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When Ehud was dead, the
Israelites again rebelled against God; so soon they forgot all His
mercies, and their own promises to love and obey Him. God,
therefore, punished them again. He cannot let His people sin, and
take no notice: He is like a kind parent who punishes his
disobedient children in love; to make them better, not because he hates
them. God sent Jabin king
of Canaan to fight against Israel, and conquer them. He was very
cruel, and they suffered much under his power for twenty years. God
did not fight for them then, because they had rebelled, and made Him turn
away from them. The Israelites felt this; and they remembered their
sins, and repented, and cried to the Lord to forgive and help them.
And did God attend to these rebellious people? Yes, for He is so
merciful that He never sends away any who humbly pray to Him. There
was a very good woman living at that time, named Deborah. She dwelt
under the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel; and there she prayed, and
sang praises to God, and talked to and taught all the people who came to
see her. She was a very wise woman; God had given her the best
wisdom, the knowledge of Himself; and He taught her to prophesy; and to
know the future, that she might tell the Israelites what they must do, and
how they could be delivered from their cruel enemy, Jabin. When the
Israelites began to cry to God, Deborah, at His command, sent for a brave
man, named Barak, and said to him, "Go now, and call men out of the
tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and take them to fight against Sisera, the
captain of Jabin's army; for God promises to give us the
victory." Then Barak said, "If thou wilt go with me, I
will go;" so Deborah went with him, and 10,000 men, to fight against
Sisera. But Deborah told Barak, that he should not kill Sisera, but
that God would give the wicked captain into the hands of a woman. So
Barak and his army went and fought against Sisera; and soon the Israelites
had the victory, because God was with them. Then Sisera came down
from his chariot, and ran away on his feet to escape from Barak.
There was a man named Heber who was at peace with Jabin; and Sisera ran to
Heber's tent for safety. The name of the man's wife was Jael.
When Jael saw Sisera coming, she went out to meet him, and said,
"Come in, come in, fear not." So Sisera came in, and lay
down; and she covered him with a mantle. Then he asked for water to
drink; and she gave him milk, and he drank, and lay down again. Then
he said, "Stand by the door, and if any one ask if I am here, say,
No." Sisera was soon asleep, for he was weary with fighting and
running so far; and then Jael went very softly, and took a large nail, and
a hammer, and hammered the nail into Sisera's head and down into the
ground, while he slept, and killed him. Soon after, Barak came to
the door of the tent, and Jael called him in, and showed him his enemy
lying dead upon the ground. Barak
and Deborah felt that it was the Lord, not themselves nor their soldiers,
who had gained the victory, and they sang a beautiful song of praise to
Him. How glad the Israelites were to be in peace again! War is
a sad thing. If we live in a peaceful country, let us thank God for
it; because it is He who gives us peace, as well as all our other mercies.
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