“Every man did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6b)
During the times of the Judges in the Old Testament, God’s people were struggling to be obedient to Him. The book of Judges recounts for us the cyclical nature of Israel’s history during this time. For some years, the people would follow God, and would enjoy His blessing of peace. At some point, they would sin by beginning to follow other gods. God would bring judgment against them, usually in the form of a foreign enemy that would conquer them. After much misery at the hands of these cruel oppressors, the Israelites would cry out to God for relief. He would have mercy on them and raise up a rescuer, a Judge, who would lead them against their enemies. God would help them to be victorious and they would have peace again for many years. But then, they would sin, and the cycle would start again.

Our story takes place during one such cycle. “Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera.” (Judges 4:1,2)

God would have mercy on His people again, but in a unique way. The other recorded Judges were men. But now, God raised up a remarkable woman – Deborah, who was also a prophetess. I will tell more of her story sometime in the future. We shall focus now on another courageous, but little remembered woman in that story – Jael.

The commander of the Israelite army, Barak, engaged King Jabin’s troops in a battle. Barak wiped out all of the enemies except the general, Sisera, who escaped on foot.

Sisera fled to the tent of our heroine, Jael. Her husband, Heber, a Kenite, had made a pact with Jabin, and so Sisera expected to be safe in her tent.

As Sisera came running in her direction, Jael beckoned him to come into her tent. She covered him with a rug to hide him. He then asked her for a drink of water. He was very tired and thirsty after the battle. Instead, she gave him a drink of milk and covered him up again. Sisera asked her to keep watch and tell anyone who might come by asking after him that he was not there.  He fell sound asleep, exhausted.

“But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground….So he died.” (Judges 4:21)  God had defeated Israel’s enemies by delivering their leader into the hand of a woman as Deborah the prophetess had foretold.

God used a courageous woman to help to defeat Israel’s enemy. Why did He choose this particular woman? What was so special about her and her act of bravery?

Some say that what she did was not courageous. They say that she heard from someone passing by that King Jabin’s army had been defeated and that Sisera was on the run. they assert that She just wanted to join the winning side and thought she could be the heroine if she betrayed Sisera. They say that she used a cowardly trick to dispatch him from this life. The Scriptures tell us otherwise.

In reality, Jael knew she would face approbation from her husband and her husband’s family for her treatment of Sisera. She knew that she had violated the very strict laws of hospitality that were followed in those days. She also knew that she could face the possibility of being put to death for assassination. The Kenites were supposed to be neutral in this war. Her act would have been seen as betrayal by her people. And, she took a very real risk of having to defend herself against a mighty warrior if he should awaken before she was able to complete his execution.

And so I believe that she was courageous and she feared God rather than men. There was a line that she would not cross. Her life was in danger, but she chose to do what was right. The Scriptures tell us that she was blessed for what she did. Deborah made a song of that great victory over God’s enemies and proclaimed, “Most blessed of women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.’ (Judges 5:24).

I believe that Jael had faith in God, and this is why she chose to follow Him no matter what. It is my prayer that this story of strength and courage from God displayed in Jael will enable you to follow Him when you have hard choices to make.