A Story of Three Women (Two Gentiles) Judges 4-5

Sisera (Judges 4-5) Sisera was the captain of the army of Jabin, a Canaanite king, who fought with Israel in the days of the Judges. His name is usually regarded as Philistine. He was probably Hittite. Some speculate that his origins were Egyptian (Ses-Ra, "servant of Ra”).

Sisera in the Midrash According to the Midrash (Yalḳuṭ Shim'oni on Judg. 4:3), Sisera had conquered every country against which he had fought. His voice was so strong that, when he called loudly, the most solid wall would shake and the wildest animal would fall dead. Deborah was the only one who could withstand his voice and whom it did not cause to stir from her place.

Sisera in the Scripture According to Judges 4:3, Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots and oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. The leadership of the Israelite tribes at the time defaulted to the prophetess Deborah. She persuaded Barak ben Abinoam to reluctantly face Sisera in battle in the Valley of Jezreel (near Megiddo).

Sisera was routed by ten thousand Israelites under Barak on the plain of Esdraelon. 19 "The kings came and fought, Then the kings of Canaan fought In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; They took no spoils of silver. 20 They fought from the heavens; the stars from their courses fought against Sisera. 21 The torrent of Kishon swept them away, That ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon. O my soul, march on in strength! (Judges 5:19-21). Interpreted by Rabbis to mean that God fought from heaven by sending a great storm which flooded the Kishon and drowned many Canaanites

Sisera’s Demise After all was lost, Sisera fled to the tent of Heber, a Kenite, in the plain of Zaanaim. Jael, Heber's wife, received him into her tent with apparent hospitality and "gave him milk" "in a lordly dish." Having drunk, he lay down and slept

While he lay asleep, Jael crept stealthily up to him and, taking in her hand one of the tent pegs, with a mallet she drove it with such force through his temples that it entered into the ground where he lay, and "at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead." ( Judges 4:18-21 and Judges 5:25-27). After this battle, there was rest (peace) in the land for forty years. (Judges 5:31)

Woman #1 - Deborah – the Judge (5:4-5) A few times, good women used as God’s reliable messengers:

Woman #1 - Deborah – the Judge (5:4-5) A few times, good women used as God’s reliable messengers: Miriam – Went out with women (Ex. 15:20)

Woman #1 - Deborah – the Judge (5:4-5) A few times, good women used as God’s reliable messengers: Miriam – Went out with women (Ex. 15:20) Huldah – A private conversation (2 Kings 22) (With Hilkiah and four others in the days of Josiah)

Woman #1 - Deborah – the Judge (5:4-5) A few times, good women used as God’s reliable messengers: Miriam – Went out with women (Ex. 15:20) Huldah – A private conversation (2 Kings 22) Anna – Fasting and praying in the temple (Luke 2:36-38)

Woman #1 - Deborah – the Judge (5:4-5) A few times, good women used as God’s reliable messengers: Miriam – Went out with women (Ex. 15:20) Huldah – A private conversation (2 Kings 22) Anna – Fasting and praying in the temple (Luke 2:36-38) Deborah – Judged cases under a tree

Woman #1 - Deborah – the Judge (5:4-5) A few times, good women used as God’s reliable messengers: Miriam – Went out with women (Ex. 15:20) Huldah – A private conversation (2 Kings 22) Anna – Fasting and praying in the temple (Luke 2:36-38) Deborah – Judged cases under a tree Notice these are not in convocational worship assemblies!

The activity of women restricted in the N. T The activity of women restricted in the N.T. even among the prophetesses: In Collective Spiritual Headship/Management In Authoritative Influence in Teaching In Assembled Worship Leadership Passages 1 Cor. 11:3-16 1 Cor. 14:34-35 1 Timothy 2:11-15

The Times Judges not a good time to establish ideals in male leadership… or female leadership. Deborah chosen when male leadership at all-time low in Israel…no one stepped up. Do not look for patterns in extraordinary acts of God: When God has to step in to norm because of extreme failure on the part of man When God works miracles to make a point

Factors to Consider: Deborah’s activity personal, not in a public worship assembly

Factors to Consider: Deborah’s activity personal, not in a public worship assembly She tried to defer to male leadership

Factors to Consider: Deborah’s activity personal, not in a public worship assembly She tried to defer to male leadership She rebuked Barak when he would not go without her

Factors to Consider: Deborah’s activity personal, not in a public worship assembly She tried to defer to male leadership She rebuked Barak when he would not go without her The glory was given to Jael, not Deborah

Factors to Consider: Deborah’s activity personal, not in a public worship assembly She tried to defer to male leadership She rebuked Barak when he would not go without her The glory was given to Jael, not Deborah Their song for Israel was sung together, not by the woman alone (5:1)

Woman #2 – Jael (“wild goat”) The Glory went to a foreigner (Kenite, perhaps of Midianite origin) due to Barak’s reluctance to accept leadership. Jael the wife of Heber, the Kenite Not Israelite but lived alongside Israel. Heber had separated himself from Kenites (4:11) There was peace between Heber & Jabin (4:17) Speculated that perhaps Heber was there as a metal worker to repair Canaanite weapons.

Glory to Jael (5:24-27) “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 workmen’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.”

Jael No evidence that Sisera gave Jael an immediate cause to kill him. No real evidence that she was a true believer in the God of Israel. No evidence that she believed in the national cause of Israel in this battle… other than this one act against Israel’s enemy.

Jael This woman first provided the domestic hospitality depicting a caring wife or mother. Then, when war entered her domain, in a dramatic inversion, she became a fierce and violent military warrior and hero to Israel (hardly enviable, but given glory).

Deborah’s Psalm is not an appraisal of the morality of Jael or Sisera. She is extoling the fact that God had brought a great victory to Israel through this woman.

Woman #3 - Sisera’s Mother (5:28-31) “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?’”

Sisera’s Mother (6:28-31) On Rosh Hashanah the blowing of the shofar is intended to resemble souls crying because of Israel’s need for God and because of their sins. [September 9-11, 2018; Jewish New Year; one week before Yom Kippur, Sept. 18/19, Day of Atonement] The 100 blasts of shofar are said to be like 100 cries. The 100 shofar cries equate to 100 supposed cries of Sisera's mother when her son did not return home.

Sisera’s Mother A worldly Gentile woman Comforted in that her son was taking a girl or two… literally, “a womb” or two… probably to rape Israelite women, perhaps even in order to produce slave offspring. Comforted that her son would plunder the possessions of the people of God and bring back to her what was stolen from another family.

Too Late!!! Deborah may be mocking those (including Sisera’s mother) who wait for God’s enemies. Yet there is sympathy from Deborah who is a “mother in Israel” (5:7). But it is too late… Too late for God’s enemies A time too late for us if we do not do the bidding of God.

Message to us… Deborah and Miriam sang hymns of praise for miraculous deliverances from the hands of the enemy So it is appropriate today for Christians to take time after spiritual victory to use a hymn as testimony of thankfulness.

Conclusion (Judges 5:31) “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.”

The Battle belongs to the Lord. We are encouraged to take our stand, trust God, and resist all evil . To do so we should identify the enemy (Satan/Sin) and courageously obey God.

The End