Treasures New and Old

Christian Convictions: Leaders: A Look at Women in the Bible

-Author unknown

Seven Principles Recap:

Some Important Women of the Bible for Us to Consider:

• Eve: The first woman created by God to be a companion and helper for Adam. But Eve believed the lies of Satan and influenced Adam to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and, Adam, having broken God’s command, sent the entire human race into sin.

• Jezebel: Jezebel was a wicked queen who influence her husband, King Ahab, to be even more wicked than he was to begin with. She persecuted the prophets of God, especially Elijah, with her Baal worship and murderous schemes.
  

• Delilah: She used her beauty and beguiled Samson, then a judge over Israel and a warrior, in order to help the Philistines discover the secret of Samson’s strength and, thus, capture and enslave him.
  

• Vashti: A Persian queen who would not reduce her standards for her drunken husband and appear in lewd clothing before a party of drunken men and women.

• Sarah: Although the mother of the Jewish nation, she coaxed Abraham into having a child with Hagar which ultimately produced the Arab nations of today and the conflict that we all witness constantly. However, she was honored by God because her ultimate offspring was Jesus Christ.
  

• Rebekah: She tricked Isaac in his old age (nearly completely blind) and thrust Jacob into the firstborn’s blessing. However, this act was used by God for good as the Bible clearly states that God said, “Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:13).
  

• Rachel and Leah: Wives of Jacob, these two ladies often strove for Jacob’s affection (Rachel winning most of the time). However, they produced some very notable progeny. From Rachel comes namely Joseph second in command in Egypt, and Benjamin (who later produced the Apostle Paul). From Leah comes Judah and Levi who later produced Jesus Christ and Moses and Aaron.
  

• Miriam: Moses’ sister, in obedience to her mother, hid Moses in a basket in the Nile and helped Pharaoh’s daughter save and nourish him through wet nursing him by his own mother. However, many years later, her role as prophetess led her to complain about Moses’ Ethiopian wife, and she was struck with leprosy (Numbers 12:1-2).
  

• Bathsheba: She had an adulterous affair with King David and bore a child that died. When her husband, Uriah, was killed by David, David took her as a wife and she later bore him Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived (and, frankly, the most foolish as he grew older.)
  

• Jochebed: She was the mother of Moses and refused to obey the edict of Pharaoh to kill her son and, instead, helped to save him by having Miriam place him in the Nile to be found. Her obedience to God rather than the laws of man ultimately produced Moses, Israel’s great prophet and lawgiver.

• Rahab: Although believed to be a harlot (scholars differ on this), she understood clearly that the God of Israel was God and would be victorious against her city, Jericho. She hid the two spies and saved her whole family as the spies promised to save them alive for her safe protection when the guards sought them out. She displayed faith in the true God of the universe even though she was not brought up as a monotheistic person by examining the facts before her – Israel’s God was indeed God! Rahab became an ancestor of King David and ultimately Jesus Christ even though she was not of Jewish descent.

• Deborah: When God could not find a man to act as judge in Israel (before there were kings), He chose Deborah, the prophetess, to be judge. She enlisted the help of a mighty warrior named Barak to defeat the oppressive general, Sisera, and went with Barak into battle. She judged Israel faithfully for forty years and was considered by Israel to be a good judge as the land enjoyed peace during her tenure.

• Ruth: Ruth is a very unusual and virtuous non-Jewish lady. She was a heathen woman who lost her Jewish husband (without children) and had no ties to Israel. Yet she so loved her mother-in-law, Naomi, that she refused to stay in Moab and clung to Naomi to assist her in her old age as they traveled back to Israel – a very foreign land for Ruth. Her love story with Naomi blossomed into a love story with Boaz as she obeyed Naomi’s every command and worked the fields gleaning the corners for grain until Boaz recognized her and agreed to do the near kinsman redeemer’s duty. She rejected the gods of Moab and accepted the God of Israel and eventually became the great-grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

• Hannah: One of two wives, she had no children while the other wife did. When at tabernacle, she cried out to God and promised that her firstborn son would be His in service to the Levites. God gave her Samuel, and in obedience (and with gratefulness) she gave Samuel back to God when he was weaned. Of course, Samuel became one of the greatest (and last) judges and prophets in Israel and anointed first Saul and then David as kings under God’s direction. Hannah persevered in prayer despite many years of barrenness. She honored and paid her vow to God which many today do not even to the losing of her firstborn son. After giving up her son, Hannah rejoiced in God in some very special praise:

1 Samuel 2:1-10:

And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

• Esther: One of the many Jewish people “captive” in Babylon, Esther, who was born Hadassah, obeyed her cousin Mordecai and hid her ancestry when King Xerxes called for all young women to be placed into the harem and tested to see if one would replace Queen Vashti. Ultimately, she did, and God used her to save the Jewish population throughout the entire Babylonian Empire from annihilation at the hands of Haman, the Agagite. After telling the city’s Jews to pray and fast for three days, she went unbidden to the King, and, through a series of dinners, eventually exposed Haman’s evil plot – ending in his hanging and that of his family. What is notable is that any who approached the king unbidden might have just as likely have had their head cut off before they even got near the king. Esther’s courage and faithfulness saved the Jewish people during an attempt to annihilate them.

• Mary: Mary was a beautiful example in the Bible of total surrender and trust to the will of God. An angel told her she would be the mother of the Savior, and, despite the shame she knew she would have to bear, she submitted and obeyed, and, of course, gave birth to Jesus Christ. The Bible says that she saw many marvelous things concerning Jesus and held them all in her heart. She witnessed his terrible death but also His resurrection and all along believed that He was indeed the very Son of God. She also has a praise recorded in the Bible:

Luke 1:46-55:

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.

• Elisabeth: She was the mother of John the Baptist and a cousin of Mary. Barren for most of her married life, she became pregnant in her old age after her husband, Zachariah, served in his course as priest and God spoke to him and made him dumb (unable to speak) until the birth of the child. Elisabeth was content with her situation and but became excited knowing that John was to be born a special forerunner of the Messiah. Look at this summary of their faith:

• Martha of Bethany: Although we know her for her complaint to Jesus that Mary wasn’t carrying her share of the serving load, we also remember her for this insightful declaration of faith in Jesus was the Christ:
  

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

• Mary of Bethany: Mary and her sister Martha often hosted Jesus and his disciples at the home of their brother Lazarus. Mary would sit at Jesus’ feet listening and worshiping Him. It was Mary who, after Lazarus was raised from the dead, and Jesus sat at meat with them, anointed Jesus with a very expensive pound of ointment at His feet and wiped it with her hair as an act of worship.
  

• Mary Magdalene: Jesus had cast seven demons out of her, and she became a lifelong believer and follower of Christ. Mary stayed with Jesus during His crucifixion when all but the Apostle John fled. Mary was also one of the ladies to go very early in the morning to anoint the body of Jesus at the tomb. But He was already raised from the dead and appeared to her before any other human. Mary is an excellent example of one who loves Jesus – nothing wavering.
  

• Lydia and Priscilla: These two ladies are mentioned in Acts who served and loved God by serving the apostles and the brethren. Paul calls Priscilla “a helper in Christ” in Romans and of Lydia it is said:
  

Maranatha!

May God bless you all!

Bro. Joe

Kress, J. (2021). On Being a Disciple – Seven Principles.

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