Devotional For Women

Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. May she be blessed above all women who live in tents.

Judges 5:24, NLT

Wars often invade homes, and battles are usually fought in someone's backyard. The differences between soldiers and civilians are not always clear. Allegiances shift. Sometimes people in the same family choose opposite sides of a war to support. When Israel declared war with Canaan, Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses' father-in-law, was on "friendly terms" (Judges 4:17) with the Canaanites. But apparently his wife Jael wasn't so sure. During the decisive battle of the war, Sisera, the Canaanite commander, abandoned his post and fled for his life. He sought refuge in Heber's camp, and Jael invited him into her tent. He let down his guard and went to sleep, trusting Jael to keep watch. Instead, she drove a tent peg through his temple and killed him. When Barak, the leader of Israel's forces, came looking for Sisera, Jael presented him with the body. Jael's actions were probably not premeditated. She could not have known beforehand that Sisera would run to their camp. She was faced with a terrible dilemma--Sisera and his army were supposed to be her protectors, not the reverse. Sisera's presence put her family at risk. Killing Sisera was probably the best plan she could think of to ensure the safety of her people from the conquering forces of Israel. If so, the plan worked, because Deborah commemorated Jael's action as a hero, ridding Israel of a ruthless oppressor. The Bible includes Jael's story as an illustration of one way God accomplishes his will even when the primary actors don't cooperate. Barak hesitated in trusting God, and therefore his triumph was partial (Judges 4:9). When we fail to obey, others are sometimes placed in harm's way. Jael serves as an example of desperate courage, but the central lesson in these events is the need for decisive trust in God. Others may not follow through with their duties and roles before God. They can't be our excuse. We must respond as well as we can to the opportunities God places before us.