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900 Iron Chariots
“And the Sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh for he had 900 chariots of iron and he forcefully oppressed the Sons of Israel for twenty years.”
(Judges 4:3)
Twenty years of oppression. We have no sense of longevity and the big picture anymore. If something does not begin and end in a period of days or weeks, in our minds it lasts forever and we become bored with what we face. Imagine the 430 years of slavery that the people spent in Egypt; that is nearly twice as long as the United States have existed as a country.
We have already discussed the presence of chariots in Canaan (see Judges 1:19), but it is worth remembering the significance of the iron chariot as a weapon of war. Chariots themselves were a fairly new invention at this point in history, but later they would reinforce the basket and wheels with iron plates to protect the riders and the vehicle. These chariots were often drawn by as many as 4 horses and presented a formidable opponent to foot soldiers so long as the chariot had room to maneuver and build momentum. In many ways, these iron chariots were some of the earliest light-armored vehicles in military history. And Sisera did not simply have a few of such weapons; he had 900. That’s enough to devastate any military front line.
So, the people cry out in their distress with the implied notion that after 20 years of oppression, the people are repenting of their sins and turning back to the God of Israel. How sad it is that it so often takes us so long as well to repent of our idolatry before we submit to the God of Heaven.
Chariots of Iron
“And Judah overthrew Azzah with its territory and Ashqelon and its territory, even Eqron and its territory. And Yahweh was with Judah and he took possession of the mountainous region. He could not take possession of the dwellings of the plains for they had chariots of iron.”
(Judges 1:18-19)
The note about chariots of iron is actually tremendously helpful when it comes to confirming the dating of these historical events recorded in Joshua and Judges. As scholars and archaeologists examine the development of civilizations, they typically date the beginning of the Iron Age around 1200 or 1300 BC. Obviously there is not a hard and fixed date as cultural changes in terms of the usage of metals for tools and warfare, these changes are gradual, but in the 13th century B.C. studies have shown the increased use of iron instead of bronze.
At the same time, most conservative Biblical scholars place the conquest of Canaan between 1375 or 1350 BC. This would mean that these Canaanites of the plains were a bit ahead of their time in building iron chariots, but it would also explain why Judah and Simeon had such difficulty when seeking to conquer these peoples. This was a radical development and weapons of bronze were simply no match for weapons of iron and such was the plight for the armies of Judah as they engaged the peoples of the plains. But for those who doubt the historicity of the Scriptures, this is just one of numerous reminders that the Biblical account is quite consistent with the discoveries in the world around the ancient near east.
This, though, marks the first of the inhabitants of the land that the armies of Israel were unable to drive out — the first of many. Those people in the land would cause great grief for the people in the long run, but we get ahead of ourselves.
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