Judg 5:30 | KingComments | STEP | ( ) From Jael’s simple tent, our eyes are now turned to the luxurious house of Sisera. There lives a woman, a mother, but a completely different type than Jael and Deborah. Her despair is expressed in a striking way. Her son didn’t come home and she wasn’t used to that. Usually he soon came back from a fight and had the proofs of his victory with him. That he stayed away for so long could mean that he was defeated. The mother of Sisera seemed to be free, unbound, but she was not. She sat behind ”the lattice” through which she looked at the world. This speaks of the ‘spiritual’ lattice of her thinking. She had no real freedom. So it is with all the enemies of God. They don’t think they have anything to do with anyone, while they are concerned about security measures on all sides. The lattice, which must serve as protection, is proof of her imprisonment. She also doesn’t dare to go and meet him. She stays in her fort, because that’s what it is, no matter how luxuriously furnished it is. Fear reigns where people rely on their own thinking or on people or on things instead of God. ( ) Sisera’s mother’s questions are answered by smart ladies. Their answers are those that correspond to her own views. It are answers that should soothe the conscience: ‘You don’t have to be afraid, it will all be all right. It’s because of the big spoils they carry along. That slows down the return trip.’ It was customary for the soldiers to take beautiful girls home as trophies. The word for “girl” actually means “lap” or “womb”, which indicates that these girls had to serve to satisfy the lusts of the soldiers. The spoils of war also included beautiful and expensive clothing. The colored clothes were for Sisera, the colorful embroidery for his mother and the noblewomen. Besides satisfying the lusts, these clothes served to show everyone how great their victory was. It caressed the pride, the prestige increased. These are the characteristics of the enemy: being focused on themselves and seeking their own honor. Let us be aware that what typifies the enemy is also present in our evil heart. We must prevent these characteristics from getting entrance with us. How? By looking at what happened to it on the cross of Calvary and what will happen to it when the Lord Jesus comes. On the cross the enemy is defeated. Yet he still wants to assert himself. He is given the opportunity to do so if we do not keep ourselves dead for sin and still let the flesh work. When the Lord Jesus comes for the church, we will leave behind everything we have acquired through sin and flesh. None of it goes to heaven. Are we not stupid and foolish if we want to satisfy the desires of the flesh? Listen to what Deborah says in the last verse of her song.

‏ Judges 5:30

7. The Mother of Sisera Waits in Vain

(Jdg 5:28) From Jael’s simple tent, our eyes are now turned to the luxurious house of Sisera. There lives a woman, a mother, but a completely different type than Jael and Deborah. Her despair is expressed in a striking way. Her son didn’t come home and she wasn’t used to that. Usually he soon came back from a fight and had the proofs of his victory with him. That he stayed away for so long could mean that he was defeated.

The mother of Sisera seemed to be free, unbound, but she was not. She sat behind ”the lattice” through which she looked at the world. This speaks of the ‘spiritual’ lattice of her thinking. She had no real freedom. So it is with all the enemies of God. They don’t think they have anything to do with anyone, while they are concerned about security measures on all sides.

The lattice, which must serve as protection, is proof of her imprisonment. She also doesn’t dare to go and meet him. She stays in her fort, because that’s what it is, no matter how luxuriously furnished it is. Fear reigns where people rely on their own thinking or on people or on things instead of God.

(Jdg 5:29-30) Sisera’s mother’s questions are answered by smart ladies. Their answers are those that correspond to her own views. It are answers that should soothe the conscience: ‘You don’t have to be afraid, it will all be all right. It’s because of the big spoils they carry along. That slows down the return trip.’

It was customary for the soldiers to take beautiful girls home as trophies. The word for “girl” actually means “lap” or “womb”, which indicates that these girls had to serve to satisfy the lusts of the soldiers. The spoils of war also included beautiful and expensive clothing. The colored clothes were for Sisera, the colorful embroidery for his mother and the noblewomen. Besides satisfying the lusts, these clothes served to show everyone how great their victory was. It caressed the pride, the prestige increased. These are the characteristics of the enemy: being focused on themselves and seeking their own honor.

Let us be aware that what typifies the enemy is also present in our evil heart. We must prevent these characteristics from getting entrance with us. How? By looking at what happened to it on the cross of Calvary and what will happen to it when the Lord Jesus comes. On the cross the enemy is defeated. Yet he still wants to assert himself. He is given the opportunity to do so if we do not keep ourselves dead for sin and still let the flesh work.

When the Lord Jesus comes for the church, we will leave behind everything we have acquired through sin and flesh. None of it goes to heaven. Are we not stupid and foolish if we want to satisfy the desires of the flesh? Listen to what Deborah says in the last verse of her song.