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Judges 4
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 Massacre of the Canaanites
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| 4:1
And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when
Ehud was dead.
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| 4:2
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. |
 (4:2) "The Lord sold them."
God gets angry and sells the Israelites again. (See Judges 2:14, 3:8,
6:1, and 10:7.)
(4:3) "And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD:
for he had nine hundred chariots of iron."
"The children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he [Sisera, not God] had nine hundred chariots of iron." Yet just a few verses ago
(1:19), God was overpowered by chariots of iron.
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| 4:3
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.
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| 4:4
And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that
time.
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| 4:5
And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in
mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
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| 4:6
And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali,
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? |
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| 4:7
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. |
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| 4:8
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. |
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| 4:9
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. |
(4:9)
"The Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman."
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| 4:10
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. |
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| 4:11
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. |
 (4:11) "Hobab the father in
law of Moses"
Who was Moses' father-in-law?
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| 4:12
And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount
Tabor. |
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| 4:13
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. |
(4:13-16) "Nine hundred chariots of iron"
Can God stop iron chariots?
(4:15-16) "The Lord discomfited Sisera ... with the edge of the sword ... and there was not a man left."
(Someone should take the big guy's sword away. )
God's 46th Killing
(4:18-23) "Jael ... 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."
Jael (our heroine) offers food and shelter to a traveler (Sisera, Jabin's captain), saying "turn in my Lord ... fear not."
Then after giving him a glass of milk and tucking him in, she drives a tent stake through his head. "So God subdued on that day Jabin."
God's 47th Killing
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| 4:14
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.
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| 4:15
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.
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| 4:16
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.
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| 4:17
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.
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| 4:18
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.
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| 4:19
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.
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| 4:20
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.
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| 4:21
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. |
(4:21) "For he was fast asleep"
Was Sisera asleep when he was murdered?
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| 4:22
And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said
unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he
came into her tent, behold,
Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. |
(4:24)
"The children of Israel p... prevailed against
Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan."
When was King Jabin killed?
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| 4:23
So God subdued on that
day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
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| 4:24
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.
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