A Woman got the glory

  

Judges 4:17-24

 

But Sisera fled away on foot 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.   And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So, he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.   And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So, she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink, and covered him.   And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”   But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness.  So, he died.   And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So, he went into her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

 So, on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel.   And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

 

As you recall, I use an old Paul Harvey line “The rest of the story” the above, is it.   Put what is our takeaway from the tent peg lady?  What it is not, is that you cannot trust a person living in a tent, for in all the recorded history in the Bible this is the only account of a woman driving a tent peg through a person's head while they were sleeping.  It's not that people who live in tents are bad people, for this lady was no different than Barak, she must have heard a word from the Lord, and unlike Barak, she obeys that voice.  Now that's just my opinion, but it seems clear that what Deborah had told Barak, that he would not receive glory from the victory over Sisera, but a woman would.  At first, I thought she was talking about herself, but as you have read it was Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.  Barak was not willing to trust God, he needed Deborah to go with him, and that was his terms, but it was not obedience.  

 

How often do you and I want God plus, and we will always miss the blessing that would have been ours if only God's word was obeyed?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice