When thinking of different women in scripture, it's easy to forget just how many there actually were and how big of an impact each of them made throughout history.
Below is a brief synopsis of several different women in the Bible who played a powerful role in the life of Jesus and the spreading of his gospels. Each women is listed with the name of the book they are found in so each of you reading this can take a deeper dive into scripture and learn more about these powerful role models.
EVE
(Genesis) The first to commit a sin or make a mistake but ultimately became the world’s first wife and mother. Without her life would not exist. She was also the first Mother to experience grief with the loss of her son, Abel.
NOAHS WIFE
(Genesis) Faithful to her husband through controversy. The Bible doesn't go too much in depth into who she was but we can only imagine that if her husband was undergoing scrutiny so was she. She is a great example of what true marriage and unity is meant to look like.
SARAH
(Genesis) Impatient at times and questioned God's promises to her but ultimately waited for God to fulfill His promise to her and her husband.
HAGAR
(Genesis) First recorded single mother, she raised a son, fathered by Abraham, who went on to father nations.
REBECCA
(Genesis) Mother to Jacob and Esau. She tries to take matters into her own hands which causes a lot of family drama but her intentions were good. Ultimately she is a really caring mom.
LEAH
(Genesis) The bible describes her as unfavorable by man but she was favored by God and blessed with more children than her sister. She is an example that God sees what is on the inside not outward beauty.
JOCHEBED
(Exodus) She had great quick thinking skills (which a lot of mothers possess) that lead to Moses saving the Israelites from slavery by the Egyptians. If she never sent her son down the Nile in a basket then Moses would have never grown up to become the leader that God made him to be.
MARIAM
(Exodus) World’s first recorded worship leader.
RAHAB
(Joshua) She was a prostitute who saved her whole family when the city of Jericho fell because she showed refuge to the Israelites. The lineage of Jesus comes through her, as recorded in the book of Matthew, and she is a great example to not count yourself out because of a mistake. No sin is too great for God.
DELILAH
(Judges) Deliah was a manipulative and selfish women. She had the ability to seduce and pursued Samson into doing and telling her whatever she wanted. Even though she was evil, she is a great example to us that we hold a lot of power over the men in our lives. We carry the ability to impact them both negatively and positively.
DEBORAH
(Judges) Before Israel was known to have kings & queens, they had appointed official's, such as judges, that ruled together over the people. Deborah was a prophetess and a high ranking female judge. The only female judge recorded in the Bible and possibly the first and only high ranking female official at that time.
NAOMI
(Ruth) Naomi openly struggled with depression after losing her home, her husband, and her two sons. She changed her name to Mara which means "The Lord has dealt bitterly with me." She was a window who took in her daughter in law, Ruth, and helped her win the favor of Boaz.
RUTH
(Ruth) Ruth lived in Moab when she lost her husband, she chose to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem instead of staying with her own family. She would later marry Boaz and the lineage of Jesus would come through her.
She was also a working woman who provided for her and Naomi by gleaning wheat from Boaz's fields.
HANNAH
(1 Samuel) Continuously prayed for a child and refused to leave the temple until God answered her prayer. She then dedicated her son to God and her son would grow up to be one of the greatest prophets alive. She is a great example of unrelenting faith, obedience, and how mothers can have huge impacts on their children.
MICHAL
(1 Samuel) King David’s first wife before he took the throne. She saves David from being murdered by Saul.
ABIGAIL
(1 Samuel) Married to Nabal, which the bible describes him as a fool. She was still faithful to him, and because she was faithful with the fool, God gave her a king as she later married King David.
BATHSHEBA
(2 Samuel) Suffered with miscarriage due to King David's actions but later gave birth to the wisest man that ever lived, King Solomon.
JEZEBEL
(1 Kings) Arguably the most evil woman in all of scripture. She was the wife to Kind Ahab and convinced him to make the nation of Israel worship false Gods instead of Yahweh. She would have anyone who opposed her killed, her biggest enemy being the Prophet Elijah. She would receive a gruesome death, that the Prophet Elijah predicted though the word of God, to match her evil lifestyle.
THE WIDOW AT ZAREPHATH
(1 Kings) She gave the last of what she had to feed the Prophet Elijah instead of feeding herself and her son, because of this God blessed with with food for life.
THE WOMAN WHOSE SON WAS ALIVE
(1 Kings) Her infant child was stolen while she slept by another woman. They go before King Solomon to prove who the child belongs too and ultimately she shows that she is willing to sacrifice her own selfish desires to be a mother to save the life of her son and King Solomon returns her child to her.
SHUNAMMITE WOMAN
(2 Kings) She was an incredibly wealthy yet sorrowful women, who could not conceive a child. Her and her husband would offer shelter to the prophet Elisha, and because of her kindness God gave her a son.
ESTHER
(Esther) She is a great example of courage when facing adversary. She saved her people by showing love to her king after being chosen to be his wife.
Unlike a few other women we read about in the Bible (Delilah) she used her beauty to gain favor in order to help others and not just herself.
GOMER
(Hosea) She was the wife to the Prophet Hosea. She was unfaithful to him many times but is a physical representation of God's redeeming love and pursuit of His bride.
ELIZABETH
(The Gospels) Cousin to Mary the mother of Jesus and mother to John the Baptist, a very influential man in scripture. He prepared hearts for Jesus through his teachings, baptized Jesus, and essentially began Jesus’s ministry. Elizabeth also allowed Mary to stay with her during part of her pregnancy.
MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS
(The Gospels) Even though Mary was a virgin and Jesus was caused by an immaculate conception, she has also been recorded to be very young. She was most likely a teen mom, raising the man who was the Savior of the world.
MARY MAGDALENE
(The Gospels) She was possessed and tormented by seven demons before being delivered by Jesus and becoming one of his disciples. She is not recorded as one of the twelve but we do know that she traveled with Jesus, discovered His body missing in the tomb, and was likely among those in the upper room when the Holy Spirit was sent down to earth. From there she would be recorded as the first women preacher/evangelist.
MARTHA
(The Gospels) Martha gets a bad wrap for the comparison we see in Luke 10 between her and her sister, but in reality every organization, job, family, etc. needs hard workers like Martha. Martha is known as the "doer" which makes a lot of sense when you take into consideration that her sister, Mary, was possessed by seven demons and her brother Lazarus, died. Someone's got to get the work done.
THE WOMAN WITH TWO COINS
(The Gospels) She gave all she had to the church as an offering and was mocked by man because she gave so little but was glorified by God because she gave what she had.
THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD
(The Gospels) Had mustard seed sized faith and grabbed the attention of Jesus by touching the edge of His garment in order to be healed. Jesus remarks amongst a large crowd that he felt someone touch him and after discovering the women, He healed her of her condition.
SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELL
(The Gospels) She is another example of God using any and everyone to spread His gosple. She helped diminished cultural stereotypes and is used as an example of what God thinks about racism.
DORCAS
(Acts) Considered what we would call a philanthropist. She was a disciple and the Bible mentions how she used her wealth to help the poor and the sick.
LYDIA
(Acts) Unlike a lot of women recorded in scripture, Lydia found ways to earn her own money. She sold cloth in the market and would be the recorded female entrepreneur.
PRISCILLA
(Romans) She is often referred to along with her husband Aquila. The two were missionaries that worked alongside the Apostle Paul. They had a church in their home and traveled with Paul to establish christian churches in other countries. She is the first recorded female missionary.
EUNICE & LOIS
(II Timothy) Single mother and grandmother to the evangelist, Timothy. The Bible references to them and their sincere faith. They taught Timothy about scripture and that is what ultimately led to working alongside Paul the Apostle.
Comentarios