"Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov 16:18 NIV)
Israel was facing impossible odds: 900 iron chariots
against men on foot (See Judges 4:3), experienced warriors against 2 women with
no experience at all in warfare. In now-a-days terms we could compare this to
indigenous people from the Amazon coming up against modern tanks, machine guns,
airplane bombers, etc., with a simple bow and arrow.
There was no way Israel could win, and even less with
inexperienced women leading the attack!
When Deborah gave the order (verse 6), doubt naturally
arose (verse 8). Even though she had never fought before, she lead the way. She
knew without a doubt that with God on her side, she truly had nothing to fear!
What happened next was completely unexpected: the
mighty warmongers were defeated by the inexperienced (See verse 15). The battle
turned out as prophesied: "Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?" (Judges 4:14
NIV)
Unfortunately however, the commander in chief, Sisera,
archenemy of Israel, succeeded in escaping. Still there was no need to worry:
God was STILL in charge!
Sisera fled to a nearby tent, where Jael (The 2nd
woman in our story), wife of Heber the Kenite, supposedly an ally of Sisera's
army, was there to greet him. (See verse 17). Without hesitation she led him
inside her tent and covered him up. A strange way to hide from your enemy, don't
you think! But then when the tide turns against us, we, too, act irrationally!
Now Jael only had a tent peg and a hammer with which
to protect herself. What could she do with these? I know what I would do: I
would look at these two items for hours, wondering what good they could be to
me. Until the hammer fell on my foot that is . . .
But Jael knew what to do with them, and she used these
two useless items to defeat the enemy of Israel (See verse 21). Who would have
thought that a mighty warrior could be brought down by a tent peg and a hammer!
But then, with God nothing is impossible!
In more recent history, the Allies were facing
impossible odds as well.
The Germans had built a long wall, called the Atlantic wall, that stretched from
Norway to the French-Spanish border, and there they entrenched bunkers, heavy
batteries, landmines, and a myriad of other destructive devices. They were
literally impenetrable.
On August 1942, more than 6100 troops, consisting of
4,963 Canadians, 1,005 British commandos, 50 US rangers and 15 Frenchmen landed
on the beaches of Dieppe, France. Only too late did they realize that the
Atlantic wall was truly impenetrable. A total of 3,369 men were killed or
wounded and 1,946 were taken prisoner. The war started to look grimmer and
grimmer.
Did the Allies ever abandon all hope? Never!
On June 6, 1944, two years later, the Allies attacked
the enemy on the beaches of Normandy.
The Germans expected the ally invasion to happen, and
they were watching. They surmised that the allies would attack on a clear sunny
day, during the daytime, and at high tide, and all of their warmonger traps were
set for a high tide invasion. These became useless the day the allies came in,
in the fog, at low tide, really early in the morning. The Nazis didn't realize
they were there until they were too close for comfort. They quickly tried to
reach their Fuhrer for directions, but he was fast asleep, and due to his
extravagant temper, no one dared wake him up. And the rest is history!
Hilarious odds can be expected when our hope is in
God! We will hopefully all learn sooner or later: "For when I am weak, then I am
strong." (2 Cor 12:10 NIV)
We may be facing unimaginable odds, but if we rely on
God, we will truly have nothing to fear. Those iron chariots or German booby
traps, as well as all the other warmongers from hell, are nothing compared to
the power of God! Doubt will lead to utter defeat as well as depression, but
faith will lead us to victory.
What are you waiting for? Stop wondering what you can
do with that tent peg and hammer. Trust God and let Him guide!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.