THERE ARE WOMEN IN THE BIBLE?

Did you notice the question mark at the end of the title? I first had an exclamation mark, but decided that most people would ask this as a question. “There are women in the Bible?”

How many women can you name? ------- Okay, times up. How many did you come up with? Mary - 1. Martha - 2. Sara - 3. That other Mary - 4. Elizabeth - 5. Getting harder? Oh - Esther - 6. Ruth - 7. Keep going! You are only thinking of the good women. Bathsheba - 8. Potiphar’s Wife - 9. Come on, you can make it to 10. Yes, Eve - 10.

For a program, at church, I was going to look in the concordance and list all the women. Hit a snag real quick. It is hard to tell the difference between names of men, women and cities. And do you realize how many women are not even given a name? Is Basemeth the name of a mountain or a woman? Noah? Male? Wrong! Numbers 27: 1 - …. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.

When I googled, the list of major women numbered 114. That is only the major names! Time to rethink the title: THERE ARE WOMEN IN THE BIBLE!!!

The big problem is that, when we read the Bible, we so focus on the men that we overlook the lessons the women have for us. It is time to stop skimming over those lessons and READ! Take time to think about what the woman was going through. What her life would have been like.

One of the resources I found was Women of the Bible at www.womenofthebible.com

Anita Gutschick pointed out:

• Lot’s Wife looked back - Are we always looking back and therefore not able to look forward?
• The Woman at the Well - One of those “not so nice” ladies without a name meets the Messiah and what does she do? She left her water jar (essential to her life) and ran to tell others about the good news. From this woman we need to answer the question: What are we willing to leave behind and who are we willing to tell?
• How we behave is more important than how we look.
• There are consequences to our actions.
• The kitchen is a busy place when Jesus and his friends drop in for lunch.
• You can stand up to the Pharaoh.
• We should not play favorites and should not interfere in others affairs.

My favorite discovery? Sisterchicking began a very long time ago.

SCRIPTURE: LUKE 1:39-40, 56

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

Can you imagine the conversations Mary and Elizabeth had? Can you picture Zechariah over in the corner, listening but not being able to join in? Can you picture the women comparing bellies? (Yes, they would have! They were women.) Can you picture them as Mary leaves to return home?

What have you learned from a woman in the Bible?

LET US PRAY

In your own words, tell God how thankful you are for the female role models He has placed in the Bible.

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PS - If you are a man and made it to the end of today’s blog, please let me know. I want to congratulate you.