Observation

Majority of the candidates attempted this question and the performance of most of them was above average. In part A, most candidates were able to talk about how Deborah enlisted the help of Barak in going to battle against the Canaanites, but some candidates failed to mention some crucial points such as the reason the Israelites were enslaved by the Canaanites, the name of the commander of the Canaanite army, the place where the battle took place and the role Jael played in the death of Sisera. Candidates performed well in the B part where they provided the leadership qualities of Deborah which can be emulated by women leaders. Expected points from candidates are listed below;

1. After the death of Ehud, the Israelites sinned against God by doing evil.
2. For this reason, God sold them into the hands of the Canaanites under king Jabin.
3. The commander of the Canaanite army was Sisera.
4. In slavery, the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help for they had been oppressed by Canaan for twenty years.
5. Deborah, a prophetess and the wife of Lappidoth, was the judge of Israel at the time.
6. She usually sat under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim where she judged the Israelites.
7. She summoned Barak from Kedesh, telling him that the Lord had commanded him to go and face the Canaanites in battle.
8. Barak accepted to go on the condition that Deborah would go with him, which she accepted.
9. However, Deborah pointed out that God would give the glory of Sisera’s demise to a woman.
10. They both went to Kedesh and Barak summoned ten thousand men as the Lord had commanded.
11. When Sisera learnt that Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor, he went after him to the River Kishon with all nine hundred iron chariots and all his men.
12. Deborah reaffirmed God’s promise of victory to Barak saying, up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand.
13. The Lord gave victory to Barak and when Sisera saw that his men had been slain, he fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.
14. Sisera requested for water, but Jael offered him milk to drink, which made him sleep.
15. Afterwards, she killed him by driving a tent peg into his temple with a hammer.
16. Barak who pursued Sisera met Jael who told him that Sisera was dead.
17. So on that day, God subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan before the Israelites, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Deborah.

Leadership qualities of Deborah which women leaders can emulate.

1. Honesty
2. Integrity
3. Diligence
4. Fear of God/commitment to God
5. Courage/ Bravery/Boldness/Fearlessness
6. Faith
7. Love/kindness
8. Patriotism
9. A military strategist