The River of Kishon Swept Them Away - Judges 5:21

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,  … Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeopardized their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. 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”, and in chapter five and verse twenty-one of Judges, we learn how Deborah and Barak sung, “the river of Kishon swept them away” where we read,

The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. 

O my soul, you have trodden down strength.

The verse reads, “The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. …” The writer began with the words, “the river of Kishon” which means “the flowing waters belonging to Kishon whose name means ‘winding’ and was a river in central Palestine; scene of the defeat of Sisera by the Israelites in the time of the judges and the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah” “swept them away” or “bore away violently or scooped off, them, Sisera and his army”, “that ancient river” which means “that onrushing flowing stream or torrent of antiquity”, “the river Kishon” or “the flowing stream Kishon whose name means ‘winding’”. The writer shared how the flowing stream named “Kishon” was used to defeat “Jabin, Sisera and their armies” who were against Israel. 

The verse continues, “O my soul, you have trodden down strength.” The writer added the words, “O my soul” which means “O my, Deborah and Barak’s, mind, will and heart”, “you have trodden down strength” or “you, Deborah and Barak’s soul, have marched on, taken courage and are powerful and mighty”. The writer shared how “Deborah, along with Barak” sung as an encouragement to their mind and will because they had taken courage and strength for the battle. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how the “River Kishon” was used to defeat “Jabin, Sisera and their armies”. This caused “Deborah and Barak” to exclaim how their mind and will was lifted up because they were courageous against their hating foes. God wants us to win the victory over sin and death, and we accomplish that when we receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and rose from the dead after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and give us the ability to have courage and strength to be victorious with Him in this world. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; 1 John 5:4)

Next time we learn how Deborah and Barak sing, “Then were the horsehoofs broken”, 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".