Judges 5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent
Sometime ago I was eating lunch with a friend at Chick-fil-a. We were seated right beside a large window next to the drive-thru. All of a sudden, I heard a car with tires screeching coming from the drive-thru. This car had its tires locked and they were smoking. The car behind it, which had some spinning tires and some locked, was pushing the front car. These two cars were locked in this struggle. The car behind was pushing the car in front against its will, just pedal to the floor.
At first, I thought it was some kind of fight, but I realized that was not the case at all. The person in the pushing car was passed out. Something had gone wrong and her foot just went to the floor, pedal to the metal. The car just shrieked and howled as it pushed the front car. Eventually the guy front car peeled off, and the car with the unconscious driver shot like a stone out of a slingshot across a four-lane highway, up an embankment, through a chain link fence, and into a retention pond.
By now we were all shocked. My friend and I jumped up, as did a number of others, and ran across the highway to the pond. When we crested the berm, there was already a stranger wading into the dark, cold water of unknown depths, going toward that car which was now in the middle of the retention pond with the driver still unconscious. I thought to myself, “How many of us would do that? How many of us would have the courage and conviction to wade in for a complete stranger?” I am happy to say that the story, as far as I could see, ended well. That driver got help, but it was because someone had the courage to wade in. The world is changed for better by those willing to wade in.
Judges 5 is a story sung by Deborah, a prophetess and judge of Israel, and Barak, a commander of the Israelites in a battle against the wicked enemy Sisera. The purpose of the song was to praise the Lord. Verse 2 says, “Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.” God uses willing people. Verse 9 says, “My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly.” So, Judges 5 is a song of praise to God and of God’s working through willing people.
What brought this song about? The Bible describes those days in verses 6-7, which are a picture of the days of the judges, where every man did that which was right in his own eyes. There was trouble and decline until “I [Deborah] arose a mother in Israel.” Here is a woman who stood up and waded in at God’s leading.
Verse 8 gives you the reason for all of this trouble in Israel, “They chose new gods; then was war.” God’s people had strayed from God. They were dispersed in this new land of Canaan and had chosen new gods, forgetting God. So, there is this battle that ensues between wicked Sisera and many of the children of Israel. In the following verses, you find that there were those who sat on the sidelines, those who offered themselves willingly, and the God who won the battle.
Verse 23 talks about those who stayed on the sidelines, “Curse ye Meroz [a region occupied by Israel]…curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.” Verse 17 says, “Why did Dan remain in ships? Verse 16 says, referring to another tribe, “Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds?” So, there were Israelites who were too busy to be bothered with following God’s leading.
Their objection to being involved was probably something like, “This is not my business.” Now, some people are busybodies, and that is not right. I don’t need to be involved in things I cannot help, but there are times when help is needed and God wants to use us. We may feel like we can’t be bothered because we are too busy with our sheep, ships, or whatever may occupy us, but these people on the sidelines were cursed.
In contrast, we see those who offered themselves willingly. Two other tribes, Zebulon and Naphtali, “jeoparded their lives” to follow God’s leadership. They waded in. Deborah, this mother in Israel, waded in. Verse 24 tells us about a woman named Jael whom God used to defeat the armies of this Sisera. She literally put a tent stake through Sisera’s temple and nailed him to the ground. Verse 24 says, “Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.” She had nothing but a nail, but she was willing. She followed Jehovah’s leading even at possible peril to herself. Jael was blessed because she waded in.
Third, you have the God who actually won this battle. Verse 20 says, “They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” In other words, the stars themselves fought against Sisera. Specifically, God sent rain, and Sisera’s army, who used chariots, was mired down. Both naturally and supernaturally, the universe was against the enemies of God. God won. When you fight against God, you literally fight against the universe. When you follow God’s leading, it does not mean you have no problems, but you are literally serving with and for the God who made the universe. It wasn’t just Jael with her hammer and nail; it was God Himself.
Where is it that you should wade in? I’m not talking about being a busybody. I am talking about seeing the need, following God’s leading, and wading in. The world is changed for better by those willing to wade in.