Jael And Sisera

The story of Jael and Sisera is in the Bible. The story of the two and the encounter they had can be found in the book of Judges Chapter 4 and part of chapter 5. From the Biblical story of the encounter of Jael and Sisera indicates that Jael was Kenite whereas Sisera was Canaanite. The story in the Old Testament unfolds during a time when Deborah the prophetess was in charge of leadership of the people of Israel. This was during the time only Judges were ruling the land Israel. The Israelites at this time were crying to the Lord for deliverance. Some were being oppressed by their enemies and had been suffering some in slavery. Crying for deliverance indicated that they were ready to do Gods will and turn away from the inequities they had been involved in. The most famous and popular soldier in Israel at this particular time was Barak. He was summoned by the Judge Deborah who asked him to gather an army of 10,000 men for war against the enemies who were the Canaanites. The Canaanites were led by Sisera. The battle led to the victory of Barak. With more powerful and planned strategies he was able to lead his army against the Canaanites who were more in number. Most of the Canaanite soldiers perished in the war.

Sisera Meets Jael

Sisera was at the point of defeat separated from his men and the chariots as they were left in the hands of Barak. Sisera felt demoralized after the defeat. He had to run to seek some refuge lest he would be killed too. He went to the house of Jael in search of a place to hide rest and lay his head. The husband of Jael whose name was Heber was not present together with his men. Jael was good in that she welcomed Sisera in her tent where allowed him to take rest. She offered Sisera some milk to quench his thirst after he asked for water. Sisera felt secure in the tent belonging to Jael though he knew it was risky to lay there.

Jael Kills Sisera

After allowing Sisera to lie down in her tent, Jael felt insecure for some reason. Sisera instructed her to remain at the door of the tent and if asked whether he had seen him, she was to deny having seen him. After Sisera slept, Jael stabbed him in the heart. Sisera died.

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