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bodies of men from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. They soon came, to the number of ten thousand, and under the command of Barak, with Deborah accompanying him, set out on their way to Mount Tabor. This was a mountain, between two and three thousand feet in height, standing alone in the great plain of Esdraelon in Galilee, and about six miles south-east of Nazareth.

Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, was immediately informed of the movement of the Israelites, and came with his forces from Harosheth of the Gentiles, near the west borders of the lake Samachonites, to the banks of the river Kishon. This stream took its rise near the foot of Mount Tabor, and running westward in a very circuitous course, through the plain of Esdraelon, fell into the Mediterranean Sea.

Deborah saw that now was the favorable moment for obtaining the victory. "Up," said she to Barak, "for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera (that is the army of which he is the head) into thy hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee?" Has he not already brought, as he promised to do, Sisera and his forces to the river Kishon, and so arranged circumstances that thy success shall be secure?

Barak had confided in the declaration. With a force vastly inferior to the enemy, and leaving his post on the mountain where he had the best

advantages for defending himself against their attack, he came down to meet them in the plain. The battle was of short continuance. Probably in some supernatural way, God caused a sudden panic to pervade the Canaanitish hosts, so that they were thrown into great disorder; chariots rushing against chariots and breaking and overthrowing each other; and horsemen and infantry mingling in confusion and dismay; and all so terrified as to have no power of resistance left. They began to seek safety in flight; but Barak and his army pursuing them as far as Harosheth, completely destroyed them, so that not a man was left alive except their general Sisera.

Leaving his chariot that he might the better pass undistinguished from his men, and fleeing from the scene of slaughter on foot, he found his way to a tent in the neighborhood of Kedesh, where he hoped to keep concealed till the pursuit was over. It was the dwelling of Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses' father-in-law, who had emigrated thus far from his brethren, residing among the tribe of Judah in the wilderness south of Arad. He had always been on friendly terms with the king of Hazor; which is not surprising, as the Kenites were a distinct race from the Israelites, and although worshiping the true God according to the Mosaic law, laid no claim to any inheritance in the promised land,

while Heber, it would seem, desired to take a neutral course in the contest that was going on. Sisera, supposing that Heber was absent, as he did not see him near or in the tent, went to that part of it more particularly appropriated to the use of his wife Jael. This he thought would be the most secure place, as, according to the customs of the country, no stranger would dare to intrude without permission into the apartments

of the women.

Jael met Sisera as he was approaching, and invited him to come in, and to entertain no fears with regard to his safety. He went accordingly to a retired part of the tent, and she covered him with a mantle. On his asking for water to quench his thirst, she furnished him with some milk, as an additional mark of her kindness. His appre hensions, however, seem still to have been great, for he begged her to stand in the door, and if inquiry should be made, to deny that there was any man in the tent.

We see in all this the evils of tyranny. The king of Hazor had long oppressed the Israelites. They attempted to throw off the yoke. Sisera and his army were defeated, and he obliged to flee and hide himself for fear of being put to death. Had justice and benevolence prevailed, these horrors of war would not have taken place, nor the general of a mighty army been obliged

to lie trembling in the tent of Jael, and to cast rimself on the protection of a female for safety. Wrong and wretchedness go together. When rhall oppression and injustice cease, and a vast amount of the misery that is in the world be done away, by man's simply obeying the golden rule of doing to others as he would have others do 10 him!

CHAPTER IX.

Jael kills Sisera. Israel oppressed by the Midianites. Gideon raised up for their deliverance.

Jael knew that her guest was the commander of the army of Jabin. All her sympathies were with the Israelites. She was allied by the ties of consanguinity to their nation. One of the chief instruments of the oppression under which they had groaned for twenty years was in her power. He was one of those whom the Israelites had been commanded to cut off. She doubtless felt herself called by the providence of God, and it is by no means improbable that she had a divine direction to that effect, to consummate the de

struction of the Canaanitish army by taking the life of Sisera. At any rate, whatever mixture of motives may have influenced Jael in what she did, and whatever of blame may be attached to certain parts of her conduct as exhibiting deceit and treachery, we find in the sacred song of triumph, afterwards sung by Deborah and Barak, this strong language in her favor;-"Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent." We can derive, however, no justification of similar deeds at the present day from what she did; as we know not all the circumstances of the case, and especially how far she acted under an immediate command of the Almighty.

Being overcome with fatigue, Sisera in his concealment soon yielded to the influence of profound sleep. Jael, aware of this, made all possible despatch for the execution of her purpose. She took one of the long, sharp nails, or spikes, which were driven into the ground and to which the cords of the tent were attached, in one hand, and a hammer in the other, and cautiously approached Sisera. One stroke of her intrepid arm drove the instrument of death quite through his head into the earth. He scarcely struggled, and lay lifeless at her feet.

It was not long before Barak passed that way

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