To the Handmaidens of Israel
There are those among us who just don't seem to "fit in" well. They are often single, or in difficult marriages, or divorced. They are not necessarily women of great hospitality or fashion, or even career women. They are not the average church women, and they seem to bring a stirring wherever they go. It is to these particular and peculiar women that The LORD is speaking today.

There is a depth of stirring within you and you are increasingly uncomfortable in your stance before Me. I, The LORD have caused this discomfort and splintering. You are as a small rock in the shoes of many pastors.  You challenge even Me, says The LORD. Strong men desire you not, and weak men fear your stance in Me.

As small stones you have lost much of your self and have weathered the times of being chipped away and being worn smooth as the river has flowed over you and through you. You are washed in Me. You are polished by Me, for this very season. Many shall look and even glare at you for the strength of your stance. My daughters, I am fortifying you with My strength. You already have My courage.

As I have shown Myself to the Ruth's, Ester's, and Deborah's of old, I  say to you that now, it is a time to battle and to raise both the sword, the tent peg, and the hammer, as Jael. I say to you, now, is the time to battle, and although you may not see the completeness of the battle lines now, I  The LORD, say you will see it entirely with the eyes of  My discernment. Rise up for I have already prepared you. I have placed in your hands power to walk against the ways of men who say they seek Me, and pray, and do battle and who do not.

I have called many men and still they sleep. I have called to many men bidding them to enter the holy place of intercession yet, still they do not pray. Prayer begins first in the closet, then in the pulpit, then at My altars. There are found only a few fervent men, among many, many women who pray.

My daughters, today I say, fret not concerning your displacement and your placements, for I, The LORD have lead you to this *Zaphnath place that I could place within your hands the sword, the tent peg, and the hammer. You are called to stand with My Word, My anointing, and My power. Who are the generals that should try to silence you as you stand at My altars praying? Where are the mighty men praying in intercession?

*Zaphnath (meaning one who discovers hidden things)

Who shall go out to greet them as they wander in from their battles of self but, My chosen and blessed Jael's? As Jael lifted up the tent peg, it was I, The LORD Who brought down the hammer to smite in My power. Fear not, for even again, the hammer rises to break the fetters off  My people. You are to stand strong in prayer, in action, and in righteousness. I call to you, saying, you shall be like the sun when it rises in its strength. Stand and see My hand smite the Sisera's who have stood hard against the voice of your intercessions. Where are the mighty ones of prayer? I call you to new stance. In oneness, and in one accord, you shall know My power. You are My tent pegs and I am The Hammer against those who rally against My anointed. Stand praying and I shall raise you up, giving you the both the secrets and the hidden things which you know not.

 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abound. 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.   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 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. Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when and man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? That thou shalt say, No.
 
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. 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.

  Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the nail, and he right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
  At her feat he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.   Jael [JAY uhl] (mountain goat)  Goat. In Bible times, Hebrew shepherds treasured the goat because it was such a useful animal. Goats often grazed with sheep in mixed flocks. Unlike their gentle and helpless cousins, goats were independent, willful, and curious. Goats were often sacrificed in the worship system of ancient Israel. In an early ritual, the Hebrews used two goats. They sacrificed one, sprinkling its blood upon the back of the other. This scapegoat was then sent into the wilderness, symbolically bearing the sins of the people. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. Deborah [DEB uhrah] (wasp) Wasp. These overgrown relatives of bees are known for their painful sting. Wasps are common throughout the Holy Land. Hornets are a large species of wasp. So savage were these insects when disturbed that Egyptian soldiers used hornets as a symbol of their military might. When the people of Israel were marching toward the Promised Land, God promised He would send hornets before them to drive the Canaanites out of the land. Ancient writers claim that entire tribes were sometimes driven out of a country by wasps or hornets.(from Nelson's Bible Dictionary)

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