Bibledoorajar for Deborah, Barak and Jael as the battle for freedom comes to an end.

     Barak and his valiant men storm down the mountain into the "array." Setting out, they had no assurance that the military odds had changed, but they did have Deborah's charge: "This is the day you will be delivered; the LORD has GONE OUT before you." Having no idea of how God would provide made courage and faith paramount. There is no truer picture of how faith acts. Sometimes people refer to "blind faith" because, even though they believe, they see nothing in their circumstances of how God can provide. But the important thing is that they, like Barak and his men, act. When all is said and done, people are usually surprised by how God provided. I certainly know I have been. Well, in our story, God had two surprises and I am sure they "knocked the socks off" Barak. One surprise was that He had the power to manipulate the weather and the other surprise was the lady pictured by contemporary artist Herb Mandel. The lady is Jael ("mountain goat") and years before, her husband, Heber ("compassion") had moved his family to the Canaanite area. He did business with Jabin, the ruler, and was well known to the people of the region. But Heber was also related to Jethro ("preeminence") who was the father of Zipporah who just happened to be married to Moses. Middle Eastern shepherds often put a mountain goat in their herds to help protect the gentle sheep. How like our God, The Preeminent One, to have compassionately placed a goat in with the Israelites! So there Jael sat in her husband's tent not too far from where the battle was raging.
     God caused a heavy rain to fall. There was lightning clashing in the skies in addition to the clashing of Barak's ("lightning") weapons. The rain caused a flash flood to occur and the Kishon River overflowed its' banks. Sisera's chariots of iron got mired in the mud and could not move. His troops were thrown into panic. Isn't it a bit ironic that Bael, the main Canaanite god, was touted as the god of the weather? I wonder where he was when the big battle raged? Did he not realize the the "array" was in "disarray" and needed their god's help badly? Could he not change the weather for them? Sisera's confidence was shaken; he abandoned his army and fled on foot. As he fled, he saw that he was near the tent of Heber and Jael with whom he was very familiar. What good fortune! He arrived exhausted and Jael met him outside. She reassured Sisera and asked him to come inside the tent. Feeling safe in the presence of an "ally," Sisera asked Jael to watch for his enemies from her doorway. Sisera was thirsty and tired and Jael warmed him some milk and put him to bed. Sisera did not realize that his enemy, the Israelites, were practically "kinfolks" to Jael and Heber. Being exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep. Jael decided what she would do. She took a mallet and a tent nail and slipped into where Sisera lay sleeping. She hammered the tent nail through his head all the way into the ground. Sisera fell DEAD AT THE FEET OF A WOMAN! Deborah's word had come true; a woman would take the glory for killing the enemy. Jael had refused to be seduced by the enemy and she had refused to be afraid. This "offstage" character and the role she played was known only to God. We never know who He may have waiting in the wings and when He has put them there.
     Finally, Barak, who had given chase, arrived at Heber's tent. Jael met him outside and said she would show him the man for whom he searched. There in Jael's tent Barak saw the fulfillment of Deborah's prophecy with his own eyes. The watchman of the Israelites had succeeded. She had told others the truth of God and she had taken action because she knew the God of truth. But it was her God that subdued Jabin that day. Further, the text says that He enabled the Israelites to grow STRONGER AND STRONGER against Jabin, the enemy, until he was utterly destroyed. In Christ, God is still enabling us to overcome enemies of ungodly influences and behavior. Don't forget to praise Him! Next week, we will look at how Deborah and Barak did just that.