Milk - #AtoZChallenge

Jael waited patiently in the tent. She tried to go about her business as normal, but couldn't deny the tense knot in her belly. The distant sounds of the battle rolled down the mountainside to their camp. Thankfully her husband wasn't a fighter, but he was near the lines, tending and mending armor and weapons for their Canaanite soldiers. 

Moving through her daily routine on automatic pilot, Jael milked the goats, and prepared food for dinner, assuming her husband's return. She busied herself with as many mundane tasks as she could. When she stopped for a cup of milky mid-morning tea, she looked up to the hillside and saw the army being routed by their enemies the Israelites. They were retreating in haste down the mountain, fleeing every direction and falling under the sword. 

Back in the tent, Jael stayed quiet, praying to her gods. The battle was not too near, but would surely reach her that day - if anyone remained to fight. Was her husband even still alive? The Canaanites were losing to the Israelites, it was clear. She was going to have to make a decision to secure her future, and that of her husband, if he survived.

As fate would have it, that afternoon the tent flap rustled and she turned, prepared - she thought - for anything. The Canaanite commander, Sisera, stood there. "Come in, my lord," she said with a bow. She walked over to the entrance and looked out before pulling him inside. There was no chariot, no horses, except for the fallen ones she could see littered around the countryside. He had been running from wherever his horse and chariot fell. That was clear.

Sisera bent double, hands on his knees. "I am thirsty," he panted. "Bring me some water."

Jael gave a nod. Her decision was made. It took no thought for her to pick up the skin of fresh milk instead of the water. The milk was still warm from that morning's milking. She watched him drink until he told her, "Stand guard at the front of the tent. If anyone asks, you are alone."

She moved a stool to the entrance and took up some sewing, giving him peace to drink as much warm milk as he wanted. Soon enough, he'd fallen asleep on a pile of animal skins. She crossed over and covered him with a rug. If he awoke, she'd say she was hiding him. He didn't wake.

Jael watched his rhythmic breathing for a moment. The gods had given her an opportunity to secure her future. It was a sign. She took one last look out the front, to where she could see the Israelites slowly moving through the battlefield for the plunder. It was now or never.

Out back, she heaved on one of the long stakes that anchored the large tent. It finally pulled free.

She quietly reentered and approached the sleeping commander. This would take strength, she knew. There could be no hesitation. She grabbed her husband's hammer and drove the tent peg into Sisera's temple as he lay there on his side. Leaving him like that, tent peg, rug and all, Jael returned to the entrance of the tent.

As the Israelite commander neared, she called out to him, "Come! The man you are searching for is here!" Her future was safe. She had made the choice.

Reference: This story comes from the book of  Judges, chapter 4, with praise for Jael's heroic actions in chapter 5, verses 24-27. Honestly, I didn't change much, except that we don't know what Jael was thinking, just that she did it. Pretty gory, huh? What other Bible storis, or other perspectives would you be interested in?