Bible Objects: A Tent Peg

How could an ordinary tent peg in the hands of one woman bring an end to twenty years of oppression?

To understand how this simple object became part of Israel’s deliverance, we have to return to the beginning of the story.

The Story Behind the Artifact

The book of Judges describes a familiar pattern in Israel’s history. The Israelites would turn away from God, fall under the control of their enemies, cry out to God for help, and God would raise up a deliverer. During the time of Deborah, Israel had once again fallen under the oppression of a Canaanite king named Jabin, whose military commander was Sisera.

Sisera possessed an enormous military advantage. Judges tells us that he commanded nine hundred iron chariots, making his army a formidable force against the Israelites. For twenty years, his oppression continued until God raised up Deborah, a prophetess and judge, to lead Israel.

Deborah summoned Barak and told him that God had commanded him to gather an army and confront Sisera. The battle that followed resulted in a decisive victory for Israel. Sisera’s army was defeated, but Sisera himself escaped. Abandoning his chariot, he fled on foot until he came to the settlement of Heber the Kenite.Heber was not at home, but his wife Jael was there.

Sisera believed he had found exactly what he needed: a place where no one would think to look for him. Jael invited him into her tent, gave him something to drink, and covered him with a blanket. When Sisera asked her to stand at the entrance and tell anyone searching for him that no one was there, she agreed.Eventually, the exhausted commander fell asleep.

Jael took a tent peg and a hammer. She approached the sleeping Sisera and drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, killing the commander who had oppressed Israel for two decades.

Not long afterward, Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and brought him into the tent, where he discovered that the man he had been searching for was already dead.The victory God had promised had been accomplished, but not in the way anyone might have expected.

This tent peg reminds us that God can use anyone or anything to accomplish his purposes. We don’t need to be powerful or have the nicest stuff. God can use what He has already given us to do His work if we are willing to obey.