“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 man left. 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 then Kenite. 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. 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. 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. Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took 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.”

– Judges 4:16-22, King James Version

Judges explains that Sisera was the captain of the host of king Jabin of Canaan. Sisera had 900 iron chariots, and mightily oppressed the children of Israel for 20 years (Judges 4:3). The prophetess, Deborah, was judge at that time, and she told Barak that Sisera and his army would fall into his hand. Barak, however, said he would only go if Deborah went with him (Judges 4:8). Deborah said she would go with, but told him “the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” (Judges 4:9)

Because Barak was too afraid to believe that God would deliver Sisera and his men into his hands, he would no longer get the role of killing the enemy. That, now, would go to a woman…Jael.

Barak and 10,000 men pursued Sisera and his men, and God’s hand was with them in the battle. Sisera and his men fled, with every one of his soldiers being killed by Barak and his men. Sisera, however, managed to escape to an ally. There was peace between Sisera’s king and the house of Heber the Kenite. The Kenites were a nomadic tribe – Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, was a Kenite (Judges 1:16). In the future, the Kenites would be absorbed into the tribe of Judah, but for now, Sisera seemed to have found refuge with a woman from a group of people who would not harm him.

Sisera was exhausted from running on foot from Barak and his men, so Jael gave him a blanket and some milk. She told him to rest, all would be well, she would be sure that no man would come in and harm him. Sisera believed her, and decided it would be a good time to take a nap. 

Once Sisera was sound asleep, she looked at the enemy of Israel. She grabbed the nearest weapon – a tent spike and a hammer. They were nomads, they used tent spikes all the time in their travels. She tiptoed over to the sleeping captain, and then hammered the spike through his temple into the ground. She, Jael, a Kenite, had killed the Cannanite king’s captain. 

Barak arrives, and Jael showed him the man he sought, and Barak saw that Sisera was indeed dead by her hand (Judges 4:22). God had subdued the Cannanite king before the Israelites, and they prevailed and destroyed Jabin, king of Cannan (Judges 4:23-24). 

In the next chapter of Judges, they sing about Jael and how she shall be blessed above women – how she was brave enough to kill Israelites enemy, bringing peace to the land for forty years (Judges 5:24-31). 

God told Barak he would be the one to kill Sisera and his men. Barak didn’t believe it. Can you really blame him, though? They had been tormented for twenty years by this man, and then suddenly God says you will be the one to defeat him? It seems unbelievable. Barak’s hesitation, however, took away the honor of killing Sisera. He still killed all of Sisera’s men, but the honor of killing the captain now went to a woman of a nomadic tribe who was at peace with the captain’s king. 

If you had been in Jael’s shoes, what would you have done? Your whole tribe was at peace with this man’s king, but yet he delivered himself to your door, and seemingly trusted that you wouldn’t bring him any harm – he ate your food and he slept in your home. Thoughts would have been racing through her head. An evil man was at rest in your home, and you had an opportunity to do something about it. You knew there was a battle being fought for Israel that this man had fled from. What would you do?

This is one of my favorite Bible passages. It shows that hesitation obeying God’s commands is not the most expedient thing, and also shows that if you have the opportunity to do the right thing, as difficult as that decision may be, you need to do it. While we will probably never have an enemy captain run into our home seeking refuge, we will have other situations and trials where we will have to make a difficult choice. Do we do the right thing, in difficult circumstances, as in Jael’s case – or do we accept the challenge on certain conditions, as in Barak’s case?

If you do not know 100% that you will be going to Heaven when you die, now is the time to repent and put your faith and trust in Christ Jesus. If you have any questions or doubts about your salvation, click here to read how to be saved.