What does Judges 4:7 mean?

The people of Israel have finally cried out to the Lord to deliver them from the cruel oppression of the Canaanites (Judges 4:1–6). God now begins to answer that prayer. He is raising up a deliverer by the name of Barak. The Lord is instructing Barak through the prophetess Deborah. God commanded Barak to gather a massive number of men from his own tribe of Naphtali, as well as that of Zebulun. That army is to meet at Mount Tabor, west of the southern end of the Sea of Galilee.

Now the Lord tells Barak, still through Deborah, that He will draw out the fearsome general of the Canaanite army to face Barak's army in battle. Sisera commands 900 iron chariots and is responsible for oppressing the Israelites. In that era, iron chariots would have been advanced technology. Later depictions of Canaanite oppression (Judges 5:6) suggest these chariots made travel on roadways almost impossible.

The Lord promises Israel the victory at the river Kishon, just to the south of Mount Tabor. Normally, the broad, flat plain of this area would have favored Sisera's chariots and spelled doom for Israel's army. However, the additional details given in the following chapter suggest that the Kishon River suddenly flooded at the time of the battle (Judges 5:20–21). This might have swept some enemy away. More likely, it would have created muddy conditions which would have slowed or stopped the chariots. Perhaps this was the Lord's mechanism to give victory to Barak and the Israelites.