A.K.A. #3 - Jael the Terminator
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Grace Church holds a Meet & Greet for those who are newer to Grace Church on the 4th Sunday of each month. Our next Meet & Greet will be Sunday, June 22nd following the service in CJ's coffee shop. It is a great opportunity to meet the staff and leadership of Grace Church and learn a little more about the church. It also gives us an opportunity to learn a little about you! Contact Leslie Booher if you have any questions ([email protected]).
Tuesday, June 17th - Don Wiser
Wednesday, June 18th - Brian Krauss, Deb Abbott, Steve & Lisa Sterkenburg
Friday, June 20th - Kim Stewart, Amanda Shook, Stephanie Hester, John & Melissa Mater
Saturday, June 21st - Juniper Hoxie, David & Shannah Shaver, Josh & Amie Sensiba
Wednesday, June 18th - Brian Krauss, Deb Abbott, Steve & Lisa Sterkenburg
Friday, June 20th - Kim Stewart, Amanda Shook, Stephanie Hester, John & Melissa Mater
Saturday, June 21st - Juniper Hoxie, David & Shannah Shaver, Josh & Amie Sensiba
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Our series this month is entitled ALSO KNOWN AS or A.K.A.
This abbreviation is meant to indicate an alternative name, nickname, alias, or stage name for a person, place, or thing.
Our series takes a look at five Old Testament characters. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11, we aren't just learning information, but God's warnings and encouragement for our transformation.
This abbreviation is meant to indicate an alternative name, nickname, alias, or stage name for a person, place, or thing.
Our series takes a look at five Old Testament characters. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11, we aren't just learning information, but God's warnings and encouragement for our transformation.
So far we've covered OG the giant king in week 1 and then last week was Jehu the Madman. Today we're going to learn about Jael the Terminator. This might be a strange choice for Father's Day but Jael embodies what most men wish they could be. She might just be the baddest woman on the planet in her time. So to all the fathers today, here's to raising strong women!
"The Right Place at the Right Time"
In history there have been many of these moments:
- Zhang Xu - discovered one of the world's most remarkable archaeological sites in China while planting crops
- Alexander Fleming - discovered penicillin when he returned from vacation
- Rosa Parks - defining moment of civil rights movement was just on her way home from work
- Jim Boeheim - Syracuse basketball player who stepped into a coaching vacancy and ended up coaching for 47 years and winning big
- Tank Man - from Tiananmen Square stand off in 1989
- Rick Rescorla - security director for Morgan Stanley in NYC on 9/11/01 who started evacuating people and estimated to have saved over 2,700 lives before losing his own
So what does this all have to do with Jael? This embodies who she is but none of it becomes possible without God. He used a chain of events to bring her to the moment she is known for.
In history there have been many of these moments:
- Zhang Xu - discovered one of the world's most remarkable archaeological sites in China while planting crops
- Alexander Fleming - discovered penicillin when he returned from vacation
- Rosa Parks - defining moment of civil rights movement was just on her way home from work
- Jim Boeheim - Syracuse basketball player who stepped into a coaching vacancy and ended up coaching for 47 years and winning big
- Tank Man - from Tiananmen Square stand off in 1989
- Rick Rescorla - security director for Morgan Stanley in NYC on 9/11/01 who started evacuating people and estimated to have saved over 2,700 lives before losing his own
So what does this all have to do with Jael? This embodies who she is but none of it becomes possible without God. He used a chain of events to bring her to the moment she is known for.
The story of Jael happens during the time of Moses. Moses was the guy who led Israel out of Egypt after 400 years of slavery. He led them to the edge of the Promised Land but God told Moses he would never be allowed to enter it. Moses dies and Joshua is appointed as the next leader of Israel. Joshua leads the 12 tribes to conquer the Promised Land from the Canaanites. They managed to take the land but did not do what the Lord commanded them which was to drive out the entire nation of Canaan. God did this to stop the influence of the sinful and corrupted Canaanites. But instead they chose to live among the Canaanites and even adopt their rituals and gods.
This starts a cycle of prosperity followed by ruin for the entire nation of Israel. God raised up judges who would battle for the freedom of the Israelites. During this time there would be times of peace and times of ruin and the cycle would repeat itself over and over.
Judges 17:6
This verse sums up the entire book of Judges and is repeated again in Judges 21:25.
Judges 17:6
This verse sums up the entire book of Judges and is repeated again in Judges 21:25.
Judges 17:6
BSB
6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
BSB
We start today in Judges Chapter 4. This is during the time of Deborah who was the first and only female judge of Israel.
Once again Israel was doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. So He gave them over to the King of the Canaanites, Jabin. Jabin's army was led by a man named Sisera. He was cruel and tortured the people of Israel. Judges 4:4-7
Once again Israel was doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. So He gave them over to the King of the Canaanites, Jabin. Jabin's army was led by a man named Sisera. He was cruel and tortured the people of Israel. Judges 4:4-7
Judges 4:4-7
BSB
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
5 And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.
6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.
7 And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”
5 And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.
6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.
7 And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”
BSB
Deborah summoned a man named Barak. He is to call out warriors and go to battle with King Jabin's army. Barak didn't have the same confidence in his army that Deborah and God had. We see in Judges 4:8 how Barak responded to Deborah. He wanted to make sure that if things went bad, the one in charge went down as well. Deborah agrees to go with them, but tells him there will be no glory for him in Sisera's defeat because of how he responded to God. Instead God would give the glory to a woman.
Judges 4:8
BSB
8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
BSB
Sisera used his might to intimidate his opponent. Judges 4:13
But all of this was no match for God. The army of the Canaanites began to fall apart and the losses were mounting. When it became apparent to Sisera that he would not be successful, he left behind his iron chariot and fled on foot. Little did he know he was escaping right into his own demise.
But all of this was no match for God. The army of the Canaanites began to fall apart and the losses were mounting. When it became apparent to Sisera that he would not be successful, he left behind his iron chariot and fled on foot. Little did he know he was escaping right into his own demise.
Judges 4:13
BSB
13 he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon.
BSB
Sisera fled to a nearby land where Heber the Kenite lived. There had been a pact between King Jabin and Heber the Kenite so Sisera believed he was safe and secure when he reached this area. When he arrived he was welcomed by Heber's wife Jael. She covered him with a blanket and gave him milk to drink. At this time Sisera fell into a deep sleep. Jael then took a tent peg (or stake) and with a mallet, drove it straight through his temple and killed him. Judges 4:18-21
This fulfilled the prophecy that Sisera would die at the hands of a woman (Judges 4:9).
This fulfilled the prophecy that Sisera would die at the hands of a woman (Judges 4:9).
Judges 4:18-21
BSB
18 Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19 Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again.
20 “Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’”
21 But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
19 Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again.
20 “Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’”
21 But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
BSB
So what makes Jael so important and what can we learn from this woman who is barely mentioned in the book of Judges?
Here's a Biblical truth for us today...
God places all of us in the right place for the right time.
How is it that a woman, who was not an Israelite, become the perfect person to defeat Sisera and in turn start the collapse of King Jabin and the Canaanites?
Here's a Biblical truth for us today...
God places all of us in the right place for the right time.
How is it that a woman, who was not an Israelite, become the perfect person to defeat Sisera and in turn start the collapse of King Jabin and the Canaanites?
Jael means "mountain goat." Mountain goats are steady and built for tough terrain; they don't live an easy life and this is how Jael was. She had to skillfully navigate and be steady in how she dealt with Sisera. She had to be tough enough to carry out what the Lord had asked of her.
We can connect some dots to see why God had picked Jael and how He used multiple events leading up to this meeting in the tent for his purpose.
- Jael and her husband Heber were Kenites. They originated from Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. He was a priest and raised his sons and their families to trust in the Lord.
- The Kenites entered into Canaan alongside the tribe of Judah, but chose to settle on the southern border along the wilderness.
- Heber and Jael didn't stay in the area inhabited by the Kenites, instead they moved closer to where the Israel/Canaanite battle took place.
- Being foreigners in a land ruled by King Jabin they entered into a pact with him to keep their safety.
- It's likely that King Jabin, Sisera, Heber, and Jael all knew one another.
This was not random. God worked through a series of connections to put Jael in the right place at the right time.
- Jael and her husband Heber were Kenites. They originated from Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. He was a priest and raised his sons and their families to trust in the Lord.
- The Kenites entered into Canaan alongside the tribe of Judah, but chose to settle on the southern border along the wilderness.
- Heber and Jael didn't stay in the area inhabited by the Kenites, instead they moved closer to where the Israel/Canaanite battle took place.
- Being foreigners in a land ruled by King Jabin they entered into a pact with him to keep their safety.
- It's likely that King Jabin, Sisera, Heber, and Jael all knew one another.
This was not random. God worked through a series of connections to put Jael in the right place at the right time.
Like Heber and Jael, God has placed all of us in the right place for the right time. The family you are in, the community where you live, the school and workplace that provide opportunities for you, and the peer group you hang out with are not accidental.
This week, sit down and think of those four groupings of people. Write down a couple of names in each group. These are the people who either need the Lord or need to grow in the Lord...then PEG them!
We aren't thinking of the peg that Jael used as an instrument of death here. But think of it like the peg being the instrument of Jael's devotion to God and the strategy He gave her.
She made a difference in the lives of people who knew her. The people who God wanted to reach and be the recipients of her story of faith.
This week, sit down and think of those four groupings of people. Write down a couple of names in each group. These are the people who either need the Lord or need to grow in the Lord...then PEG them!
We aren't thinking of the peg that Jael used as an instrument of death here. But think of it like the peg being the instrument of Jael's devotion to God and the strategy He gave her.
She made a difference in the lives of people who knew her. The people who God wanted to reach and be the recipients of her story of faith.
Let's use the letters of the world PEG and think of how we can serve God and be an instrument of change in the lives of those people we've identified:
Pray - for God to open their heart and mind.
Pray - for God to open their heart and mind.
Engage - them in conversation that goes below the surface.
Ask about hobbies, dreams for the future, and key moments from their life story.
Ask about hobbies, dreams for the future, and key moments from their life story.
Give - them a Spiritual truth that is meaningful to you and or tell them the Story (God’s Story of Jesus and our Story with Jesus).
Most people will remember Jael for driving a peg through the head of Sisera but there is so much more. It is about God putting someone in the right place at the right time.
God has plans for all of us and when we choose to participate there is no limit to what we can accomplish for Him. He chose Jael the Terminator who was steady, tough, and ready for whatever God needed.
Are you allowing God to put you where He needs you?
God has plans for all of us and when we choose to participate there is no limit to what we can accomplish for Him. He chose Jael the Terminator who was steady, tough, and ready for whatever God needed.
Are you allowing God to put you where He needs you?
