“However, Sisra ran on foot to the tent of Ya‘el the wife of Hever the Keini, because there was peace between Yavin the king of Hatzor and the family of Hever the Keini. Ya‘el went out to meet Sisra and said to him, ‘Come in, my lord; stay here with me; and don’t be afraid.’ So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.”-Judges 4:17-18
When Yael encountered the fleeing Sisra, it was obvious to her he was running for his life.
That’s why she welcomed him by saying “Come in, my lord; stay here with me; and don’t be afraid”.
As I talked about yesterday, Sisera assumed he would be taken in with warm hospitality.
And indeed he was.
For Yael offered even more than what Sisra had asked for.
He asked for a place to rest and was offered a comfortable place to lie down in her own tent with a blanket to boot.
He asked for water and instead was offered milk.
Warm milk was considered quite a treat in those days since it was considered to have a calm and soothing effect that would bring on drowsiness.
And of course there was no such thing as cold milk since refrigerators didn’t even exist.
There were many reasons why Sisra felt as safe as a bug in a rug.
I already mentioned the Bedouin code of hospitality that dictated nomadic dwellers lay down even their lives if necessary to protect their guests.
But not only that, even if a male Hebrew soldier showed up looking for Sisra and was told no one was in the tent, the modesty rules of the time dictated he not doubt any answer given to him.
It would’ve been considered quite rude and ungentlemanly to force himself into Yael’s dwelling place to see if she was lying or not.
So feeling safe and secure, Sisra lies down, Yael covers him with a blanket and he dozes off.
Now here’s where things take an unexpected turn.
Yael picks up a tent peg and a hammer and makes her way back into the tent where Sisra was now in a deep sleep.
What happened next is quite graphic.
The Scripture tells us Yael “drove the tent peg into his temple, right through to the ground; so that he died without waking up”.
Incredible!
This woman Yael had both the courage and strength to drive a long nail right through the skull and brain of an enemy general.
Obviously, Sisra would have died instantly.
Alright, I know some folks will find it farfetched that a woman would even have physical strength to do such a thing.
Well, here’s a little historical fact that will put such doubts to rest.
Guess what job the females were responsible for among the Bedouins?
Setting up the tents, that’s what.
My point is these nomadic ladies were bonafide experts in taking long and sharpened wooden stakes and hammering them firmly into the ground.
They probably had hell-a strong forearms as well.
Imagine trying to arm wrestle one of these ladies.
So penetrating Sisra’s head with one of the tent pegs was easy peasy for Yael.
And there you have it folks.
Devorah’s prophecy that Sisera would be handed over to woman came about in the most unexpected and literal way.
Obviously, Yael wasn’t cool with her husband siding with the Canaanites.
When Barak who had been chasing after Sisera arrived at the village of Hever, Yael ran out to meet him and brought him to her tent to show him the now dead Sisera.
This corpse of Sisera represented the final and complete victory.
But unfortunately, for poor Barak, this was a victory he could not take credit for because of the doubt he expressed when Devorah first gave him the Lord’s instructions.
Keep that in mind the next time you’re presented with a mission from God.
It’s not gonna seem easy.
It may even seem impossible.
And you may ask for conditions of reassurance like Barak did when he asked Devorah to accompany him to the battlefield.
Sure, God may meet your request but since it stemmed from lack of faith, there will always be a price to pay for not having a full and complete faith in the Lord’s promises.
Onward.
I love how Chapter 4 ends.
“Thus God on that day defeated Yavin the king of Kena‘an in the presence of the people of Israel. The hand of the people of Isra’el came down more and more heavily against Yavin the king of Kena‘an, until they had completely destroyed Yavin the king of Kena‘an.”
Indeed, the Lord we worship is a warrior!
He’s not some maple syrupy figure who only turns the other cheek and would never hurt a fly.
This battle was the decisive victory that broke the enemy’s back in the north of Canaan.
Soon after Yavin King of Hatzor’s power faded away to almost nothing.
However, this battle by no means represented the complete destruction of the Canaanites.
Only those Canaanites who had allied themselves with Hatzor.
The story of the Judges continues!
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN JUDGES CHAPTER FIVE
I Love your teaching above; I was commenting on Judges 4-8 yesterday on two occasions but have not seen my posts. I called it Women’s Power and highlighted exactly what you just did in this post. It would be helpful, if you just sent both long posts to my email address. I would really appreciate it if you sent both comments back to me. The posts tied in with Mount Tabor & my experience in the HOLY LAND during the Feast of Tabernacle 2015. Thanks so much for accommodating me on this otherwise I feel I wasted all that time writing my comments and losing all the info. Time is precious and cannot be recuperated. Again thanks for your wonderful teaching. I love this one for sure; you are correct : one must have the faith of a child and believe without seeing nor understanding GOD’S PLAN. Pure innocence moves GOD’S HAND. SHALOM to you !
Just emailed you.