{"id":20978,"date":"2023-06-17T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-17-june-2023"},"modified":"2023-06-17T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-17-june-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-17-june-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion 17 June 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
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inspiration in your inbox<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Saturday, 17 June 2023  
Jael and her Tentpeg<\/strong><\/span>
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Judges 4: 17 – 24<\/strong>
Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, \u2018Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.\u2019 So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.  Then he said to her, \u2018Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.\u2019 So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. He said to her, \u2018Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, \u201cIs anyone here?\u201d say, \u201cNo.\u201d\u2019  But Jael, wife of Heber, took a tent-peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground\u2014he was lying fast asleep from weariness\u2014and he died.  Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, \u2018Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.\u2019 So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent-peg in his temple. So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan.<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong>
Sisera wasn\u2019t having a good day.  The kingless disorganised Jewish people had defeated his army.  Forced to flee on foot, pursued by Deborah\u2019s general, he assumed he\u2019d be safe with the Kenites.  They were descended from Moses\u2019 father-in-law but distant from the Jews.  <\/p>\n

We know little of Jael – she\u2019s in her own tent, not her husband\u2019s (who doesn\u2019t appear in the story).  Like Tamar, Jael wasn\u2019t afraid to use her sexuality to defeat an enemy.  Instead of water, milk is given, instead of just somewhere to rest, she tucks him up and covers him.  We\u2019re coyly told she \u201cwent softly to him\u201d which has connotations of seduction.  Then, ensuring he was safely asleep, reversing the traditional roles Jael hammered a tent peg through his head.  We\u2019re not told what Barak made of this woman (one imagines he\u2019d have been very polite) and she disappears again into the background.  We don\u2019t know why Jael acted as she did.  There\u2019s no suggestion she\u2019s Jewish so there\u2019s no reason for her to have become involved.  Maybe she had experienced male violence; maybe she found in this act healing and freedom from past abuse.  <\/p>\n

Every so often we read of a woman accused of murdering her husband or partner after years of living with coercive control and violence until something snapped.  Rarely the murder happens in the midst of a row but is rather more carefully planned so juries can struggle to see the long term effects of such coercion.   <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve no idea if there was a backstory to Jael\u2019s action\u2019s; maybe she was abused by Heber and the attack on Sisera was part of wider revenge.  Maybe she\u2019d encountered Sisera before, maybe he tried to rape her.  Whatever the reason, Jael – and Deborah – were responsible for saving the Jewish people.  <\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong>
Tender God,
we pray for women beaten and abused by men,
that they may find freedom.
Wise God we pray for juries having to discern truth,
grant them wisdom.
Angry God,
we pray for those who abuse,
that they may find justice and wholeness.
Amen. <\/p>\n

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Today’s writer<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Rev\u2019d Andy Braunston is the URC\u2019s Minister for Digital Worship and member of the Peedie Kirk URC in Orkney.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright \u00a9 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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inspiration in your inbox Saturday, 17 June 2023  Jael and her Tentpeg  Judges 4: 17 – 24Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, … <\/p>\n

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