Curse You Meroz - Judges 5:23

In the book of Judges we learned, “Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, praise you the LORD for the avenging of Israel,  … The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, you have trodden down strength. Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones”, and in chapter five and verse twenty-three of Judges, we learn how Deborah and Barak sung, “Curse you Meroz” where we read,

Curse you Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse you bitterly the inhabitants thereof; 

because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.

The verse reads, “Curse you Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse you bitterly the inhabitants thereof;” The writer began with the words, “curse you Meroz” which means “execrate and bind you, Meroz whose name means ‘refuge’ and was a place in northern Palestine”, “said the angel of the LORD” or “uttered, declared and proclaimed the envoy and messenger belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”, “curse you bitterly” which means “execrate and bind you, Meroz, in an angry, hurt and resentful way” “the inhabitants thereof” or “the people and dwellers within Meroz”. The writer shared how “Deborah and Barak” sung of the messenger of Jehovah God and His execration upon the dwellers and abiders within “Meroz”. 

The verse continues, “because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.” The writer added the words, “because they came not to the help” which means “since and on account that they, the people of Meroz, did not respond, come near or approached the succor, aid and assistance” “of the LORD” or “belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and is the proper name for the One True God”, “to the help of the LORD” which means “to the the succor, aid and assistance” “against the mighty” or “in opposition to the powerful and strong”. The writer shared how “Deborah and Barak” called out the people of “Meroz” on account that they did not arrive or respond to the assistance and aid belonging to Jehovah God in opposition to the powerful foes of “Sisera and his army”.  

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn how “Deborah and Barak” spoke to the idea of the people of “Meroz” not responding to the aid of Jehovah God in His opposition to “Jabin, Sisera and their army”. God wanted people to be involved in His Kingdom work, and the same is true today in His offer of salvation to everyone through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days. When we yield to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and equip us with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and give us the boldness to be involved in His winning people against the enemy of our souls. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:37)

Next time we learn how Deborah and Barak sing, “Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber be”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".