Judges 5:24-27 KJV Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. [25] He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. [26] She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. [27] At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
I. INTRODUCTION—A PARABLE OF THE WILD GEESE
-I recently ran across a provoking story that Richard Exley wrote in his book Deliver Me. He wrote it after being inspired by an essay called “Southern Flight” by Robert James Waller. It is very thought provoking.
We have been flying since the first hint of daylight and the sun is now far down in the western sky as we circle the body of water far below us. Though we have ridden a fierce north wind most of the day, weariness makes our wings heavy. Twice we have bypassed promising lakes after being alerted to danger by our experienced leader. He is a magnificent bird well past his prime, but he can still fly with the best of the young geese. He has been my mate for many winters. For the most part we have had a good life—flying north to Canada in the spring to hatch our young, and then back south with the first hint of winter—but twice we lost offspring to the deadly guns of hunters.
Through the driving snow I now see a cluster of geese huddled against a marshy bank at the far end of the lake. Being surrounded by grain fields, it promises not only a sheltered resting place but sustenance as well. We will not find a better place to spend the night, or that I am sure.
Mordecai leads us in a wide circle around the end of the lake and the adjoining field, alert for signs of danger. Though I see nothing to cause harm, I cannot shake a nagging sense of dread. Form the lake below comes the faint honking of geese at rest. It is the “all clear” signal, but I take no comfort in it, nor does Mordecai.
Well do I remember another day not much different from this one. We had ridden a cold front out of Canada and as the sun slid far down the curve of the earth we set our wings and began the long glide toward the water below. We were about to touch down when two hunters emerged from beneath a sheet of white canvas with guns blazing. Instantly Mordecai veered left, his wide wings clawing the heavy air as he fought for height. Our firstborn was flying on his right wing, just behind him, in tight formation. When Mordecai veered left he followed, taking the full load of shot intended for his father. I watched in helplessness and rage as his lifeless body folded and plunged into the water below. Other birds were dying, too, five in all, but I had eyes only for my firstborn.
The hunters’ guns continued to boom a moment more, spitting orange flame and deadly shot into the indigo sky above the slate-colored lake. I took a couple of pellets in one leg, sending a flash of burning pain to explode in my brain, but it was nothing compared to the awful ache in my heart. Riding the winds I followed the others into the safety of the wide sky, but when they turned south I lingered behind. After they were gone I continued to circle overhead, just out of the range of the guns below. I watched as the hunters began slapping each other on the back and shouting with glee before splashing through the frigid water to collect their prey.
This is on my mind as Mordecai leads us in ever tightening circles, and on his as well, I am sure. He has never been able to forgive himself for that earlier debacle, though what he could have done differently, I do not know. The fact that our firstborn took the shot intended for him has been nearly more than he can bear.
Although everything appears to be in order, Mordecai hesitates still, generating a rumble of protests from some of the young males. They resent Mordecai’s caution, but those of us who have known the terror of the hunters’ guns appreciate it. Suddenly Absalom, a two-year-old goose of magnificent proportions, breaks formation and begins a long glide toward the water below. For a moment no one follows, and then four or five of the younger birds give chase. Mordecai hisses a stern warning while the flock emits a scolding chorus. Both are ignored.
As the renegade geese near the water the marsh grass seems to explode, ripping the pale evening sky with jagged apricot flashes. Absalom takes a full load in his chest and explodes in a tangled mass of blood and feathers. Behind him the young geese veer off in all directions, frantically pounding their wings in a desperate attempt to escape the hunters’ rain of death. Some hug the water, while others seek the safety of the sky.
Jonathon takes a hit in his left wing and lurches crazily before plunging into the lake. Abigail is down, as is Esther. Only Obadiah escapes and he carries pellets in his legs. The hunters emerge from a well-concealed blind clothed from head to toe in camouflage gear. One of them spots Jonathon who is trying to hide in the tall marsh grass. Taking aim he shoots him and Jonathon dies while we watch in stunned disbelief.
There is nothing we can do so Mordecai turns once more toward the south and we fall into formation, death having left several jagged holes. Below us the hunters remove their decoys, collect the bodies of our fallen comrades, and troop across the field to their 4X4.
-Mixed in this story is how those successful goose hunters will use blinds, decoys, and goose calls to entice the goose into a place of their own death. To the hunter it is a sport, to the goose it is life and death.
-Temptation to the devil is almost a sport, a game, but to those who are serving God, temptation is a matter of life and death. That is what I want to preach about. . . Temptation. But I am coming at it from a little different angle.
II. TEMPTATION
-Temptation is not a sin for we will be tempted every day of our life. However, the challenge with temptation is overcoming it in such a way that it does not lead to our own personal failure.
A. General Quotes
Richard Exley—Temptation flourishes in the dark but it withers and dies when it is brought into the light of accountability.
Thomas Watson—The godly have good foresight. They foresee the evil of a temptation: ‘we are not ignorant of his devices’ (2 Cor. 2:11). The wicked swallow temptations like pills, and when it is too late, feel these pills afflict their conscience. But the godly foresee a temptation and will not come near. They see a snake under the grass; they know Satan’s kindness is craftiness. He does what Jephthah’s daughter did: he brings out the tambourine and dances before me with a temptation and then brings them very low (Judges 11:35).
Frances Fenelon—Temptations are a file which rub off much of the rust of our self-confidence.
Thomas Boston—Temptation is the fire that brings up the scum of the heart.
Dryden—Better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.
John Bunyan—Temptations, when we meet them at first, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them.
William Shakespeare—When devils will their blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows.
Charles Spurgeon—Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle.
Hilliard—A vacant mind invites dangerous inmates, as a deserted mansion tempts wandering outcasts to enter and take up their abode in its desolate apartments.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Temptation)—In our members there is a slumbering inclination towards desire which is both sudden and fierce. With irresistible power, desire seizes mastery over the flesh. All at once a secret, smoldering fire is kindled. The flesh burns and is in flames. It makes no difference whether it is sexual desire or ambition or vanity or desire for revenge or love of fame and power or greed for money. . . . or the beauty of the world. . . Joy in God is. . . extinguished in us and we seek all our joy in the creature. At this moment God is quite unreal to us, he loses all reality, and only desire for the creature is real; the only reality is the devil. Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God. . . The lust thus aroused envelops the mind and will of man in deepest darkness. The powers of clear discrimination and of decision are taken from us.
B. Biblical Quotes
James 1:12 KJV Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
James 1:14-16 KJV But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. [15] Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. [16] Do not err, my beloved brethren.
2 Corinthians 2:11 KJV Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
2 Corinthians 11:3 KJV But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
-There are those in the Bible who yielded to the lure of temptation:
• The Lure of Forbidden Fruit—Eve—Gen. 3:6
• The Lure of Fertile Fields—Lot—Gen. 13:10-13
• The Lure of Appetite—Esau—Gen. 25:29-33
• The Lure of Silver and Gold—Achan—Josh. 7:21; Cf. Judges 14:17; 16:17; 1 Sam. 13:12
• The Lure of Women—Solomon—1 Kings 11:1-4
• The Lure of Ambition—James and John—Mark 1035-37
-There are those in the Bible who resisted temptation:
• Abraham—Refused a reward—Gen. 14:23
• Elisha—Refused payment for healing—2 Kings 5:16
• Job—Rejected evil counsel—Job 2:9-10
• The Rechabites and Daniel—Refused wine—Jer. 35:5-6; Dan. 1:8
• Jesus Christ—Refusing worldly honor—Luke 4:5-8
• Peter—Refused a bribe—Acts 8:20
III. THE CONFLICT
A. The Background
-The text we read picks up from what is commonly referred to as Deborah’s song of praise and it recounts the victory of Israel over the Canaanites. The actual telling of the event is in Judges 4:1-24.
-Israel faces a major challenge from the hands of the coalition forces of the Canaanites led by Jabin and Sisera. Jabin is the king and Sisera is the commanding general of the army opposing them.
-As with every opposition that Israel would face, God chose someone to lead Israel. In this case it is a woman who will work to do the will of God. Deborah, a prophetess, as was Miriam and Huldah will serve in the dual role as a judge.
-Deborah headquartered some fifty miles from Jezreel at the southern end of Ephraim’s territory. The word she received from the Lord commanded her to challenge Barak from the tribe of Naphtali to confront the troops led by Sisera.
-Judges 4:6 in the KJV says the Lord is going to “draw unto thee” Sisera and his armies. The NIV changes the phrasing a bit and states that the Lord is going to lure the enemy into a trap. If Barak would do his part, God would do his part. That is often the way that God works with us. . . Conditions apply that if we do our part, then God will do His part.
-The plan was absolutely masterful in that the Lord was going to draw Sisera and his men along with his nine-hundred iron chariots. Soon their twenty year reign of terror would come to an end.
-In the summer months the Kishon River would be whittled down to a mere trickle but in the spring, it was another story. The river basin would flood overflowing its banks and turning the low-lying areas into a soupy swamp.
B. The Battle
-In Judges 4:12, we read that Sisera took the bait and begin to pursue after the men that Barak had gathered up. When those chariots begin to roll into the low-lands of the Kishon basin, they bogged down and the army had to abandon them on foot.
-Barak and his foot soldiers caught them in the bog and slew them. When we look behind some of the words and cross-reference other passages we see a bit more details. The word “discomfited” is also used in a couple of other passages:
• Exodus 14:24—It is used to describe the panic that engulfed Pharoah’s chariots at the Red Sea.
• 1 Samuel 7:10—It is used to describe the confusion of the Philistines who stood against Israel. We are also told of the thunder that took place to contribute to their confusion.
-One other detail comes into play in the next chapter when we hear Deborah’s song of praise. In Judges 5:20-21 she sings of the sudden downpour that overwhelmed Sisera’s chariots on that day and the mud that the chariots sank in.
-Once again, the Lord’s control of the forces of nature proves His superiority over Baal, the Canaanite storm god. Sisera being the savvy general he was would have never attempted to fight the Israelites with his chariots during the rainy season but the gully-washer was entirely unexpected. This storm struck sometime after May when the spring storms had already concluded.
-The victory on that day was so decisive that Canaan never again formed another coalition against Israel.
C. The Escape and Death of Sisera
-In the fray of the battle, Sisera had to abandon his own chariot and flee to the north away from the battle.
-Perhaps he was trying to get back home to Hazor but sometime late in the afternoon, he realized that he was exhausted and wasn’t going to be able to make it back. He limped into Zaanannim and thought to take advantage of the friendly Kenites there.
-Sisera knew that the Kenites had been friendly to Jabin and the Canaanites in the past but he did not know that they had intermarried with the Israelites and had an alliance with them.
-When Jael saw him at her tent door, so impressed was she with his military markings that she referred to him as “Lord.” She invited him into her tent and he fell for the temptation. In his mind, he was thinking that no one would search for him in a woman’s tent and furthermore the Arab custom honors the law of hospitality among wandering nomads.
-They are guaranteed the safety and protection as long as they are an invited guest. But just to make sure they did not find him, he told her to lie about whether he was in the tent or not.
-Jael covered up the exhausted general and instead of giving him the water he asked for, she gave him a “lordly dish of butter.” It was probably something like yogurt or curdled milk which was considered a dessert of sorts.
-Her kindness convinced him of his own safety and that was his mistake. When he had fallen into a deep sleep, she took a tent stake and drove the stake through his skull.
-Men are often slain in their sleep:
• They are slain when their ambition is asleep.
• They are slain when their honor is asleep.
• They are slain when their conscience is asleep.
• They are slain when their reason is asleep.
• They are slain when their prayer life is asleep.
• They are slain when their worship is asleep.
-The word “smote” has the indications of thundering as applied to the hoofs of running horses. The thundering hoofs of Sisera’s chariots were no match for the hammering blows of Jael!
-Despite the violence involved in the act, what you have to remember is that Sisera had been the mastermind of twenty years of oppression to Israel (Judges 4:3).
-He had shown no mercy on Israel and he now stood under the law of God which called for the total destruction of the Canaanites (Deut. 7:2; Josh. 6:17).
-So serious was God about his plan that centuries later when Ahab allowed Ben-Hadad, the king of Damascus, to go free (1 Kings 20:42), he was denounced. Saul was censured by God for saving the life of the Amalekite king, Agag (1 Sam. 15:33).
-Victory over the enemies of God was not usually considered to be completed until the leaders had been eliminated. That might be a good lesson to continue on in our spiritual lives today. In fact the rout of Sisera’s army broke the hold that Jabin had on Israel.
IV. CONCLUSION—TEMPTATION—THE LURE TOWARD A BAD OUTCOME
-While we can revel in the victorious battle for the Lord, for the sake of the sermon, let’s go toward the fatal steps that took out Sisera. He gave into to a temptation that was too much for him. Dog-tired, bone-weary, and battle-worn, he was looking for relief in the wrong place and it took him down.
-The description of the “lordly dish of butter” in the King James Version is a word-picture for us. Other translations render it:
• New International Version—A bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
• Revised Standard Version—Curds in a lordly bowl.
• New English Bible—A bowl fit for a chieftain.
• Rheums—A bowl for nobles.
• Contemporary English Version—Cream in a fancy cup.
• Complete Jewish Bible—In an elegant bowl she brought him curds.
• The Message—In a handsome bowl, she offered cream.
-This is the way that temptation always comes to us. It seems like a place of safety, somewhere that men can hide, a place that calls out to us as a provision for shelter. The lure makes it seem safe.
A. It Is Not Always What Meets the Eye
-Paul Harvey told a story several years ago about how Eskimos kill wolves:
First the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood.
Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder, the wolf licks the blade in the Arctic night. So great becomes the craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor sharp sting of the blade on his own tongue nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more—until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!
-We have to live out every single day of our lives in such a manner that we understand the devil is looking for ways to devour us.
B. What Is Your Temptation?
-Almost twenty years ago (1992), Disciple Journal asked its readers in a survey the areas of greatest temptation to them. The results came back in this order:
1. Materialism
2. Pride
3. Self-centeredness
4. Laziness
5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness and Sexual Lust
6. Envy
7. Gluttony
8. Lying
-Those who responded noted that the temptations were more powerful when they had neglected their time with God (81%) and when they were physically tired (57%). Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84%), avoiding compromising situations (76%), personal Bible study (66%), and being accountable to someone else (52%).
-Our temptations are no different except that we have probably become more spiritually desensitized to our own shortcomings that we have learned to live with them. We have to awaken out of our own sleep before it is too late!
Philip Harrelson
May 20, 2011
