J
U D G E S
CHAP. IV.
The
method of the history of Deborah and Barak (the heroes in this chapter) is the
same with that before Here is,
I.
Israel
revolted from God, ver. 1. II.
Israel oppressed by Jabin, ver. 2, 3. III. Israel judged by Deborah, ver. 4,
5. IV. Israel rescued out of the hands of Jabin. 1. Their deliverance is
concerted between Deborah and Barak, ver. 6, 9. 2. It is accomplished by their
joint-agency. Barak takes the field, ver. 10. Sisera, Jabin's general, meets
him, ver. 12, 13. Deborah encourages him, ver. 14. And God gives him a
complete victory. The army routed, ver. 15, 16. The general forced to flee,
ver. 17. And where he expected shelter he had his life stolen from him by Jael
while he was asleep (ver. 18-21), which completes Barak's triumph (ver. 22)
and Israel's deliverance, ver. 23, 24.
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The
Israelites Enslaved by Jabin.
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B.
C. 1285.
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1 And the children of
Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD,
when Ehud was dead. 2 And the LORD
sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the
captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the
Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD:
for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily
oppressed the children of Israel.
Here is, I. Israel backsliding from God: They again did evil in his sight,
forsook his service, and worshipped idols; for this was the sin which now most
easily beset them, v. 1. See in this, 1. The strange strength of
corruption, which hurries men into sin notwithstanding the most frequent
experience of its fatal consequences. The bent to backslide is with great
difficulty restrained. 2. The common ill effects of a long peace. The land had
rest eighty years, which should have confirmed them in their religion; but, on
the contrary, it made them secure and wanton, and indulgent of those lusts
which the worship of the false gods was calculated for the gratification of.
Thus the prosperity of fools destroys them. Jeshurun waxeth fat and kicketh.
3. The great loss which a people sustains by the death of good governors. The
did evil, because Ehud was dead. So it may be read. He kept a strict eye
upon them, restrained and punished every thing that looked towards idolatry,
and kept them close to God's service. But, when he was gone, they revolted,
fearing him more than God.
II. Israel oppressed by their enemies. When they forsook God, he forsook them;
and then they became an easy prey to every spoiler. They alienated themselves
from God as if he were none of theirs; and then God alienated them as none of
his. Those that threw themselves out of God's service threw themselves out of
his protection. What has my beloved to do in my house when she has thus
played the harlot? Jer. xi. 15. He sold them into the hand of Jabin, v.
2. This Jabin reigned in Hazor, as another of the same name, and perhaps his
ancestor, had done before him, whom Joshua routed and slew, and burnt his
city, Josh. xi. 1, 10. But it seems, in process of time, the city was rebuilt,
the power regained, the loss retrieved, and, by degrees, the king of Hazor
becomes able to tyrannize over Israel, who by sin had lost all their advantage
against the Canaanites. This servitude was longer than either of the former,
and much more grievous. Jabin, and his general Sisera, did mightily oppress
Israel. That which aggravated the oppression was, 1. That this enemy was
nearer to them than any of the former, in their borders, in their bowels, and
by this means had the more opportunity to do them a mischief. 2. That they
were the natives of the country, who bore an implacable enmity to them, for
invading and dispossessing them, and when they had them in their power would
be so much the more cruel and mischievous towards them in revenge of the old
quarrel. 3. That these Canaanites had formerly been conquered and subdued by
Israel, were of old sentenced to be their servants (Gen. ix. 25), and might
now have been under their feet, and utterly incapable of giving them any
disturbance, if their own slothfulness, cowardice, and unbelief, had not
suffered them thus to get head. To be oppressed by those whom their fathers
had conquered, and whom they themselves had foolishly spared, could not but be
very grievous.
III. Israel returning to their God: They cried unto the Lord, when
distress drove them to him, and they saw no other way of relief. Those that
slight God in their prosperity will find themselves under a necessity of
seeking him when they are in trouble.
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The
Project of Deborah and Barak.
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B.
C. 1258.
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4 And Deborah, a
prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in
mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and
said unto him, Hath not the LORD
God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and
take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the
children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee to the river
Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his
multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. 8 And Barak
said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not
go with me, then I will not go. 9 And she said, I will
surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be
for thine honour; for the LORD
shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with
Barak to Kedesh.
The year of the redeemed at length came, when Israel was to be delivered out
of the hands of Jabin, and restored again to their liberty, which we may
suppose the northern tribes, that lay nearest to the oppressors and felt most
the effects of his fury, did in a particular manner cry to God for. For the
oppression of the poor, and the sighing of the needy, now will God arise.
Now here we have,
I. The preparation of the people for their deliverance, by the prophetic
conduct and government of Deborah, v. 4, 5. Her name signifies a bee;
and she answered her name by her industry, sagacity, and great usefulness to
the public, her sweetness to her friends and sharpness to her enemies. She is
said to be the wife of Lapidoth; but, the termination not being
commonly found in the name of a man, some make this the name of a place: she
was a woman of Lapidoth. Others take it appellatively, Lapidoth
signifies lamps. The Rabbin say she had employed herself in making
wicks for the lamps of the tabernacle; and, having stooped to that mean office
for God, she was afterwards thus preferred. Or she was a woman of illuminations,
or of splendours, one that was extraordinarily knowing and wise, and so
came to be very eminent and illustrious. Concerning her we are here told, 1.
That she was intimately acquainted with God; she was a prophetess, one
that was instructed in divine knowledge by the immediate inspiration of the
Spirit of God, and had gifts of wisdom, to which she attained not in an
ordinary way: she heard the words of God, and probably saw the
visions of the Almighty. 2. That she was entirely devoted to the service
of Israel. She judged Israel at the time that Jabin oppressed them; and
perhaps, being a woman, she was the more easily permitted by the oppressor to
do it. She judged, not as a princess, by an civil authority conferred upon
her, but as a prophetess, and as God's mouth to them, correcting abuses and
redressing grievances, especially those which related to the worship of God.
The children of Israel came up to her from all parts for judgment, not so much
for the deciding of controversies between man and man as for advice in the
reformation of what was amiss in things pertaining to God. Those among them
who before had secretly lamented the impieties and idolatries of their
neighbours, but knew not where to apply for the restraining of them, now made
their complaints to Deborah, who, by the sword of the Spirit, showing them the
judgment of God, reduced and reclaimed many, and excited and animated the
magistrates in their respective districts to put the laws in execution. It is
said she dwelt, or, as some read it, she sat under a palm-tree,
called ever after from her the palm-tree of Deborah. Either she had her
house under that tree, a mean habitation which would couch under a tree, or
she had her judgment-seat in the open air, under the shadow of that tree,
which was an emblem of the justice she sat there to administer, which will
thrive and grow against opposition, as palms under pressures. Josephus says
that the children of Israel came to Deborah, to desire her to pray to God for
them, that they might be delivered out of the hand of Jabin; and Samuel is
said at one particular time to judge Israel in Mizpeh, that is, to bring them
back again to God, when they made the same address to him upon a like
occasion, 1 Sam. vii. 6, 8.
II. The project laid for their deliverance. When the children of Israel came
to her for judgment, with her they found salvation. So those that seek to
God for grace shall have grace and peace, grace and comfort, grace and glory.
She was not herself fit to command an army in person, being a woman; but she
nominated one that was fit, Barak of Naphtali, who, it is probable, had
already signalized himself in some rencounters with the forces of the
oppressor, living near him (for Hazor and Harosheth lay within the lot of that
tribe), and thereby had gained a reputation and interest among his people.
Some struggles, we may suppose, that brave man had made towards the shaking
off of the yoke, but could not effect it till he had his commission and
instructions from Deborah. He could do nothing without her head, nor she
without his hands; but both together made a complete deliverer, and effected a
complete deliverance. The greatest and best are not self-sufficient, but need
one another.
1. By God's direction, she orders Barak to raise an army, and engage Jabin's
forces, that were under Sisera's command, v. 6, 7. Barak, it may be,
had been meditating some great attempt against the common enemy; a spark of
generous fire was glowing in his breast, and he would fain do something to the
purpose for his people and for the cities of his God. But two things
discouraged him:
(1.) He wanted a commission to levy forces; this therefore Deborah here gives
him under the broad seal of heaven, which, as a prophetess, she had a warrant
to affix to it: "Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded it?
Yet, certainly he has; take my word for it." Some think she intends this
as an appeal to Barak's own heart. "Has not God, by a secret whisper to
thyself, given thee some intimation of his purpose to make use of thee as an
instrument in his hands to save Israel? Hast not thou felt some impulse of
this kind upon thy own spirit?" If so, the spirit of prophesy in Deborah
confirms the spirit of a soldier in Barak: Go and draw towards Mount Tabor.
[1.] She directs him what number of men to raise-10,000; and let him not fear
that these will be too few, when God hath said he will by them save Israel.
[2.] Whence he should raise them--only out of his own tribe, and that of
Zebulun next adjoining. These two counties should furnish him with an army
sufficient; he need not stay to go further. And, [3.] She orders him where to
make his rendezvous--at Mount Tabor, in his own neighbourhood.
(2.) When he had an army raised, he knew not how he should have an opportunity
of engaging the enemy, who perhaps declined fighting, having heard that
Israel, if they had but courage enough to make head against any enemy, seldom
failed of success. "Well," says Deborah, in the name of "God, I
will draw unto thee Sisera and his army." She assured him that the
matter should be determined by one pitched battle, and should not be long in
the doing. [1.] In mentioning the power of the enemy, Sisera, a celebrated
general, bold and experienced, his chariots, his iron chariots, and his
multitude of soldiers, she obliged Barak to fortify himself with the utmost
degree of resolution; for the enemy he was to engage was a very formidable
one. It is good to know the worst, that we may provide accordingly. But, [2.]
In fixing the very place to which Sisera would draw his army, she gave him a
sign, which might help to confirm his faith when he came to engage. it was a
contingent things, and depended upon Sisera's own will; but, when afterwards
Barak should see the event falling out just as Deborah had foretold, he might
thence infer that certainly in the rest she said she spoke under a divine
direction, which would be a great encouragement to him, especially because
with this, [3.] She gave him an express promise of success I will (that
is, God will, in whose name I speak) deliver them into thy hand; so
that when he saw them drawn up against him, according to Deborah's word, he
might be confident that, according to her word, he should soon see them fallen
before him. Observe, God drew them to him only that he might deliver
them into his hand. When Sisera drew his forces together, he designed the
destruction of Israel; but God gathered them as sheaves into the floor,
for their own destruction, Mic. iv. 11, 12. Assemble yourselves, and you
shall be broken to pieces, Isa. viii. 9. See Rev. xix. 17, 18.
2. At Barak's request, she promises to go along with him to the field of
battle. (1.) Barak insisted much upon the necessity of her presence, which
would be to him better than a council of war (v. 8): "If thou
wilt go with me to direct and advise me, and in every difficult case to
let me know God's mind, then I will go with all my heart, and not fear
the chariots of iron; otherwise not." Some make this to be the language
of a weak faith; he could not take her word unless he had her with him in
pawn, as it were, for performance. It seems rather to arise from a conviction
of the necessity of God's presence and continual direction, a pledge and
earnest of which he would reckon Deborah's presence to be, and therefore
begged thus earnestly for it. "If thou go not up with me, in token
of God's going with me, carry me not up hence." Nothing would be a
greater satisfaction to him than to have the prophetess with him to animate
the soldiers and to be consulted as an oracle upon all occasions. (2.) Deborah
promised to go with him, v. 9. No toil nor peril shall discourage her
from doing the utmost that becomes her to do for the service of her country.
She would not send him where she would not go herself. Those that in God's
name call others to their duty should be very ready to assist them in it.
Deborah was the weaker vessel, yet had the stronger faith. But though she
agrees to go with Barak, if he insists upon it, she gives him a hint proper
enough to move a soldier not to insist upon it: The journey thou
undertakest (so confident was she of the success that she called his
engaging in war but the undertaking of a journey) shall not be for thy
honour; not so much for thy honour as if thou hadst gone by thyself; for the
Lord shall sell Sisera (now his turn comes to be sold as Israel was, v.
2, by way of reprisal) "into the hands of a woman;" that is,
[1.] The world would ascribe the victory to the hand of Deborah: this he might
himself foresee. [2.] God (to correct his weakness) would complete the victory
by the hand of Jael, which would be some eclipse to his glory. But Barak
values the satisfaction of his mind, and the good success of his enterprise,
more than his honour; and therefore will by no means drop his request. He
dares not fight unless he have Deborah with him, to direct him and pray for
him. She therefore stood to her word with a masculine courage; this noble
heroine arose and went with Barak.
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Defeat
of Sisera.
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B.
C. 1258.
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10 And Barak called
Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his
feet: and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite, which
was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed
himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim,
which is by Kedesh. 12 And they showed Sisera that Barak
the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 13 And Sisera
gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron,
and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles
unto the river of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for
this is the day in which the LORD
hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD
gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand
men after him. 15 And the LORD
discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with
the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his
chariot, and fled away on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued after the
chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host
of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man
left.
Here, I. Barak beats up for volunteers, and soon has his quota of men ready, v.
10. Deborah had appointed him to raise an army of 10,000 men (v. 6),
and so many he has presently at his feet, following him, and subject to
his command. God is said to call us to his feet (Isa. xli. 2), that is,
into obedience to him. Some think it intimates that they were all footmen, and
so the armies of the Jews generally were, which made the disproportion of
strength between them and the enemy (who had horses and chariots) very great,
and the victory the more illustrious; but the presence of God and his
prophetess was abundantly sufficient to balance that disproportion. Barak had
his men at his feet, which intimates their cheerfulness and readiness
to attend him whithersoever he went, Rev. xiv. 4. Though the tribes of Zebulun
and Naphtali were chiefly depended on, yet it appears by Deborah's song that
some had come in to him from other tribes (Manasseh and Issachar), and more
were expected that came not, from Reuben, Dan, and Asher, ch. v. 14-17.
But these are overlooked here; and we are only told that to make his 10,000
men effective indeed Deborah went up with him. The 11th verse,
concerning the removal of Heber, one of the families of the Kenites, out of
the wilderness of Judah, in the south, where those families had fixed
themselves (ch. i. 16), into the northern country, comes in for the
sake of what was to follow concerning the exploit of Jael, a wife of that
family.
II. Sisera, upon notice of Barak's motions, takes the field with a very
numerous and powerful army (v. 12, 13): They showed Sisera, that
is, it was shown to him. Yet some think it refers to the Kenites, mentioned
immediately before, v. 11. They gave Sisera notice of Barak's
rendezvous, there being peace at this time between Jabin and that family, v.
17. Whether they intended it as a kindness to him or no, it served to
accomplish what God had said by Deborah (v. 7): I will draw unto
thee Sisera. Sisera's confidence was chiefly in his chariots; therefore
particular notice is taken of them, 900 chariots of iron, which, with
the scythes fastened to their axle-trees, when they were driven into an army
of footmen, did terrible execution. So ingenious have men been in inventing
methods of destroying one another, to gratify those lusts from which come
wars and fightings.
III. Deborah gives orders to engage the enemy, v. 14. Josephus says
that when Barak saw Sisera's army drawn up, and attempting to surround the
mountain on the top of which he and his forces lay encamped, his heart quite
failed him, and he determined to retire to a place of greater safety; but
Deborah animated him to make a descent upon Sisera, assuring him that this was
the day marked out in the divine counsels for his defeat. "Now they
appear most threatening they are ripe for ruin. The thing is as sure to be
done as if it were done already: The Lord hath delivered Sisera into thy
hand." See how the work and honour of this great action are divided
between Deborah and Barak; she, as the head, gives the word, he, as the
hand, does the work. Thus does God dispense his gifts variously, 1 Cor.
xii. 4, &c. But, though ordinarily the head of the woman is the man
(1 Cor. xi. 3), he that has the residue of the Spirit was pleased to cross
hands, and to put the head upon the woman's shoulders, choosing the weak
things of the world to shame the mighty, that no flesh might glory in his
presence. It was well for Barak that he had Deborah with him; for she made up
what was defective, 1. In his conduct, by telling him, This is the day.
2. In his courage, by assuring him of God's presence: "Has not the
Lord gone out before thee? Darest not thou follow when thou hast God
himself for thy leader?" Note, (1.) In every undertaking it is good to be
satisfied that God goes before us, that we are in the way of our duty and
under his direction. (2.) If we have ground to hope that God goes before us,
we ought to go on with courage and cheerfulness. Be not dismayed at the
difficulties thou meetest with in resisting Satan, in serving God, or
suffering for him; for has not the Lord gone out before thee? Follow
him fully then.
IV. God himself routs the enemy's army, v. 15. Barak, in obedience to
Deborah's orders, went down into the valley, though there upon the plain the
iron chariots would have so much the more advantage against him, quitting his
fastnesses upon the mountain in dependence upon the divine power; for in
vain is salvation hoped for from hills and mountains; in the Lord alone is the
salvation of his people, Jer. iii. 23. And he was not deceived in his
confidence: The Lord discomfited Sisera. It was not so much the bold
and surprising alarm which Barak gave their camp that dispirited and dispersed
them, but God's terror seized their spirits and put them into an unaccountable
confusion. The stars, it seems, fought against them, ch. v. 20.
Josephus says that a violent storm of hail which beat in their faces gave them
this rout, disabled them, and drove them back; so that they became a very easy
prey to the army of Israel, and Deborah's words were made good: "The
Lord has delivered them into thy hand; it is now in thy power to do what
thou wilt with them."
V. Barak bravely improves his advantage, follows the blow with undaunted
resolution and unwearied diligence, prosecutes the victory, pursues the
scattered forces, even to their general's head-quarters at Harosheth (v.
16), and spares none whom God had delivered into his hand to be destroyed: There
was not a man left. When God goes before us in our spiritual conflicts we
must bestir ourselves; and, when by grace he gives us some success against the
enemies of our souls, we must improve it by watchfulness and resolution, and
carry on the holy war with vigour.
17 Howbeit 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. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him,
Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her
into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 19 And he said unto
her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she
opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. 20
Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when
any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that
thou shalt say, No. 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. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera,
Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the
man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera
lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. 23 So God
subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of
Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and
prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin
king of Canaan.
We have seen the army of the Canaanites totally routed. It is said (Ps.
lxxxiii. 9, 10, where the defeat of this army is pleaded as a precedent for
God's doing the like in after times) that they became as dung for the
earth. Now here we have,
I. The fall of their general, Sisera, captain of the host, in whom, it is
likely, Jabin their king put an entire confidence, and therefore was not
himself present in the action. Let us trace the steps of this mighty man's
fall.
1. He quitted his chariot, and took to his feet, v. 15, 17. His
chariots had been his pride and his confidence; and we may suppose he had
therefore despised and defied the armies of the living God, because they were
all on foot, and had neither chariot nor horse, as he had. Justly therefore is
he thus made ashamed of his confidence, and forced to quit it, and thinks
himself then most safe and easy when he has got clear of his chariot, though
we may well suppose it the best made, and best drawn, of any of them. Thus are
those disappointed who rest on the creature; like a broken reed, it not only
breaks under them, but runs into their hand, and pierceth them with many
sorrows. The idol may quickly become a burden (Isa. xlvi. 1), and what we were
sick for God can make us sick of. How miserable doth Sisera look now he is
dismounted! It is hard to say whether he blusheth or trembleth more. Put not
your trust in princes, if they may so soon be brought to this, if he who but
lately trusted to his arms with so much assurance must now trust to his heels
only with so little.
2. He fled for shelter to the tents of the Kenites, having no strong-hold, nor
any place of is own in reach to retire to. The mean and solitary way of the
Kenites' living, perhaps, he had formerly despised and ridiculed, and the more
because religion was kept up among them; yet now he is glad to put himself
under the protection of one of these tents: and he chooses the wife's tent or
apartment, either because less suspected, or because it happened to be next to
him, and the first he came to, v. 17. And that which encouraged him to
go thither was that at this time there was peace between his master and the
house of Heber: not that there was any league offensive and defensive between
them, only at present there were no indications of hostility. Jabin did them
no harm, did not oppress them as he did the Israelites, their plain, quiet,
harmless way of living making them not suspected nor feared, and perhaps God
so ordering it as a recompence for their constant adherence to the true
religion. Sisera thought he might therefore be safe among them; not
considering that, though they themselves suffered not by Jabin's power, they
heartily sympathized with the Israel of God that did.
3. Jael invited him in, and bade him very welcome. Probably she stood at the
tent door, to enquire what news from the army, and what the success of the
battle which was fought not far off. (1.) She invited him in. Perhaps she
stood waiting for an opportunity to show kindness to any distressed Israelite,
if there should be occasion for it; but seeing Sisera come in great haste,
panting and out of breath, she invited him to come and repose himself in her
tent, in which, while she seemed to design the relieving of his fatigue,
perhaps she really intended the retarding of his flight, that he might fall
into the hands of Barak, who was not in a hot chase after him (v. 18),
and it may well questioned whether she had at first any thought of taking away
his life, but rather God afterwards put it into her heart. (2.) She made very
much of him, and seemed mighty careful to have him easy, as her invited guest.
Was he weary? she finds him a very convenient place to repose himself in, and
recruit his strength. Was he thirsty? well he might. Did he want a little
water to cool his tongue? the best liquor her tent afforded was at his
service, and that was milk (v. 19), which, we may suppose, he drank
heartily of, and, being refreshed with it, was the better disposed to sleep.
Was he cold, or afraid of catching cold? or did he desire to be hid from the
pursuers, if they should search that tent? she covered him with a mantle, v.
18. All expressions of care for his safety. Only when he desired her to tell a
lie for him, and to say he was not there, she declined making any such
promise, v. 20. We must not sin against God, no, not to oblige those we
would show ourselves most observant of. Lastly, We must suppose she
kept her tent as quiet as she could, and free from noise, that he might sleep
the sooner and the faster. And now was Sisera least safe when he was most
secure. How uncertain and precarious is human life! and what assurance can we
have of it, when it may so easily be betrayed by those with whom it is
trusted, and those may prove its destroyers who we hoped would be its
protectors! It is best making God our friend, for he will not deceive us.
4. When he lay fast asleep she drove a long nail through his temples, so
fastened his head to the ground, and killed him, v. 21. And, though
this was enough to do the business, yet, to make sure work (if we translate it
rightly, ch. v. 26), she cut off his head, and left it nailed there.
Whether she designed this or no when she invited him into her tent does not
appear; probably the thought was darted into her mind when she saw him lie so
conveniently to receive such a fatal blow; and, doubtless, the thought brought
with it evidence sufficient that it came not from Satan as a murderer and
destroyer, but from God as a righteous judge and avenger, so much of
brightness and heavenly light did she perceive in the inducements to it that
offered themselves, the honour of God and the deliverance of Israel, and
nothing of the blackness of malice, hatred, or personal revenge. (1.) It was a
divine power that enabled her to do it, and inspired her with a more than
manly courage. What if her hand should shake, and she should miss her blow?
What if he should awake when she was attempting it? Or suppose some of his own
attendants should follow him, and surprise her in the face, how dearly would
she and all hers be made to pay for it? Yet, obtaining help of God, she did it
effectually. (2.) It was a divine warrant that justified her in the doing of
it; and therefore, since no such extraordinary commissions can now be
pretended, it ought not in any case to be imitated. The laws of friendship and
hospitality must be religiously observed, and we must abhor the thought of
betraying any whom we have invited and encouraged to put a confidence in us.
And, as to this act of Jael (like that of Ehud in the chapter before), we have
reason to think she was conscious of such a divine impulse upon her spirit to
do it as did abundantly satisfy herself (and it ought therefore to satisfy us)
that it was well done. God's judgments are a great deep. The instrument of
this execution was a nail of the tent, that is, one of the great pins with
which the tent, or the stakes of it, were fastened. They often removing their
tents, she had been used to drive these nails, and therefore knew how to do it
the more dexterously on this great occasion. he that thought to destroy Israel
with his many iron chariots is himself destroyed with one iron nail. Thus do
the weak things of the world confound the mighty. See here Jael's glory and
Sisera's shame. The great commander dies, [1.] In his sleep, fast asleep, and
weary. It comes in as a reason why he stirred not, to make resistance. So
fettered was he in the chains of sleep that he could not find his hands. Thus the
stout-hearted are spoiled at thy rebuke, O God of Jacob! they are cast into a
dead sleep, and so are made to sleep their last, Ps. lxxvi. 5, 6. Let not
the strong man then glory in his strength; for when he sleeps where is it? It
is weak, and he can do nothing; a child may insult him then, and steal his
life from him; and yet if he sleep not he is soon spent and weary, and can do
nothing either. Those words which we here put in a parenthesis (for he was
weary) all the ancient versions read otherwise: he struggled (or
started, as we say) and died, so the Syriac and Arabic, Exagitans
sese mortuus est. He fainted and died, so the LXX. Consocians morte
soporem, so the vulgar Latin, joining sleep and death together, seeing
they are so near akin. He fainted and died. He dies, [2.] With his head
nailed to the ground, an emblem of his earthly-mindedness. O curve in
terram animæ! His ear (says bishop Hall) was fastened close to the earth,
as if his body had been listening what had become of his soul. He dies, [3.]
By the hand of a woman. This added to the shame of his death before men; and
had he but known it, as Abimelech (ch. ix. 54), we may well imagine how
much it would have added to the vexation of his own heart.
II. The glory and joy of Israel hereupon. 1. Barak their leader finds his
enemy dead, (v. 22), and no doubt, he was very well pleased to find his
work done so well to his hand, and so much to the glory of God and the
confusion of his enemies. had he stood too nicely upon a point of honour, he
would have resented it as an affront to have the general slain by any hand but
his; but now he remembered that this diminution of his honour he was sentenced
to undergo, for insisting upon Deborah's going with him (the Lord shall
sell Sisera into the hand of a woman), though then it was little thought
that the prediction would be fulfilled in such a way as this. 2. Israel is
completely delivered out of the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, v. 23,
24. They not only shook off his yoke by this day's victory, but they
afterwards prosecuted the war against him, till they had destroyed him, he and
his nation being by the divine appointment devoted to ruin and not to be
spared. The Israelites, having soundly smarted for their foolish pity in not
doing it before, resolved now it is in their power to indulge them no longer,
but to make a thorough riddance of them, as a people to whom to show mercy was
as contrary to their own interest as it was to God's command; and probably it
is with an eye to the sentence they were under that this enemy is named three
times here in these last two verses, and called king of Canaan; for as
such he was to be destroyed; and so thoroughly was he destroyed that I do not
remember to read of the kings of Canaan any more after this. The children of
Israel would have prevented a great deal of mischief if they had sooner
destroyed these Canaanites, as God had both commanded and enabled them; but
better be wise late, and buy wisdom by experience, than never wise.
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