Joanne Guarnieri Hagemeyer Egalitarian, Genesis, WOmen, Women of the Bible

Rebekah: Single-Hearted Faith

Rebekah is most remembered for her elaborate—and successful—plan to fool Isaac into giving Jacob both the birthright blessing and the Abrahamic blessings, the promises of God. Her intelligence, persevering faith, and costly sacrifice are often forgotten in the negative reading of her account. Lessons about consequences and familial dysfunction are drawn from her story, but seldom is her single-hearted devotion to God and to God's word highlighted.

Joanne Guarnieri Hagemeyer Egalitarian, Genesis, WOmen, Women of the Bible

Leah: Tender-Eyed Faith

How could God allow such an unhappy marriage of unrequited love, intense loneliness, continuing rejection, and Leah’s broken heart, with seemingly no hope for change? And yet the Lord did have a plan in mind, a purpose so crucial it involved the salvation of the world: for the faith that matured in Leah was the faith her sons would grow up in.

Joanne Guarnieri Hagemeyer Bible Study: Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful

Leah

Broken by life’s traumas, calamities, and tragedies, and just when you’re at your lowest, it seems…there you go, right over the edge, and into the dumpster.