Judges 4:1-24
1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.
8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13 And Sisera gathered togethera all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
15 And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a manb left.
17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.c
19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and tookd an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered,e and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
DEBORAH AND BARAK
(vv.1-24)
Ehud evidently judged Israel during 80 years of peace, but after his death Israel again turned from the Lord's ways, doing evil in His sight. It is not said what evil, but their lapses apparently always involved worshiping the idols of the nations. On this occasion the Lord delivered Israel into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan (v. 2). Jabin's name means
"he will understand," for Canaanites ("traffickers") are keen to discern where they may make material gain, and religion is one of the most convenient ways for them. This enemy has too often afflicted the Church of God too. The commander of his army was Sisera, and Israel was under bondage to them for 20 years (v. 3) until they could no longer endure the cruel bondage they suffered. Material gain may be attractive to us at first, but it will soon involve us in things that cause the believer's conscience to trouble him enough to cry out for deliverance. This enemy was a formidable one, having 900 chariots of iron.
There was no man in Israel able to take the place of judge among them, so that a woman, Deborah, had taken this responsibility (v. 4). It was an abnormal state of affairs, but if men fail in their responsibility, God does not fail, and He will use a woman to accomplish His ends. Deborah's name means"the word," reminding us that it is by the word of God that our true deliverance comes. This is a fitting answer to the pride of human understanding and discernment, which have no basis in pure truth. Deborah was not a military leader (v. 5), but she sat in quiet retirement under a palm tree between Ramah (meaning "height") and Bethel ("the house of God"). Ramah would speak of her dwelling above the level of her surroundings, as we also ought to. Bethel reminds us that the house of God was an important matter to her, as indeed should be the case with every believer today. In such a place she was able to give good advice to those who came to her for judgment.
Through Deborah God gave a message that she communicated to Barak, the son of Abinoam (v. 6). Barak means"lightning," which is swift and effective, though Barak was not so "swift to hear" when Deborah told him that the Lord had commanded that he assemble 10,000 troops from Naphtali to attack Sisera, with the assurance that God would deliver Sisera into his hand. In spite of this being God's commandment, Barak told Deborah decidedly that he would obey only if Deborah went with him(v. 8). It is good that he felt his weakness, but it is not good that he should depend on a woman for strength, or indeed even to depend on man or anything else that he might think of as dependable. He should depend fully on God. No doubt he had faith in God, but his faith was weak.
However, Deborah agreed to go, but not without reproving his timidity, telling him that the glory of the victory would not be his, for she assured him "the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman" (v. 9). This was a true prophecy, though Deborah was not likely thinking of Jael (vv. 17-21) when she spoke this.
Since the Lord had given the command, He also moved the 10,000 men to respond to the call of Barak to arms (v. 10). At this point the report of verse 11 intervenes. Heber the Kenite (of the descendants of Moses' father-in-law) had separated himself from the Kenites, and was living now near Kadesh. The Kenites were not of the inhabitants of Canaan, though they were not Israelites, but Heber evidently decided in favor of identifying himself with Israel, no longer with the Kenites.
Sisera, hearing of the movement of Barak and his men, was well prepared with an army including 900 chariots of iron (vv. 12-13). But this was nothing to the God of Israel, and Deborah's faith was undaunted. Her words to Barak were firm and decided, telling him to act immediately, for this was the day the Lord had delivered Sisera into Barak's hand. "Has not the Lord gone out before you?" were words of strong encouragement to Barak (v. 14).
With the Lord going before, the victory was assured and decisive. Sisera, his chariots and all his army were totally routed (v. 15). Sisera himself left his chariot and fled on foot. He evidently escaped the observation of the Israelites, but otherwise "not a man was left of all the Canaanite army" (v.16).
Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, when soundly defeated by Israel, was able to escape alone, and to find the tent of Heber the Kenite(v. 17), whom he thought to be friendly to him because there was no conflict at that time between Heber and Jabin. When Sisera approached, Jael, the wife of Heber, met him with welcoming words (v. 18), inviting him into the tent, where she covered the weary man with a blanket. He asked for water to drink, and she gave him milk.
Then he instructed her to stand at the tent door while he slept, and to lie to anyone who might come to ask if any man was in the tent (v. 20). But she had no such intention. Instead, while he was asleep, she took a tent peg and a hammer and drove the peg through his temple so powerfully that the peg pierced into the ground below (v. 21). If her action had been with selfish motives, this would have been murder, but since Sisera was an oppressor of the people of God and it was a time of war, the Lord approved of her killing this enemy of God.
Barak and his army had missed Sisera and were looking for him after this.When Barak approached the tent of Heber, Jael came out to meet him (v. 22) and invited him into her tent to find the man he was looking for.Then Barak would realize the truth of Deborah's prophecy that the Lord would sell Sisera into the hands of a woman (v. 9).
Thus God subdued Jabin, king of Canaan that day (v. 32), and Israel was able to apply more and more pressure on him until he was destroyed. After this we read of no more military action of the Canaanites against Israel in the book of Judges.