Jael The Assassin Series

Assassins are never heroes in the history of Americans, for

they are always those who seek to kill our presidents whom we

admire. This is not always the case in other nations. The Jews,

for example, have some assassins who are heroes in their

history. Two of them are Hakim and Bet Zuri. They were sent

to Egypt to kill Lord Moyne, who was the British Minister of

State and the man who shrugged off a German offer to free a

million Jews: "But what would I do with a million Jews"

Their was justifiable hatred toward a man who would refuse

to save the lives of a million people, and they targeted him for

death. They succeeded in their mission, and though they were

captured and hung, they became heroes of the Jews.

There are many heroic assassins in history. It does not

sound like a noble profession, but it can be the very tool of

God to bring judgment on those who are ripe for judgment.

This is the case with Jael who assassinated Sisera while he

was sleeping in her tent. It may not sound as noble as most

assassin stories, but it was just as effective. Sisera has been

the oppressor of Israel for twenty years, and finally God gave

Israel a female leader who motivated the army to go to battle

with this powerful commander of 900 iron chariots. He was

watching his army being wiped out and so he leaped off his

iron horse and high tailed it to a safer place, he thought.

He headed for the tent of an old friend, but Heber the

Kenite was not home. His wife, however was completely

hospitable. Jael invited him in and treated him like royalty.

She assured him that he had nothing to fear. "Come on in."

she said with a cheerful voice. It was just what he needed-a

place of refuge. He did not hear the message behind the voice

that was, "Come in said the spider to the fly." He was totally

taken in by her friendly manner, and was confident she would

protect him and even lie about him being there to lead any

pursuers astray. She even gave him milk instead of the water

for which he asked, for she knew this would help put him to

sleep. Then when he was all comfy in bed and fast asleep, she

took a hammer and tent peg and drove it through his temple

and nailed him to the ground.

By that act of assassination she became a heroine of Jewish

history. Deborah and Barek sing of her heroic deed in their

great song in Judges 5. In 5:24 she is called the most blessed

of women. But this act which made her so famous and praised

also made her one of the most controversial persons in the

Bible. The debate is over whether she can be considered honorable

or horrible because of the way she carried out her

plot. She did not face her foe and strike him when he could

defend himself. She lied to him and deceived him. She broke

all the codes of hospitality, and so many consider her a

terrible person and not a heroine at all. Before we defend this

woman as a biblical heroine we want to look at the negative

perspective first.

I. THE NEGATIVE PERSPECTIVE.

We all know it is not fair to shoot an unarmed man, and

it is not fair to shoot him in the back. There are rules for a

fair fight, and it appears that Jael never read the manual for

fair fighting. She broke all the rules in the book, and this

means she is not to be admired. She is better off forgotten,

and many have done just that so that millions of people have

heard the Bible expounded all their lives and never once

heard of Jael the female assassin. She killed a man in cold

blood while he was sleeping, and this is never justifiable.

Many feel her image is blotted with the foul taste of treachery,

and is no model to be put forth for praise.

Rev Dr Susan Durber had done some great research on

this issue and she quotes this sermon preached in 1876, which

gives a typical Victorian view of Jael.

"How are we to regard this deed of Jael? There seems to me

to be no doubt as to the answer. Her act was one of vilest

treachery with scarcely a single extenuating circumstance. . . .

We are in no way bound to find excuses for the act, because it

is recorded in God's Word. . . . Nor need we feel any

compunction at speaking thus strongly, because Jael appears

to have been a special instrument in the hands of God for