(a) Trace the circumstances that led to the call of Deborah to battle with Jabin. (b) Mention three ways women can contribute to national development.

Answer Details

(a) Circumstances that led to the call of Deborah to battle with Jabin (Judges 4-5)

After the death of Ehud, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord. As punishment, God sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who possessed nine hundred chariots of iron and had cruelly oppressed the people of Israel for twenty years. In their distress the Israelites cried out to the Lord for deliverance.

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel, and the people came to her for judgment. Deborah summoned Barak the son of Abinoam and told him that the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded him to gather ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun and go to Mount Tabor, where God would draw out Sisera with his chariots to the river Kishon and give him into Barak's hand. Barak agreed to go only if Deborah went with him; she consented but warned that the glory of the victory would go to a woman, for the Lord would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.

In the battle, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots. Sisera fled on foot and took refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, who killed him by driving a tent peg through his temple while he slept. Thus Israel was delivered, and Deborah and Barak sang a song of victory.

(b) Three ways women can contribute to national development

1. Leadership and governance: Women can serve as leaders, judges, administrators and lawmakers, guiding the nation with wisdom and integrity as Deborah did.
2. Education and moral upbringing: As mothers and teachers, they nurture and train responsible, godly citizens who build the nation.
3. Economic and social service: Through trade, agriculture, health care, and community and charitable work, women boost the economy and improve social welfare.