A song for the unsung heroes who rose in the country’s need,
When the life of the land was threatened by the slaver’s cruel greed,
For the men who came from the cornfield, who came from the plough and the flail,
Who rallied round when they heard the sound of the mighty man of the rail.
They laid them down in the valleys, they laid them down in the wood,
And the world looked on at the work they did, and whispered, “It is good.”
They fought their way on the hillside, they fought their way in the glen,
And God looked down on their sinews brown, and said, “I have made them men.”
They went to the blue lines gladly, and the blue lines took them in,
And the men who saw their muskets’ fire thought not of their dusky skin.
The gray lines rose and melted beneath their scathing showers,
And they said, “‘T is true, they have force to do, these old slave boys of ours.”
Ah, Wagner saw their glory, and Pillow knew their blood,
That poured on a nation’s altar, a sacrificial flood.
Port Hudson heard their war-cry that smote its smoke-filled air,
And the old free fires of their savage sires again were kindled there.
They laid them down where the rivers the greening valleys gem.
And the song of the thund’rous cannon was their sole requiem,
And the great smoke wreath that mingled its hue with the dusky cloud,
Was the flag that furled o’er a saddened world, and the sheet that made their shroud.
Oh, Mighty God of the Battles Who held them in Thy hand,
Who gave them strength through the whole day’s length, to fight for their native land,
They are lying dead on the hillsides, they are lying dead on the plain,
And we have not fire to smite the lyre and sing them one brief strain.
Give, Thou, some seer the power to sing them in their might,
The men who feared the master’s whip, but did not fear the fight;
That he may tell of their virtues as minstrels did of old,
Till the pride of face and the hate of race grow obsolete and cold.
A song for the unsung heroes who stood the awful test,
When the humblest host that the land could boast went forth to meet the best;
A song for the unsung heroes who fell on the bloody sod,
Who fought their way from night to day and struggled up to God.
Most of you have probably never heard the name Paul Laurence Dunbar, but he is one of the all-time greatest African-American poets. This poem, The Unsung Heroes, was his way of paying tribute to his father Joshua Dunbar and many other forgotten blacks who fought for the union army during the Civil War.
It is ironic that Dunbar would himself become an unsung hero to countless young African-Americans throughout the 20th century. Dunbar rose from being the only black student in his Dayton, Ohio high school and working as an elevator operator to befriending Wilbur and Orville Wright (the famous Wright brothers) and becoming one of America’s most prolific black poets. Dunbar’s name is seldom mentioned among the likes of Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost, or Carl Sandburg, but his poems were just as good. Maybe he would have achieved similar fame had he not contacted tuberculosis and died at the tender age of 33. But instead, it appears that God’s will for the life of Paul Laurence Dunbar was to leave a legacy of an unsung hero.
The definition of an unsung hero is a person who does great deeds but receives little recognition for them. American history is filled with people just like the Dunbars, who overcame unbelievable adversity and went on to make incredible contributions to society. Likewise, the Bible is filled with many unsung heroes, people whose names we don’t remember (and sometimes can’t pronounce), but whom God used to accomplish amazing feats for his kingdom. In Judges 10:1-5, we meet two of these unsung heroes: Tola and Jair.
Tola and Jair: Unsung Heroes
After Abimelech’s bloody and repugnant rule, Israel was in complete disarray. The fabric of their nation, which had once been so strong under the leadership of Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, had frayed under the leadership of Gideon and Abimelech. Instead of being God’s unified covenant people, they had become a group of loosely affiliated tribes who looked out for their own interests rather than the nation. (Doesn’t that bear a eerie resemblance to modern America?) Their constant sin and idolatry led them right to the brink of anarchy and civil war. At the end of the Abimelech story in Judges 9, we are left wondering what will happen to Israel. That is why it is so surprising to read about Tola and Jair, two unsung heroes who come out of nowhere and bring stability to the nation for the next 45 years.
After the long narratives about Ehud, Deborah, and Gideon, the stories of Tola and Jair, these so-called minor judges, are told with remarkable brevity. We learn that Tola was the son of Puah and the grandson of Dodo, none of whom are mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. We learn that he is from the tribe of Issachar, which on its own doesn’t bear any significance. We learn that he lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim, an obscure rural location that is still unknown to this day. And then we learn that he judged Israel for 23 years, died, and was buried in Shamir.
After Tola there arose another unsung hero named Jair. All that we know about him was that he was from Gilead, he had 30 sons, each of who rode on a donkey and managed a city. This detail provides a picture of Jair’s rule instituting peace and prosperity. He judged Israel for 22 years, died, and was buried in Kamon.
Even though we don’t know much about these men’s history or background, the narrator of Judges tells us just enough about them to help us realize that they are unsung heroes. After Abimelech’s brought chaos to Israel, both Tola and Jair arose from obscurity to restore stability to the nation. Even though their names aren’t immediately recognized, they led Israel through back to back periods of peace and prosperity for 45 years. We haven’t even had a period of peace like that in American history.
When I read this passage, I am thankful for the many unsung heroes that God has placed in my life—people whom God brought out of obscurity and has used to restore peace and prosperity to my life. I would like to tell you about two of them!
Paul Sykes and Mark Withrow were both in their mid-forties and were faithful members of the church I stumbled into when I was a teenager. Paul had been a burned out left over hippie from the early 1970’s when he put his faith in Jesus Christ. When I knew him he had been drug free for a long time, he was a faithful husband, a loving father, and he worked midnight shift as a maintenance/cleaning man for McDonald’s. Mark had been raised in the church and married a wonderful Christian woman, but because of biological complications, they couldn’t fulfill their dream of becoming parents. Mark worked as a school bus driver.
Neither or these men had come from wealthy backgrounds or prestigious places. They didn’t possess any advanced educational degrees or amazing abilities (although on one occasion, Paul did make 100 free throws in a row without missing). They had modest homes and enjoyed simple pleasures. And by the world’s standards, they did not even have successful occupations. But these two unsung heroes taught me how to be a disciple of Jesus—they taught me how to be a man of integrity—they taught me how to treat a woman—they taught me how to read the Bible—they taught me how to pray—and they taught me how to sacrifice for the benefit of others. These men served as unsung heroes by instilling peace and prosperity to my life. Their names will never be recorded in the great annals of American history, but when we get to heaven I believe their names will be right at the top of the Lamb’s Book of Life!
How about you? Has God placed any unsung heroes in your life? Has he ever given you someone who has helped you through a turbulent time or brought peace and prosperity to your chaos? Moreover, are you an unsung hero for anyone? Has God placed you in someone’s life to help them through some difficulty or hardship? Are you willing to serve and bless without seeking any recognition? Will you do great deeds even if there is no promise of notoriety?
As I conclude, I would just like to make one more observation from this text. In verse 1 it says “there arose to save.” Like the other judges, Tola and Jair were saviors or deliverers. But unlike the stories of the other judges, there is no foreign enemy, no corrupt king, nor any cruel commander mentioned? Who did Tola and Jair rise to deliver Israel from? Chapter nine already gave us the answer—they saved Israel from itself. Because of their sin and idolatry, God’s people needed a leader to save them from their own recklessness and strife. Had God, in his amazing grace and providence, not risen up these two unsung heroes, the people of Israel would have destroyed each other. Although he is not explicitly mentioned in this passage, God is the real unsung hero of the story!
And do you know what? The same thing is true for us today. We need an unsung hero to arise and save us from ourselves! We need a leader who can save us from our own recklessness and strife! We need a savior who can deliver us from our sin and idolatry! Thank God Almighty for giving us the greatest unsung hero of all—his own son Jesus Christ, who did the greatest deed when he sacrificed his life on the cross. We could never give him the full recognition he deserves for paying the penalty for our sins and giving us the hope of eternal life.
We should be thankful for all of the unsung heroes in the Bible and in our lives, but we must always remember that Jesus is the greatest unsung hero of all!