Yesterday we told you the story of Deborah, judge, warrior & prophetess who defeated Sisera. The story of Sisera did not end with the battle where his forces were defeated, however. Like the coward he was, he ran.
Jael lived in the settlement Heber & it was to here that Sisera fled. Jael welcomed him in seeming hospitality, giving him milk “in a lordly dish” & making him comfortable. But wise Jael knew who he really was.
Of course Sisera was weary after the long battle & soon fell asleep. Jael found a mallet & a tent peg & quietly approached the sleeping man. She drove the tent peg into his temple with such force that it skewered him to the ground, & God gave the victory to Israel.
From Judges 5:23-27 describes the bravery of Jael:
“Extolled above women be Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite,
Extolled above women in the tent.
He asked for water, she gave him milk;
She brought him cream in a lordly dish.
She stretched forth her hand to the nail,
Her right hand to the workman’s hammer,
And she smote Sisera; she crushed his head,
She crashed through and transfixed his temples.
At her feet he curled himself, he fell, he lay still;
At her feet he curled himself, he fell;
And where he curled himself, let it be, there he fell dead.”
Interestingly, the story of Jael is not only found in the bible, but also in the book Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum.
