This is the story including Deborah, and Barak, of Sisera and of God routing his army and then Jael driving of the tent leg through his temple.
The most simple thing in this story is that gender is a big thing. The whole story hinges on the gender roles and how they are reversed.
The men in this story are weak and are not defending their families. The women stand up and take the action required. Not only Jael, but also Deborah, who the people come to for advice.
The ideal man in the ancient world, is a warrior, a man of valor. That is not the role of a woman. Despite their actions, neither Deborah or Jael lose their femininity in this story, and the text makes that clear. There are four times in the text that Deborah’s femininity is pointed out, though lost in the translation to English. The writer wants us to make no mistake that Deborah is a woman, even though if you stripped away these four references you would think this was about a man.
Barak should have known that he should have been doing something. He tells Deborah he will go if she goes but will not if she doesn’t. That is the mind of men who are in Israel at this time, passive men who will not stand up as they should. They stand in contrast to Shamgar at the end of Judges 3 (and Ehud).
We need to ask ourselves as men, are we neglecting our roles and forcing our wives to take on the roles we should ? Is our wife doing the primary teaching of our children because we don’t step up? Do our wives have to call us out, as Deborah does to Barak, to step up and perform our God given responsibility?
This is popular in our culture now. Everyone is the same and everyone can do the same things. This is not God’s plan for men and women. This text is telling us plainly and strongly that men need to be men and women need to be women. It’s likely neither Deborah or Jael want the role that is thrust upon them.
Jael does some very motherly things prior to driving the peg through his temple – covering him, giving him milk, coming to him softly. Sisera is hiding in the tent, having run away while his whole army has been slaughtered – not acting like a man.
When men act like women, and women act like men, society is in chaos. That’s what we see here. Things are messed up. Isa. 3:4 and 12; Ex.19 are other examples.
Applications:
1. Neglect, not ignorance, tends to be our greatest struggle. We as men may, at times, become passive, letting our wives take on the role we should. We have a lot of leisure time which can make it easier to be passive. How about we take on God’s plan? Every action leads to another action. Not doing so leads to a mess, to children not being raised right. All we have to do is look around us at the lack of respect for all authority.
2. Victory comes NOT from personal power or from experience, but from faithfulness to follow God. It wasn’t Deborah’s plan that resulted in success, it was them following God’s plan. God wants people who will rise up and do what He wants.
3. When men are acting like women and women act like men, things are a mess. Paul makes this point in 1 Cor. 11 When talking about the length of mens and women’s hair. The idea is not biological, but cultural. If every man in town had long hair and every woman had short the corinthians would know something was wrong.
Side note: Jesus is most vividly seen for who He really is at this very location. He ascends Mt. Tabor and is transfigured right before His disciples eyes.
God wants us to follow His plan, to die to self and to live for Jesus. Let’s all be sure we are taking on the roles God has designed for us.
Sermon by Brent Moody
