Queen Bee and the Hammer: A Divine Takedown

Hammer time takes on a whole new meaning in this gripping exploration of two of the Bible's most formidable female warriors. Ever wondered what happens when a judge with prophetic powers teams up with a housewife wielding her homemaking skills? The results are nothing short of revolutionary.

We journey back to ancient Israel during a dark period of oppression under Canaanite rule. For twenty years, the people couldn't even travel or gather in villages due to the threat of violence. Enter Deborah—judge, prophetess, and the highest authority in the land. Her name means "honeybee," and like a queen bee, she organized and led with divine precision and authority. When God called her to confront the enemy, she didn't hesitate.

But the true surprise of this story centers on Jael, an ordinary housewife who seized an extraordinary moment. When the enemy's notorious general Sisera fled to her tent seeking sanctuary, she saw an opportunity to help her people. Armed with nothing but a hammer, a tent peg, and incredible courage, Jael eliminated the enemy commander, securing forty years of peace for Israel.

Beyond the exciting historical narrative, we unpack some contextual linguistics about biblical "gentleness." The Greek word prautēs doesn't mean weakness or timidity as many assume. Rather, it describes controlled strength and self-discipline—the perfect middle ground between uncontrolled anger and passive submission. This revelation transforms how we understand God's call for women to demonstrate grace under pressure.

What weapons has God placed in your hands today? What territory is He calling you to reclaim? Whether you're leading from a position of recognized authority like Deborah or working within your everyday environment like Jael, your courage matters. The enemy has stolen enough. It's time to take it back. Subscribe now to join our community of sassy, spirit-led women who refuse to let the enemy have the final word.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back, friends , to Preach it Girl podcast,
where we're not just sittingaround waiting for Jesus' second
coming or Skinny Pop to make usskinny.
While those things are bound tohappen, we are going to give
the enemy a terrible, awful,very bad day, wreck his plans
and take back what he's stolen,just like Jesus told us to Join

(00:25):
me, auntie Lala, for a jauntthrough the scriptures so lively
you'll think they were writtenjust yesterday, not 2,000 years
ago.
Now, put on your listening earsfor a somewhat sassy retelling
of stories from the Bible.
You might be wondering who I am.
I'm a sassy woman, just likeyou, who loves Jesus and has
finally come to the conclusionthat Jesus wants to use women in

(00:46):
a powerful way and, dare I say,especially the sassy ones.
Today we are going to hear aboutthe one and only Deborah, a
leader of Israel.
She wasn't just a judge, but aprophetess too.
So basically, she held thehighest position of Israel,
militarily, politically andspiritually, and, to top it all
off, she was a bit sassy to boot.

(01:08):
So God is going to use her in apowerful way.
Her name actually meanshoneybee.
When I think of a honeybee, Ithink of Deborah as the queen
bee.
She kind of gets everything inorder, like the queen bee does.
We're going to also talk aboutthis other woman who, unlike
Deborah, wasn't the leader shewas a housewife.
About this other woman who,unlike Deborah, wasn't the
leader she was a housewife, butshe was used in a powerful way

(01:28):
by God to deliver the people ofGod.
I can't wait for you to hearabout them.
Let's go into Judges, chapter 4.
This was before the Israeliteshad a king.
During this time, they wereruled by judges.
God appointed judges over thepeople of Israel, and Deborah
would sit out in the communityunder the palm of Deborah, take
people's petitions, settle legalmatters and give them good

(01:52):
advice, like King Solomon, buthe did it from, of course, his
castle.
At this time, the people ofIsrael had turned from God once
again and had been tormented bythe Canaanites for 20 years.
They'd been so oppressed theBible says that people couldn't
even go out on the normalhighways and byways, that they
had to stay on the down low andtake back roads to get places,

(02:15):
because it was so dangerous andthe villages had emptied because
people couldn't even be outsideand enjoy the community.
This is when Deborah comes onthe scene and she won't having
that Okay.
She sent and summoned Barak,the son of Abanon, from Kadesh,
naphtali, and said to him hasnot the Lord, god of Israel,

(02:36):
commanded you?
Okay, debbie, go gather yourmen at Mount Tabor, taking
10,000 from the people ofNaphtali and the people of
Zebulon, and I will draw outSisera, the general of the enemy
army, to meet you by the riverKishon with his chariots and his
troops, and I will give himinto your hand Now this army

(02:56):
commander Sisera.
He was notorious and they hadiron chariots which the
Israelites did not have and wereterrified of for good reason.
Right.
And Barak said to her if youwill go with me, I will go, but
if you will not go with me, Iain't going.
And she said, of course, I'llgo with you.
Nevertheless, the road on whichyou are going will not lead to

(03:18):
your glory, for the Lord willsell Sisera into the hand of a
woman.
Then Deborah rose and went withBarak to Kadesh.
That's when Barak got all hismen together and, bim, bam, boom
, they tore up the Canaanitearmy.
Sisera saw what was going down.
He's like I'm out of here, sohe takes off.
The Israelite army has takenthe battle 100%, but Sisera has

(03:42):
escaped.
Everybody's looking for himbecause they got to take down
this guy.
He is the guy to get.
Lo and behold, sisera goes tothe edge, edge, edge, edge, edge
of the community and there'sthis tent of a guy who
supposedly is friends with hisking.
He thinks it's safe, but Jaelthe wife, she sees him and comes
out and says come in, you'll besafe.
So he trusts her and she lays arug over him.

(04:05):
He says can you give me somewater?
Instead of water, she gives himsome milk and then he goes to
sleep.
I love my church and one of mypastor's area she called it she
gave him a nightcap, not thekind that goes on your head,
right, if you think about it,you know what do you give a
child who's having trouble goingto sleep?

(04:25):
You give them a little warmmilk.
Well, back in the day therewere no refrigerators, so all
the milk was warm.
So he had the milk and he wentto sleep Back in that day.
These women she may have been ahousewife, but she put the house
up.
The tent was in the woman'sarea of expertise.
She knew how to use a hammerand a tent peg.

(04:46):
And let me tell you, this womancame up beside this sleeping
commander of the enemy army andtook the hammer and hammered
that tent peg through his headand into the ground like she was
putting up a tent.
She wasn't going to let theenemy take advantage of her
family anymore.
She was tired of it.
And you could tell, because itsays she took the tent peg to

(05:06):
the ground through this man'shead.
That must have been terrifying.
I mean, you're Deborah, you'regoing out with the army to kill
the opposing army.
But Jael was alone in the housewith the enemy and she snuck up
on him.
What if he had woken up whileshe was putting the tent peg to
his head?
Jl and Deborah definitely tookthe glory for this fight, and

(05:27):
especially JL because she tookthe hammer to the nail.
This is like a whole othermeaning of hammer time y'all.
No, no, no, no.
I love this story of these twoincredibly brave, take no
prisoners kind of women.
When we read the Bible there'sso much more and some passages

(05:47):
that you're just like, oh,that's not me.
For instance, in Peter'swriting, he talks about women
being meek and gentle.
Until I uncover the truemeaning, okay, let me just read
it, because I'm going to mess itup.
1 Peter, 3, 4.
Meaning?
Okay, let me just read itbecause I'm going to mess it up
1 Peter, 3, 4.
Let your adorning be the hiddenperson of the heart, with the

(06:09):
imperishable beauty of a gentleand steadfast spirit which, in
God's sight, is very precious.
Y'all, your sassy girl Lala,ain't never been gentle.
I remember pulling the chair outfrom under a guy I liked in
elementary school.
I don't know why.
I thought that would let himknow how I felt about him, but
anyway I would read that and I'dthink God, make me gentle,

(06:30):
because I'm not gentle.
And a friend of mine got meonto this keyword, study Bible
and I can't wait to read youwhat that word means.
We don't even have in ourEnglish dictionary this word, so
gentle is the closest thing.
But back in the Bible day,gentle meant something different
and I'm going to read to you Inthe New Testament.

(06:51):
It expresses a meekness whichdiffers from the usual
connotation of the word inEnglish.
Proutus, according to Aristotlein the time, is the middle
standing between two extremes.
There's some extremes up inthis world today.
Y'all right, it's the middlestanding between two extremes
getting angry without reason andnot getting angry at all.

(07:15):
It is a result of a strongwoman or man's choice to control
her reactions in submission toGod.
It is a balance born instrength of character, stemming
from confident trust in God, notfrom weakness or fear.
If that doesn't describe Deborahand JL, I don't know what does.

(07:36):
But you know, before Iunderstood that I would have
never thought JL and Debra weregentle women.
Right, we're all in there.
God didn't leave anybody out.
And how cool is it that Godmade sure these stories would
end up in his story.
And no matter who tries to tellyou that women aren't for

(07:56):
leading, preaching whatever,he's already written it.
And we're in there, the sassywomen of the Bible y'all.
Come on.
I want you to remember thecharacteristics of Deb and JL,
their mission.
They knew what it was and theytook action.
They possessed bravery, trustin God and determination.
They used all the weapons thatthey had at their disposal.

(08:17):
Israel had peace 40 years afterthis battle.
When you take your battleseriously and tell that enemy he
can't have your family in yourhome, not even a foothold.
You're going to have peace inyour house too.
So let me wrap this up by saying, in love to everyone who still
thinks that women aren't calledto preach, stop spreading that
dum-dum sauce on biscuits andcalling it gravy.

(08:38):
What characteristics of JL andDebra do you need to bring into
your home, your community, yoursphere of influence, because God
has put things in your hands totake back what the enemy has
stolen.
You are powerful, you are brave, and God has called you to take
back what the enemy stolen andto push him back, and you can do

(09:02):
it, because God loves you and Ilove you too.
I can't wait for you to comeback and listen to the next
episode of Preaching Girl.