Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful
I decided to start “listening” to the voices and stories of the women within scripture’s pages from a woman’s point of view, for we know God created woman with good intent. To woman God gave the power to bring forth life, to be strength, courage, and a powerful rescue to the people of earth. Adam was unable to go it alone. Only with Eve, his equal and his counterpart, bringing with her the gifts of life, love, hope, strength, courage, faithfulness and power would Adam survive. Together, they had the potential to thrive.
To study 32 women from the Bible, Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful
From the blog
Abigail: God’s Ambassador
How could a marriage so broken, weighted by the burden of abuse and unchecked addiction, bring any good to Abigail? And yet, God had a magnificent purpose in this apparently mismatched couple, as Abigail’s story reveals.
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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…
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Martha: From Burdened to Beatified
Most of us remember the Martha depicted in Luke’s Gospel, the busy beaver who is reprimanded by Jesus, and chastened to be more like her spiritual sister Mary. Or, at least, that is the sermon I’ve heard many a time. But I do not think that is the Martha Jesus knew and knows to this…
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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…
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Mary of Bethany: Choosing the Better Part
“… And it will not be taken from her.” Mary of Bethany’s account reveals an emotionally sensitive and spiritually attuned disciple of Jesus, one who was ready to break through the barriers of her culture and time. Each of the scenes in her story place her at Jesus’s feet, in some of the more intimate…
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The Witch of Endor, Unexpected Grace
The Witch of Endor has been much vilified over the course of these thousands of years. She was, after all, a necromancer, one who communicated with the dead. God had expressly forbidden such interactions, not because the dark arts were counterfeit, but rather because God forbade intercourse with any other spiritual powers than God alone.…
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The Sinful Woman: Faithful and Forgiven
We do not know the sinful woman’s backstory at all. A careful reading of her account reveals this is not the same event as when Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus at Simon the Leper’s house, and she is also not Mary of Magdala, who had been possessed by seven spirits. (An early conflation, in 591…
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Jezebel: Priestess and Queen
Jezebel was a Phoenician princess, born in Tyre during the reign of King Omri of Israel. Among royalty, marriage was seldom a love match, and far more often had to do with brokering political, military, and political benefits between nations. And, it should not come as a surprise that Jezebel worshipped the premier deity of…
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Virgin Mary: Mother Meek but Never Mild
We might get the impression that as a young girl, being visited by Archangel Gabriel she was soft, submissive, gentle, meek. And certainly, she had these qualities, but is it possible we’ve missed the real person underneath the patina of two thousand years’ worth of iconography?
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Elizabeth: Filled with the Spirit
Being a biblical woman, from Elizabeth’s example, means living faithfully even when it seems unrewarding, believing boldly, even when circumstances seem unlikely, speaking prophetically when filled by God’s Spirit.
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Bathsheba, A Lamb in the Lineage
Once we dispense with the popular but false paradigm so often preached, and reexamine Bathsheba’s story from God’s perspective (rather than man’s) as written in the scriptures, a very different story emerges.
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Apostle to Samaria: Woman at the Well
Like the disciples before her, and unlike Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman moved from conversation with Jesus to conversion, to co-laboring with Jesus in his ministry. Jesus came to Samaria to transform this woman at the well into a disciple and an apostle.
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Given to God: Jephthah’s Daughter
The account of Jepthah’s daughter as a young woman of faith, and God’s call on her life is one of the more controversial in the Bible. And yet the impact her courageous faith had on the women in her community lasted for centuries.
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Death Has No Sting: Jairus’s Daughter and the Bleeding Woman
Neither person is named, neither person had power, wealth, influence, or any other kind of leverage. Yet God considered them worthy of love, healing, and life eternal.
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Called Out of Jericho: Rahab
What does it mean to be a Biblical woman, a woman of God, a woman who fulfills the calling of God in her life? For Rahab, it meant doing whatever it took to be with God and God’s people. It meant espionage, undercover plans, danger, and the courage to stand her ground when that ground…
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Phoebe: Minister of the Word
What did Paul mean when he used the word for “deacon” and the word for “benefactor” but also “church official” (in the Septuagint) in association with Phoebe’s service to Paul and to the Body of Christ? What was Paul assuming his readers would already know and understand, so it went without being said?
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Tabitha: Disciple Delivered from Death
The disciple Tabitha’s ministry, her presence, her generosity and reach were so important and widespread, that when she died the apostle Peter was summoned. The news of her being brought back to life spread like wildfire, igniting countless conversions throughout Samaria and Phoenicia.
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Evangelium: Eve, Part Two
A paradise lost, with more tragedy to come, all of God’s prophecies proved true … including the Evangelium
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‘Ezer Kenegdo: Eve, Part One
Her story reveals God’s great love and joy as the Lord anticipated the climax of God’s creative undertaking.
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Michal, Passion and Dignity
Embedded within the story of David, Israel’s most beloved king, and of whom the Lord said was a man after God’s own heart, is the tragic story of Michal, a Benjamite princess and daughter of king Saul.
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Free Bible Studies
This series of Bible studies seeks to retell the stories of women who were divinely called and empowered to do great things. Many of them rose to the occasion, and a few very famously did not. Often, the tragedies and triumphs in their lives are missed, and their stories are told from perspectives other than…
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Herodias, Ambition to be Queen
Herodias used everyone in her life—including her young daughter—to further her own agenda. Yet God’s stance towards Herodias reveals a refreshing perspective on a woman otherwise so vilified in the retellings of her story.
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Prophet, Poet, and Judge: Deborah
What sets Deborah apart from perhaps every woman in the entirety of the scriptures—both the Hebrew and Christian Testaments, is the astonishing position she held in Israel.
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Prophet to the Nation: Huldah
The high priest had just discovered the long-lost scriptures in a shuttered room of the temple. The king tore his clothes when he heard God’s Law for the first time, ever. They were a nation in crisis! Who should they turn to for counsel?
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Pastor in Philippi: Lydia
It is through such stories as Lydia’s that the scriptures convey the dignity God settled on women in first century Palestine, and on Lydia. In keeping with the Lord’s example, the apostle Paul also conferred dignity on women and on Lydia when she hosted the first church in Europe in her home.
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Delilah: Philistine Power
Was Delilah really a seductress who toyed with the trusting Samson’s heart, and finally succeeded in deceiving him? Was Samson really just a sweet, unsuspecting hero who got double-crossed by the love of his life? Or is there more to this account than past commentators have acknowledged?
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Challenge God: Wife of Job
She has been cast as a villain in Job’s ordeal. Of the five people who speak with him, four are theologizing friends who who defend God’s character and attributes while insisting Job must have some hidden sin.
It is only his wife who insists Job do something about his predicament.
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Matriarch of the Ark: Wife of Noah
A shadowy figure, she is never mentioned by name, though she is spoken of five times throughout the Flood account and specifically included in God’s instructions to Noah.
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Turning Back: Wife of Lot
Raised in the verdant Valley of Siddim amid a time of peace and prosperity of every kind, she was living her dream.
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HER STORY: Exodus Pioneers, Hannah
Has there ever been a time when you found yourself in a group of people enjoying themselves and you felt utterly alone? Maybe unseen, certainly not noticed, no one knew what you were feeling, there was no one to relate to. It’s like going to a party, that for you ends up being a test…
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HER STORY: Exodus Pioneers, Delilah
“A staggering story of strength… And seduction… of the mightiest mortal who ever lived!” so claimed a poster touting Cecil B. DeMille’s masterpiece theater, “Samson and Delilah.” “A story as timeless and tumultuous as the violent age it spreads before you,” claimed another poster, quoting from Judges 16, “And the lords of the Philistines said…
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HER STORY: Exodus Pioneers, Ruth
Death is one of the more tragic losses all of us experience in life, that final goodbye with someone we love dearly, and the long years of their absence to come. Even though death is part of every life, it can still feel like an affront, and more often than not, you and I are…
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HER STORY: Season 3, Exodus Pioneers, Daughter of Jephthah
Was she a human sacrifice? If God would grant him victory, Jephthah vowed to make an offering of whatever came out of his house … it was his daughter
#Judges11 #JephthahsDaughter #DaughterofJephthah #WomenoftheBible #HolyVow
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HER STORY: Exodus Pioneers, Deborah
She was a prophet, a poet, a powerful judge, and she was called of God to lead her nation in victory, in prosperity, and in peace. #Judges4 #Judges5 #Deborah #Jael #JudgeDeborah #DeborahinJudges #DeborahofJudges #DeborahtheJudge #Sisera #Barak
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HER STORY: Season 3, Exodus Pioneers, Rahab
Bawdy innkeeper, canny businesswoman, Canaanite idolater, she was called out of Jericho, and into Bethlehem.
#Rahab #Jericho #BibleStudy #Joshua #BookofJoshua #Tamar #Judah #Ruth #Boaz #Bible #BrokenSearchingTrustedPowerful
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HER STORY: Season 3, Exodus Pioneers, Song of Miriam and Moses
From powerless to prophet, enslaved to mighty leader, she led the people in songs of glorious thanksgiving.
#Miriam #Moses #SongofVictory BookofExodus #Exodus #Exodus15 #Bible #Biblestudy
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HER STORY: Season 3, Exodus Pioneers, Miriam
Trauma had warped her in ways she did not even realize, until God drew out what had been festering within for so long.
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HER STORY: Season 3, Exodus Pioneers, Puah and Shiphrah
There would likely have been no Exodus with these two intrepid pioneers. #PuahandShiphrah #Puah #Shiphrah #Exodus1
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HER STORY: Season 2, Time of the Matriarchs, Wife of Potiphar
Hers was a tale of longing, obsession, and seduction, for as often as her young slave rebuffed her, her desire grew all the more ardent. #PotipharsWife #Joseph #Seduction #Genesis39
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HER STORY: Season 2, Time of the Matriarchs, Leah
Unloved and unseen, she landed her husband by deceit. But, even in his arms she was desolate until God broke into her world and showed her her worthiness.
#Leah #BibleStudy #Jacob #Rachel #Genesis #Bible #BrokenSearchingTrustedPowerful
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Biblical Womanhood: A New Bible Study Every Month
What does it mean to be a Biblical woman, a woman of God, a woman who fulfills the calling of God in her life? Biblical womanhood is a hot topic these days. What is it? Is there such a thing? And if there is, how would we recognize it? #BiblicalWomanhood
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How Are They To Hear?
Now, a new podcast, Her Story carries on the work of retelling the stories of women who were divinely called and empowered to do great things. #HerStory #WomenoftheBible #BiblicalWomanhood
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The Prophet Huldah
Huldah, as one of the five women prophets listed in the Hebrew scriptures, was perhaps the most influential prophet of her day. The fate of her people, her nation, and her king hung on the oracle she would deliver. #Hulda #Josiah #WomanProphet
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Last Call: Study the Gospel of John
John takes a dramatic departure in his gospel in several ways, not the least of which is in his depiction of Jesus with women. If you would like to study this gospel with us, please register here.
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Martyrdom of the Mothers, Part Two
Last week I gave the cultural and Christian context for martyrdom, particularly of women, and mothers at that. I also gave the context of choice, highlighting the difference between Perpetua’s and Felicity’s grisly end in the arena, and Paula’s “living” martyrdom of poverty and self-denial for the sake of Christ.
This week I look at…
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Martyrdom of the Mothers, Part One
The translation of Perpetua’s first-hand account (in Greek) of the weeks leading up to her martyrdom, her visions, and that of one of her companions, of the loss of her son, and the loss of her servant’s daughter, is available in the public domain following this link. It is only six pages long, the last…
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The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas, Part Two
Perpetua’s visions had a great impact on the martyrs who came after her, as well as our understanding of life after death. Her first vision is described in Part One. Today are the rest of Perpetua’s visions.
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The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas, Part One
I came across the story of Perpetua and Felicitas during my studies at Portland Seminary. She was an early Christian martyr, notable because she was a woman, of noble birth, and she died just as the second century came to a close.
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About Me
My passion for the Bible began when I was eight or nine years old, somewhere in there, when on occasion my dad would take me to synagogue, where he sang. I remember watching the men in synagogue pray the words of scripture, murmuring and weeping, lovingly touching and kissing the Torah, and I wished I could read what they were reading.
Imagine, then, my wonder when I was given a Bible of my own!
Let’s hang out
[Catacombs of Saint Gennaro | By Dominik Matus – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58309035]
