Judges 4:21-22 –
“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.”
The
book of Judges covered a chaotic time in Israel’s history. A key Scripture for Judges in found in Judges
21:25, “Every man did was right in his own eyes.” There were seven cycles of
apostasy, where the covenant children of God would turn away from the principles
of the Word of God.
When
they had godly leadership they would serve the Lord. When that leader would die they would turn
from God to idolatry. This resulted in servitude and bondage. In their oppression they would cry out to God
and He would raise up a judge or deliverer.
In
Judges 4 Israel is living in bondage and servitude. They were oppressed by a
Canaanite King, Jabin and his commander, Sisera. Sisera had nine-hundred chariots and
oppressed Israel for twenty years. In
Judges 4:4 we are introduced to Deborah the Prophetess. She along with Barak lead an army
ten-thousand strong against Sisera.
God
promises Barak victory in Judges 4:7, “I will deliver him into your hand.”
Barak had the assurance of victory, yet he refuses to go to battle without
Deborah. Listen to her words in verse 9, “The Lord will sell Sisera into the
hand of a woman.”
God
is faithful to His word. Barak went down
and the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots. Barak and his army destroyed the enemy, but
Sisera fled on foot and hid in the tent of Jael. Jael is the wife of Heber the Kenite, who was
an ally of Jabin and Sisera. Sisera is
exhausted and asked her to hide him from Barak and his pursuing army.
Jael
gives him a drink of milk and covers him with a blanket. Sisera sleeps from exhaustion. While he is sleeping, Jael takes tent peg and
hammer and drives the tent peg through the head of Sisera. Sisera dies at the hand of Jael.
Isaiah
54:2-3 from the Message Bible reads, “Clear lots of ground for your tents!
Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep. You’re going
to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over
whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.”
It
is time to stake your claim and to drive a tent peg deep into the plans of the
enemy. The tent peg is the Word of God. If
you are going to possess our prophetic promises, you will have to deal with the
enemy who is occupying your place of promise.
This
is your time to overcome the enemy that oppresses you. The enemy wants your
mind. He desires to keep you in bondage.
You must drive a tent peg into all mindsets that are contrary to the Word of
God. The enemy wants to tie you up in a
Sisera mindset.
What
is a Sisera mindset? The following could
be characterized as a Sisera mindset:
- Oppression
- Poverty
- Fear, timidity, unbelief, and passivity.
All of these are Sisera mindsets. The Devil wants to keep you in bondage. He will assault your thought life. We must take up the tent peg of Jael and
drive it through the enemy’s plans. How
do we overcome a Sisera mindset? We have
our mind renewed by meditating and studying the Word of God.
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