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Weekly Devotion
Judges 4:17, 21
17 But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
The key to understanding the overarching point of Judges chapter 4 is the word "peace" in verse 17. This is a Hebrew word that many of us are familiar with: shalom. One Bible commentator notes that this term denotes much more than the absence of hostilities. In contexts like this one, the word also functions as a covenantal term.
This secondary meaning sheds a different light to this story. See that the defeated general, Sisera, sought protection in the tent of Jael. He assumed he was safe there because Sisera had a covenantal relationship with Heber (Jael's husband). Unfortunately for Sisera, Jael did not honor the pact and killed him.
In this, I am reminded of the teachings of Italian Reformed theologian, Francis Turretin. In his work, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, he wrote, "Faith does not justify on account of the worthiness of the act, but only as it apprehends Christ, the object. For as a weak hand stretched out to receive a valuable jewel does not enrich by its own strength, but by the precious stone received, so faith justifies not by its own excellence, but as it lays hold of the excellence of Christ."
In other words, the mere fact that we believe does not save us. Sisera believed in Heber, but his faith led to his untimely death. It is not only faith, but faith must be placed in the right object. In Judges 4, Barak believed in God and Sisera believed in Heber. The former was empowered to victory while the latter was eventually put to shame.