Introduction: Nearly everyone who has ever served in the military is aware of the risk in any armed conflict. Some warriors are killed in action, others are taken prisoner, but the worst fate of all is to be listed as missing. Sisera’s mother was one of the many mothers whose son never came home from the war.
1 The situation
Text, Judges 4:1-3, KJV: 1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. 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. 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.
This even happened during the days of the Judges. After Joshua’s death, Israel suffered under any number of enemies. At this time, Sisera was the commander in chief of King Jabin’s army and he had severely oppressed Israel for 20 years (Judges 4:1-3). Scripture does not record any of what happened to Israel, specifically, during those days, but the LORD allowed this story of Sisera’s last battle to remain.
Something to remember is that as long as Israel obeyed the LORD, He would give them blessing on top of blessing and victory after victory. True, Israel had claimed much of the Promised Land, but by now they had failed, and were worshiping the idols and “gods” of the Canaanites. Deuteronomy 28 spelled out in detail what would happen and, incredibly, Israel seemed to get the message but ignore it. Until now, that is, when they had suffered for 20 long years.
Although the text doesn’t say, we can probably guess some of what had happened: when Jabin and Sisera conquered Israel, they probably killed some, perhaps enslaved others, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these rulers took all their weapons away. Think about it: do you, or would you, really want a defeated enemy to be able to rise up against you?
As best I can determine using online Bible atlases, maps, and so forth, Hazor and Harosheth of the Gentiles were in the northern part of Israel. We’ll find some other clues as we dig deeper into this story but remember, this was Galilee, where the land was somewhat different than the lay of the land in Judea and the southern part of Israel. God would use this to His advantage, soon!
2 The victory
Judges 4:4-16, KJV: 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 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. 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? 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.
12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 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. 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. 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. 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.
The text describes in a very brief account the battle of Mount Tabor plus other narrative. Tabor was and is a well-known landmark in northern Israel, rising to about 1843 feet above sea level (https://bibleatlas.org/tabor.htm) and according to the source listed was covered with vegetation. Sisera’s chariots of iron might have worked well in open country but it’s not known how effective those chariots would be in rough country such as the bottom or foot of Tabor. At any rate, the text records how the LORD “discomfited” Sisera and all the chariots, so much so that Sisera himself somehow got himself off the chariot and ran for his life!
That, however, didn’t stop Barak and his soldiers from completing the victory over Sisera and his army—and the armed chariots, too. This was a total victory for Israel!
But even though he had lost the battle, Sisera was about to lose even more.
3 The conclusion
Text, Judges 4:17-22, KJV: 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. 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. 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. 20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. 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. 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.
Sisera had run for his life, after somehow getting off his chariot during the battle. He then made it to Heber’s tent, and met his wife, Jael. The text says “there was peace” between Heber and the king of Canaan even though we’re not sure just how far that “peace” extended. Heber’s land wasn’t attacked—at least there’s no mention of it in the text—and Sisera must have thought he had found a safe-house or hiding place.
Jael must have seen or heard Sisera coming, because she went out to meet Sisera. She invited him into the campground, which was the custom of the times. By the way, this custom seems to have existed many years before, when Abraham had met the Three Visitors at his own homestead as recorded in Genesis 18.
The problem came when Sisera went into Jael’s tent. Women seemed to have their own tents, or at least dwelling places in those days. Sisera, though, was more interested in saving himself than following the customs of the day and walked into Jael’s tent or dwelling place.
Sisera accepted the “mantle” when Jael wrapped him up in it. Sisera then asked for some water, and Jael gave him some milk. “Bottle” should probably be translated “skin”, as glass was seldom if ever known or used in those days. Then Sisera gave her a request, if not command, “Don’t tell anybody I’m here.” As tired as he must have been, he seems to promptly fall asleep.
Once Sisera was “fast asleep”, Jael promptly took action. In brief, she took a tent peg and hammer, and then pounded the peg through Sisera’s skull. It goes without saying there has been much debate over this but let’s remember a few things: first, this was in Old Testament days and the commands for New Testament believers had not yet been placed in effect. Years later there would be any number of “imprecatory” Psalms, calling for vengeance and retribution against the enemies of Israel.
Second, warfare was cruel in those days. Captives could expect to be either put to death as enemies, worked to death as slaves, or perhaps worse. Pictures of Assyrian monuments show some of the ways captives were treated. One particular event from many years later shows Jehu, one of the kings of the Ten Northern Tribes, bowing down at an Assyrian king’s feet. Jehu is seemingly stripped down to his underwear as he is presenting tribute to Shalmanseser (see Shalmaneser’s “black obelisk”, https://www.ancientreplicas.com/jehu-relief.html)
Third, Israel could have avoided this if they had indeed exterminated the Canaanites as the LORD Himself had commanded. I’ve shaken my head any number of times as to why Israel refused to follow this command when they knew what would happen: witness the golden calf at Mount Sinai (!-Exodus 32) and the tragedy at Baal-Peor (Numbers 25) and the consequences after each of these.
Finally, some have noticed that Sisera signed his own death warrant by entering into a woman’s quarters or section of the tent—and a married woman at that. Sutcliffe’s commentary mentions this (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/jsc/judges-4.html), as does Matthew Poole (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mpc/judges-4.html and Peter Pett’s commentary on this passage (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/pet/judges-4.html).
Evemtually Barak, the Israelite commander, arrived at Heber and Jael’s tent and saw Sisera’s body. Here, the story concludes, but there was one detail that has never been explained:
What happened to Sisera’s body or corpse? I seriously doubt either the Canaanites or the Hebrews used embalming techniques (although Egypt had done so for centuries before and after) and it’s possible the body would have become too putrid to transport given the heat and distance to Sisera’s office or headquarters. Maybe Barak or some of the other Israelites buried Sisera’s body but, again, we have no information about this.
Even worse, one wonders how, or even if, Sisera’s mother ever heard of what happened. Deborah mentions what the mother may have been thinking in Judges 5: the mother was expecting to hear the sounds of Sisera’s chariot, maybe a parade of chariots, loaded with loot from Israel. She may have thought Sisera was supervising the distribution of “a damsel or two” for every soldier and even some of the clothing. She observed the needlework of Hebrew textiles and the variety of colors (Judges 5:28-30).
But the worst feeling she could ever have was the fact her son wasn’t coming home. Ever. His body was probably buried somewhere in Israel but she likely never knew much about it. Her son was missing, forever missing, because his body never made it back to his home.
Any mother of any service member has to realize, the same thing could happen to her son or daughter at any time. No doubt good mothers wait for her child or children to return from military service, but that doesn’t always happen. Should she, and they, be believers in Jesus, each of them has the hope and assurance that they’ll only be separated for a short time and one day, all believers will be united with the Lord Jesus Himself (1 Thess. 4:13-18)!
Thank you, mothers, for all you do.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
