"In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel. God chose new leaders when war came to the city gates, but not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the Lord!" (Judges 5:6-9) Shamgar was Deborah's predecessor as judge and we were not told how long he led Israel or what was going on in Israel in his day. The only information we were given is that he fought some successful battles against the Philistines, so we can assume that the Philistines attempted to make incursions upon the Israelites during the days of Shamgar.
We don't know exactly when the Canaanite king, Jabin, managed to gain enough dominance over Israel to force the people to pay tribute to him, but I think Jabin must have begun developing enough strength to do this during the administration of Shamgar because Chapter 4 told us that after Ehud, Shamgar's predecessor, died: "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor." (Judges 4:1-2a) While a portion of the people were falling back into idolatry, the Lord was allowing Jabin to become powerful enough to make the Israelites his subjects. This was a form of correction that produced the desired result when, in Judges 4:3-4, the people repented and cried out to the Lord for help during the time Deborah was judge of Israel.
During the days when Shamgar was still judge of Israel, the Canaanites evidently sent bands of raiders into the land, so much so that it wasn't safe to travel on the open highways. Deborah said in verse 6 above that during the days of Shamgar the Israelites had to take to "winding paths". Bandits were less likely to be lying in wait on backwoods trails and along wagon tracks through the woods, so the people were forced to take these alternate routes. Deborah's words show us there was a very real danger of being attacked and robbed when traveling along the bigger and more well-known roadways.
She said that the people weren't fighting back against their oppressors until she accepted the Lord's calling as judge. It could be that Shamgar was not a very effective spiritual leader. We know he was a mighty military warrior since the Bible told us that during his reign he killed six hundred Philistines, but a man can be physically fit without being spiritually fit. A man can possess the ability to formulate cunning military strategies and rally the troops without possessing the ability to encourage people in the faith. The Lord sometimes raises up a leader who possesses the skills to deliver the His people militarily or politically but that leader may not necessarily have the skills to encourage people in the faith. An example of this can be found later in the Bible when He uses a heathen king, Cyrus, to set the Jewish people free from Babylon. Cyrus did not serve the God of Israel but he did believe in religious freedom and he liked to think of himself as a liberator, so whenever he conquered a city or territory he would set free the captive peoples of that city or territory. In a similar way, it may be that Shamgar was the right man to keep Israel free from oppression by the Philistines but he might not have had a close relationship with the Lord. However, I don't want to cast aspersions on the character of Shamgar without knowing exactly what took place while he was judge. We just know that, after Ehud passed away, people started falling back into idolatry and that by the time Deborah became judge after Shamgar the nation had fallen under Canaanite control. By the time of Deborah it was not safe to travel the highways freely and the people were so afraid of the Canaanite soldiers that they would not defend their cities from them.
Deborah states that, "not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel". Some scholars interpret this to mean that the Canaanites carried out a widescale confiscation of weapons. Other scholars believe it means that the Israelites were too fainthearted to take up their weapons and defend their land. When we don't remain in close fellowship to the Lord we are prone to becoming fainthearted. Mighty weapons are at the disposal of the children of the Lord but when we fall away from a close relationship with Him we will lack the faith to take up those weapons and fight the enemy. But when we daily commune with the Lord we will have the strength of faith to stand firm and fight, just as the teenage David did when he had the strength of faith to face a giant.
Deborah says that her heart is with the willing volunteers. She thanks God for people who are faithful and who are willing to stand up for what is right. The Bible told us that 10,000 men went with Barak to fight against the troops of King Jabin. Time and again in the Old Testament, no matter how many citizens fall into idolatry, there will always be those who remain faithful to the Lord. There will always be those willing to stand firm for what is right.
In hard times, when it seems like the world has gone crazy, we don't want to become discouraged and begin to think no one cares anymore about godly living. We don't want to make the mistake of believing everyone has broken faith with the Lord. David says he made the mistake once of believing everyone was a liar but he says he made that mistake "in my alarm" or "in my haste". (Psalm 116:11) He felt that way because he was going through a scary time and wasn't sure who he could trust but later, looking back on that time, he could see that not only did the Lord Himself sustain him but also that faithful servants of the Lord were put in his life to help him. Elijah is another person who fell into the false belief that he was all alone. When asked why he was so discouraged, he told the Lord it was because he was the only prophet left in Israel, but the Lord informed him He had seven thousand faithful men and that the situation troubling Elijah was about to turn around in a mighty way.
These days, if we go by the national or local or world news, it can sometimes appear as if the world has gone mad. It seems like people are angrier than ever. It seems like there are more crimes than ever. It seems like there is less compassion than ever. But the Lord has thousands upon thousands who have not broken faith with Him. He has people scattered all over the earth who still care about godly living. If you love the Lord, you are not alone, for there are "willing volunteers" (as Deborah put it) who love the Lord and who are praying for His strength and help upon all who trust in Him. We should thank the Lord for all His faithful ones and pray that they would continue to stand strong in a world that increasingly tells us that it's "every man for himself". If everyone in Deborah's day had had the mentality of "every man for himself", the battle of our previous chapter would not have been won. It took faithful servants of God working together to bring about a great victory.
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