Chapter 17 Gideon's order

Gideon's order As time went on, the border wars became more brutal, and even women fought.The little kings of Canaan were destroyed one by one, and they were no longer a threat, but there was one enemy who was as vicious as ever and threatened the safety of the Jews, and that was the Philistines. We will continue to refer to the Philistines below.Unlike other inhabitants of Western Asia, the Philistines were not Semites. They are Cretans.Leave home after the destruction of the famous ancient city of Nossos.Knossus was at the center of world civilization for a millennium. Why and by whom the city was destroyed, we have no way of knowing, except that the survivors escaped from the sea.They went to Egypt first, but the Egyptians drove them away.

They marched westward, along the coast of Asia, and occupied a land between the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains of western Judah, which Joshua had recently captured. The Egyptians called these people the Philistines, and their country was Philistine. Of course, the Jews wanted some ports, and the Philistines wanted all the land on the Jordan River, which kept the inland Jews at war with their seaside neighbors, the Philistines.Since the Cretans were far more technologically advanced than their Asian neighbors in both war and peace, it was difficult for the tribes of Israel to stand against the Philistines.

The several famous battles recorded in the "Old Testament" are the battles between two rivals for the control of the Mediterranean coast. Generally speaking, the former Cretans always win. They are equipped with copper shields and iron swords. and armored chariots (ancient tanks), while the Jews used sticks, stones, and catapults, and were bound to fail. Occasionally, however, the Hebrew tribes realized that they were fighting for the Lord, and they won several victories, as they had in the lifetime of the prophetess Deborah. At that time, Judge Shamgar had just passed away, and King Jabin's soldiers immediately crossed the border, killing people, setting fire, and robbing women and property.The Jews must fight back, but who will be in command?

Jabin's army was commanded by a foreigner named Sisera, who seemed to be an Egyptian, who had gone north to establish his exploits. He was a professional soldier and was very familiar with the new tactics.The armored convoy he built broke through the Jewish army as easily as a sharp knife cuts butter.It is said that Sisera owned 900 such chariots. Perhaps this number is exaggerated, but this Egyptian did have the strength to wipe out the nascent Jewish state in one fell swoop.So the Jews on both sides of the Jordan River fell into a great panic. Near Bethel at this time lived a woman named Deborah.She was born with the same unique talent as Joseph - the seer.

People from all over West Asia come to her for advice when they encounter travel, war, business, and marriage. Jews came to ask her advice.Fortunately, Deborah was a brave woman, and she did not persuade her people to surrender, but called them to fight. She sent word to the tribe of Naphtali that a man named Barak came to her. Barak was famous in the area as a good fighter, but when he heard that Deborah wanted him to attack Sisera, he was timid."We can't stop the armored convoy, we're doomed," he said. Deborah said the LORD will be with us and he will make the Jewish army invisible to the enemy.But Balla was afraid of the nine hundred armored carriages and was unwilling to be the commander.

Deborah was so disappointed that she offered to walk with him to encourage him. "But," she said, "the honor of victory will go to a woman." At last Bala agreed, and led his men away from the stronghold of Mount Tabor. Sisera spread out his armored chariots on the plain of Jezreel, ready to attack.But Yahweh sided with the Jews, and Jabin's army was defeated after a hard fight, and a few lucky ones fled.Even the invincible Sisera left his armored chariot and fled in embarrassment. He ran west, but he was not used to this kind of running on foot, and he soon wore out.So he went into a house down the road to ask for something to eat.

This was the house of Eber the Kenite. Eber was not there, but Jael, his wife, was in the house. She had heard about the battle, and she decided that the man before her must be Sisera, for he wore a golden helmet, looked like a foreigner, and spoke in an orderly tone.So she brought the visitor food and drink, and seeing that he was very tired, she let him rest on the rug.He also promised to look after him, and if the Jewish soldiers came, he would wake him up and let him run away.