07/09/2020
A PARABLE FROM DEBORAH’S SONG
PART 1
It is truly amazing how the Word of God can lift and stir us. A passage in the
Book of Judges (Judg. 5:16–20) unexpectedly gave me a truly evangelistic
challenge. In a unique way, the Lord interpreted it, like a parable, in my
thoughts.
In the period of the judges, Israel had many difficulties. Often the people were
oppressed by invaders. In His mercy, God would raise up gifted leaders to unite
them and to help them to defend themselves. One of these judges was Deborah, a
prophetess. In her day a Canaanite king, Jabin, sent in his men under Sisera to
plunder and kill.
Deborah was stirred by the Spirit of God to resist. However, she was no Joan
of Arc and did not deck herself in armor to fight like a man. Deborah used her
persuasive powers to inspire the men of Israel to rally their tribes under the
leadership of Barak.
Each tribe received Deborah’s call to unite and do what they could not do
alone—withstand Sisera. Some came and some refused. It is very interesting to
see how the various tribes reacted. In fact, this old story is like a mirror held up
to the face of the church today.
DAN AND HIS SHIP SHOPS
Scrutinizing Israel after their victory, Deborah asked one penetrating question
about the tribe of Dan—“And why did Dan remain on ships?” (Judg. 5:17) The
Danites were merchants, running a kind of mercantile marine service for Israel.
They brought in goods from the far corners of the earth. Then, moored in a
harbor, the ships became shops, selling directly from the importer to the public.
Now here is how I pictured it. Dan himself is at the till of his shop. He is
counting his money with great satisfaction. The day has been great, the profits
good. Then suddenly, a disturbance on the dock distracts him. A messenger,
exhausted from the run, arrives with a dispatch for Dan:
Dear Dan,
Jabin, the King of Canaan, has sent Sisera and is ravaging Israel. We are fighting
with everything at our disposal, but we need help. The tribes must all unite to repel the
enemy. Come and help—NOW. Your fellow Israelites are bleeding and dying. Please
respond. Come at once!
GREETINGS,
DEBORAH (JUDGE OF ISRAEL)
Dan, the businessman, was deeply moved. He jumped up and looked inland,
where he thought hostilities might be in progress. He possibly heard the clash of
arms and the cries of his dying brothers. Then, just as suddenly, he was moved
by other thoughts. Very worrying questions troubled him. Could he just leave his
money uncounted? If he went and fought, what would happen to his ships and
shops? Would he not be risking his flourishing enterprise? Moreover, there was
something else—Canaanites were his customers. He must not upset them.
Should he remain neutral? What if his ships sank while he neglected them,
enlisting in the army?
After such considerations, he decided. Hurriedly, he stuffed a bundle of
money into the messenger’s pockets and said, “I certainly want to help.
Regretfully, I cannot come myself, but here is my contribution. Tell Deborah that
I am with her in spirit.”
Wonderful man, to let a woman do the fighting! Therefore, Dan went on
counting his cash while his brethren rallied round the standard of Deborah and
Barak. Let others die for Israel— Dan had to live for his business. There was
Dan in his ship— the ship of self-interest, self-love, and greed.
Whom does Dan represent today? It is for each one of us to ask ourselves.
Dan is the Christian who belongs to the family of God, knows what the claims of
God upon him are, hears the call of God, but does not respond to it. He remains
in his ship shop when God wants him to “seek first the kingdom of God.” The
music of the tinkling till, the applause of the unconverted, or the opinion of
family and friends deafen him to the call of the living God.
In church Dan sings about “the sweet bye and bye on the golden shore,” but
will his ship reach it or just flounder in the sea of life? If you think such
situations could not be, just look around. See the wreckage of lives where people
have chosen the wrong priorities. Some of the saddest people have been those
with an eye to the main chance, who did not keep their eyes on God. They lost
their visions. Things went terribly wrong in the end. Success turned to ashes—
popularity went sour. They chose the Danite opportunities of the ship shop. They
let others follow Christ to His harvest field, or battlefield, or maybe mission
field. Finally, they saw their joy and contentment turn to tragedy. “The harvest is
past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” (Jer. 8:20).
MAKERS OF MONEY—
OR HISTORY?
The runner with Deborah’s letter hoped for a better response as he reached
Zebulun and Naphtali. He found the two men were working in the fields under
the warm sun. They were both looking forward to the end of the day when they
could return to the joy of their wives and children, yet they huddled around the
dispatch runner to hear and consider Deborah’s call to service. What should they
do? Why, there was only one choice— go! “Praise the Lord,” they shouted, “that
God has anointed somebody to lead us. Now, let us make an end of this constant
harassment from Jabin and his bandits. Thank God for Deborah! We will back
her to the hilt. Tell her that we are on the way. Count us in.”
Zebulun and Naphtali exchanged their pruning hooks for spears. Children
were hugged, weeping wives kissed, and the men marched away into the dust of
battle. “Zebulun is a people who jeopardized their lives to the point of death,
Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield” (Judg. 5:18).
The war was soon won. Nevertheless, it brought no glory to Dan. Deborah had
led Israel, and another woman, Jael, the wife of Heber, struck the famous final
blow. She pinned Sisera to the ground in her own tent with a peg through his
head, ending the rampage of his Canaanite army.
Deborah then traveled on her judge’s rounds and arrived at the quayside to
visit Dan. She wanted to ask him one withering question—“Why did Dan remain
on ships?” Dan sat still, his fingers fumbling nervously with a coin. He could not
lift his eyes to face this Holy Spirit anointed woman of God. Her question
haunted him the rest of his life. That question will be heard again at the throne of
God, when Dan and all the rest of us have to give account for our lives. Will Dan
look at the Lord? Or will he be too ashamed, not knowing what to answer,
hanging his head in confusion?
Zebulun and Naphtali did not have Dan’s eye for business. Dan made money,
but Zebulun and Naphtali made history. They fought for Israel and were
victorious in a remarkable battle that is still talked about three thousand years
later. They risked everything, even life itself, fighting in the high places of the
field. Dan staked nothing. He never took risks (bad for business). When Dan
died, he was the richest, yet most miserable, man in the country, with bars of
gold in his bedroom stacked to the ceiling, constantly within view so that he
could gloat. Dan lived for gold. Then one day, just as his soul was leaving his
body, Dan made a grab for his gold. He wanted to take it with him, but the angel
of death swept him away with a laugh: “You’ve made your pile, now somebody
else will spend it!”
The call of God is still heard by Zebulun and Naphtali people today, but not
by the Dan people. Churches are composed of both types. The Dan people are
those who consider their businesses more important than God’s work, their back
gardens more fruitful than the harvest fields, their homes more precious than
heaven for the lost, and saving money more expedient than saving souls. “I have
married a wife, and therefore cannot come” (Luke 14:20). Zebulun left his wife
and saved his kingdom.
Ask any pastor, and he will tell you who are the Dan or the Zebulun and
Naphtali characters in his congregation. “It’s always the same people who
respond, and give, and work,” pastors say. “If it weren’t for them, this church
would close.” Some obey God’s call at any cost, but others would not risk five
cents for God. Zebulun and Naphtali “jeopardized their lives to the point of
death on the heights of the battlefield” for God and for God’s kingdom.
Jesus said, “He who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 10:39). And
later, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).
There is nobility in that kind of perseverance, even in the readiness to give
everything that we acknowledge and honor on earth. The Lord Himself will
formally recognize it when a glittering crown of life is placed upon one’s head
by the hand of Christ Himself.
Of the Dan people, Jesus tersely said, “He who finds his life will lose it”
(Matt. 10:39).
The Gospel is not good news to people who do not hear it...and an unpreached gospel is no Gospel at all.
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