Sisera (Egypt. Ses-Ra, "servant of Ra"). (1.) The captain
of Jabin's army (Judg. 4:2), which was routed and destroyed by the army of Barak on the plain of Esdraelon. After all was
lost he fled to the settlement of Heber the Kenite in the plain of Zaanaim. Jael, Heber's wife, received him into her tent
with apparent hospitality, and "gave him butter" (i.e., lebben, or curdled milk) "in a lordly dish." Having drunk the refreshing
beverage, he lay down, and soon sank into the sleep of the weary.
While he lay asleep Jael crept stealthily up to him,
and taking in her hand one of the tent pegs, with a mallet she drove it with such force through his temples that it entered
into the ground where he lay, and "at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead." The part of Deborah's
song (Judg. 5:24-27) referring to the death of Sisera (which is a "mere patriotic outburst," and "is no proof that purer eyes
would have failed to see gross sin mingling with Jael's service to Israel") is thus rendered by Professor Roberts (Old Testament
Revision):
"Extolled above women be Jael, The wife of Heber the
Kenite, Extolled above women in the tent. He asked for water, she gave him milk; She brought him cream in a lordly dish. She
stretched forth her hand to the nail, Her right hand to the workman's hammer, And she smote Sisera; she crushed his head,
She crashed through and transfixed his temples. At her feet he curled himself, he fell, he lay still; At her feet he curled
himself, he fell; And where he curled himself, there he fell dead." sacred-texts.com
The word Armageddon is the Greek equivalent of the
Hebrew har megiddon (the mountain district of Megiddo). In the Hebrew writings, the final great battle between the Forces
of Light and darkness was indicated by this name, and was foretold by all the ancient prophecies in the scriptures of all
peoples as the "Great Day of God's Judgment." Much is said about it in the Apocalypse, and in the same book (chap. 16, vs.
16), this name is mentioned. Moreover, the dates of this battle and of the beginning of the New Epoch, or Cycle, can also
be found in the most precise calculations of both the Egyptians and the Hindus.
The name of this battle is symbolic in memory of a
terrible and actual battle which took place in Megiddo (an ancient city in Palestine), not far from which the Canaanites under
the leadership of Sisera were entirely destroyed. This dreadful total destruction remained for a long time a terrible memory
for the nations that witnessed it. According to all the Scriptures, the dates are now coming for the final destruction of
the army of Gog upon the mountains of Israel.
And Israel does not necessarily mean the Jews, it signifies
precisely "the chosen." In a similar way, the mountains of Israel must be understood as other mountains, just as the New Jerusalem
does not necessarily mean Jerusalem in Palestine. The sacred language always uses symbols. There is the Heavenly Jerusalem
– the Abode of the Hierarchy of Light – and the earthly Jerusalem, which should be understood as that place which,
throughout all the Earthly cataclysms, remained intact and inviolate. LHRII. AY.
"They fought from heaven; and the stars in their courses
fought against Sisera." – Judges, 5 : 20. The stars are harmonious notes of force struck from life's cosmic
scale. Persisting harmony extinguishes discord, or converts discord – which is chaos – into order. "One shall
put a thousand to flight," and one ray of true light throws chaos, on whatsoever plane, into many forms of harmony –
or true life.
The Universe, in all its spheres, is lighted by God's
radiant love – which love is light and life ; and the soft lovelight of star lives gently beating on the earth, age
upon age, convey currents of wondrous force for helping on the world's evolutionary career.
The interdependence of all worlds, lives and atoms
is the law of nature, internal and external. Nothing can be outside of the universe which is one interdependent whole, with
action and interaction going on incessantly between all its parts, from molecule to sun ; from the tiniest infusoria to God
– until, in the divine plan, the great Balance is again struck in the Bosom of Infinite Love.
Sisera, referred to in judges, is a type of officialism
– the instrument used by selfish power for oppression – the claw of the beast, always red with the blood of the
people. If they "fought from heaven," then the forces of truth, order and righteousness were arrayed against all that Sisera,
the Captain of the hosts, represented ; and the stars themselves were channels for the forces sent from inner spheres.
It has been well said of the present age, by one who
knows, that "the very stars in their courses are gathering their forces for the destruction of this world, unless its people
can be purified – can be raised." It may be of interest to consider how the raising of the people can save the planet,
or avert catastrophies. Hilarion TT 296.
Sisera resided in Harosheth of the Gentiles, a place
identified with el-Charithiyeh, on the right bank of the Kishon and commanding the way from the Central Plain to the sea.
Taking the versions in the two chapters of Judges as being the account of a single campaign, we find Deborah urging Barak
to combine the forces of Israel to wage war with Sisera as the representative of Jabin, the king of Hazor. The scene of the
battle was on the plain at the foot of the slopes of Mt. Tabor (Judges 4:12-14), or at the foot of the Carmel heights (Judges
5:19).
The attack of Barak and Deborah was so furious, animated
as it was by the hatred of Sisera and the Canaanites, that the hosts of Sisera were put to rout, and Sisera, deserting his
troops, fled on foot to the Northeast. He took refuge in the tent of Heber, near Kedesh, and here met death at the hands of
Jael, the wife of Heber (see JAEL). Sisera's name had long produced fear in Israel because of his oppression of the people,
his vast army and his 900 chariots of iron. His overthrow was the cause of much rejoicing and was celebrated by the song in
which Deborah led the people. studylight.org
The relation of our planet to the circle of planetary
lives moving within the orbit of the Sun, and the still greater circle of spiritual Influences which contact our solar system
as it pursues its orbit in the Heavens (the twelve constellations of the zodiac). Astronomical and astrological investigation
has demonstrated this relationship and the influences exerted, but there is still speculation and much foolish claiming and
interpretation. Yet the churches have ever recognized this relationship, and the Bible has testified to it. "The stars in
their courses fought against Sisera" (Judges V, 20.) Ext 419.
The "stars in their courses" will aid humanity or bring
destruction, according to human determinations. Men can achieve liberty and organize for the New Age with its unique civilization
and constructive synthesis, or they can commit suicide (if I may speak symbolically) and hand over their immediate future
to the forces of evil and of death. EA 541.
Judges 4 (King James Version)
[1] And the children of Israel again did evil in the
sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
[2] And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king
of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
[3] And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD:
for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
[4] And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth,
she judged Israel at that time.
[5] And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between
Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
[6] And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam
out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor,
and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
[7] And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera,
the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. . . .
[13] And Sisera gathered together all his chariots,
even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of
Kishon.
[14] And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the
day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from
mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
[15] And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots,
and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his
feet.
[16] But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after
the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a
man left.
[17] Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent
of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
[18] And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto
him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
[19] And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a
little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
[20] Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the
tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
[21] Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent,
and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground:
for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
[22] And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came
out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent,
behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
[23] So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan
before the children of Israel.
[24] And the hand of the children of Israel prospered,
and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
JPC. April 2003.
