Sisera and His Chariots
Judges 4:1-4; 12-17
Sisera had it made, he must admit. He was general over the army of Jabin, king of Canaan. He had risen through the ranks and now he was General of the Army. And not just any army; he had 900 iron chariots at his disposal, far more than anyone else in the region and certainly more then Israel, who had none. No one was a match for him and his chariots. They were invincible, and everyone knew it. There was one problem with this, however: he rarely got to use them. Just having them available was a deterrent to others who might consider either bucking Canaan's dominance or attacking them outright. His job was to protect Canaan and he did it well.
So it was an ordinary day like so many others when the messenger came in, all out of breath. The Israelites were on the move, and were gathering at Mt. Tabor. Sisera leaped from his chair at the news. Here was the opportunity he'd been waiting for. Soldiers were made for fighting, and fighting there would be. Enough of this sitting around waiting for something to happen. Here it is at last: He would marshal his troops and send those Jews back where they came from. Who did they think they were to defy king Jabin and the Canaanites? They knew they were no match for his iron chariots. What were they thinking? Whatever it was, he would soon change their tune!
Read Text – Judges 4:1-4; 12-17
Ill. Have you ever been surprised by the actions of someone else? You know, they didn’t do what you expected them to do? Maybe they did something less; maybe they did something more. It may have been something totally unexpected. Sometimes it’s a sudden surprise. A little girl barged into the bathroom while her father was brushing his teeth. “Aha,” she rebuked, “so you’re the one who keeps putting the cap back on the toothpaste.”
Even Jesus experienced surprise once in a while. A Roman centurion came to Jesus one day to request healing for his servant. The Roman showed such faith that the Bible says that Jesus was astonished and said, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in all of Israel with such great faith.” Even Jesus could be surprised by the unexpected.
Sisera is thinking, “Look at them. Those Hebrews don’t even have any real weapons. Some bows and arrows, but in close combat, what good are they?” Swords were at a minimum in Israel because they didn’t have smelters of their own, and their enemies weren’t selling them any. Most of these men came from the hills in Israel, and didn’t have much more than sticks and clubs and a few knives. Sure, Sisera and his men were outnumbered, but you can’t stop an iron chariot with sticks and clubs.
Application: How do you fight your battles? Do you use the right weapon for the job? We often are guilty of showing up to a gun fight with only a stick. Many of the battles we fight we cannot fight with flesh and blood, because the enemies are not flesh and blood. The Bible says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).
Church, we need to understand that the forces that come against us are not flesh and blood, but the powers of hell. That power may be disguised in human form; it may live right next door to us, be hiding in our government offices, or appear in the form of a drug dealer, pornographer or homosexual radicals. It may be your profane boss, or even your best friend who tries to distract you from your Christian life by talking you into activities that you know would be displeasing to the Lord Jesus. Anything the enemy can to do distract us from the battle, he will do. That’s why we can’t defeat him with guns, bullets or bombs. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood; we wrestle against the powers of hell, and they are formidable. But we have a force that is fighting for us, for “it’s not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.”
Everything was lining up just as Sisera had planned it. Things could not be going any better. This time of year, the Kishon River basin was dry, though flash floods could happen with summer thundershowers. Having checked with the local weather man, who said that the chance of rain was minimal, Sisera and his army moved out toward Israel and the Kishon River. It was going to be a good day. His chariots were ready, his men well trained, his battle plan in place. He planned to rout these Hebrews and send them back where they’d come from. He figured to be home by dinner time and sleep in his own bed tonight.
As his army drew near to the battle zone, Sisera’s eyes scanned the surrounding areas, wondering where the Jews were hiding. Did they want to fight or not? He didn’t blame them for not wanting to face his chariots, but they are the one’s who gathered for battle and called him out. They knew what they were in for and what the outcome was likely going to be, so why are they hiding now? Was this some sort of a trick? Did they actually plan to meet him head on or was this a ploy to bring him out in the open and then the main force of Hebrews would attack his country while he is away?
But then he sees them over near the base of Mt. Tabor. They are just waiting there for him to come to them. Well, that would be no problem. His chariots could cover that much ground in no time. As he drew closer, they were just standing there, watching him as he approached. That’s when he noticed the darkening sky and saw the flash of lightening in the distance. That crazy weatherman, Phony Cavaliar, would hear from Sisera when this thing was over. No chance of rain indeed! This looked like a real camel-choker. And it was coming fast toward Sisera and his chariots. Right behind all that rain was a wall of water rushing down the side of the mountain, headed directly toward the Canaanite army. When it hit, the desert sand quickly turned into a swamp, and it soon became impossible for his horses to pull the heavy iron chariots. That’s when the Hebrew nomads swarmed out of the trees on the mountain side and bum-rushed the chariots. In hand to hand combat, Sisera’s soldiers were grossly outnumbered, and in close quarters, bows and arrows were useless. As the Hebrews swarm over his chariots, Sisera panics and leaps from his chariot and begins running away from the battle. He’s got to get away. He’s the commander. The Hebrews will take great delight in capturing him and bringing him back to Israel as a trophy, dead or alive. He’d rather be dead than alive if it meant being captured. But he wasn’t dead yet, or caught. If they catch him, they’ll have to work for it; he wouldn’t make it easy for them. He may not be young anymore, but he was in pretty good shape, and running was something he liked to do, although usually under better circumstances. Shedding his heavy armor as he ran, he took off toward the hill country where at least he had some places to hide. With a good head start, he had a pretty decent chance.
Application: Have you ever had your best plans ruined by unforeseen circumstances, even things you couldn’t control?
Ill. On October 28, 1993, the U.S. Space Command watched as a two-ton chunk of a Chinese satellite began to reenter the earth’s atmosphere. According to their calculations, this satellite would plunge into the Pacific Ocean 500 west of Baja, California. When it plunged into the atmosphere, however, it skipped south and took and unexpected detour, landing in the Pacific Ocean west of Peru.
Major Bob Butts explained that space debris traveling at 17,000 miles per hour takes unpredictable twists and turns when it enters into thickening atmosphere. It’s like dropping a penny into water. “Sometimes it goes straight down, and sometimes it turns end over end and changes direction.”
On October 18 when Chinese scientists radioed the reentry commands, the satellite went out of control, split in two, and stayed in orbit. They predicted it would stay in orbit another six months; in fact, it stayed up only another ten days, coming down a few hours earlier than even the US space agency thought.
Our lives are like that Chinese satellite: unpredictable, defying our best laid plans, filled with surprises. That’s why God tells us to approach our planning with praying and humility.
Psalm 19:21 reminds us, “Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose which prevails.” And James 4:13-17 says, “Look here, you people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”
How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
There are too many circumstances out there that you can’t control.
Sisera didn't understand. Why was he running for his life, on foot? He is Sisera, the great general of the Canaanite army. He was the commander of 900 iron chariots; neither they nor he had ever been defeated. This should have been an easy victory. It was, actually. For the wrong side! Everything he commanded his army to do was the wrong thing. The chariots got caught in the sand; his men were left facing into the sun; and where did Israel's army learn to fight like that? They had always cowered before his might before; now here they were fighting like madmen. His army in shambles, he had to get back to Canaan. But how? He was running the wrong direction. He'd have to make it back this way. But then it struck him: Heber the Kenite had his compound not far from here. He'd hide out there until dark and then sneak out into the night and make it back to Hazor.
He finally makes it to the tent of Heber, and none too soon, for he'd run just about as far as he could. Jael, Heber's wife, came out to greet him. Gasping for air, he chokes out his story as quickly as he can, and Jael motions him into the tent. She offers to hide him, but first he asks for some water. Not having any available, she gives him a drink of milk. Not water, but it will do. Soon, he is fast asleep, running having drained him of his last ounce of energy. As he drifted off to sleep, a slight smile crept across his face. He was safe. It was only a few hours ‘til dark, but until then, he'd sleep awhile and regain his strength for the night ahead. What could possibly go wrong now?
What indeed!
We’ve already seen the rest of this story, a few weeks ago when Barak was the star of the show. Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, waits for Sisera to go to sleep, then drives a tent peg through the head of Sisera and nails him to the ground. He never knows what hits him.
There are at least two lessons here for all of us:
1. Might does not make right. Putting our confidence in anything other than God – chariots, money, power, even friends – does not guarantee any outcome except eventual defeat. Sisera’s biggest mistake was two-fold: he trusted in his chariots, and he trusted in who he thought was his friend. Both of them let him down.
a. His military might had a flaw in it for which he did not plan: chariots caught in the mud quickly become coffins.
b. The refuge with his “friends” was even worse; for it was there that he actually lost his life. He felt so secure that he actually went to sleep in a tent, knowing that his enemies were pursuing him. It is good to have friends; it is good to trust people. But there are times when even the best of friends will let you down and disappoint you. Those whom you think are your friends may actually kill you.
c. Isa 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.
2. You can run but you can’t hide from God. Christ has been called “The Hound of Heaven.” There is a reason for that. Psalm 139 tells that no matter where we go, He is already there. On the highest mountain, in the deepest ocean, in the darkest cave, God is already there. He is relentless in His pursuit of us. Why does He pursue us? In order to draw us to Himself, as Jesus said, “So that where I am, you may be also.”
Sisera trusted in his military superiority, and it failed Him. He trusted in an alliance with his enemies, and it cost him his life. He trusted in his own plan to outrun and outsmart his enemy, but his own body simply was not up to the task. The one thing he did not trust in was the God of Israel, the creator of all things, the judge of the unrighteous and righteous alike. Ps. 20:7 says “Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
What are you trusting in today? Whatever it is, it will eventually let you down. Money comes and goes; friends, even the best of friends, move away, die, or simply have too much on their own plate to be of help to you when you need them; our own government seems to be working against us at times; your own health will one day deteriorate, and many of you feel that even today. But the one who knows us best loves us most, and always has exactly what we need, when we need it. But it only comes through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
