One of the stories in the Book of Judges that has always intrigued (and disturbed) me is the encounter of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, and Sisera, commander of the army of Jabin king of Hazor. You’ll find this encounter in Judges 4:17-21, and then retold in a poem in chapter 5. Essentially, Deborah and Barak are fighting Sisera and his army and they defeat them. But Sisera escapes to the camp of Heber the Kenite and is greeted by Heber’s wife, Jael, who invites him into her tent and offers him refreshment. When he falls asleep, she resourcefully takes a tent peg and hammer and drives it through his temple, thus freeing the Israelites from the attack of the Canaanites. It is heroic, no doubt, but also so strange! What is going on here?
Read MoreWhen I read the Bible, I like to look beyond the main story, the main characters and find the person that God has put in there to surprise us. At times these people can be overlooked in the big scheme of things but God has called these faithful people and put their story into the Bible to show us, that every story matters if you take the time to hear it and learn from it.
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