Harry Martinez, a resident of Albany, is a retired minister who served a nondenominational congregation in Florida. His weekly column appears in several South Georgia newspapers.

Anyone who has worked in construction knows the value of nails. They come in all sizes, shapes and are made of various materials. However, they all have a common purpose, that of fastening or securing an object. The earliest known large-scale production of nails dates back over three thousand years before Christ. They were handmade, one at a time and therefore became a valued commodity. In the Middle Ages, they were used for currency and the coinage “penny” was valued at one hundred nails. With their abundant use today, and job sites littered with nails, it is difficult to think of that item in terms of monetary significance, unless you are the contractor who has to supply them.

Interestingly, Scripture makes several references to nails or pegs. Their first mention is found in the Book of Judges. Deborah, a judge over Israel, responded to God’s call to mobilize the army and free the people from Canaanite oppression. Upon summoning her military commander, she informed him of God’s instructions … “The LORD, [the pre-incarnate Christ] the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands” (Judg 4:6-7 NIV). Failing to take God at His word,

… “Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

As the account unfolds, Sisera flees at the defeat of his army and seeks refuge in the tent of Jael.

God had pronounced judgment on Sisera and it would come by the hands of a courageous woman. “Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died” (Judg 4:21 NIV).

What God had said to Deborah, Judge over Israel, came to pass, as it always does, for God means what He says and has the power to fully execute His words. The Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Thessalonica that … “the One who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thess 5:24 NIV). God’s promises must be fulfilled and remain true, for His essence is that of faithfulness. The Apostle John, when describing the return of Christ in judgment over the earth, wrote … “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True” (Rev 19:11 NIV).

The failure of Barak to take God at His Word is a problem that all believers face. Though an individual receives Christ as one’s Savior by believing that on the Cross He paid their sin debt and receives His offer of eternal life, spiritual growth beyond the point of salvation requires learning God’s Word. The Word learned can then be applied by faith to the circumstances of life. The Apostle Peter concluded his final letter to the Christians in Asia Minor with these words … “Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen” (2 Peter 3:17-18 NIV).

In the days of the Judges, God used a peg in the hands of Jael to deliver the nation. Unafraid, for her confidence was in the true God, Jael secured the victory of Israel. Thus, she joined the ranks of those, like the … “men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32 NIV). When the adversities of life are confronted in the light of Scripture, the Word learned, believed and properly applied to the situation, becomes that peg on which every problem can be fastened.