Marching Through the Rain

In movies, TV shows, and books, rain often symbolizes hopelessness and despair. It foreshadows events that are dark, even tragic. It’s almost as if the sky matches the mood; the raindrops foreshadow the tears.

Sometimes I wonder whether Deborah battled any feelings of despair as she and Barak marched through the rain toward the engagement with Sisera’s army. The rainstorm in this account is an obscure detail with major implications for Canaanites, but I wonder if it dampened the Israelite’s spirits, too, before they understood that the storm was literally God showering down favor for them in battle? When we read biblical accounts, it’s easy to forget the heroes were real people with thoughts and feelings just like ours - the cloud of witnesses with whom we link arms in faith and worship of the King of the ages - theirs, ours, and all in between. 

God lifted Deborah up as judge over Israel during a 20-year period of Canaanite oppression - the only female judge in Israel’s history. Some downplay the importance of her role, citing Isaiah 3:12 as evidence that her leadership was evidence of God’s curse on Israel – though the 40 years of peace that followed the Canaanite rout seem to tell a different story. Such critics also might be forgetting that her titles of judge and prophetess put her in the same tier as Samuel, and she officially filled the same roles that Moses did on a de facto basis. 

Like Moses, Deborah judged disputes between Israelites, sitting beneath a prominent palm tree in the hill country of Ephraim. While she didn’t speak to God directly like Moses, she received and relayed God’s word to Israel: in this case, to Barak, an Israelite army commander. Barak was to lead ten thousand men from the Israelite tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun to Mount Tabor. God said He would lead Sisera and his chariots and troops to the nearby Kishon River, where He would deliver them into Barak’s hands. 

Sisera was a military commander for Canaanite King Jabin, who had oppressed Israel with his 900 iron chariots for twenty years, according to Judges 1. As the ancient equivalent of tanks, chariots gave military forces significant advantages in terms of speed and ranged attacks. Facing them head-on was not high on Barak’s wish list. Historical accounts indicate that each chariot likely carried a driver and one or two soldiers, so the Canaanite enemy was already 2700 men strong even before adding any other personnel. King Jabin’s standing army had as many as 300,000 foot soldiers, 10,000 horsemen, and 3,000 chariots, according to the Jewish historian Josephus. 

Barak appeared to have done the math and didn’t care for the answer.

He told Deborah he would only go if she went with him. Despite God’s pledge to hand the Canaanite army over to Israel, Barak seems to want the reassurance of real-time contact with God through a prophet. Both the Lord and Deborah note this lack of faith. Deborah agrees to go, but relays God’s verdict that Barak’s hesitation cost him the opportunity to defeat Sisera - instead, that honor would go to a woman. 

Deborah joined Barak and his troops for the 50-mile journey to Mount Tabor, a trip experts say likely took 2 to 3 days. That’s plenty of time to contemplate the stakes. Deborah was obviously a woman of great faith, and could have known what God had in mind. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t aware of the risks. The prophetess wasn’t trained in combat - she was only present because Barak lacked confidence in his army’s ability. This lack of assurance makes sense, looking through human eyes. On paper, the Israelite army was undeniably outmatched. If the army was defeated, the prophetess faced different risks than the soldiers marching with her. While her position as a leader might have bought her privilege, if she wasn’t recognized, her plight could go downhill quickly. Women taken by ancient armies were often sexually assaulted, treated as property, and claimed as plunder, according to Judges 30:5. 

And then clouds gathered on the horizon. And then the rain started. 

We don’t know exactly when in the timeline it rained, but if the storm held off until the battle started, the Canaanites would have had time to put a dent in the Israelite forces. Deborah’s victory song, recorded in Judges 5, tells us that the heavens opened and the clouds poured down water, flooding the Kishon River. Scholars say the Kishon River Valley, more commonly known as the Jezreel Valley, makes a great staging ground for chariots during the summer, when the river becomes a mere trickling stream. But unseasonal or rapid rainfall of 1-1.5 inches over even a few hours can swell the river, while multi-day storms dropping roughly 4 inches can cause flooding, according to Haifa area media. Experts suspect the battle must have been in the summer, when rain was almost unimaginable, or Sisera would not have staged chariots in this area. 

Whether raindrops fell for a few hours or a few days, it likely put a damper on things.  Ancient cultures often viewed torrential rain and out-of-season storms as bad omens. While we know that God used clouds and other interventions to achieve victory in battle, Israel’s descent into disobedience made it unlikely that the soldiers had witnessed similar miracles before. Even Deborah, who may have been in on God’s plan, would have been uncomfortable traveling in the driving rain. 

But God used the very thing that seemed foreboding to make the Israelite victory possible. That rain flooded the Kishon River, washing many Canaanites away (verse 21) and miring Sisera’s chariots in the mud. It neutralized those symbols of military dominance used to oppress Israel for decades. The general himself was forced to flee his chariot on foot (Judges 4:16), and met a helpless end in his sleep in Jael’s tent.

Chapter 5 of the book of Judges records the Song of Deborah, the judge and prophetess’ recounting of the battle and the conditions that made it necessary. This work puts her in the company of biblical figures like Miriam, the sister of Moses, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. While all Biblical songs bring glory to God, those from women are distinctly different from those written by men. Songs from men frequently recount covenant promises, national confession and repentance, and philosophical laments about the wicked and the righteous. Biblical women’s songs, by comparison, personalize significant events, celebrate reversals of the social and economic order, and serve as communal anthems celebrating victory over persecutors and oppressors.

Deborah’s song ticks so many of these boxes. In verse 10, it exhorts travelers from all social classes, from the wealthy to those traveling on foot, to stop and hear the stories about all the Lord did as they pass through travel posts and villages. This is in contrast with verse 6, which depicts a land so treacherous that Israelites avoided the highways and stuck to back roads when forced to travel. It shows that God brought the rainstorm to equip the oppressed ones to strike down the mighty. It celebrates the faith of the willing volunteers eager to fight those oppressors, but is honest enough to admit that even Deborah needed to be shaken from her complacency about the conditions under which Israel was subsisting (Judges 5:12). Deborah’s song is an unflinching accounting of where the nation was and a celebration of how God gave them the victory. Who could help but join her in rejoicing after witnessing this kind of deliverance?  

In life, there are times when we will see the storm clouds gathering. Times when we feel the rain start to fall. But when God has spoken, He has spoken. We can either sit in the storm and doubt His goodness, or we can have faith that God means whatever He brings for our eventual good. But like Deborah, we might have to march through the rain to get there. 

~Kristin Yarbrough, Worthy Content Creator

1. Have you ever had a time in your life when a trial turned out to be a blessing? 

2. What is your natural response when you see a difficult situation on the horizon? 

3. What trial are you currently facing that may turn out to your benefit?