Deborah and Jael: Descendants of Rachel

Deborah and Jael: Descendants of Rachel

By Reverend Lonnie C. Crowe

Woman complements man.  Therefore, man must complement woman.  If it is not good for man to be alone, it is not good for woman to be alone. Together, we manifest the image of God.

Judges 4:4.  Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

Wow!  Deborah was both a judge and a prophet.  She demonstrated both authority and wisdom.

Judges 4:5.  And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

More wow!  Because of her wisdom, people traveled to her. 

Judges 5:6-7

⁶    “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,

    In the days of Jael,

    The highways were deserted,

    And the travelers walked along the byways.

⁷    Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel,

    Until I, Deborah, arose,

    Arose a MOTHER IN ISRAEL.

Genesis 3:20  And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Mother is translated from:

Chavvah: life-giver.

A judge, a prophet and a mother, a life-giver to her people.

Judges 4:1-3

¹When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. ²So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. ³And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.

Eduh:  unity

Israel:  those who have power or favor with God

Jabin:  worldly philosophy

Canaan:  humiliation;  shame

Sisera:  servant of Ra (False Religion)

Harosheth: silence, deafness

Hagoyim: Land of the gentiles, unbelievers

Judges 4:1-3

¹When UNITY was dead, the children of THOSE WHO HAD FAVOR WITH GOD again did evil in the sight of the Lord. ²So the Lord sold them into the hand of WORLDLY PHILOSOPHY, king of SHAME, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was THE SERVANT OF RA (FALSE RELIGION), who dwelt in DEAFNESS among UNBELIEVERS. ³And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.

Judges 4:4-5

⁴Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 

Deborah:  bee

A bee is:

 --busy doing what she has been called to do

--bringing forth a double portion of life

Lapidoth:  torches; fiery

Ramah:  a lofty place (a higher purpose)

Bethel:  the house of God

Ephraim:  double fruitfulness

Judges 4:4-5

⁴Now the ONE WHO BUSILY BRINGS FORTH A DOUBLE PORTION OF LIFE, a prophetess, the wife of FIRE AND LIGHT, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between a HIGHER SENSE OF PURPOSE and the HOUSE OF GOD in the mountains of DOUBLE FRUITFULNESS. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 

Judges 4:6-7 (Barak is a descendent of Naphtali, a son of Leah.0

Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam  from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him:

“Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; ⁷and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hands.

Judges 4:8

⁸And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”

Apparently, Barak was aware that woman complements man.  Also, we see unity in that the descendants of Leah and Rachel are coming together to defeat the enemy.

Judges 4:9

⁹So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 

“Nevertheless” does not mean that Barak will not receive the glory because he asked a woman to accompany him. “Nevertheless” means that whether or not Deborah goes, the glory will go to a woman.

Barak was not in the battle for the glory.  He was in the battle to win.  He needed a ezer kenedgo, a helper, in order to win.

Judges 4:10

¹⁰And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men under his command, and Deborah went up with him.

Judges 4:13

 ¹³So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.

Judges 4:14-15

¹⁴Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

Judges 4:15.  And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. Because her husband had made an alliance with the Canaanites, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael.

Judges 4:16

¹⁶But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.

Because her husband had made an alliance with the Canaanites, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael. Jael’s husband was Heber the Kenite.  The Kenites were nomadic Canaanites who were skilled workers in iron.  Apparently, Heber had helped to forge the iron chariots of Sisera.

And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear." And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket.
    “Then he said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty." So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him.  And he said to her, "Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' you shall say, 'No.' "
    Judges 4:17-20 (NKJV

“Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.” Judges 4:21 NIV

Jael’s name means “mountain goat”.  She represents those who have not been “tamed” by the religious or political system. 

She may have ignored the taunts of those who said, “You can’t do that.  You’re just a girl. You can’t do things that way.”

Jael knew who she was and what she had in the Lord.  She understood the power in the gifts that God had given her.  She knew that He had more than adequately equipped her for the mission. 

Jael may not have been skilled in the strategies of warfare nor the nuances of sword fighting, but she knew how to drive a tent peg.  Her husband had made an alliance with the enemy, but she had not.  Using what the Lord had given her, she struck a blow for truth and justice.

As the wife of a nomadic blacksmith, Jael had had much practice in driving a tent peg. 

She also had a superior quality tent peg to drive.  Remember the Kenites were skilled iron workers.

She knew how to use her resources.

 Jael’s husband had put his family in jeopardy by making an alliance with the enemy.   He was not fulfilling his duty of godly dominion over his wife.  His dominion required him to protect her. 

God sold Sisera into the hand of a woman.

Judges 5:24.  "Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed is she among women in tents.

Proverbs 31:27.  She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

 28.  Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

 29.  "Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.''

 30.  Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

 31.  Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.