JUDGES 4:12-24
New International Version (NIV)
RECAP: The
story has four episodes:
Deborah is 'bee' in Hebrew. It also means 'spirited or fiery woman'. When attacked, Deborah could sting
like a bee.
Barak means 'lightning' - perhaps an ironic pun on Barak’s
reluctance to go to battle, and the terrible storm that God sent to help him.
Sisera is not a Semitic name. He may have been
one of the Sea Peoples, skilled in military matters and feared wherever they
went.
Jael means 'wild gazelle' or 'wild goat', a suitable name for a woman from a
nomadic tribe.
1.
Deborah, a judge of Israel, summoned Barak (Judges 4:1-11, 5:1-18).
Deborah was a prophetess, a speaker of wisdom, but when war came she led the
out-numbered and badly-equipped Israelite troops to a great victory. It was a
David and Goliath situation. She chose the most able military general and told
him what he must do.
2. The battle, then Sisera fled (Judges
4:12-16, 5: 19-23).
Deborah
tricked the over-confident enemy into driving their iron-wheeled chariots onto
marshy land where they were bogged down. Then the Israelite slingsmen and
archers picked them off one by one. The enemy forces were routed, their troops
slaughtered, and the Israelites were jubilant. Sisera, the enemy general, fled
from the battlefield towards the encampment of Jael the Kenite.A Sumerian
chariot from the Royal Standard of Ur; with protective shields for the driver,
heavy wheels and battle equipment, the chariot was extremely heavy
3.
Jael met Sisera and killed him (Judges 4:17-24, 5:24-27).
Another
woman, Jael, used a tent peg and mallet to kill the unwary enemy general,
Sisera. She called Sisera into her tent, hid him and fed him. After he fell
into exhausted sleep she drove a tent peg through the side of his head. She was
hailed as a national heroine by the pursuing Israelite forces led by Deborah
and Barak.
4.
The mother of Sisera (Judge 5:28-30). Sisera’s mother and her attendants waited for
her son to return. But as the reader knows, he was already dead by Jael’s hand.
RESUME: Judges 4:17 states that
there was peace between the Canaanites and Heber's clan. They were
familiar to the Israelites through the connection of Jethro to Moses, and their
skill as metalworkers was welcomed wherever they camped.
Both sides in the conflict would have considered the Kenites a
neutral party. C.E. Schenk notes that Sisera was Jael's guest,
"was in the sanctuary of her home, and
protected by the laws of hospitality." According to Herbert
Lockyer, she may have acted out of practical necessity. Sisera was in flight
and Barak in pursuit. It would not have been wise to allow Barak to find Sisera
in her tent. She also knew that Sisera would be killed if captured, therefore
she would kill him and thus cement a friendship with the victor. Biblical commentaries
have viewed Jael as either a heroine or someone much less so. Some consider her
to be a survivor caught up in her husband's politics.
The Murder Of Sisera, One Of
The Major Villains Of The Old Testament
Now Jael took a stake in her left hand and approached him, saying, "If God will work this sign with me, I know that Sisera will fall into my hands. Behold I will throw him down on the ground from the bed on which he sleeps; and if he does not feel it, I know that he has been handed over." And Jael took Sisera and pushed him onto the ground from the bed. But he did not feel it, because he was very groggy.
And Jael said, "Strengthen in me today, Lord, my arm on
account of you and your people and those who hope in you." And Jael
took the stake and put it on his temple and struck it with a hammer.
And
while he was dying, Sisera said to Jael, "Behold pain has taken hold of
me, Jael, and I die like a woman."
And
Jael said to him, "Go, boast before your father in hell and tell him
that you have fallen into the hands of a woman."
WHAT LESSONS CAN WE LEARN FROM DEBORAH AND BARAK?
A REFLECTION ABOUT HOPE IN GOD
Trust
in God.
The Israelites put their complete faith in Yahweh. In return, Yahweh helped
them defeat a seemingly invincible enemy and gain valuable territory. This
battle, and their unlikely victory over a superior army, gave the Israelite
tribes their first access to the fertile and prosperous plain of
Esdraelon/Jezreel.
Right
can defeat might. Jael's story is similar to the story of David and Goliath. Though
she was a weak woman, Jael triumphed over a seemingly invincible warrior,
Sisera.
Note: Apart from Deborah, the Judges were hardly role models:
·
Jephthah sacrificed his daughter (Judges
11:29-40)
·
Samson consorted with a prostitute (Judges
16:1)
·
Gideon agreed to the making of a pagan cult
object that the Bible calls an 'ephod', but which is clearly different from the
breastplate (also called an ephod) worn by priests later in Israel's history,
and seems to have been used for seeking oracles (Judges 8:22-28), etc.
Deborah stands out for her wisdom,
courage and faith.
Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/President/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre
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