Jael - Her Life And Times

Jael - Her Life And Times

BOTTLES

When Sisera asked for a drink of water and Jael instead gave him milk, she was offering the best of the house. People of the area prized this drink, which was made by putting goat’s milk into an old skin bottle and shaking it. The milk then curdled, or fermented, when mixed with the bacteria that remained in the skin bottle from a prior use.

But what on earth is a skin bottle?

Nomadic desert peoples, who were frequently on the move, found skin flasks much more useful than clay bottles, which broke easily. Women sewed goat or lamb skins together with the hairy part of the skin on the outside, then sealed them so they would hold water, milk, wine, or other liquids.

Hagar carried a skin of water into the desert with her (Genesis 21:14 – 15). Jael offered Sisera a drink of milk from a skin bottle (Judges 4:19). Hannah brought a skin of wine along when delivering her son, Samuel, to Eli the priest (1 Samuel 1:24). David carried a skin of wine to his brothers (1 Samuel 16:20). Jesus talked about not putting new wine into old, brittle wineskins (Matthew 9:17).

Christ’s decree not to put new wine in old wineskins has, of course, significant meaning for us today. Are your mind and heart like an old wineskin — brittle, hard, tough? Ready to burst when faced with new ideas or new ways of doing things? Or are your mind and heart supple, soft, and flexible like a new skin? Are you open to learning new things about your community of believers? About yourself? About your God?