Text: Judges 4:1-24

1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.  2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD:  for he had nine hundred chariots of iron;  and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim:  and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude;  and I will deliver him into thine hand. 8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go:  but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. 9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.  And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh;  and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet:  and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.   12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand:  is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. 15 And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak;  so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.   16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles:  and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword;  and there was not a man left. 17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet 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. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me;  fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink;  for I am thirsty.  And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. 20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here?  that thou shalt say, No. 21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground:  for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest.   And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. 23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.  

Sunday, 30^th June 2024 Midnight Encounter

THE HAMMER AND THE TENT PEG

Text: Judges 4:1-24

Memory verse: Psalms 3: 7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died Judges 4:21.

I cannot over-exaggerate the sheer boldness of Jael in this moment except to merely say Jael is unrestrained. Nothing here describes hesitancy, only calculated accuracy for the task God had set before her. Why did she quietly creep up on Sisera, though? The hammer and the tent peg both represent, you guessed it, the Word of God. Sisera can also mean “binding in chains” and speaks of strongholds and attitudes of the mind. In this very moment, Jael used a prophetic picture of the Word of God and tore down the altar of his high place in the very position where it had been built, the mind. She drove it through his temple, where our warfare is positioned today, where high places are built today. She drove the Word into the high place and tore down in a moment the idolatrous high place of Sisera.

The word used for drove is the Hebrew word taqa, and it means “to blow, to trumpet, to blast”. It speaks of violently driving the weapon deep into the meditations of the high place that Sisera had built. The tent peg represents the establishment of territory. Isaiah 54:2 says: Enlarge the site of your tent, to make room for more children; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them; lengthen your tent ropes and make your pegs (stakes) firm in the ground.

This is governmental; this is territorial. When we read Jesus declaring the truth, He was enlarging the site of His tent. He was stretching out the habitation of His dwelling to inhabit the New Covenant that He was building with His Blood. He was tearing down the old to make room for the new. It was offensive, but it had to be done. Likewise, Jael established new territory by driving the tent peg, by the hammer, down into the ground through Sisera’s temple. She was tearing down the old to make room for the new. It is time that you and I take hold of our hammers and our tent pegs and do the same.

Right then, Barak had been pursuing Sisera. In Judges 4:22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So, he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple, dead.           

This year 2024, you are establishing new territories, your enemies are going down for you to rise, every imagination that has kept you in one place shall be destroyed and your victory shall announce you in Jesus’s name. Amen.

CGDS Hymn 10; SS&S 788:

ARE YOU SHINING FOR JESUS, MY BROTHER

1. Are you shining for Jesus, my brother,
Shining so clear and bright,
That the souls that are perishing round you
May be guided to him by your light?

Refrain

Shining for Jesus are you shining to-day?
Shining for Jesus, shining all the way;
Shining for Jesus, in this world of care;
Shining for Jesus, shining everywhere.

2. Are you shining for Jesus, my brother,
Shining in deed and in word?
Is your life by its purity showing
The likeness of Jesus your Lord?

3. Are you shining for Jesus, my brother,
Shining for truth and for right,
Where bold unbelief and its minions
Are posing as angels of light?

4. Oh, shine out for Jesus, my brother,
Shine where He needs you the most;
And shine where the darkness hangs deepest
O’er the path of the straying and lost.

5. Shine only and always for Jesus:
Then, when your toiling is o’er,
In mansions of glory eternal,
You shall shine as the stars evermore.

 Prayers 

1.  Lord God, enlarge my territory this year 2024 in Jesus’s name. Amen.

2.  Lord God Almighty, I decree and declare that I am expanding on every side in this year 2024 in Jesus’ name. Amen.

3.  Lord God Almighty, give me a robust outcome for everyone to see in my life in this year 2024 in Jesus’ name. Amen.

4.  Lord God Almighty, smite all my enemies with the hammer of Your word this year 2024 in Jesus’ name. Amen.

5.  Oh God, enlarge my coast this year like You did to Jabez according to the scripture in Jesus’ name. Amen.

6.  Lord God Almighty, my enemies will go down for me to rise this year in Jesus’ name. Amen.

7.  Lord God Almighty, I destroy every imagination that wants to keep me in one spot this year in Jesus’ name. Amen.

8.  Lord God Almighty, I decree and declare that my victory shall be announce this year in Jesus’ name. Amen.

9.  Lord God Almighty, I stretch my victories to cut across all areas of my life this year 2024 in Jesus’ name. Amen.

10.  Lord God Almighty, make me a living testimony for the world to see this year 2024 in Jesus’ name. Amen.

11.  Oh God, make 2024 a year of unusual breakthrough for me and my household in Jesus’ name. Amen.  

12.  Lord God Almighty, no stubborn pursuer will continue to follow me in this year 2024 in Jesus’ name. Amen.

13.  Lord God Almighty, help me to pursue, overtake and recover all that the enemies have solen from me this year 2024 in Jesus’ name. Amen.

14.  Lord God Almighty, let Your Spirit uphold me in the battle of life this year 2024 in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Declarations

By the authority in the name of Jesus Christ, this year 2024, I shall increase on every side in Jesus’ name. Amen. Let Your Spirit uphold me in the battle of life and this year 2024, help me to pursue, overtake and recover all that the enemies have solen from me this year 2024 in Jesus’ name, no stubborn pursuer will continue to follow me in this year, make 2024 a year of unusual breakthrough for me and my household in Jesus’ name. Amen.  Make me a living testimony for the world to see this year 2024, Oh God, enlarge my coast this year, give me a robust outcome for everyone to see in my life, smite all my enemies with the hammer of Your word this year in Jesus’ name Amen.