He Promised

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

HE PROMISED

Judges 5:24-27

24 "Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. 25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. 26 Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. 27 At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead.

NIV

The song continued, but Deborah and Barak recount an event we saw just at the end of the last Chapter. Because this woman, Jael, first deceived a king and then murdered him while he was asleep, she is called blessed, which is difficult to understand. Now, Sisera was not a great king, or for that matter, a great man. In the heat of battle, he fled, abandoning his nine hundred chariots and all his men behind to be put to the sword; not a man was left. What kind of king, what kind of man would run away, leaving his army to save himself? Surely, he ran away from the war, away from the Israelites fighting with the hand of God going before them, but he could not run away from God, who promised that it was the day the LORD would give Sisera into the hands of the Israelites. Who can run away from God? Is there a man standing who is not subject to the hand of God? When God speaks, when the LORD makes a proclamation, a statement, it is a promise that will always be fulfilled. We can go to the bank on his word, so to speak. Every one of the proclamations, the promises of the Lord, will never fail to come to pass, or be fulfilled. So when we read all that Jesus promised, those who come to him will be done, just as he promised. God will never fail us, or abandon us, as he promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us. We can rest assured that we will live even though we die, because Jesus promised. We can expect to see him coming for us to take us to where he is because he promised us. We can live with courageous endurance in expectation of being with Jesus because he promised. We can live without fear of dread of anything in this world, for the hand of God rests upon us, in fact, the Spirit lives within us, and we can get dressed with the full armor of God, so that we can always stand our ground, stand firm, take our stand against any of the forces if evil, or anything from this dark world because God promised his hand on us and that He will always go before us. Nothing that rises up against us, even if they try to run from God, they will be struck down, not a single one will be left. All the enemies of God will sink at his feet, because he promised.