Judges 4:21
Then Jael Heber’s 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. Then Jael Heber’s 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.
After his army with its nine hundred iron chariots was overthrown at Megiddo, the weary Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Heber the Kenite, where Jael gave him drink and rest until he fell fast asleep and then drove a tent nail through his temples and pinned him to the ground, completing Israel's deliverance from twenty years of oppression by Jabin king of Canaan. This fulfilled Deborah's word that the Lord would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman, for Barak would not pursue the enemy unless the prophetess went with him, so the honor he might have gained went to Jael the wife of Heber. The victory shows that Israel could overcome its enemies when leaders took the lead and the people offered themselves willingly in faith, a rule applied to the closing work of the third angel's message, and the battle at Megiddo stands as an object lesson connected with the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague. It is an example of the honor God has given women in all ages, showing they can serve publicly for God and even lead the hosts of God in war with honor equal to men. The stealthy blow against a sleeping man warns God's enemies of their fate, illustrates how sin entices and quiets its victim behind a welcoming appearance and then strikes unto death, and shows the fearlessness mothers now need not on fields of worldly strife but in the home to strike the death-blow to sin.
Narrative and Historical Setting
After his army was defeated, the weary Sisera fled on foot like a common soldier to the tent of Heber the descendant of Jethro. In Heber's absence his wife Jael received him, gave him drink and rest until the weary general fell fast asleep, and then killed him in her tent by driving a tent nail with a hammer through his temples and pinning him to the ground. At first not knowing the character of her guest she had resolved to conceal him, but when she learned he was Sisera the enemy of God and of His people her purpose changed, and though naturally reluctant to such an act she slew him as he lay asleep. Barak in pursuit of his enemy was then called in by Jael to behold the vain-glorious captain dead at her feet, slain by the hand of a woman with tent peg and hammer, fulfilling the fate of a commander who had taken up arms against the Lord's forces.
The killing completed Israel's deliverance from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression. Although Sisera had oppressed Israel with nine hundred iron chariots, he was overthrown by Israel under Deborah and Barak, and his chariots and army were swept away by the Kishon, showing that Israel could overcome its enemies when it acted in faith. The triumph in Galilee at Megiddo was one of the two great victories associated with that Old Testament battlefield of conflicts between Israel and God's enemies, through which the Israelites first gained possession of the Plain of Jezreel.
The verse belongs to the composite record of Judges 3 to 17 of backsliding from God bringing suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude and of returning to God bringing forgiveness and deliverance. That record shows the perversity and unbelief of Israel and the long-suffering and goodness of God amid awful moral surroundings and the demoralizing influences of the tribes permitted to remain in the land of promise. Jael's tent stands in that history as one of the humble, private settings remembered alongside royal courts, cities and wars, showing ordinary people and places in Israel's history.
The victory was followed by a song of joy and is celebrated in Deborah and Barak's song, in which Jael's strange part in the deliverance is remembered. Barak's triumph over the Canaanites in Galilee is associated with the rise of Israel's earliest poetry.
Prophecy and Doctrinal Teaching
The driving of the tent nail through the sleeping commander's temples fulfilled Deborah's word that the expedition would not be for Barak's honor because the Lord would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman, delivering him into the hands of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite. Barak had extraordinary faith, but his faith might have been stronger, for he would not go in pursuit of the enemy unless Deborah the prophetess went with him. So the man whose faith did not permit him to go forth to the conflict without the assistance of a woman was excelled by a woman, and the honor he could have gained by trusting God's word went to a woman who completed the defeat of Israel's enemy while he slept.
The account shows that Israel, although oppressed by Sisera with nine hundred iron chariots, overthrew him under Deborah and Barak and could overcome its enemies when it acted in faith. It illustrates the rule, According to your faith be it unto you. The victory is linked with leaders taking the lead and the people offering themselves willingly, and it was followed by a song of joy. That willing engagement of leaders and people is applied to the closing work of the third angel's message, when leaders and people will engage willingly in the work.
The battle of Deborah and Barak belongs to the account of the battle at Megiddo, one of the two great victories associated with Megiddo as the Old Testament battlefield linked with conflicts between Israel and the enemies of God's people. As such it serves as an object lesson connected with the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague. The Barak and Deborah history carries prophetic significance as a marvel in metaphor, a significance hitherto generally unnoticed.
The deed is an example of the honor God has given women in all ages, supporting that women can take part in the worship of God and serve publicly for God as Deborah the prophetess did in helping Barak. Jael's victory, by which the captain of the Midianitish bands was delivered into her hands through her courage, led Barak to join Deborah in praise and showed Israel that women could hold honor equal to men. It stands among the good works of women with which the Bible teems, placing woman as a beacon-light in every avenue of life, even in leading the hosts of God in war. The record of the bloody deed of driving a tent nail into the temples of a weary sleeping man and killing him, after which blessings were showered upon Jael, is counted among alleged inaccuracies, inconsistencies and hard places testing divine and human utterances and the inspiration of Scripture, standing alongside the fierce denunciations and prayers for destruction in the imprecatory psalms as a divine approval of human violence.
Warnings and Practical Illustrations
The fate of the commander who had taken up arms against the Lord's forces stands as a warning to God's enemies, for after he fell asleep Jael killed him with tent peg and hammer. The approach to the sleeping and weary man with peg and hammer shows how sin works, first enticing and quieting its victim and then striking when the victim is under its influence. As she seemed to offer hospitality and then struck while he slept, so sin practices deceptive betrayal, hiding its deadly purpose behind a welcoming appearance.
What looks generous and desirable can become a means leading to death, as in the offering in a lordly dish, and so the prosperity and riches of the wicked prepare them for judgment rather than lasting happiness. Jael's fearlessness and courage in striking the death-blow is what mothers today need in order to strike the death-blow to sin in the home. The Jaels needed now are not needed on the field of worldly strife but in the home, where the greatest battle of the universe is being waged against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness, as the closing struggle between good and evil draws speedily on.