Then Jael, Heber's wife, &c.— This nail was one of those great pins with which they fastened the tents to the ground. Bishop Patrick upon this event observes, that she might as well have let Sisera lie in his profound sleep till Barak took him, if she had not felt a Divine power moving her to this, that the prophesy of Deborah might be fulfilled. Nothing but this authority from God could warrant such a fact, which seemed a breach of hospitality, and to be attended with several other crimes; but was not so, when God, the Lord of all men's lives, ordered her to execute his sentence upon Sisera. It can scarcely be doubted, says Dr. Waterland, that Jael had a divine direction or impulse to stir her up to this action. The enterprise was exceedingly bold and hazardous, above the courage of her sex. The resolution she took appears very extraordinary, and shows the marks and tokens of its being from the extraordinary hand of God. In this view all is clear and right, and no objectors will be able to prove that there was any treachery in it: for she ought to obey God rather than man; and all obligations to man cease, when brought in competition with our higher obligations towards God. But we are to consider, that what is done in very uncommon cases, and upon occasions very extraordinary, is not to be judged of by common rules. See Scrip. Vind. p. 75. They, who would enter into a more complete justification of this affair, will find satisfaction in Dr. Leland's answer to Christianity as old as the Creation, p. 2.
REFLECTIONS.—The army being destroyed, we have here an account of the death of their general.
1. His flight. His chariot was now no longer his safety; and though, in this confidence, he drew near to battle, he finds by experience how vain a thing is this to save a man. Creature-dependances thus usually fail us.—The tents of the Kenites seemed to promise a safe retreat; and as there was peace between Jabin and them, he flees thither for protection.
2. His reception here was seemingly as hospitable as he could wish. Jael, the wife of Heber, stood at the tent-door; invited him in, to repose in her apartment; refreshed him, thirsty with his flight; and covered him up as weary, for sleep as well as for concealment. Having wished her to deny others entrance there, and by a lie to divert his pursuers, he thinks he may now lie down in peace, and take his rest. How delusive are appearances! how often is our danger nearest, when we conceive ourselves most secure, and our ruin meditating by those in whom we place the greatest confidence! Note; They who trust in man will usually be disappointed; they who trust in God, never.
3. His death. Fatigued with his flight, his senses were soon locked up in sleep, and Jael, on divine warrant, meditates and performs the fatal deed.—Stealing softly to him, with one of the nails of the tent and a hammer in her hand, as he lay on his side, she smote him through both his temples, and fastened him to the ground: so he fell, as was foretold, by the hand of a woman. Note; God often chooses the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.
4. Barak comes, and finds Sisera slain. Jael welcomes him to her tent, and shews him his enemy fallen, to their common joy. Note; The death of an oppressive tyrant is a general mercy.
5. From that day Israel pursued the blow, subdued Jabin, and destroyed his people and cities; and thus, taught by experience, acted more conformably to the divine command and their own advantage, in utterly destroying this devoted people. Note; (1.) It is wisdom to improve under past experience. (2.) God's commands and our real interests are inseparable.