not corrupted by success, and Israel was at peace with her enemies for 40 years after her victory. That figure has led historians to claim that Deborah was Israel’s leader for a total of 60 years.

Written around 1300 BC, the famous Song of Deborah is considered one of the oldest pieces of poetry in the Hebrew Bible, and perhaps the most ancient of early Hebrew literature. The author is unknown, but was certainly an eyewitness to the great Holy War described. Judges 5, the Song of Deborah, is the poetic version of Judges 4, which details the battle in prose. Some scholars wonder if Deborah actually wrote this song, since the song was addressed to Deborah and refers to her specifically. On the other hand, many historians claim that Deborah indeed composed the song and was comfortable in referring to herself in the 3rd person in order to give a full account of the war.

The roller-coaster ride of the Israelites in the Promised Land is highlighted in the book of Judges. Israel’s spiritual weaknesses would cause them to fall into apostasy and immorality, then the Lord would call a judge to help lead them back to obedience to Yahweh. And then, after a few years of peace and obedience, Israel would fall again, and the patient Lord would raise up another righteous and valiant judge. And so on it goes. Deborah finds herself called to be another judge during twenty years of oppression under the Canaanite king Jabin of Hazor, which was situated north of Galilee. These pagans were known for their ruthless and well-equipped military, which included 900 iron chariots, weapons of mass destruction if there was ever such things in the ancient world. Their military was led by a bloodthirsty general named Sisera, and he was a formidable enemy of Israel. God told Deborah to engage in battle with Sisera in order to free the Israelites from their oppression. She confidently turned to her general Barak and told him what the Lord has said… Get 10,000 Hebrew soldiers and go to war with Sisera and his army, and the Lord will bring certain victory. As it turns out, after Deborah’s personal involvement and her inspiration of Barak into action, the Lord did indeed bring victory. The Song of Deborah was written to celebrate this amazing triumph over the Canaanites.

Deborah’s was a song of triumph to honor Yahweh and highlight the two heroines of the battle, Deborah and Jael. The composer of the song rightly gives credit to the Lord of Israel, Yahweh, for the important victory over the Canaanites. After rejoicing in the Lord and noting His awesome power, the song mentions Israel’s sin, their choosing other gods. God once again intervened, and Deborah helped gather the warriors among Israel, and rebuked those Israelites who were indifferent and didn’t join in the battle. Then the victory of Israel over king Jabin and his general Sisera is highlighted, especially the brutal but heroic exploits of Jael. The song then closes with a beautiful word of blessing for all those who choose to love and follow Yahweh, “May those who love You rise like the sun in all its power!” (5:31).

Judges 5:21-22 highlight the turning point of the great battle between Deborah’s forces and the Canaanites. God sent a torrential rain to the battlefield area, which caused the Kishon River to rise. This led to Sisera’s defeat, because the overrun river caused all 900 of those famous chariots and horses to get stuck in the mud. Sisera’s army panicked, and was then routed by the more nimble Israelites.

Deborah’s heroism was matched by that of Jael. Jael was married to Heber, who for some reason was sympathetic to Sisera. Jael, however, supported the Israelites, and she was willing to go to great lengths to help them succeed. Jael was rather devious in her deadly spycraft… Sisera had run away on foot once the mud led to his army’s defeat, and he ended up sneaking near Jael’s tent. Jael offered her tent as a sanctuary for Sisera, and he happily stepped into the tent for a nap after all that running to escape from the Israelites. While Sisera was sleeping, Jael did the unthinkable. Jael picked up a tent peg and hammer and assassinated Sisera. She drove the tent peg through his temple, in one side of his head and out the other. Naturally, Sisera died immediately, and the rout was completed (Judges 4:18-24). The songwriter seemed awe-struck with praise of Jael, calling her “the most blessed among women,” and “may she be blessed above all women who live in tents.” Jael is highly favored indeed in Biblical history, despite her gruesome rejection of hospitality protocol.

Soon enough in Israel, we find Jezreel once again, the home of Gideon and scene of his greatest victory. Judges 6 highlights Gideon, the youngest member of an insignificant family in Israel. He was a farmer by trade, and by nature lacked confidence. Gideon was a bit on the timid side, and seemed to be a natural skeptic, perhaps even pessimistic. His nation of Israel was slowly starving to death because of their enemy the Midianites, a marauding force that often swept into Israel and stole their crops and livestock. This frightening state of affairs had been going on for seven years, and Israel was helpless with these devastating attacks. If the Israelites were honest with themselves, they would have connected the dots and acknowledged this as God’s punishment for their pagan idolatry. But this knowledge didn’t make life any easier for the Israelites.

At this point, after he passed his first test of tearing down the Baal altar in his hometown, Gideon knew he had to start rallying the troops. He needed to gather some Israelite fighting men to go against the enemies that were camping along their border. What happens next is significant. The different versions of the Bible put it this way: The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power; the Spirit of the Lord enveloped Gideon; the Spirit of Yahweh empowered Gideon; the Spirit of the Lord came over Gideon; the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him. The Hebrew word here literally means “put on.” So the Holy Spirit came onto Gideon as a garment. And Gideon was privileged to put on this powerful garment, enabling him to meet these challenges facing Israel. There was no other way to victory. Gideon was impotent without the Lord’s empowerment.

Every once in a while, Gideon’s lack of self-confidence would surface. Right after he powerfully blew his trumpet to gather the troops, he apparently needed some reassurance that God would be on his side in the coming battles. So he put Yahweh to the test. In His mercy, Yahweh patiently obliged Gideon and agreed to communicate through this homemade test. It could be that Gideon’s faith was declining and he needed God to strengthen his faith before the fighting began. Gideon placed a fleece, a clipping of wool, on the threshing floor. As the Tanakh says, “If dew falls only on the fleece and all the ground remains dry, I shall know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have said.” Well, that’s what then happened. But Gideon wasn’t satisfied. Now for the reverse sign… “Let the fleece be dry, while there is dew all over the ground.” God obliged, and Gideon was convinced. He would now move forward into battle.

In Judges 7, we see the ingenious way Gideon assembled the troops to fight while listening to the Lord’s instructions. Gideon’s battle cry on his horn was an excellent way to gather his warriors. The problem was, Yahweh thought Gideon did too good of a job. There are too many troops, says the Lord. This is a holy war, the troops shouldn’t get the credit for the eventual victory. People might claim the glory due to Me. That’s not good. I want everyone to acknowledge that the Lord secured the triumph. This was not man’s doing. So Gideon is instructed to winnow out the men. If any of the troops are even a little fearful or timid, tell them to go home. So 22,000 troops left, while 10,000 remained. There are still too many troops! People might think they have earned the victory without God’s help. So continue to sift the troops in your brigade, Yahweh tells Gideon. The troops were taken to a nearby stream to get a drink of water. Now notice all those troops who get down on their knees and drink with their mouths directly in the stream. Those warriors are excused. Tell them to go home. And all those fighters who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues, they remain to fight. That is the way to fight effectively, ready to engage in combat if an enemy should come up behind them while drinking. These are my fighters, says the Lord. Gideon ended up with only 300 troops against the many thousands of the Midianites. Now I know, says Yahweh, that no one will boast about saving themselves by their own strength and numbers. The fighting troop was reduced from 32,000 to 300 men. There will be no doubt that the victory was from God. God’s strength does not lie in numbers. Sometimes God reveals His power in the unimpressive. The one God will always outnumber the countless enemy.

It didn’t matter that the Midianite horde looked like a swarm of locusts there in the Valley of Jezreel, or that their camels were past counting, like grains of sand on the seashore. The Midianites grew fearful because of the Lord speaking to one of them in a dream. and they were ready to flee. They were afraid of Gideon’s troops, even though they didn’t know a thing about them. Gideon gave each soldier a horn and an empty jar with a lit torch inside the jar. At the signal, everyone was supposed to blow their horns and shout, “For God and for Gideon!” When Gideon’s fighters came to the edge of the camp, they blew their horns, then smashed their jars, revealing the torches in the night. They were all stationed around the camp, so it looked like the enemy camp was surrounded. The enemy panicked and ran for their lives, even killing themselves in the process. Gideon’s clever strategy made the enemy think there were more troops than there actually were. The enemy was routed, and the victory was the Lord’s. A miracle, and the Israelites did not have to fight. The glory goes to Yahweh. (Judges 7:9-22). Throughout this battle, Gideon continued to have the Holy Spirit envelop and clothe him in the power of the Lord. The Holy Spirit was his spiritual armor.

Gideon must have been an effective leader, because Israel lived in peace for forty years until his death. One wonders if there was any significant changes being experienced at the heart level of the people during Gideon’s time, because as soon as he was dead and buried, they once again “played the harlot” and made Baal their god. “The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side.” (8:34).