Jael: A Canaanite Woman Used By God

The story of Jael is found in the book of Judges 4:11-24, 5:24-27. Very short piece of scripture to tell an extraordinary history of one woman and how the Lord used her to deliver Israel. Jael's story is so important that Deborah, judge of Israel at the time, sang praise to the mighty warriors of Israel, including Jael!! P. Jeff recently brought a message about climbing the mountain because that's where God is. Letting nothing stand in our way from reaching God at the top of the mountain.
First thing I did when I decided to reread Judges was to look up the meaning of the name 'Jael' in Strongs Concordance. This is what I found: Jael in Hebrew is pronounced 'Yaw-ale,' and it means the following; WILD GOAT, (this woman was a mountain climber!!) ibex as climbing. The primary root meaning is to ascend, to be valuable, useful, beneficial, set forward, can do good, be profitable, have profit. Can you get a picture of this Canaanite woman? She lived in a tent and I see her long, wild dark hair blowing in the wind. This woman knows she can do. Do you have a picture of a goat climbing a high mountain? We saw goats climbing all the time in Alaska. Nothing seemed to stop them.
There is no scripture reference of the Lord giving Jael instructions for what she was about to do, no word from Deborah who was judge at the time, although, Deborah prophesied that a woman would get the glory, "...for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman..." (4:6-9). What she did have is personal experience of what war with oppressors was doing to Israel. The people that Jael was from were the Kenites and Jael's husband Heber had earlier made peace between his house, the Kenites and King Jabin. This peace pact plays an important part in what Jael would do in helping to save God's people.
God knows the beginning, to very end of this thing He is doing. First, He called Deborah who knew how to spend time with God under the palm tree (4:5), seeking His wisdom. Next, Deborah called Barak who was in Kedesh (meaning sacred place)to lead the troops of Israel. Deborah herself lived in the land of Ephriam, and only 10,000 men came from two tribes; Naphitali and Zebulun. Out of the twelve tribes, only three were represented. The Few, Matthew 20:16. A few years ago, P. Jeff had an excellent series on 'The Few.' Check it out.
Next, God had plans for the enemy. The leader of K. Jabin's army was Sisera. The army had 900 chariots and as they were preparing for what they think will be a decisive victory for them, the Lord confused and terrified Sisera and ALL his chariot drivers (4:15). This apparently was too much for the enemy leader, Sisera left his chariot and fled the scene while every last one of his soldiers were slain by Israel.
Sisera knew he would have sanctuary at the tent of the Kenite, Heber. Jael is on the scene again, ready to make things happen! She calms all his fears, invites him into the tent, gives him a cover. He requests water and she goes the second mile and gives him milk with curd, that would be cottage cheese to us. She knew exactly how to disarm the enemy. This wild goat of a woman had everything set in place beforehand by the God of Israel. Now Jael herself was ready with everything she needed; the hospitality, the nourishment, the covering for him, the hammer, and the pin she used to stabilize the tent, and some assurance to keep him at ease. She knew everything about these tools, she was resourceful and well practiced in taking down tents and setting them up again. She quietly comes near the enemy who was in an exhausted, deep sleep and used the tent pin (we would call it a stake) and hammer to kill the the enemy who had oppressed Israel for twenty years.
I was up til 1:30 this morning reading the story of Jael, the wild goat. There are precious details here. I encourage you to read her story, take notes and talk about it with friends. Her story isn't done yet, this scripture was written for our instruction! You might have asked what does a wild goat have to do with me, or what does the Old Testament have for me? We are there!