Scenes From the Promised Land

On From Tabor to Victory!

IMAGINE being in a tower looking down on a place where the paths of history crossed! You could actually witness history in the making.

The Biblical site of Megiddo might best fit that description, for it was astride vital trade and military routes. Yet, across the Valley of Jezreel rises Mount Tabor, which also looked down on the Via Maris, the famous route to cities of the Fertile Crescent.a

If you look at Tabor from almost anywhere in the region, you cannot help but be impressed. (Compare Jeremiah 46:18.) Tabor rises in splendid isolation from its surroundings, its cone shape being recognizable from all directions. It towers over the plain running before it on the south, the fertile Jezreel Valley, which connects the coast with the Jordan Valley.

From the gently rounded summit of Tabor, you can look south toward the city of Jezreel, which may call to mind Jehu’s furious ride up to Ahab’s royal residence and Jezebel’s ignominious end. (1 Kings 21:1; 2 Kings 9:16-33) Nearby is Megiddo. Westward you can see Mount Carmel, where Elijah held the fire test. (1 Kings, chapter 18) From Tabor you can also see where the river Kishon flows toward the sea, and some five miles [8 km] west northwest in the hills of lower Galilee is Nazareth.

But what Bible account does the mention of Tabor call to your mind? Likely that of Deborah and Barak. During their time, the Canaanites under King Jabin of Hazor had oppressed Israel for 20 years. Then the prophetess Deborah spurred Barak to action. He, in turn, roused up ten thousand Israelites, mainly of the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun in Galilee, and had them assemble on Tabor. They were poorly armed, for there was not a shield or a lance in Israel.​—Judges 5:7-17.

An awesome military machine came against them. Jabin’s general Sisera brought heavily armed Canaanite warriors to the Valley of Jezreel. They must have looked somewhat like the armed men shown in the wall carving from Egypt illustrated on the next page, top right. The war equipment of Egypt influenced that used in Canaan, including the most terrifying part of Sisera’s weaponry​—900 war chariots!

Those Canaanite chariots would have been veritable mobile firing platforms. The driver might have wrapped the reins around his waist so that his hands were free for handling weapons. Or he might have concentrated on his charging horses while a companion employed the weaponry. The chariots had iron scythes extending from the wheel hubs. To Barak’s men looking down from Tabor, the massed chariots must have seemed frighteningly unstoppable, invincible.

Yet, Jehovah had promised Barak: “I shall certainly draw to you at the torrent valley of Kishon Sisera . . . and his war chariots and his crowd.” At the right moment, the valiant Israelites poured down the side of Tabor.​—Judges 4:1-14.

Of more value than the mere advantage of surprise was the help Israel received from their powerful God in heaven. Deborah later sang: “From heaven did the stars fight, from their orbits they fought against Sisera. The torrent of Kishon washed them away . . . You went treading down strength, O my soul.” (Judges 5:20, 21) Yes, though the lightly equipped but courageous Israelites put the armed Canaanites to flight, God determined the real outcome. He caused a sudden overwhelming torrent in the dry riverbed, immobilizing the frightful chariots.

Below you see part of the river Kishon. In the rainy season, it can overflow its banks and turn the area into a marsh. Picture the Canaanite war chariots trying to escape through such mud. The raging waters carried off some fleeing soldiers or chariots, or both. Israel’s victory even overtook General Sisera, who had abandoned his chariot, escaping on foot from the scene of battle. After he took refuge in the tent of the woman Jael, she picked a choice time and put this enemy to death.​—Judges 4:17-22.

Thus, a vital and triumphant chapter in Israel’s history unfolded before Deborah and any others who might have been watching from the prominence of Mount Tabor.

[Footnotes]

[Picture Credit Line on page 16]

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.

[Picture Credit Lines on page 17]

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.