“Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent." (Judges 5:24)
Message: The Glory of Jael
Time: Judges covers about 250 years from death of Joshua to birth of Samuel (1360-1110 BC). The people of Israel largely divided with different local triable judges. It was a period of stirring interventions by the Lord and also great disobedience on the part of the Israelites. Without a king, everyone did right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25).
What the Lord is Saying: Once again, the previous lesson started with the House of Israel falling away from the Lord. God uses an earthly king to discipline His people and then rises up Deborah who gets with Barak to pull these people back to the Lord, first killing off that earthly king. His work is done. Now he must die. Harsh. In addition to King Jabin, Sisera is mentioned, the commander of Jabin's army (v. 7). After Barak routed Sisera and his arm, Sisera flees away on foot (v. 16) and ends up at Jael's tent. Women had separate tents at this time from men. Perhaps Sisera thought this a safe place to retreat. Jael was the wife of Heber who at that time had peace with Jabin (v. 17-18). Jael agrees to keep him safe; he requests water and she gave him milk. He asks her to not let anyone know he is there. Verse 21 though is alarming - as Jael takes a tent peg and drove it into his temple and it went all the way through to the ground. Jael shows this to Barak. So it seems that Jael had a confidence in God, ready to betray Jabin and Sisera. This ends chapter 4.
I saw the previous lesson the beginning of a prayer by Deborah and Barak. Chapter seems to be a summary of what has transpired by the Lord through Deborah and Barak. Verses 24-31 mention the work of Jael, with the idea she was moved by the Lord in carrying this out. Verse 31 says, "Thus let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord; but let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might." I see here two ideas - 1) The Lord takes care of His people and will take care of perishing enemies. 2) There are enemies that parish.
Summary: God worked through Jael to destroy an enemy of the Lord.
Promise: God can use ordinary, common skills to accomplish incredible victories.
Prayer: Sometimes these lessons are hard to read and understand, but thank you for the hard and challenging to understand passages like these Lord and helping me to understand them. The message is simple - God protects those He calls and enemies will perish. Thank you for calling Your people to yourself. I pray more to be called.
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