Jael! Jael! Jael! Lesson 5 (Final Lesson)

By Patsy Norwood © 2025  All Rights Reserved!  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited!

Judges 1:16; 4:1-22; 5:24-27

Can you believe that Jael, in our last lesson, put a tent peg through Sisera's temple all the way through into the ground!

We're about to find out what happens to Jael as a result of her actions as we pick back up in Judges 4:22 ...

22 And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.

Once Barak arrived in the area where Heber and Jael lived, Jael went out to meet Barak.  She told him that the man he was pursing was inside her tent.  Upon entering Jael’s tent, there indeed lay Sisera … dead … just as Deborah had prophesied … by the hand of a woman.

We have referred to parts of Judges 5:24-27 earlier to give more details of the events that happened, but now let’s take a look at it in its entirety with its purpose in mind which was to praise Jael for her actions.  Deborah led them in song …

“Most blessed among women is Jael,

The wife of Heber the Kenite;

Blessed is she among women in tents.

He asked for water, she gave milk;

She brought out cream in a lordly bowl. 

She stretched her hand to the tent peg,

Her right hand to the workmen’s hammer;

She pounded Sisera, she pierced his head,

She split and struck through his temple. 

At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still;

At her feet he sank, he fell;

Where he sank, there he fell dead.

One has to wonder if Deborah’s words to Barak, when he told her that he would not go if she did not go with him, played through his mind as he and Deborah, along with all the others, sang and witnessed the praise being heaped upon Jael.

Judges 4:23 So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel.

Another promise made and kept by God!

24 And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

This victory was the first of many until God, via the Israelites, had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Why did God want the Canaanites destroyed?  Because they were a threat physically and spiritually to the Israelites whom God had chosen to bring His Son to earth through.

How were the Canaanites a threat to the Israelites?  The Israelites would intermingle with the Canaanites and be drawn away from God and His purpose.  The Canaanites also wanted “their land” back … the land God had given to the Israelites, so they were a physical threat as well.

Today, we are in the world but are not to be a part of it (John 17:15-17) as God wanted the Israelites to be.  Why?  Because we too can be drawn away from God and His purpose for our lives.

In closing, let’s address the fact that Deborah, appointed by God to be prophetess and judge of His chosen people, gave praise to Jael for killing Sisera.  Both Deborah and Jael were of God’s people, Jael killed a man, and Deborah praised her for it.  Was this wrong in the eyes of God?

Let’s look at it this way …

Sisera was an enemy of God and in Deuteronomy 7:1-2 …

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.

 and in Numbers 33: 51-56 …

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places;  you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.  And you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance; there everyone’s inheritance shall be whatever falls to him by lot. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.  Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’ ”

God had commanded the Israelites to wipe out and destroy the people of the land.  They knew what they were supposed to do!  Could this be why Jael was praised for her act instead of condemned?    Jael did what Barak should have stepped up to the plate and done, but his moment of weakness cost him the glory that would have been his had he had faith in God’s command.

When we refuse to do what God wants us to do, He will give the role to another.  His will, will be accomplished whether we choose to participate or not.  Jael got the glory because she obeyed God’s command.  Barak saw another get the glory that should have been his because he only partially obeyed.  I do believe there is a lesson in that for us!

In closing, what can we learn from this account of Jael …

God is in control and is sovereign.

We can trust God to do what He says He will.

God uses the unlikely and sometimes overlooked.

Stay faithful to God regardless (Jael stayed faithful even though her husband did not.)

God fights for His faithful followers.

God goes before His children and prepares the way.

Partial obedience is not obedience.

One more ... God’s will, will be accomplished whether we choose to obey God’s commands or not.

Can you think of other lessons we can learn from Jael?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I hope you’ve enjoyed this study and found something in it that will help you in your Christian walks.

Until the next study!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Several trusted and biblically sound online sources

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley 

Jael! Jael! Jael! Lesson 4

By Patsy Norwood © 2025  All Rights Reserved!  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited!

Judges 1:16; 4:1-22; 5:24-27

This is the way we ended lesson 3 ... Finally, we meet the lady of this study, and we see that she and her husband are of two different allegiances.   We have two enemies, the Israelites and the Canaanites, fighting against each other and a husband supporting and helping the Canaanites while his wife ... well, what about his wife?  We'll find out in the next lesson.  

Here's that next lesson, hold on, the events in this lesson are a bit gruesome!  Let's begin with Judges 4, verse 18 ...

18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket.

Jael sees Sisera and goes out to meet him.  Was she being hospitable or did she seize the opportunity to help the Israelites?  Seeing fear and panic in Sisera’s demeanor, Jael invites him into her tent for safety purposes … supposedly.  She offers him a place to lay down and rest and even covers him with a blanket.

19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him.

We need to insert Judges 5:25 here as it sheds further light and gives more detail on what happened …

He asked for water, she gave milk; She brought out cream in a lordly bowl.

Before giving in to the sleep his exhaustion demanded, Sisera, thinking he was safe, asked for a drink of water.  Jael gave him a glass of milk instead, probably clabbered milk that was fermented and that would have had an intoxicating effect.  She also served it to him in a ‘lordly dish’ which would have eased any suspicion Sisera might have had and then covered him with the blanket again.

20 And he said to her, “Stand at 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.’ ”

Before Sisera gives into sleep, he tells Jael to stand at the door of the tent and if any man comes and inquires if there is a man in her tent, that she is to say, ‘no.’

The Bible does not give us Jael’s response to Sisera’s request … maybe she just chose to remain silent as he drifted off to sleep.

21 Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

Judges 5: 26 -27 … She stretched her hand to the tent peg, Her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; She pounded Sisera, she pierced his head, She split and struck through his temple.  At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; At her feet he sank, he fell; Where he sank, there he fell dead.

Jael, with plans of her own, waits until Sisera is in deep sleep and softly makes her way to where he’s sleeping.  It should be noted that pitching and setting up tents was usually the women’s job therefore, Jael would have been quite skilled in using the tools to do what she did next.

Jael took a hammer and peg and drove it through Sisera’s temple, all the way through and into the ground.    When Sisera had collapsed from exhaustion in Jael’s tent, that was the end of him.  It was the same as if he had fallen dead!

No, she didn't!  Yes, she did!   In our next lesson, we'll see what happens to Jael when everyone finds out what she's done!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Several trusted and biblically sound online sources

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley 

Jael! Jael! Jael! Lesson 3

By Patsy Norwood © 2025  All Rights Reserved!  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited!

Judges 1:16; 4:1-22; 5:24-27

At the end of lesson 2, I told you that we would see some ACTION in the next lesson!   Lessons 1 and 2 prepared us for what will happen here in lesson 3.  Let's pick up with verse 11 in Judges, chapter 4 and see where it takes us ...

11 Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, which is beside Kedesh.

Judges 1:16 … Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

In these verses, we’re going to take our first look at Heber.  As stated in the introduction, Heber was a Kenite with close ties to the Israelites and a ‘non-aggression’ pact with the Canaanite king, Jabin.  In today’s language, we would say that he was ‘playing both sides of the coin!’

Heber’s close ties with the Israelites can be traced back to Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses which would make the Kenites descendants of Moses’ father-in-law.  (Verse 11 has been the subject of controversy over who Hobab was.  Some versions indicate that he is Moses brother-in-law, other versions read similar to the NKJV, which is the one I used for this study.  After much research, I am leaning toward Hobab being Moses brother-in-law and not his father-in-law (Jethro/Reuel).  Please feel free to form your own opinion after doing your own research.  Whichever way you lean, for the purposes of this study, Heber’s connection to the Israelites is made plain regardless of who Hobab was.)

Heber had separated himself from the Kenites in Judah’s land area, possibly because of the threat of Philistine invasion, and moved his family north to the area of Zaanaim near the Kedesh River.  There he endeared himself to the Canaanites and was considered by Sisera to be his friend and ally.

12 And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.

It appears that Heber and company reported to Sisera that Barak had gathered his army and had gone up to Mt. Tabor. 

13 So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.

In response to the news, Sisera gathered together all his chariots and all the people with him to the River Kishon.  Sisera seemingly thought that this was his opportunity to deal a blow to the Israelites by wiping out Barak’s army.  Little did he know that he was fighting the God of the universe via this Israelite army.

14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

“Has not the Lord gone out before you?”   This is a constant prayer of mine, that the Lord would go before me and prepare the way.  Prepare the way for what?  Whatever life brings.  It’s comforting to know that the Lord is ahead of me and knows all about what’s there.  He will never leave me nor forsake me and that brings such peace.  Obviously, it brought comfort and assurance to Barak as well!

When Deborah gave the word … and the assurance that Sisera would be delivered into Barak’s hand, Barak and his 10,000 men went down the mountain side of Mt. Tabor.

15 And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot.

“And the Lord routed” …  what did this entail? Sisera went rushing into the dry Kishon River aiming to show his superiority however, there was a very heavy untimely rain that made a roaring river out of the Kishon and flooded the plains (Judges 5:4, 19-21).  Sisera’s chariots of iron were useless mired down in the mud making all who were in the chariots sitting ducks for Barak’s army.

At the same time Barak and his men came rushing down the steep slopes of Mt Tabor and did battle with Sisera and his army.

Sisera, seeing the handwriting on the wall, ran away on foot.

16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.

Barak continued pursuing and fighting Sisera’s army until it was completely destroyed, not a man was left … except Sisera, who fled on foot in order to escape.

17 However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

The Bible doesn’t tell us how far Jael’s tent (Heber’s wife) was from the actual battle, but it was far enough that by the time Sisera got there, he was exhausted.  Remember that Heber was considered a friend and ally of the Canaanites, which is most likely why Sisera sought refuge there.

What better place to hide, regroup and get some rest than in the tent of an ally’s wife.  Since men did not go into women’s tent’s, Sisera likely thought that no one would look there and that he would be safe.

However, Jael did not share her husband’s allegiance to the Canaanites, her favor was toward the Israelites.

Finally, we meet the lady of this study, and we see that she and her husband are of two different allegiances.   We have two enemies, the Israelites and the Canaanites, fighting against each other and a husband supporting and helping the Canaanites and his wife ... well, what about his wife?  We'll find out in the next lesson.  

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Several trusted and biblically sound online sources

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley 

Jael! Jael! Jael! Lesson 2

By Patsy Norwood © 2025  All Rights Reserved!  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited!

Judges 1:16; 4:1-22; 5:24-27

In lesson 1, we laid the foundation and set the stage for our study.  Today, we're going to pick up starting in verse 4 and get introduced to a woman named Deborah and a man named Barak.  God uses both of them to accomplish His will, but one of them has a faith issue that has consequences!

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

Deborah was the 5^th judge for Israel.

(Since Deborah is in this account, but not the subject of this study, we’ll leave any further details about Deborah until we study her in depth in a future study.)

5  And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

Contained within the role of judge was the responsibility to make decisions individually for the people and for Israel as a whole.  I’m sure Deborah spent much time in prayer over her role and the decisions she was called upon to make.  Do we?

6 Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun;

Here we’re introduced to Barak, a military commander in Israel’s army.  Deborah had sent for him with a mission from the Lord God of Israel to go and deploy troops at Mr. Tabor.  He was to take with him 10,000 men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun. 

Let’s pause and look at some possible reasons the Lord God instructed Barak to take Israel’s army to Mt. Tabor.  Geographically, it was a secure military location with a height of some 1865 feet above sea level.  It had a flat surface on top large enough for a town to be built upon and its sides were steep, giving a look-out vantage point over the surrounding area.

God often uses His creation to bring about His will!

7 and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?”

The River Kishon ran near the southern foot of Mt. Tabor and under normal conditions was a dried up brook or spring until it rained and then it became a roaring river.  Sisera, the military commander of the Canaanite army, knew this and if it had been the rainy season he would have taken that into consideration when planning his strategy.  However, it was not the rainy season, leaving Sisera confident in using his chariots of iron.

Let’s take a look at what God reveals through Deborah in this verse …

God would deploy Sisera against Barak/Israel … in other words, once Sisera knew that Barak was at Mt. Tabor, he would gather his army and go after him.

Sisera would use chariots

Sisera would have a multitude of soldiers to assist him

Both armies would meet at the Kishon River in the plain of Esdraelon at the base of Mt Tabor

Sisera and his army would be delivered into the hands of Barack … in other words they would be defeated!

On the surface it appears that Sisera has a bigger advantage with his multitude of warriors and chariots of iron.  They are better equipped to fight this battle in the eyes of onlookers, but Sisera, with all his advantages didn’t have God and as we will soon see, God fights for His people.

As Christians, aren’t we thankful that God fights for us!

8 And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”

Barak, seeing the danger and difficulty of his assigned mission, wanted and maybe even needed the assurance and confidence the presence of Deborah would give him.  In fact, he told her that if she didn’t go, he would not go either!

Before we come down too hard on Barak for his momentary lack of faith, let’s remember that Gideon (Judges 6:15, Judges 6:36), Abraham (Genesis 15:2-3, Genesis 17:18), Moses (Exodus 4:10, Exodus 4:13) and even Peter (Matthew 14:30-31) all had their moments of weak faith as well.  And, if we’re honest, don’t we have moments of weak faith ourselves from time to time?

9 So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Deborah agrees to go with Barak, but there is a cost to his renown and reputation.  There would be no glory for him, for the Lord would give Sisera into the hand of a woman.  In other words, a woman would bring Sisera down and she would receive the glory for doing it.  Barak, on the other hand, would have to live with someone else, a woman, getting the glory that normally would have gone to the commanding military leader.

(Women in that culture did not enjoy the freedoms and rights that women today, in most cultures, do, but that didn’t and doesn’t stop God from welcoming them as His children.  As women of God, we have much to be thankful for, God is not partial to anyone and welcomes all who obey His will and Word.)

10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men under his command, and Deborah went up with him.

Barak did everything the Lord had commanded … and Deborah went with him.  The Israelite army is in place and ready for their next move.

In the next lesson we're going to see some ACTION!  All this build up in lessons 1 and 2 are coming to a head in our next lesson!!!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Several trusted and biblically sound online sources

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley 

Jael! Jael! Jael! Lesson 1

This is not the study that I’m working on to release in September, but the ladies Bible class that I’m a part of at church just finished a lesson on this lady.  After we finished the lesson, I realized I had done so much research that I decided I might as well turn it in into my own study.

Our September study is still on target to be finished as planned; this is just a little something extra … I hope you enjoy it.

Jael!  Jael!  Jael!

By Patsy Norwood © 2025  All Rights Reserved!  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited!

Judges 1:16; 4:1-22; 5:24-27

Who’s Who?  

Deborah:  Israelite prophetess and judge

Barak: Israelite military commander

King Jabin:  Canaanite king oppressing the Israelites

Sisera:  Canaanite military commander

Heber:  a Kenite with close ties to the Israelites and a ‘non-aggression’ pact with the Canaanite King Jabin

Jael: married to Heber

Now, that we’ve met the players, let’s begin in Judges 4 …  (This is another action-packed account so, hold on … God’s Word is never boring or dull!)

1 When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Ehud was the 4^th judge of Israel.  The Israelites were in a cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, salvation. 

They would sin and turn away from God.

God would send a nation/army to oppress them.

They would cry out to God and repent.  

God would send a judge to rescue them.

The Israelites repeated this cycle throughout the book of Judges.

Ehud has died and once again the children of Israel have returned to sinning against God.

2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim.

In order to turn the Israelites back to Himself, God allowed King Jabin, a Canaanite king, to oppress them.  Here we learn that the commander of his army was a man named Sisera.

3 And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.

For 20 years, God allowed Jabin to ‘harshly’ oppress the children of Israel.  Were the children of Israel that hard-hearted or prideful or stubborn or maybe even rebellious that it took 20 years for them to reach the end of their ropes and cry out to God?

Are we ever guilty of the same thing?  If we’re honest, I think we can all humbly answer, yes.  Is there something we’re refusing to obey God over?  Have we become hard-hearted, prideful, stubborn and even rebellious over what God wants us to do?

In reality, we’re no different than the children of Israel were, are we?

In this lesson, we've set the stage and looked at some background information.  In lesson 2, we'll delve a little deeper as we inch our way toward the lady of our study.  Since this is a pop-up study, I'll be posting more than one lesson per week, so be watching for the next one.

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Several trusted and biblically sound online sources

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley