Good evening y’all! I pray that you had a wonderful weekend and are ready to dive into week three. Let’s open our Bibles again to Judges 4-5 and study Jael.
Now Jael was the wife of Heber the Kenite who was separated from the other Kenites. Strangely enough, it seems that Heder had taken the side of Sisera whom we learned was evil in the eyes of the Lord. Even his mother knew Sisera was evil- so why would Jael’s husband take his side? Just a question to consider. Now, as we read in Judges 4:17-22 Sisera fled to the tent of Jael and asked for refuge. Jael gave him milk to drink and allowed him to sleep. Once he was asleep, Jael drove a tent peg into the temple of his head. A few things run through my mind when I think about Jael’s story. Why a peg through his head? Why would she do this, to begin with? It seems a little violet to me. As we read in 5:24-27 Jael is blessed among women- why? Let’s dive in- Jael wasn’t an Israelite, so God wasn’t her God but she chose to go against her husband and struck down Sisera. She knew he was an evil man and she took the chance to do what God said she would do. The crazy part is she didn’t know! She didn’t know that God prophesied that she would be the one to kill Sisera. Later on, she is blessed among women for surrendering to the Lord. God used her for His glory and blessed her. How often do we think of that? God is using us without us even knowing and we are pleasing Him. God will always turn things for His glory because He is worthy of it. He is worthy of our praise! Giving everything over to Him is a form of praise.
Let’s discuss what we just read. I have some questions that I want you to think about, write them down, and if you’d like to comment below we can discuss them together!
- What did we learn about God and His character in the life of Jael?
- What character qualities, positive or negative, do we see in Jael’s life?
- What can I learn from Jael’sstory and apply it to my own life?
I want to surrender to the Lord the way Jael did. She used what she had and did what she needed to do. A tent peg might be a bit extreme but it’s what she had at that time. I know it is easy to feel unequipped to serve the Lord but He has already given us exactly what we need to please Him- all we have to do is surrender to Him. When I pray I open my hands and surrender. This is a form of praise and saying “Lord I give you my all”. Try it next time you pray- open your hands to the God who created the universe. He’s waiting to use you.
I hope you enjoy this study and decide to come back. Tomorrow we’ll learn about Ruth and see how God moved in her life. I hope you enjoy the beautiful sunset that was made by our loving Father and y’all have a wonderful night.