he brave woman was encouraged and went to other tribes, to
all of them one after another. But not everywhere was she successful.
Many said: "Why should we go up and help your people? Suppose Sisera
wins, he will come and punish us. We will stay here where we are
safe." Even the Reubenites, whose first resolves had been so brave,
changed their minds, and "stayed in their sheepfolds, listening to the
pipings of the flocks."

=The battle by the Kishon River.=--After many weeks of tramping,
however, Deborah was able to get a few of the tribes really organized.
Ephraim, Benjamin, Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar, and some smaller clans
all promised to send troops and did send them. An army was gathered
under a captain named Barak. The Canaanites under Sisera came out to
fight them, and the battle took place on the flat fields of the Plain
of Esdraelon. It looked like a victory for Sisera. He had charioteers
as well as foot soldiers--troops of men in heavy war carts, from the
axles of which extended sharp blades like scythes.

But Deborah had called to her people in the name of Jehovah. And
Jehovah seemed, indeed, to be on their side. We may well believe that
it was the spirit of God that put it into the hearts of Deborah and
Barak to delay the battle until there should be a rainy day. When the
clash finally came there was a heavy downpour. The flat plain became a
swamp. The war chariots sank into the mud and were helpless. The
Canaanites became panic-stricken and fled in terror. Many of them were
drowned in the attempt to cross the Kishon, which is usually a shallow
creek, but on that day was a deep and swiftly flowing torrent.
Sisera, himself in flight, was killed by a woman in whose tent he
tried to take refuge. The battle was won for Jehovah's people. The
Hebrews could still be free and independent, and they had learned a
valuable lesson--the necessity for cooperation.

STUDY TOPICS

1. Read chapters 4 and 5 of the book of Judges.

2. With the help of a map showing the location of the various tribes
in Canaan, find the ones which were most in danger from Sisera, whose
kingdom was in the Plain of Esdraelon.

3. With the help of the map, explain why it was not easy for Deborah
to persuade the Reubenites and the Gileadites to enter this war.

4. What arguments would you have used to persuade them?

5. Could you use the same arguments in favor of the League of Nations
and our membership in it, as a nation?

CHAP