“I’m not going unless you go!” Barak told her.

“All right, I’ll go!” she replied. “But I’m warning you that the Lord is going to let a woman defeat Sisera, and no one will honor you for winning the battle.”

Deborah and Barak left for Kedesh, where Barak called together the troops from Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand soldiers gathered there, and Barak led them out from Kedesh. Deborah went too.

At this time, Heber of the Kenite clan was living near the village of Oak in Zaanannim, not far from Kedesh. The Kenites were descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, but Heber had moved and had set up his tents away from the rest of the clan.

When Sisera learned that Barak had led an army to Mount Tabor, he called his troops together and got all 900 iron chariots ready. Then he led his army away from Harosheth-Ha-Goiim to the Kishon River.

Deborah shouted, “Barak, it’s time to attack Sisera! Because today the Lord is going to help you defeat him. In fact, the Lord has already gone on ahead to fight for you.”

Barak led his 10,000 troops down from Mount Tabor. And during the battle, the Lord confused Sisera, his chariot drivers, and his whole army. Everyone was so afraid of Barak and his army, that even Sisera jumped down from his chariot and tried to escape. Barak’s forces went after Sisera’s chariots and army as far as Harosheth-Ha-Goiim.

Sisera’s entire army was wiped out. Only Sisera escaped. He ran to Heber’s camp, because Heber and his family had a peace treaty with the king of Hazor. Sisera went to the tent that belonged to Jael, Heber’s wife. She came out to greet him and said, “Come in, sir! Please come on in. Don’t be afraid.”

After they had gone inside, Sisera lay down, and Jael covered him with a blanket. “Could I have a little water?” he asked. “I’m thirsty.”

Jael opened a leather bottle and poured him some milk, then she covered him back up.

“Stand at the entrance to the tent,” Sisera told her. “If someone comes by and asks if anyone is inside, tell them ‘No.’ ”

Sisera was exhausted and soon fell fast asleep. Jael took a hammer and drove a tent-peg through his head into the ground, and he died.

Meanwhile, Barak had been following Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “The man you’re looking for is inside,” she said. “Come in and I’ll show him to you.”

They went inside, and there was Sisera—dead and stretched out with a tent-peg through his skull.

That same day God defeated the Canaanite King Jabin while the Israelites looked on, and his army was no longer powerful enough to attack the Israelites. Jabin grew weaker while the Israelites kept growing stronger, until at last the Israelites destroyed him. (Contemporary English Version)

The biblical book of the Judges is a sad account of Israel’s downward spiral into ignorance and wickedness. Because of this situation, God would occasionally raise up leaders, or judges, to help the people whenever they cried out in their distress.

Deborah was one of those judges, and the only woman leader during the time of the judges. She was recognized in Israel as both a judge and a prophet. In the time of Deborah, the Israelites had once again become oppressed by Canaanites who had not been dislodged from the land.

Having both legal and prophetic authority, Deborah called for a holy war and became the leader. Her army general, Barak, mustered the troops and led them into battle. The opposing general, Sisera, drew up his forces to attack, but God got involved. The Lord threw Sisera’s soldiers into a panic, and the general ended up fleeing for his life, his army defeated.

Sisera had a safe place in mind to go. Heber, an ally and friend, was in the area with his tents. So, Sisera believed he would find hospitality and protection. Heber’s wife, Jael, however, was no friend of Sisera. She took care of him, lulled him to sleep, and then proceeded to kill him with some surprisingly skilled precision.

Eventually, Barak came along, and Jael showed him the dead general. Deborah’s prophecy that a woman would prevail was realized. We are not told in the text why Jael sided with the Israelites and deliberately brought an end to Sisera. Yet, by killing him, Jael clearly proved sympathetic to Israel.

Whatever was really going on there, it’s illustrative of a prominent theme in the book of Judges. Since the Canaanites were not expelled completely from the land, they would continue to exert religious and ethical influence on the Israelites.

Judges is a book that, as you read it, becomes progressively mixed between Israelite and Canaanite – piety with the Lord and pagan practices were more and more synchronized, so that an odd religious amalgam happened. The people claimed to follow the Lord, and yet, they became increasingly violent and adoptive of the surrounding nations with their bloody practices.

We have, dramatized before us in today’s lesson, the effects and consequences of only a partial obedience to God. Like putting one bad apple into the pie, it causes the whole thing to become rotten.

In our own day, it will not do to dedicate a Sunday or a specific time to the Lord, then walk away and do whatever you want the rest of the time, without any concern to the words and ways of Jesus. We will only please the Lord if we engraft God’s universal law into our entire lives, and not just the religious parts.

Eventually a life only partially attentive to God will crack and then crumble to pieces. We must plan to live the spiritual life with perseverance, endurance, and consistency, each and every day of our lives.

The foundation of our life is built on the cornerstones of the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. A whole and healthy life pays attention to all four with equal consideration, energy, and focus. It won’t do to have any one cornerstone a different size than the others; a life cannot be constructed on such an uneven foundation.

This is why the Israelites in the time of the judges found themselves in such dire straits, time and time again. And it is also a testament to the infinite patience and grace of God, that the Lord continued to respond with mercy whenever the people cried out.

What’s more, today’s story points to the necessity for gender equity and inclusion, as well. We must pay attention to everyone in the community, and not put limitations on particular individuals because they are different. Deborah and Jael, the women, were the heroes of the story – and not just because the men didn’t step up – but because they were the divinely ordained people for the job.

We have enough on our plate in dealing with issues of obedience and disobedience, without adding to it by defining which people can be used of God, or not. Commit yourself to the Lord with your whole life, and the rest will mostly work itself out.

I thank you, Lord, that you love to do extraordinary things through ordinary people like me. Release me from any limitations I, others, or the enemy have put on my life that have kept me from the great plans you have for me, so that I might wake up and arise to shine the glory of the Lord! Amen.