What if Jael Couldn’t Use a Hammer?

“When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left. Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” But Jael wife of Heber took a tent-peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent-peg in his temple.” Judges 4:12-22

There are a couple of books I have on my shelf in my office that deal with Great Women of the Bible. Jael should be in this book – in fact she may be. Jael is not a “shrinking violet”, as they say. She may have committed murder, but she is blessed by the Prophetess Deborah for her actions. At the time of Jael, the Israelites were once again doing “..what was evil in the sight of the Lord”. In other words, the people were once again being unfaithful to the Lord. They were worshipping other gods and marrying and being given into marriage with other people. So, the Lord was punishing them by allowing King Jabin of Canaan to lord over them. The commander of King Jabin’s army was a man by the name of Sisera. This man had dealt cruelly with the Israelites for twenty years – and Deborah was their prophetess at the time.

When Deborah summons Barak to assemble an army to destroy King Jabin’s army, he hesitates – he will not go unless Deborah goes with him. And so, when Deborah arose with Barak to go out against the armed force of Jabin, G-d intervenes, and unleashes the powers of nature — Jabin’s army is put into disarray. Sisera, captain of the host, and Israel’s cruel oppressor escapes and falls into the hands of a woman – Jael. In this moment, what if Jael cannot wield the hammer?

When Deborah says, “Blessed above women shall be Jael,” perhaps she is only praising her faith and not her act of murder. Any woman killing the country’s enemy must be the friend of Israel, and so the method of Sisera’s death mattered little to Deborah who doubtless thought that all was fair in time of war. When Sisera comes into the tent of Jael, he assumes that the rules of hospitality will win out over the rules of war. What Jael does is truly horrific. But we must assume that she becomes part of G-d’s plans for the salvation of G-d’s people.

Jael had no conception that she was the one person at the opportune moment to render “justice on an enemy of God.”
Is it G-d who gives her the strength to wield the hammer in such a deathly manner, or is it her own personal judgment against an enemy? That is a question for us to argue and debate…..
Pastor Dave