The Muster of God: A Roll Call of Cowards and Champions Text: Judges 5:12-18
Introduction: The Covenant and the Call to Arms
We live in an age that despises distinctions, an age that loathes roll calls. Our culture wants all the benefits of participation without any of the responsibilities of membership. They want the trophy without running the race, the crown without the conflict, the feast without the fight. But the God of Scripture is a God of covenants, and a covenant is a solemn bond, sovereignly administered, with attendant blessings and curses. When God calls His people to war, He is not extending a polite invitation to a potluck. He is issuing a command, and how His people respond to that command reveals the true state of their hearts. Neutrality is not an option. Indifference is treason.
The Song of Deborah is one of the oldest pieces of Hebrew poetry in the Bible, and it is a victory song. But like all true worship, it is also warfare. It is a polemic. It draws sharp, bright lines. It distinguishes between the faithful and the faithless, the courageous and the cowardly. After the glorious victory over Sisera and his iron chariots, a victory wrought by God through a woman and a hesitant but faithful general, the Spirit of God moves Deborah and Barak to sing. And in this song, we find a divine roll call. The tribes of Israel are mustered, not just for battle, but for judgment. God keeps meticulous records. He knows who showed up and who stayed home making excuses.
This is a truth our soft generation needs to hear. We are all enlisted in a spiritual war. The trumpet has sounded. Christ has declared war on the kingdom of darkness, and He has summoned His people to the fight. And in the final day, there will be a roll call. There will be an accounting. This passage is not just ancient history about tribal disputes. It is a living word that confronts us today. It asks us a very pointed question: When the call to stand for Christ goes out, when the battle lines are drawn in our culture, in our communities, in our own hearts, where are you found? Are you on the high places of the field, despising your life for the sake of the gospel? Or are you sitting among the sheepfolds, listening to the whistling, calculating the risks, and probing your heart into a state of terminal paralysis?
The Text
"Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and take away your captives, O son of Abinoam. Then survivors came down to the mighty ones; The people of Yahweh came down to me as warriors. From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down, Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples; From Machir commanders came down, And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of a scribe. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed at his heels; Among the divisions of Reuben There was great persistence of the heart. Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the whistling for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great probings of the heart. Gilead dwelt across the Jordan; And why did Dan stay in ships? Asher sat at the seashore, And dwelt by its landings. Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death, And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field."
(Judges 5:12-18 LSB)
The Summons to Victory and Worship (v. 12-13)
The song begins with a rousing call to celebrate the victory God has given. This is not self-congratulation; it is God-exaltation.
"Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and take away your captives, O son of Abinoam. Then survivors came down to the mighty ones; The people of Yahweh came down to me as warriors." (Judges 5:12-13)
The fourfold "Awake" is a summons from spiritual lethargy to vibrant worship. Victory in battle must be followed by victory in song. We fight so that we can sing, and we sing so that we can fight again. Worship and warfare are two sides of the same coin in the kingdom of God. Deborah is to awake and sing because the victory belongs to Yahweh. Barak is to arise and lead away his captives, demonstrating the reality of the triumph. This is a picture of the ascended Christ, who led captivity captive and gave gifts to men (Eph. 4:8). The victory is real, it is tangible, and it is to be celebrated publicly.
Verse 13 tells us who accomplished this: "the people of Yahweh." A remnant, the "survivors," came down to join the leaders, the "mighty ones." They came down as warriors. God's battles are fought by God's people. He doesn't hire mercenaries. He enlists His sons. This was not a professional army; it was a covenant muster. These were farmers and shepherds who answered the call because they understood they were the people of Yahweh, and their God was at war with the enemies of righteousness.
The Roll Call of the Faithful (v. 14-15a, 18)
The song now begins the roll call, and it starts with those who answered the summons. This is the honor roll.
"From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down, Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples; From Machir commanders came down, And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of a scribe. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed at his heels... Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death, And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field." (Judges 5:14-15a, 18)
First, Ephraim is mentioned, whose territory was in the hill country formerly held by the Amalekites. They came down for the fight. Benjamin, a small but fierce tribe, came right behind them. Machir, a powerful clan from Manasseh, sent commanders, leaders. Zebulun sent not just warriors, but those who wield the "staff of a scribe," which likely refers to officers who could muster and organize the troops. This was not a disorganized mob; it was an ordered response.
Issachar gets special mention. Their princes were "with Deborah," signifying their full allegiance to the leadership God had raised up. And the people followed their leaders: "As was Issachar, so was Barak." They rushed into the valley at his heels. This is key. The enemy had the advantage in the valley with their iron chariots. Rushing down to meet them was an act of raw faith, a direct defiance of military pragmatism. They trusted God's promise over the enemy's technology.
But the highest praise is reserved for Zebulun and Naphtali in verse 18. These two tribes, from whose territory Barak hailed, are commended in the most glorious terms. They "despised their lives even to death." They jeoparded their lives on the high places of the field. This is the language of total commitment. They held nothing back. They understood that there are causes for which a man must be willing to die, and the cause of God's covenant people is chief among them. This is the spirit of the true Christian soldier, who does not love his life unto death (Rev. 12:11). They threw themselves into the fray with what the world calls reckless abandon, but what heaven calls faith.
The Roll Call of the Faithless (v. 15b-17)
The song now pivots, and the tone changes from praise to pointed, rhetorical rebuke. The Spirit of God puts the slacker tribes on blast for all of history to see. This is the dishonor roll.
"Among the divisions of Reuben There was great persistence of the heart. Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the whistling for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great probings of the heart. Gilead dwelt across the Jordan; And why did Dan stay in ships? Asher sat at the seashore, And dwelt by its landings." (Judges 5:15b-17)
First up is Reuben. They are on the other side of the Jordan, a bit removed from the immediate threat. And what were they doing? They were having "great persistence of the heart," which is repeated as "great probings of the heart." This sounds very spiritual, very thoughtful, very prudent. But it is a complete cop-out. They were paralyzed by analysis. They sat around the campfires, stroking their beards, weighing the pros and cons, considering the geopolitical ramifications, and "probing" their feelings until the time for action had passed entirely. They were the committee-men, the perpetual deliberators, the men who are always preparing to get ready to begin.
The question "Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks?" is dripping with sarcasm. While their brothers were facing iron chariots, Reuben was enjoying the pastoral ambiance. They preferred the peaceful sound of shepherds' pipes to the blast of the ram's horn calling them to war. They chose comfort over covenant, safety over solidarity. Their great "probings of heart" were nothing more than a pious-sounding excuse for cowardice and self-interest.
Then comes the rest of the Transjordan tribes, lumped under the name Gilead. They simply "dwelt across the Jordan." They stayed put. Their geographical distance became their theological excuse. Out of sight, out of mind. They felt insulated from the problem, so it wasn't their problem.
And what about Dan and Asher? These were coastal tribes, engaged in maritime commerce. "Why did Dan stay in ships?" He was too busy with his shipping business. His portfolio was more important than God's people. "Asher sat at the seashore, and dwelt by its landings." He was lounging at the beach, enjoying the sea breeze, content in his prosperity. Both Dan and Asher were compromised by their comfortable entanglement with the world. Their financial interests and their comfortable lifestyle had made them soft. They had forgotten that they were Israelites first and merchants second. When the call came, their love for the world drowned out their love for their brethren.
Conclusion: No Neutral Ground
This is a roll call with eternal significance. God honors those who honor Him by showing up for the fight. And He publicly records the excuses of those who stay home. We must see that the sins of Reuben, Gilead, Dan, and Asher are the besetting sins of the modern American church.
We have our Reubens, who are perpetually "studying the issue" and "praying about it" and "probing their hearts" when what is needed is bold, decisive action. They are so nuanced they have become useless, so thoughtful they have become inert. They mistake their timidity for wisdom.
We have our Gileads, who believe that because the cultural rot is "over there," it doesn't concern them. They live in their comfortable Christian enclaves, across the Jordan from the main conflict, and think they can sit this one out. They forget that the covenant community is one body, and when one part suffers, all suffer.
And heaven knows we have our Dans and Ashers, who are so enmeshed in the pursuit of prosperity and comfort that they have no time for the kingdom. Their ships, their businesses, their beach houses, their retirement accounts, these are the things that command their allegiance. They have become too comfortable in Babylon to be of any use to Jerusalem.
The call of God today is the same as it was in the days of Deborah. Awake! Arise! The Lord is at war with the spirit of this age, with the idolatries of secularism, with the perversions of the sexual revolution, with the tyranny of the godless state. He is calling His people to rush the valley, to charge the high places, to despise their lives for the sake of His name. He is looking for the spirit of Zebulun and Naphtali. The question this text puts to every one of us is simple. When the muster roll is read out for this generation, what will be said of you?