Women of the Bible Lesson 3 Jael: A Story of Courage Part 1

Today we will begin by looking at a woman in scripture whose story is usually painted in a negative light.  I will lay a foundation, and then over the next three weeks we are going to look deeper into the lessons her life and actions can teach us. Jael murdered a man in cold blood.  As we read about her in Judges 4, we will find a graphic depiction of what appears to be deceit and betrayal.  However, I want us to look at her story from a new perspective.   

Jael lived during a period in history that was wrought with wars and the daily struggle for survival. As the wife of a Bedouin, Jael was no stranger to hard work. Her family’s survival depended upon the availability of buyers for their metal smithed goods.  The Bedouin people traveled from place to place, packing up their tents and belongings on a regular basis.  Jael would have been responsible for sewing, pitching and setting up her own tent as well as taking it down and packing it for their next move.    

Jael was also a Kenite, who were descendants of the Midianites.  The Midianites were descendants of Abraham’s son, Midian, who was the fourth son of his wife Keturah, who he married after the death of Sarah.i  As a Kenite, she would have been intimately acquainted with the details of Abraham’s life and would have known her cousins, the Israelites, on at least a basic level.   

At this time in her life, Israel was at war with the Canaanites.  King Jabin sent Sisera, the commander of his troops out to battle against Israel.  Jael’s husband, Heber, was at peace with King Jabin and the Canaanites.  Jael’s family had made their camp near the battlefield. They were probably making weapons for the Canaanite army, however, as relatives of Israel, Jael was not unsympathetic to their situation.   

Judges 4:15-20, When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot. Then Barak chased the chariots and the enemy army all the way to Harosheth-haggoyim, killing all of Sisera’s warriors. Not a single one was left alive. 

Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber’s family was on friendly terms with King Jabin of Hazor. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come into my tent, sir. Come in. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 

“Please give me some water,” he said. “I’m thirsty.” So she gave him some milk from a leather bag and covered him again. 

“Stand at the door of the tent,” he told her. “If anybody comes and asks you if there is anyone here, say no.” (NLT) 

Having Heber’s family camped near the battle gave Sisera’s army easy access to weapons and afforded him, what he thought was a safe place to rest and hide from Barak the leader of Israel’s army.  What Sisera had not counted on was one courageous woman, who identified him as the enemy and took the opportunity given to her to put an end to his reign of terror in the lives of her relatives. 

Judges 4:21, But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died. (NLT) 

Jael, seeing the opportunity to rid Israel of their enemy, used the tools with which she was skilled and comfortable and drove a tent peg into Sisera’s head, killing him.   

Judges 4:22-24, When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. She said, “Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying there dead, with the tent peg through his temple. 

So on that day Israel saw God defeat Jabin, the Canaanite king. And from that time on Israel became stronger and stronger against King Jabin until they finally destroyed him. (NLT) 

While her methods may be questionable, Jael’s defeat of Sisera was prophesied by Deborah before the battle began.  Judges 4:9, “Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the Lord’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.” (NLT) 

Following are three lessons we can learn from Jael’s courageous act.  

First, know who the enemy is. Jael identified Sisera as the enemy.  Today, we often hear about church splits, Christian couples getting divorced, children rebelling against their parents, friends turning on each other, etc.  In each of these cases many of the relationships could be saved if the parties involved were able to identify the true enemy.     

Ephesians 6:12, For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (NLT) 

As we read here, our enemy is not one another, it is the demonic forces of Satan.  Fighting against each other will never win the war!  When we are tempted to “shoot” at any flesh and blood person, we need to stop and ask the Father to reveal the true enemy.   

Second, use the weapons at your disposal.  Jael used a tent peg and a hammer.  In 2 Corinthians 10:3–6 Paul tells us, We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. (NLT) 

We have many weapons in our arsenal to use against the enemy. Today I will just list them. Next week in part two of this lesson we will dive into each piece of armor and each weapon to see what they are and how to use them. 

Every soldier knows that having their armor on and in good condition is the first step to winning the battle. We are not different, Ephesians 6: 14-18 gives us a list of the armor we have been provided by through the Holy Spirit. “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (NLT) We must begin every battle with this armor fully intact.   

Once we have our armor in place, we can begin to use our weapons.  Just a note: two of our weapons are also parts of our armor. Our weapons are the Word, Prayer, Worship, the Name of Jesus, Fasting, Our Testimony, and Thanksgiving.  

Finally, don’t let the enemy escape. After Sisera had fallen asleep, Jael could have summoned Barak to come capture him, however, Sisera could have awakened at any moment and escaped.  Jael took the opportunity afforded her by his nap to prevent his escape and to stop him from further acts of aggression against the Israelites or any other nation.  When we are faced with an enemy (sin, temptation, negative attitude, etc.), we too must put it to death!  We cannot allow our enemy to have any foothold in our lives.   

We, like Jael, must stop sin in its tracks.  Allowing the enemy to live will only endanger others and ourselves in the future.  Be assured of this, the enemy may flee, but unless he is dead, he will return in the future.   

Jael’s story, while it might have been unorthodox in the execution, is one of courage.  Her life and actions set an example that we need to follow in order vanquish the enemy of our souls.  We must identify the enemy, use the weapons at our disposal, and not allow the enemy to escape!   

Works Cited: 

i https://theisraelbible.com/who-were-the-midianites/