CHAPTER 4

(1316 B.C.)

CANAAN OPPRESSES ISRAEL

¹And the Children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead (again, we state, without proper spiritual leadership, the Church is like a ship without a rudder).

²And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

³And the Children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he (Sisera) had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the Children of Israel (having 900 chariots of iron tells us that Sisera was a mighty warlord; as well, the words, mightily oppressed, proclaim the fact that Israel had virtually become slaves in their own land slaves to Sisera; sin will take a person further than they want to go, at a price higher than they can afford to pay).

DEBORAH

⁴And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. (This Chapter and the following could be cited as the womens Chapters. We find that Deborahs Faith brought about a great victory, and Jaels fidelity destroyed a great tyrant. Both of these women were raised up by God for their respective Ministries. So, this puts to rest the idea that God does not call women to preach, etc. Paul said that in Christ there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus [Gal. 3:28].)

⁵And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in Mount Ephraim: and the Children of Israel came up to her for judgment. (Williams says of her, There was one heart that did not tremble before Sisera and his 900 chariots of iron. She sat as Judge under a palm tree near Beth-el. Her namesake, Rebeccas nurse, was buried there, about 400 years back.)

⁶And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? (Deborah speaks here as a Prophetess, announcing Gods commands, not her own opinions; declaring Gods Promises, not merely her own hopes or wishes Pulpit.)

⁷And I will draw unto you to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabins army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand (this is the Promise).

⁸And Barak said unto her, If you will go with me, then I will go: but if you will not go with me, then I will not go (we have little history on Barak; we do know that his faith seemed to be weak; he wanted someone near and visible upon whom he could lean; to such a feeble faith, the arm, even of a woman, gives more confidence than the Arm of God; consequently, God did not honor him, because he did not honor God; God is best honored by being trusted).

⁹And she said, I will surely go with you: notwithstanding the journey that you take shall not be for your honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. (Jael would be the woman. What a rebuke to Barak!)

VICTORY

¹⁰And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him (10,000 men went with him).

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.

¹²And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor.

¹³And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon (a formidable army).

¹⁴And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand: is not the LORD gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. (In the natural, what could they do against all of these iron chariots? However, they were not functioning in the natural, but rather by the Power of God.)

¹⁵And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet (the Hebrew word for discomfited implies supernatural discomfiture).

¹⁶But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. (It was a defeat that was total, and there is no indication that the army of Israel lost even a single man. Without the Lord, some minor victories may be won, but at a fearful price. With Him, it is total victory, at no loss whatsoever.)

SISERA SLAIN

¹⁷Howbeit 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 (Jabin was the king of Canaan).

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹And he said unto her, Give me, I pray you, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

²⁰Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and enquire of you, and say, Is there any man here? that you shall say, No. (The mighty military commander of the Canaanites is reduced here to depending on a woman. Such are the Ways of the Lord, concerning those who oppose Him.)

²¹Then Jael Hebers 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. (Williams says, God, Who energized Shamgar to destroy the Philistine with an ox goad, strengthened Jael to kill the Syrian with a tent-peg.)

²²And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. (The Holy Spirit labels only two women as preeminently blessed among women; the one was Jael [5:24], and the other the Virgin Mary [Lk. 1:28]. Mary, of course, is associated with the advent of Israels, and the worlds, Redeemer; Jael, with the judgment of Israels oppressor.)

JABIN

²³So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the Children of Israel.

²⁴And the hand of the Children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan (a tremendous victory!).