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Risking and Reflecting

October 26th, 2022

Judges 4:18-24

This is one of those texts we don’t really expect to find in our devotional books! It’s important to remember some things when we read this. First, because we know God is a God of mercy and steadfast love, this story is not meant to be a glorification of violence. Second, we must keep in mind an overall theme of scripture: the God of self-giving love seeks relationship with God’s creation.

How does this story reflect that theme? Might Jael’s character reflect God’s desire to answer the people’s cry for freedom from oppression (v. 3)? We don’t know the backstory of Jael, or why she would disturb the peaceful relationship between her husband and the king (v. 17), to whom Sisera reports. It was a risk for her to do what she did. She risked her own life, as well as the lives of her husband and their family. Could this risk be an aspect of God’s self-giving love at work on behalf of God’s people?

How has God risked something for us? Or how is God asking us to be reflections of God’s love by risking something for God or for others?

Author: Deanna Hayden