The Weird Verses in the Bible are the Best
[11] Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
[12] When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, [13] Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. [14] And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. [15] And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. [16] And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
[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.
They were outnumbered.
We don’t know how big of an army Sisera had, but he had 900 chariots.
At best, a chariot could haul 4 men into battle. It had armor, speed, mass for crushing, and that’s not even counting the power of the horses pulling it! In addition to that, Sisera had an army. Men trained and equipped in combat with a mission to preserve their power over the people of Israel. They were not farmers leaving their homes on an adventure. They were professional killers, trained in their craft by continual practice.
But God had sent Barak.
The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali closed in on the army and attacked. They weren’t fighting to keep their rule, they were fighting to deliver their sons and daughters. They were fighting with the empowerment of the God of Israel that freed their great-grandparents from Egypt.
They were not going to lose.
The whole army was decimated, except for Sisera the leader. He fled and found himself in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.
Every verse of the Bible is there for some reason. It was written by people, divinely inspired by God. When you see an oddball verse in the Bible, don’t ignore it! Just because it says something out of nowhere doesn’t mean it is meaningless. It’s like Chekov’s gun: If you mention a gun in act 1, the gun had better go off in act 3.
Yesterday we read: And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Today we started with Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
And we end with [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.
When we read the Bible slow enough, all kinds of great things show up. The Lord wants to help us understand it.
Sisera gets to make it until tomorrow, but we all know it: he’s doomed!
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