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Let me turn in your Bibles to 
Judges chapter 4. Judges chapter 4, we stopped 
at a particular break in 1 Timothy. At the end of chapter 4, it starts 
a new section, new theme in chapter 5. It'll be a few weeks before 
we're back in 1 Timothy. So instead of introducing that 
section now and then coming back to it in several weeks, I thought 
we'd just get to it when we get to it tonight we're gonna look 
at the deliverance of Israel by Barak particular judge in 
view in Judges chapter 4. My apologies to the Wednesday 
night crew. You will certainly hear it again. 
Hopefully it will be a helpful reminder of just what a glorious 
and gracious God we serve. Because that ultimately is the 
theme of the book of Judges. I fear at times people are afraid 
to read Judges because there's a lot of warfare, there's a lot 
of bloodshed. In fact, in this very chapter 
there's an interesting way by which an enemy is dispatched. However, the constant and recurring 
theme is the amazing grace of God. The Lord raises up deliverers 
to free his people from oppression. Certainly a New Covenant concept 
and theme as well. Each of these earthly judges 
serve at least in a sense to typify the coming judge, the 
coming deliverer, the coming redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
I just want to begin reading in Judges chapter 4 at verse 
1. When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the 
sight of the Lord. So 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 Herashef, Hagoyim. And the 
children of Israel cried out to the Lord, for Jabin had 900 
chariots of iron, and for 20 years he had harshly oppressed 
the children of Israel. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the 
wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 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. 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. And 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 hand. And Beric 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. So 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. And Deborah arose 
and went with Barak to Kedesh, and Barak called Zebulun and 
Naphtali to Kedesh. He went up with ten thousand 
men under his command, and Deborah went up with him. Now Heber, 
the Kenite of the children of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, 
had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent 
near the terebinth tree at Za'aneim, which is beside Kedesh. And they 
reported to Sisera that Beric, the son of Abinoam, had gone 
up to Mount Tabor. So Sisera gathered together all 
his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who 
were with him, from Herasheth, Hagoyim, to the river Kishon. 
Then Deborah said to Beric, 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 10,000 men following him. 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. But Beric pursued the chariot 
and the army as far as Eresheth, Hagoyim, and all the army of 
Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. Not a man was left. However, Sisera had fled away 
on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber, the Kenite. 
For there was peace between Jabin, king of Azor, and the house of 
Heber, the Kenite. 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. 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. And then as Barak pursued Sisera, 
Jael came out to meet him and said to him, Come, I will show 
you the man whom you seek. And when he went into her tent, 
there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple. So on that 
day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the 
children of Israel. And the hand of the children 
of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, 
until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. Just skip to 
chapter 5, we'll pick up at verse 24. Most blessed among women 
is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. Blessed is she among 
women in tents. He asked for water, she gave 
milk. She brought out cream in a lordly 
bowl. She stretched her hand to the tent peg, her right hand 
to the workman's hammer. She pounded Sisera. She pierced 
his head. She split and struck through 
his temple. At her feet he sank. He fell. 
He lay still. At her feet he sank. He fell. 
Where he sank, there he fell, dead. The mother of Sisera looked 
through the window and cried out through the lattice, why 
is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarries the clatter of his 
chariots? Her wisest ladies answered her. 
Yes, she answered herself. Are they not finding and dividing 
the spoil to every man a girl or two? For Sisera, plunder of 
dyed garments, plunder of garments embroidered and dyed, two pieces 
of dyed embroidery for the neck of the looter. Thus let all your 
enemies perish, O Lord, but let those who love him be like the 
sun when it comes out in full strength. So the land at rest 
for forty years. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in Heaven, we thank You for Your Word and we pray now 
for the ministry of Your Spirit. We pray that You would guide 
us and lead us and illumine our minds and our hearts. We thank 
You that You have established Your Kingdom and we pray that 
it would come in power and in strength, that more and more 
people would be subdued under your reign, under your feet. 
And we pray that the gospel would be proclaimed throughout the 
earth, that multitudes would come to know Jesus Christ as 
Lord and Savior, and that He would, in fact, have dominion 
from sea to sea. How we thank you for your amazing 
grace, how we thank you for your power and your justice, how we 
thank you for those things the Bible tells us concerning who 
you are, concerning what you do. Fill our hearts now, we pray, 
in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Well, as we look at this 
particular chapter in Judges, we'll see that it fits a recurring 
cycle or theme in the book of Judges as a whole. Basically, 
what happens is that the people sin against God, God then raises 
up an oppressor to bring judgment to bear upon the sinning Israelites, 
they then cry out to Him, not in repentance, but rather because 
of distress, And God, in His grace and in His mercy, then 
sends deliverance to them via a human agent. In this case, 
specifically Barak, though he does have a little help from 
Jael. As well, what we find in this 
book of Judges is not only amazing grace of God, but the increasing 
canonization of the people of Israel. Remember that they were 
to go into the land of Canaan. They were to dispossess the land 
of Canaan. They were to drive out all the 
inhabitants. Instead, what happens, they go 
into the land of Canaan and they then take on the characteristics 
of Canaanites. They worship Baal. They worship 
Ashtoreth. We see a continuing declension 
in the life and history of Israel. So while it is, in a sense, cyclical, 
there is a downward spiral and a downward tendency within the 
nation as well. And so that then necessitates 
of course the promise of the Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
in the covenant community of Israel. We'll look at this section 
under three considerations. First, the sin of Israel. Secondly, 
the Deliverer raised up by God. And then thirdly, the victory 
of Israel described. Note first the sin, verse 1 of 
chapter 4. Has it ever been the case, children, 
when you, because your parents are close by, have been especially 
obedient. And as soon as your parents are 
out of sight and out of mind, I don't want to suppose this, 
I don't want to assume this, but has your obedience fallen 
away a little bit? In other words, when mom or dad 
are there, you toe the line. When mom or dad is present, you 
really shape up. But as soon as mom or dad leave, 
well then I can just be the lazy slob that I want to be. Or hopefully 
it's not this way in your workplace. When the boss is around, you 
look busy. When the boss is around, you're 
shuffling papers. hammering nails. But as soon 
as the boss goes away, you sip coffee and talk with your friends. 
Well, note that Israel had this sort of a thing. Ehud was a mighty 
deliverer who brought rest to the children of Israel. Verse 
1 tells us when Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again 
did evil in the sight of the Lord. So whatever positive emphasis 
Ehud had upon the nation of Israel, it was short-lived. Because when 
Ehud was dead, the children of Israel reverted back to that 
sinful propensity that they had. In Judges 2, it tells us that 
they did more wickedly. So if they started here, when 
the judge died, then they went down to here. Again, there's 
a cycle going on of declension and spiritual decline. So Ehud 
dies, there's sin again, there's evil again in the sight of the 
Lord. When we compare this with Judges 2, evil in the sight of 
the Lord usually looks like Baal worship, Ashtar worship, it looks 
like a forsaking of Yahweh, it looks like all manner of wickedness 
and vileness. Notice the oppression that then 
comes upon them, verse 2. So the Lord sold them into the 
hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. This Jabin, 
king of Canaan, is mentioned in the book of Joshua. Jabin 
is probably a title, probably not the same man, but rather 
it is a title like Caesar. It's a title like Emperor, Lord, 
or something to that effect. But the oppression comes specifically 
from the Canaanites. Notice the agent of this, I'm 
sorry, the agent of oppression is Canaan and then it identifies 
the commander of his army in verse 2, Sisera who dwelt in 
Heresheth Haggoyim. So what we find then is that 
the children of Israel cry out. They're in bondage. They're in 
oppression. It's 20 years. Keep that in mind. 20 years of oppression. It's 
very easy for us in our tidy, comfortable, cozy little environments 
to be a Monday morning quarterback and look down our proud noses 
at the activity of a jail. We say, well, how dare that woman 
take that tent peg and drive it through the head of Sisera? 
Well, how dare Sisera command an army that kept Israel under 
oppression for 20 long years? I often times wonder if we had 
been the subject of oppression for 20 years, and we had a go 
at Sisera, what we would do? I like to think, in the name 
of God Most High, for the advancement of His Kingdom, we would do likewise. 
Now, do not go from here tonight and say we're going to kill people 
with tent pegs. That's not what I'm saying. This 
is the way the Kingdom of God advances in this particular situation. But it was a 20-year period of 
oppression. And then notice what happens 
in verse 3. The children of Israel cried 
out to the Lord. Again, it's not a cry of repentance. It's not a cry of, please forgive 
us. It's not a cry of, God, we have 
sinned against you. Please wash us in the blood of 
Jesus. It's a cry of distress. It's 
a cry because of the oppression. It's a cry because of the penalty 
and the punishment. And what is truly amazing in 
this, and we've seen this throughout the cycle in judges, is that 
God hears. and that God does deliver. Even 
though they're not crying out in repentance, they're crying 
out because of pain, the Lord their God nevertheless comes 
to their aid, comes to their rescue, and He delivers them 
from their oppression. And that brings us to consider, 
secondly, the deliverer raised up by God. There's three things 
we need to notice in this section, verses 4 to 11. The first is 
the prophetess Deborah. Deborah is not the judge that 
God raised up to deliver Israel from Canaanite oppression. I 
realize and I understand that it says in verse 4 that she was 
judging Israel at that time. That type of judgment was probably 
what we see with the likes of Samuel. People would come to 
him for judgments in civil matters or in smaller affairs. The judges 
that God raised up, like Shamgar, like Ehud, like Othniel, like 
Beric, like Samson, like Gideon, like Jephthah. Those were judges 
on a macro level. They delivered Israel from the 
oppression of these invading forces. So this reference to 
Deborah under this tree in verses 4 and 5 simply highlights the 
reality that she is a prophetess. Notice as well that Deborah and 
Jael are women. How do you like those apples? 
That's some cutting-edge exegesis there, right? Deborah and J.L. are ladies. I got to imagine 
that J.L. specifically was a pretty sturdy 
lady. It was common in that situation 
for the women to be adept at hammering tent pegs, putting 
up and taking down tents. She was probably a sturdy girl. 
But nevertheless, both J.L. and Deborah are women. They are 
in this particular chapter in a very favorable light. There's 
a lot of literature written upon this particular chapter. The 
Mountain Goat and the Bee is a particular name of a study. 
Mountain Goat is what Deborah translates into and Bee is what 
JL translates into. What a great title for a scholarly 
article. The Mountain Goat and the Bee. There's a lot of people 
that see in this particular chapter, however, women's rights. Women 
fighting against oppressive tyranny from men. That's not what's going 
on in this particular situation. Daniel Bloch says the biblical 
author was obviously interested in women's affairs and achievements. 
He's got two women in this particular chapter. He says, but in the 
final analysis, Deborah and J.L. are not heroic figures because 
of their revisionist challenges to prevailing social structures. 
They are heroines because of what they accomplish as agents 
of the divine agenda, which in this instance has less to do 
with overthrowing oppressive patriarchy than the role they 
play in Yahweh's overthrowing oppressive Canaanites. That's 
the focus, that's the priority. But as I've said, what we have 
here with Deborah is that she was a prophetess. The statement 
in verse 5 is probably an explanation of verse 3. Verse 3, the children 
of Israel cry out to the Lord. Notice in verse 5, 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. They cried out for deliverance. They cried out that the backs 
of their oppressors would be broken. They cried out that this 
20 years of long, tedious suffering under these Canaanites would 
stop. They cry out to the prophetess 
of God Most High, and then she answers for God Most High. As I said, she is not the Deliverer 
raised up by God, but is the voice of God to the Deliverer 
bearing. She is not introduced as the 
one upon whom the Lord raised up for this particular task. 
There is no reference to the Spirit of the Lord coming on 
her to deliver Israel. She needs Beric to accomplish 
the deliverance. The verb to save is not applied 
to her. She says the Lord will sell Sisera 
into the hands of a woman, but not into my hands. She went up 
with Beric, but she was not at the head of the troops. She tells 
Barak that the Lord was giving Sisera into your hand, not my 
hand. She is absent in the description 
of the battle. She is called the mother of Israel 
in the song of Deborah in chapter 5, and she is not the savior 
or deliverer of Israel. Finally, at the outset of worship, 
I read from Hebrews chapter 11, verses 30 to 40. It is Barak 
that is lumped together with Samson, with Jephthah, and with 
Gideon. It is Barak that's the judge. 
She is not a co-judge. She is not a helper-judge. She 
is not an associate-judge. She is a prophetess of the Living 
God. to whom the children of Israel 
cried out, and she, on behalf of the living God, gives orders 
to Barak to be the one to deliver Israel from this particular oppression." 
It is important that we understand our categories. It is important 
that we understand what's going on in the biblical revelation. 
Now notice the deliverer, Barak, his call, verses 6 and 7. Then 
she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kadesh 
and 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. And against you I will deploy 
Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his 
multitude at the river Kishat, and I will deliver him into your 
hand." He's called and the promise is made. Isn't this like our 
God? Isn't this how God functions? I'm calling you to this particular 
task and I'm assuring you victory. That's what he tells Barak. You're 
going to win. What better way to go in battle? 
What better way to go up against the Canaanites? What better way 
to go into a Monday with the conscious reality that God is 
on our side and He has promised for us victory. Not victory over 
all our difficulties, not victory over all our trials, but victory 
over those things that oppress the souls of His people. The 
Lord God has promised His presence with His church. The Lord God 
has promised victory to His church. We have the sound of the Son 
of God Himself saying, I will build my church, and the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against it. Again, I've emphasized this 
many times over the last little while. Our task is to hear the 
voice of Christ, to obey the voice of Christ, to be faithful 
in execution, and let Him build it! Let Him do what He's promised 
to do! Let Him bring the victory that 
is surely His! understanding that the Great 
Commission is His to fulfill. The Church is a helpmate to Him 
to accomplish this particular activity. This is something I 
think that at times we are faulty in. We see the conquering of 
the nations for the Lord Jesus Christ as our job. It is Christ's 
job, it is Christ's task, it is Christ's duty, and He employs 
the agency of the church. You can liken it to the cultural 
mandate back in Genesis chapter 1. Adam is given the task to 
subdue creation. Adam is given that particular 
calling, and Eve is his helper to assist him in that function. 
Well, when we jump to New Covenant reality, it's the second Adam 
who is tasked with subduing the nations. It is the second Adam 
who calls upon His bride to execute faithfully His will, to do His 
bidding in the advancement of His kingdom. Our job is to be 
faithful. Our job is to hear the voice 
of Christ. Our job is to realize that He 
has underscored that victory is His and His alone. Our task 
is to do what He calls us to do. And this is what we find 
with reference to Barak. The Lord not only calls him as 
the deliverer, but He determines the strategy to be employed and 
gives the assurance that I will deliver him into your hand." 
Now, notice Barak's response in verse 8. And 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. Barak gets an unfair shake in 
verse 8. Oftentimes, we understand Barak 
as evidencing something of his cowardice. Oftentimes we approach 
this and we say, well, Barak, you sound like a Nancy boy. If 
the girl doesn't go with you up against the Canaanites, you're 
not going to go into battle? This is very common in call narratives. For the person called to ask 
God to be present with him. When Moses is called to divine 
service, he doesn't immediately say, here am I, send me, Lord. No, he says, here am I, send 
Aaron, Lord. And the Lord confirms that he's 
going to deliver. When we get to the Gideon narratives, 
Gideon asks for sign after sign, is given another sign, and I 
think one more sign. This is not an expression of 
cowardice. He is saying to the prophetess 
of God, I want you to go with me. He is in essence saying, 
I want you, God, to go with me. If you don't go with me, then 
I don't want to go into battle. It is not an expression of cowardice. It is not an expression of an 
antsy boy. It is the expression of a man 
acknowledging his dependence upon God Most High, and in that, 
Beric is a model for us to follow. Let's not underwrite what he 
is doing in this particular instance. And it's very interesting as 
well. Upon the other deliverers, the 
other judges that God raises up, it says the spirit of Yahweh 
came upon him. It doesn't say that concerning 
Beric, because it doesn't have to. When the prophetess of God 
comes with him, God is with him. So it is Barak that is the deliverer 
of Israel. The prophetess accompanies him 
in certain aspects, but ultimately it is him requesting God to be 
present with him. And then notice in verse 10, 
Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. He went up with 10,000 
men under his command, and Deborah went up with him. Now, verse 
11 seems a bit interesting, doesn't it? It's kind of like a real estate 
ad. Or a notification that somebody bought property and moved. Isn't 
it? Look at verse 11. Now Heber the 
Kenite, he's mentioned in chapter 1 verse 16, Heber the Kenite 
of the children of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, had separated 
himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent from the terebinth 
tree at Za'aneim, which is beside Kedesh. God calls pastors to 
read Hebrew names to keep them humble. Hobab. How many times do we ever 
say hobab? It's almost hard to say hobab 
without a smile. It's not your typical John or 
Bill or, as is common in our church, Mike. We don't have any 
hobabs. Some of you expectant mothers 
might consider a hobab. Come here, baby hobab. Kind of 
has a nice ring and a flow to it. I'm a firm believer we ought 
to go back to the book of Judges as a baby name book. When one 
of you dear sisters call a little child Othniel, I will be glad. When we have a Shandar running 
around here, when we have a little Jael, I'll be the first to buy 
her a hammer and a tent peg. I will gladly do that for these 
children. Shamgar has a little ox code. But notice, Heber the Kenite 
of the children of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, had separated 
himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the Terebinth 
tree at Za'anem, which is beside Kadesh. The significance of this 
note is simple. It sets the stage for the jail 
portion of the narrative. There's a peace treaty between 
Jabin and Heber. And so it is the case when Sisera's 
on the run, he sees a safe haven with Heber's household. And it's 
there that he meets with Jael. That's why verse 11 is talked 
into the narrative. The author knows what he's doing. 
He's a very excellent writer. He's very effective at crafting 
his narrative to answer everything that might come up along the 
way. Davis says this speaks to the 
minutia of salvation. It's going to tell us a particular 
little geographical detail so that when we get to the end of 
the narrative and we see JL bringing her tent peg down, We're not 
scratching our heads saying, well, how did this all happen? 
How did they get from point A to point B? It's all right there. It is spelled out. The minutia 
of salvation is taken care of by our God. When God needs a 
Sisera dispatched, He has Heber, or Hobab rather, I'm sorry, Heber, 
sell his house and move to a different place so that his wife, Jea, 
will be present there with the tent peg and with her hammer 
to dispatch Sisera. to send him into the depths of 
hell itself. God deals with His people minutely. Now notice, thirdly, the victory 
of Israel, verses 12 to 24. Two broad categories, the defeat 
of the army and the defeat of the commander. Notice the defeat 
of the army. The troops are assembled at verses 
12 and 13. Verse 14, there is engagement. Verse 14, 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 10,000 men following him. 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. This is very significant. Remember, 
this is one of the problems with this particular army. They have 
900 chariots. 900 chariots to Israel's zero. It'd be like going up against 
a force that has 900 F-15s or F-16s, and we don't. Or going up against a force that 
had 900 Bradley tanks, and we don't. The verb that's employed 
in verse 15, the Lord routed, can also have the significance 
of the Lord threw them into a panic. The same verb is employed in 
Joshua chapter 10 where the hailstones come out from heaven and destroy 
the enemies of God Most High. There are two references to the 
river Kishon in this particular narrative. There are some references 
in the Song of Deborah in Judges chapter 5 that seem to indicate 
that there was a storm. that God the Lord worked through 
these 10,000 men, and one of the means that he employed was 
throwing into a panic Sisera and his army by sending a storm. When the river Kishan swells, 
when the river Kishan rises, not only are those 900 chariots 
not assets, but they've become a liability. You see, for a chariot 
to operate effectively, you need dry ground. I remember a time 
in the US Air Force, we were driving a 10K forklift, and we 
were supposed to pick up a safe. It was at the NCO Club. We drove 
the forklift up to the front doors of this particular building, 
and the forklift sank right in the grass. A little bit of hindsight 
should have told us, don't drive a big forklift onto wet, soggy 
grass. But you live and you learn. This 
is what happened. God throws them into a panic. 
They're in their chariots. They're poised for battle. They 
think it's a win. The Canaanites are going to destroy. 
We've got 10,000 meager troops from Israel, but they're not 
strapped. They're not armed. They're not 
laden with weaponry. So what happens? The River Kishon 
floods, and those chariots become a liability. They start to sink, 
perhaps. They get stuck in the ground. 
Sisera has to abandon his chariot and escape on foot. And then 
what happens under Barak is but a clean-up operation. Verse 16, 
But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Heresheth 
Agoyim, and the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. 
Not a man was left. You see, God brought victory 
to them on that day through the 10,000 troops, through the created 
order. Our God is sovereign. He is the 
first cause, but that does not diminish the second causes. There 
is no inconsistency for saying that the Lord delivered, the 
Lord routed. It is the Lord who is sovereign 
over every aspect of this created order, so that when the victory 
comes, the glory is to be given unto Him. And then notice the defeat of 
the commander. Verses 17 to 22. Commentators say, well, this 
doesn't seem right. It almost sounds like there was 
a peace treaty, a covenant of sorts. Was J.L. unfaithful to 
that particular pact? Was J.L. disregarding that particular 
pact? That's not the interest of the 
narrative. The narrative is not giving us 
the ethical position of jail. It's not a lesson in ethics. 
It is a lesson in the advancement of the kingdom of God and how 
the Lord crushes his enemies. And quite frankly, the narrative 
does not set jail in a negative light whatsoever, but only sets 
her in a positive light, as we shall see as we proceed. So Sisera 
flees here, verse 18, 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. We know the story. She offered 
safety to Sisera. She offered nourishment to Sisera. She offered protection to Sisera. And she offered a tent peg to 
Sisera. I hope you hear Genesis 3.15 
here. I hope you see a down payment 
of the deliverer crushing the head of the devil himself. I hope that Garden of Eden promise 
sticks with you as you move through the book of Judges. As we get 
to, God willing, chapter 9, we'll see that a woman throws a rock, 
a stone, off of a tower, and it crushes the head of Abimelech. 
You see a recurring pattern in the book of Judges, the way that 
God dispatches with His enemies. It points to the deliverer who 
would crush the skull of the devil himself, who would subdue 
him completely. This is what Jael does. Verse 21, it's described in detail. 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. And then as Beric 
pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, 
Come, I will show you the man whom you see. I suspect, it doesn't 
say this in the narrative, but I suspect that Barak was expecting 
to find Sisera bound, maybe tied up. This big girl was able to 
subdue him long enough and maybe when he fell asleep got his hands 
and tied him up. I wonder if Barak was a bit taken 
aback when he walked in and he saw him pinned to the ground 
with a tent peg through his head. This indicates the fulfillment 
of two things in this particular narrative. God said that he would 
deliver, and God said that he would deliver through a woman. 
See, when we read verse 9 and Deborah says to Barak, But the 
glory will not go to you, because the Lord will deliver him into 
the hand of a woman. I think that as readers we expect 
it to be Deborah. We expect it to be the prophetess 
that delivers the death blow to this man Cicero. But it's 
jail. We know nothing about her. She's 
the wife of Heber. She lives in this particular 
place. She's only mentioned again in Judges 5. She's not mentioned 
in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11. But she was the means 
by which God dealt the death blow to this man, Sisera, once 
and for all. And then notice the summary of 
the victory in verses 23 and 24. So on that day God subdued Jabin, 
king of Canaan, in the presence of the children of Israel. And 
the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against 
Jabin, king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin, king 
of Canaan. If you drop down to the last 
verse in chapter 5, You'll see, so the land had rest for 40 years. That's the common cycle. The statement is given of the 
sin, the oppression, the deliverance, and then a statement concerning 
rest given in the land. There is this long song in chapter 
5, however, celebrating the glory of God, the power of God, and 
the deliverance of His people, similar to Exodus chapter 15, 
the song of Moses. But you see here, conspicuously, 
who gets glory? It's not Jehovah, it's not Barak, 
it's not Deborah. It's God. Who delivered Israel? God. Who always delivers Israel? God. Who delivers His people 
from their sins? God. Who keeps His people by 
the power of His grace? God. Who gets the glory when 
you resist temptation? God. Who gets the glory when 
you do those things that are pleasing to God? God. Who gets 
the glory when you fall into heaven? God. You see, from first 
to last, the Bible is about God. From first to last, the Scriptures 
testify concerning the glory of God. When we get to the Gideon 
narrative, this is why the Lord says, you have way too many troops. Whittle them down to about 300. 
Because I do not want Israel trying to take the glory when 
I give them victory over 135,000 Midianites. Do you understand the numbers 
and the disparity in the Gideon narratives? 135,000 Midianites, Amalekites, 
and peoples from the East are thwarted by 300 men. And these 
300 men didn't have high-powered weaponry. These 300 men didn't 
have Bradley tanks. These 300 men didn't have F-15s 
or F-16s. These 300 men didn't have B-2 
stealth bombers where they were able to pick off the Midianites 
in their enclaves. These 300 men had a pot, they 
had a torch, they had horns, and they had their God. You see, 
what the Lord is communicating throughout the book of Judges 
is amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like 
me. That's what the book is about. 
Don't be afraid. I share sometimes on Wednesday 
night, because I go to the Cascade on Wednesday afternoon, one of 
the old dolls there, whenever I mention the book of Revelation 
or the book of Judges, she looks scared. Oh no, don't teach about 
that. There's wrath, and there's fury, 
and there's blood, and there's guts, and there's judgment, and 
there's all these sorts of things. And I think that Christians, 
unfortunately, imbibe that attitude. Some Christians don't read the 
Old Testament. It's so depressing. What's depressing about God saving 
His people? I think you're depressing, if 
that's your view. What's depressing about revelation 
that sets forth the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in blazing 
glory? What's depressing is the terrible 
interpretation and the hermeneutic that's been foisted upon that 
particular book to take it from being an encouragement to the 
church to a depiction of everything bleak, dark, bad, and gloomy 
that we have to go through. So the conclusion is, God brings 
deliverance. Again, Daniel Bloch. The conclusion 
reminds the reader that the conflict in the book of Judges is not 
between patriarchy and egalitarianism, between men and women, or even 
between Israelite leaders and the rulers of the nations. The 
conflict is between the divine king and the kingdom of light 
on the one hand, and the forces of the kingdom of darkness on 
the other. Well, before we close, I want 
to vindicate JL. I want to make sure that we don't 
have any negative views of this particular sister. She may not 
be in Hebrews 11. She may not be anywhere else 
save Judges 5 and 6, though I think there is a reference in the Psalter 
to her also. She's a hero. She is a hero for 
the kingdom of God Most High. She illustrates first and foremost 
the sovereignty of God. Remember verse 9. So Deborah 
said to Barak, 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. It is the sovereignty 
of God that uses this lady Jael to dispatch Ciceron. Secondly, 
I read through chapter 5. Did you note the benediction 
pronounced by Deborah upon Jael? Look at what Deborah says concerning 
Jael in chapter 5, verses 24 to 27. Most blessed among women. If you had your new covenant 
ears on, what does this sound like? I hope it sounds like Luke 
chapter 1, where Mary, the mother of our Lord, is called the most 
blessed among women. Doesn't sound like Deborah thought 
J.L. was a bad actor. Doesn't sound 
like Deborah thought that J.L. was out of line. Doesn't sound 
like Deborah thought that J.L. was less than a noble player 
in God's kingdom. Most blessed among women is Jael, 
the wife of Heber the Kenite. Blessed is she among women in 
tents. He asked for water, she gave 
milk. She brought out cream in a lordly bowl. She stretched 
her hand to the tent peg, her right hand to the workman's hammer. 
She pounded Sisera, she pierced his head. She split and struck 
through his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell, 
he lay still. At her feet he sank, he fell. Where he sank, there he fell 
dead. Deborah's celebrating, Deborah's 
rejoicing, Deborah's praising God for giving us the gift of 
jail. Thirdly, I've already alluded 
to this, the wickedness of Sisera. He is the commander of an army 
that has held the people of Israel under oppression for 20 long 
years. After Deborah's rehearsal about 
how wonderful J.L. is, she then muses upon Sisera's 
mother. Look at verse 28. The mother 
of Sisera looked through the window and cried out through 
the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarries 
the clatter of his chariot? You see the picture. her baby 
boy, her little son. He's gone out to battle with 
the armies of the Canaanites. He has gone about his task. He 
is to meet Barak. He is to meet the 10,000 of Israel. He is to bring destruction to 
bear upon them. Certainly he is to return to 
his mother, and she's standing at the window waiting to hear 
his chariot. Why does he tarry? What's taking 
him so long? How come he's not home yet? See, 
there's no cell phone. She can't text him to find out 
if he's going to be there for supper. She is simply waiting. 
So then the wise ladies begin to rehearse what's probably going 
on. She herself knows this to be 
the case. Verse 29. Her wisest ladies answered 
her. Yes, she answered herself. Are 
they not finding and dividing the spoil? You know what that 
means? When they've killed Israelite 
soldiers, they take their stuff. When they decimate Israelite 
cities and enclaves, they take their stuff. Aren't they dividing 
the spoil? Doesn't that take some time? 
You ought not to be surprised that the chariot with your baby 
boy Sisera hasn't come back. But it doesn't stop there. Are 
they not finding and dividing the spoil, verse 30, to every 
man a girl or two? Now, without being overly crude, 
this speaks of rape. Sisera and his companions were 
guilty of raping Israelite girls. So before you judge jail, bringing 
that tent peg of destruction upon the head of Sisera, think 
about the mothers and the fathers in Israel who had to find out 
and learn that their little girls had been raped by this monster. You see, we live in a situation 
wherein we are protected, wherein we are compartmentalized, and 
wherein, by and large, we've lost our sense of justice. Jail and her tent peg bring the 
judgment of God to bear. Two views on jail. The first 
is represented in a study Bible where the author says this, concerning 
jail and the tent peg in Sisera. Though this act was murder and 
a breach of honor..." It just bugs me. It was not murder. And it certainly wasn't a breach 
of honor. "...though this act was murder and a breach of honor, 
likely motivated by her desire for favor with the conquering 
Israelites." Are you kidding me? How do you know that? Maybe 
because she's an obedient bondservant to the God of heaven and earth. 
She's not trying to court the favor of Israelites. She's rather 
trying to rid the world of an enemy of God Most High. This 
man goes on to say, and though it was without regard for God 
on her part, God's overruling providence caused great blessing 
to flow from it. I submit that that is nonsense 
and it is false. I submit that Professor, who'd 
you call him? Voluminous? Professor Dr. John Gill was a better interpreter 
of the jail narrative. When she perceived he was fast 
asleep and it being now put into her heart to kill him, having 
an impulse upon her spirit, which she was persuaded was of God, 
not filled her with malice and reverence, but a concern for 
the glory of God, the interest of religion and the good of Israel, 
she took this method to effect the death of this enemy of God 
and His people. That is what Jael did. She is not an enemy. She is a 
friend, and we ought to praise God, from whom all Jaels flow. She was the means by which the 
Lord took care of Sisera, this rapist, this bloodthirsty man 
who made a mockery out of the children of Israel for 20 long 
years. Well, God brought heat to bear 
upon him via J.L.' 's tent peg. I was wondering, as I considered 
this passage earlier, if the local Walmarts sold clay tent 
pegs and hammers You know, for the heroes of our day, you can 
go to Walmart and buy the toys to be like, you know, Billy the 
Kid, or you can be like, I don't think they sell those toys anymore. 
I can't have a gun and imitate anybody that is a hero. You know, 
you have those little toys, kids get dressed up and they do their 
little thing. I wonder if there were little tent pegs, little 
hammers, little plastic ones that kids played JL when they 
were young. I get to be JL. No, I don't want 
to be Cicero. No, you're going to be Cicero 
this time. When I was a kid, we played cops and robbers. In 
those days, they played Israelites and Canaanites. And the popular, 
happy kid got to be Chael. She's a hero for the kingdom 
of God. What is summarized in Deborah's 
song is a good place to end for us tonight as we consider the 
advancement of the kingdom of God Most High. Verse 31, thus, 
let all your enemies perish, O Lord, but let those who love 
him be like the sun when it comes out in full strength. May God 
cause his kingdom to come, may he cause his rule and his reign 
to advance, and may he subdue his enemies through the preaching 
of the gospel, and may he enable his church to be faithful and 
to serve. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we give you thanks for your word and we give you 
thanks for your grace and your mercy so evidently on display 
in a passage like this. God, we know that through the 
blood and through the gore and through the war and the chariots 
and the battles and the tent pegs, we see the hand of a merciful 
God bringing deliverance to his people. Father, help us with 
the eyes of faith to read our Bibles in a proper way. Help 
us to see that you are the one who vindicates your own elect. 
You are the one who judges his enemies, and you are the one 
who causes all things to work for your glory and for the good 
of your people in this world. I pray that you would go with 
us now. I pray that you would watch over each of the saints 
in this assembly. I pray, God, that you would bless 
Pastor Cam and I as we travel. Bless this assembly of churches 
in Arizona. God, may the spirit of unity 
and peace be upon us. May we have genuine times of 
conference and fellowship and encouragement, and we pray that 
all that would be done would be done for the glory and for 
the honor of God Most High and for the strengthening of the 
churches. May each of these churches that participate in ARBCA be 
faithful to the Word of God. May each of these churches be 
faithful to the very end. As we look around us, God, we 
see so much compromise. We see men employing other means, 
doing other things. Help the churches that you've 
called together in this association to be faithful to preaching and 
to praying and to seeking to be obedient to the Word of God. 
Go with us now, we pray, and we ask through Christ our Lord. 
Amen.