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