(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 4:17–24, “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 the 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. And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.”
Sisera was hoping to escape from Barak in the confusion. He was a respected general and knew that he would be able to rebuild his life if he could return to his own people. However, as he travelled he came past a nomad’s tent. He was tired from the battle and needed to rest and refresh himself before he did anything else. He noticed that the tent belonged to a Kenite. Moses’ father in law was a Kenite so he though that the people who owned this tent would be his allies. (Judg 1:16, “And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.”) Moses’ in laws were desert people and this would have given Sisera some hope that he would find friends and shelter. However, the Kenites were allied to Israel through marriage so their primary loyalty lay with Israel. Jael was the woman of that nomadic family and pretended to help Sisera. She treated him kindly and made him feel secure. When he was asleep, she killed him in the name of the Lord because his people had oppressed Israel and she accepted the right of a relative to seek revenge. The Lord called Deborah, the judge of Israel, to obey Him and defeat their enemies. Deborah obeyed the Lord and Israel was saved from this oppression.
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