*CUNNING JAEL 1*

Live Daily Die Daily Footstool Devotional

28th February 2023

Read Judges 4

Judges 4:17-22 AMP - But Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸ Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me! Have no fear.” So he turned aside to her [and went] into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. ¹⁹ And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink because I am thirsty.” And she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. ²⁰ And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is there anyone here?’ tell him, ‘No.’” ²¹ But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, and came up quietly to him and drove the peg through his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. ²² And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered [her tent] with her, and behold Sisera lay dead with the tent peg in his temple.

With a good dose of cunningness working in her, Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, was able to outwit and destroy Israel's longstanding oppressor of 20 years, Sisera, the Canaanite army commander during the war.

She fought with some pretentious tenderness, a smile, a welcoming hand and opening the door of her house unto an enemy. She pretended she was a friend by capitalising on her husband's peaceful relationship with Jabin, the Canaanite king. In order to be cunning, you need to be skillful in utilising every advantage in your life. Being thankful for everything in your life , whether good or bad, enables you to become skillful in utilising whatever asset you may have when it is needed. Jael did not curse God for being married to a man who was a friend to Israel's oppressor. She used that opportunity to be the one who could invite the enemy commander into her home, into his death-trap!

Apostle Paul had a dual citizenship as a Roman and a Jew of Tarsus (Acts 21:39; 22:25ff). He capitalised on either whenever it became more necessary, so he could have an advantage. Cunningness is an important skill to have if you are going to learn to overcome your adversaries and to have the victory.

Ask the Lord to make you wise, cunning and shrewd in dealing with others around you, who though may appear unsuspecting, may actually be enemies of your soul. Ask the Lord to make you shrewd. Such an ability can never be attained through self-effort. It is a gift of God that comes through wisdom and revelation. Ask the Lord for wisdom and revelation.

2 Samuel 22:27 NKJV - With the pure You will show Yourself pure;

And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

Psalm 18:26 NKJV - With the pure You will show Yourself pure;

And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

Live Daily!

Anastasia Bruce

Footstool Colour Ministries