Back to: CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES SS2
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In today’s Christain Religious Studies class, We will be learning about Deborah as a Leader. We hope you enjoy the class!
DEBORAH AS A LEADER(Judges 4: 1-24)
When Joshua and other leaders who knew what God did for Israel during the time of their slavery in Egypt had passed on to glory. The Israelites went into apostasy which means worshipping of other gods that we know is evil in the sight of God. God had warned them in the commandments not to worship other gods. Being evil in the sight of God, God used neighbouring nations to punish them. During this time Israel was ruled by judges who were the prophets or prophetess. One of the great prophetesses that God used to lead them at this time was Deborah, the wife of Lapidot. She judged Israel after the death of Ehud.
Deborah was the judge when Israel was under the impression of Jabin, king of Canaan, she sat under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel. It was at this place that the people went to her for judgement.
DEBORAH LEADS ISRAEL DEFEAT OF THE CANAANITES
Jabin, the Canaanite King, crudely oppressed Israel for 20 years. God allowed this because Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. The people of Israel cried to the Lord because of this. Deborah told Barak to take 10000 men each from Nephtali and Zebulun tribes to fight against the Canaanite army whose commander was Sisera. It was the command of God according to Deborah but Barack was afraid of facing the Canaanite army; he told Deborah that he would only go to the battlefield if she agreed to go with him. Deborah agreed to go with Barack but she told him that due to the way he had taken the matter God would not give him victory, Rather, the victory would go to a woman. “For God will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman,” Deborah said.
Deborah rose and went to the battle with Barack and the men of Naphtali and Zebulon. the Lord delivered the army of the Canaanites into the hands of the Israelites. They routed the Canaanites and their commander Sisera got off his chariots and fled on foot, he ran for his life. Jael, the wife of Heber, invited him into her house and he accepted the offer. Jael gave him a warm reception; he was offered milk. He received the milk and instructed Jael that if anyone asked of him, she should tell the person he was not there. Sisera was very tired and exhausted therefore he slept off. When Jael saw that he had slept she took a hammer and a tent peg and quietly went to Sisera. She drove the tent peg using the hammer through Sisera’s temple into the ground until he died.
Barak was still pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, she told Barak, “come and I will show you the man you are seeking.” Barak followed and saw Sisera lay down dead.
The death of Sisera in the hand of Jael, a woman confirmed Deborah’s prophecy to Barak that the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman. The defeat of the Canaanites by the Israelites army gave them freedom from the Canaanites’ king Jabin, after 20 years of oppression.
Lessons from Deborah’s life.
- Women especially Christians can be used by God to achieve great things.
- Courageous women can do what men cannot do as seen in Deborah and Barak
- A leader must be upright, honest and have integrity if he or she will ever succeed.
EVALUATION
- Explain the leadership roles of Deborah as a prophetess and a judge.
- What lessons can women in our society learn from the leadership of Deborah?
ASSIGNMENT
“What a man can do, a woman can do better.” Discuss the leadership role of women such as Jael and Deborah from this story.
Weekend Assignment
List ten women who like Deborah are great leaders in Nigeria.
We have come to the end of this class. We do hope you enjoyed the class?
Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.
In our next class, we will be learning about God’s care for his People. We are very much eager to meet you there.
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