Under Gods Command
Deborah and Barak
Judges 4:6-23
Judges 4:6-8 She (Deborah) sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you; Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.” Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
Judges 4:9-10 “Very well,” Deborah said, “I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, Where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
Judges 4:11 Now Heber the Kenites had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.
Judges 4:12-23 When they told Sisera that Arak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, form Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River. Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men. At Barak’s advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left. Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin King of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him. “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him drink, and covered him up. “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her, “If someone comes by and asks you, is anyone here? Say No.” But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.
Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple-dead. On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite King, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite King, until they destroyed him.
Sisera couldn’t have been more pleased when Jael offered him her tent as a hiding place. First, because Jael was the wife of Heber, a man friendly to Sisera’s forces, he thought she could be trusted. Second, because men were never allowed to enter a woman’s tent, no one would think to look for Sisera there. Even though her husband, Heber, apparently sided with Sisera’s forces, Jael certainly did not. Because women of that day were in charge of pithing the tents, Jael had no problem driving the tent peg into Sisera’s head while he slept. Deborah’s prediction was thus fulfilled; the honor of conquering Sisera went to a brave and resourceful woman.
Very Important piece here: Heber was Jael’s husband (4:17). He was from the Kenite tribe, descendants of Moses father-in-law, and longtime allies of Israel. But for some reason, Heber decided to remain neutral in this war, maybe because Jabin’s army appeared to have the military advantage. It was probably Heber who told Sisera that the Israelites were camped near Mount Tabor. Although Heber threw in his lot with Jabin and his forces, his wife, Jael, did not.
