In this heroic effort on the part of Deborah to throw off the yoke of a cruel oppressor, we see the curse of neutrality, and the pitiful spectacle, which seems always to be present, of the unfaithful, ignoble and indifferent ones who quietly looked on while all this was happening, and not only missed their reward, but justly received the curse of God’s displeasure and judgment. And so, in the Song of Deborah, we hear of Reuben’s enthusiastic purposes, but does nothing. We see her fiery scorn for those who strayed among the bleatings of the sheepfolds, rather than the trumpet of the battle. We see her sarcasm strike the selfish men of Gilead who abode beyond Jordan; the careless Danites who remained in their ships, and men of Asher who, secure in their naval defences, stayed away up yonder on the seashore, and took refuge in their ports and inland rivers, while, above all the echoes of her denunciations, rings out the last awful curse against the inhabitants of Meroz, a little obscure city that probably had taken refuge in its insignificance, because its inhabitants had refused to come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Finally, this scene is a pattern page from God’s book of remembrance. Some day we shall read the other pages and find our names recorded either with the inhabitants of Meroz and Reuben, or with the victors of faith who stood with Deborah, and Barak, and Jehovah, in the battles of the Lord. Oh, shall we shine now like stars in the night, and then like the sun in the kingdom of our Father? Passing on in our narrative from the brave deeds of Deborah, we next come to one of the most heroic daughters in Israel, and her great act of utter abnegation to save a father’s vow is so beautiful that, like the good Samaritan in our Lord’s touching parable, uttered in answer to the question, Who is my neighbor? the name is lost in the fragrance of the deed. She is simply Jephthah’s daughter. It was during that stormy period in the history of Israel, when again and again they had fallen into the idolatrous practices of their heathen neighbors around them. These unlawful acts had often called down the judgments of God upon them. In the time of Jephthah, the Israelites were smarting under the oppression of an Ammonitish king. The unsettled character of the age was such that the elders of the people sought in vain for a suitable leader, who could command the confidence of his countrymen. There was one man, however, a native of Gilead, who was a brave and successful leader. This was none other than Jephthah, but, because he had been born a child of misfortune, his brethren disowned him, and had cast him out. In most persons such treatment develops a spirit of misanthropy and bitterness which often find expression in revenge.