Judg 4:11-24 · Read 5 min · think and write 15 min
Deborah said to Barak, “I will surely go with you” (Judg 4:9). Barak called ten thousand men together, “and Deborah went up with him” (Judg 4:10). This is in Lesson 1.
This lesson begins with a family living in tents: Heber the Kenite, who “had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh” (Judg 4:11).
11Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh.
12They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.
13Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon.
14Deborah said to Barak, “Go; for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Hasn’t the LORD gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
15The LORD confused Sisera, all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled away on his feet.
16But Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth of the Gentiles; and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. There was not a man left.
17However Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; don’t be afraid.” He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
19He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, and gave him a drink, and covered him.
20He said to her, “Stand in the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’”
21Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground, for he was in a deep sleep; so he fainted and died.
22Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek.” He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples.
23So God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel on that day.
24The hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
A family in tents. “Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh” (v. 11). In the middle of the story, the passage stops to say where this family lived. Later it adds: “for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite” (v. 17).
Nine hundred chariots of iron. They told Sisera that Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor (v. 12). “Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon” (v. 13). Lesson 1 read: “for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years” (Judg 4:3).
This is the day. “Deborah said to Barak, ‘Go; for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Hasn’t the LORD gone out before you?’” (v. 14). What she said was a question. The passage goes on: “So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him” (v. 14).
It was the LORD. “The LORD confused Sisera, all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak” (v. 15). The passage does not describe how the battle was fought; it says only that it was the LORD who threw them into confusion. “Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled away on his feet” (v. 15).
Jael’s tent. “However Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite” (v. 17). Verses 18 to 21 record, step by step, what happened in the tent: she asked him in, gave him milk, and covered him; he fell asleep; “so he fainted and died” (v. 21). The passage records it as it happened, and adds no comment.
Into a woman’s hand. “Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him” (v. 22). Barak came into the tent, “and behold, Sisera lay dead” (v. 22). In Lesson 1 Deborah had said: “the LORD will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand” (Judg 4:9).
God subdued Jabin. “So God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel on that day” (v. 23). “The hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan” (v. 24).
Afterwards. “Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day” (Judg 5:1). The next lesson reads this song.
Moses said to Joshua: “The LORD himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you” (Deut 31:8).
Readers can see this: on Mount Tabor, what Deborah said to Barak was, “Hasn’t the LORD gone out before you?” (v. 14).
Perhaps there is something in front of you too that stands there like nine hundred chariots of iron: a person you dare not face, a lawsuit you cannot avoid, a situation that has pressed on you for years.
This lesson does not say that if you believe, no chariots can stop you; nor does it say that once you get up and go, things will turn out the way you hoped. What it shows you is this: what Deborah said to Barak was a question, “Hasn’t the LORD gone out before you?” (v. 14); “Barak went down from Mount Tabor” (v. 14); the passage says that it was the LORD who threw Sisera’s army into confusion (v. 15), and God who subdued Jabin (v. 23).
This week: Copy out the question in verse 14 and put it where you will see it every day. Read it once a day this week, and then tell God about the thing that looks to you like nine hundred chariots of iron.
Scripture: World English Bible.