Tent Peg Through the Temple

July 16

Read: Judges 4:17-23

Tent Peg Through the Temple

Imagine you come home from work one day and your spouse asks you, “How was your day?” You reply and share the ins and out, and then you ask them the same question. Their response? “Well, I hammered a tent stake through the temple of your biggest client in our living room today, but besides that nothing else too important.” I wish I could have been there the moment Jael’s husband came home that day. I wonder how it went?

This is one of the more shocking stories in the scriptures, and it is filled with surprises. Who is this woman Jael anyways, and what would compel her to do what she did? “…There was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.” (v.17) The Kenites were metal workers. (Their name as a tribe roughly means “metalworkers or smiths” and there are ancient murals that depict them as blacksmiths.) It is very likely that the peace between them as a nomadic tribe and King Jabin comes from the fact that they made the iron chariots that gave Jabin and Sisera such power. This would also explain why Sisera would seek refuge in Jael’s tent, why he would trust her, and why it was not odd for her to reach out to him. Sisera and Jabin represented a “big contract” for Jael’s husband… real $, power, and stability in a business sense. This is why it is so shocking that she kills him!

There is something else about the Kenites that you might remember from before. In Judges 1:16 we see that, “..the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah…and they went and settled with the people.” You see, the Kenites had ties back to Moses. The Kenites had been around the one TRUE LIVING GOD. They had seen God’s people. They had heard the stories. They were familiar with the traditions and the ways that God worked and provided for his people. The Kenites were no strangers to the Lord and his people. It appears as though their relationship with Israel had shifted over time though… and now they were aligned with the King who was oppressing God’s people.

Jael had a decision to make. She knew about the Lord. She had been exposed to the ideas and truths of the living God. She had seen the people of God worship. Whose side would she take? Where would HER loyalties lie? Humanly speaking, Jael made a VERY RISKY decision… She chose YHWH… the One True God… the Living God of the people of Israel. If Israel was not successful… she was in BIG TROUBLE. Even if Israel IS successful - imagine the monetary cost… the business costs… of killing the one who buys your husbands chariots! Culturally, she could easily have been killed for her actions. As a woman, to act this way was SHOCKING. She doesn’t know how her spouse is going to respond either! Jael MAJORLY stepped out in faith and said “enough is enough. I am lining up with YHWH, the God of Israel. He is the God I trust in… not riches, or business, or power, or cultural norms!”

What if God calls you to something that will cost you some REAL money? What if following the Lord means a loss of business? How will your spouse respond if you decide to go “all in'' with the Lord? What cultural risks are involved with lining up behind Christ? You must wrestle with the same questions as Jael. What will you do? Are you willing to live in tension? There is no neutral ground with the Lord. The Kenites cannot forever live in-between the God of Moses and King Jabin. Sooner or later, you must put a stake in the ground. In this case - it went right through someone’s temple! Israel’s rescue once again came from outside of Israel - this time through a Kenite woman. Once again, the least likely person brings victory. Our victory will come from outside of ourselves as well, it comes from Jesus!

The time has come for you to put a stake in the ground. If you have been living in the middle - that needs to come to an end. It is not enough to just “be around” the Lord… to be familiar with his stories and his people. God is calling for relationship, devotion, and diving in with HIM. Maybe God is calling you to something and you are afraid… afraid because you are unsure of how your spouse will respond, afraid because it could cost you in business, afraid because it is culturally not the norm. God brings glory and victory to those who boldly walk with him. God brings victory and blessing to OTHERS through the courageous action of those who are willing to put their stake in the ground come what may. You cannot run away from the conflict. Look, Sisera ran away from the battle and abandoned his men and he ended up with his head nailed to the ground! Love you guys. - JDP