Twelve Extraordinary Women Continued

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Introduction

One of the unique features of the Bible is the way it exalts women. Far from ever demeaning or belittling women, Scripture often seems to go out of the way to pay homage to them, to ennoble their roles in society and family, to acknowledge the importance of their influence, and to exalt the virtues of women who were particularly godly examples. From the very first chapter of the Bible, we are taught that women, like men, bear the stamp of God’s own image (Genesis 1:27; 5:1–2).

At Sinai, God commanded children to honor both father and mother.

That was a revolutionary concept in an era when most pagan cultures were dominated by men who ruled their households with an iron fist while women were usually regarded as lesser creatures—mere servants to men.

Even in the Roman Empire (perhaps the very pinnacle of pre-Christian civilization) women were usually regarded as mere chattel—personal possessions of their husbands or fathers, with hardly any better standing than household slaves. That, once again, was vastly different from the Hebrew (and biblical) concepts of marriage as a joint inheritance, and parenthood as a partnership where both father and mother are to be revered and obeyed by the children (Leviticus 19:3). Pagan religion tended to fuel and encourage the devaluation of women even more.

Christianity, born in a world where Roman and Hebrew cultures intersected, elevated the status of women to an unprecedented height. Jesus’ disciples included several women (Luke 8:1–3), a practice almost unheard of among the rabbis of His day.

Christ’s first recorded explicit disclosure of His own identity as the true Messiah was made to a Samaritan woman (John 4:25–26). He always treated women with the utmost dignity—even women who might otherwise be regarded as outcasts (Matthew 9:20–22; Luke 7:37–50; John 4:7–27). He blessed their children (Luke 18:15–16), raised their dead (Luke 7:12–15), forgave their sins (Luke 7:44–48), and restored their virtue and honor (John 8:4–11). Thus, He exalted the position of womanhood itself.

Eve: Mother of All Living

Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. —Genesis 3:20

Eve wasn’t made out of dust like Adam, but carefully designed from living flesh and bone. Adam was refined dirt; Eve was a glorious refinement of humanity itself.

Eve, the only being ever directly created by God from the living tissue of another creature, was indeed a singular marvel. God had composed a vast universe of wonders out of nothing. Her beauty—splendid as it must have been—is never mentioned or even alluded to. The focus of the biblical account is on Eve’s duty to her Creator and her role alongside her husband. That is a significant fact, reminding us that the chief distinguishing traits of true feminine excellence are nothing superficial.

Grace is never set in motion by any effort or activity or volunteerism on our part, but it always flows freely from the sovereign will of God.

The unique method of Eve’s creation is deliberately emphasized in order to remind us of several crucial truths about womanhood in general:

1. It speaks of Eve’s fundamental equality with Adam. The woman was “taken out of man.” They shared the same essential nature. She was not a different kind of creature; she was of exactly the same essence as Adam. She was in no way an inferior character made merely to serve him, but she was his spiritual counterpart, his intellectual coequal, and in every sense his perfect mate and companion.
2. The way Eve was created reminds us of the essential unity that is the ideal in every marriage relationship. The one-flesh principle is perfectly illustrated in the method of Eve’s creation. As a matter of fact, this is where that principle finds its true origin.
3. The circumstances of Eve’s creation illustrate how deep and meaningful the marriage of husband and wife is designed to be. It is not merely a physical union, but a union of heart and soul as well.

“The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.”

Adam was created first; then Eve was made to fill a void in his existence. Adam was the head; Eve was his helper. Adam was designed to be a father, provider, protector, and leader. Eve was designed to be a mother, comforter, nurturer, and helper.

1 Timothy 2:14 says, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” Adam’s sin was deliberate and willful in a way Eve’s was not. Eve was deceived. But Adam chose to partake of the fruit Eve offered him with full knowledge that he was engaging in deliberate rebellion against God.

Because of Adam’s unique position as head of the original family and therefore captain of the whole human race, Adam’s headship had particular significance for all of humanity. God dealt with him as a kind of legal delegate for himself, his wife, and all their offspring. When Adam sinned, he sinned as our representative before God. When he fell, we fell with him.

Scripture says that Adam’s headship over the human race is an exact parallel of Christ’s headship over the redeemed race (Romans 5:18; 1 Corinthians 15:22). In the same way that Adam brought guilt on us as our representative, Christ took away that guilt for His people by becoming their head and representative. He stood as their proxy before the bar of divine justice and paid the price of their guilt before God. Jesus also did everything Adam failed to do, rendering obedience to God on behalf of His people. Therefore, “by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Eve’s sin subjected her to God’s displeasure. She forfeited the paradise of Eden and inherited a life of pain and frustration instead. The divine curse against sin targeted her in a particular way.

The shortest section of the curse is the part dealing with Eve directly. Eve’s part is completely contained in one verse of Scripture (Genesis 3:16), and it has two elements. One direct consequence of Eve’s sin would be a multiplication of the pain and sorrow associated with childbirth. The other would be a struggle that would occur in her relationship with her husband. In other words, when the curse addresses Eve in particular, it deals with the two most important relationships in which a woman might naturally seek her highest joy: her husband and her children.

The first part of verse 16 is simple and straightforward: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children.”

The second part of the verse is a little harder to interpret: “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Clear light is shed on the meaning of that expression by a comparison with Genesis 4:7, which uses exactly the same language and grammatical construction to describe the struggle we wage with sin: “Sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” In other words, sin desires to gain mastery over you, but you need to prevail over it instead.

Before Adam sinned, his leadership was always perfectly wise and loving and tender. Before Eve sinned, her submission was the perfect model of meekness and modesty. But sin changed all of that. She would now chafe under his headship and desire to gain dominance over him. His tendency would be to suppress her in a harsh or domineering way. And thus we see that tensions over gender roles go all the way back to our first parents. It is one of the immediate effects of sin and the awful curse that it brought upon our race.

Although the experience would now be painful and accompanied by sorrow, Eve would still be the mother of all living. In fact, her very name, given to her by Adam after the pronouncement of the curse, gave testimony to that fact. “Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).

God cursed even the animals for Adam’s sin. In other words, the curse on them was part of God’s judgment against Adam. Remember, the curse had negative ramifications for Adam’s whole environment. Evil is infectious, and, therefore, when Adam sinned, his entire domain was tainted.

Every beast of the field would henceforth live in a decaying and dying world. They, too, would be subject to disease, destruction, disaster, death, and various other hardships that all stemmed from the presence of evil.

Genesis 3:15 reflects the true divine intention. And that fact is made absolutely clear by the rest of Scripture. (Indeed, it is the main plot of the story the rest of Scripture tells.) For example, there is an echo of this same language in Romans 16:20: “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” Hebrews 2:14 says Christ (who, of course, is the eternal “God of peace”) took on human form—literally became one of Eve’s offspring—so “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” First John 3:8 says, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” Thus Christ, who was uniquely “born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4)—the offspring of a virgin, and God in human form—literally fulfilled this promise that the Seed of the woman would break the serpent’s head.

Eve bore Seth—after Cain had already broken her heart by murdering Abel—Scripture says, she “named him Seth [meaning, “appointed one”], ‘For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed’” (Genesis 4:25). The reference to the “appointed seed” does suggest that her heart had laid hold of the promise concealed in the curse, and she treasured the undying hope that one day her own Seed would fulfill that promise.

Scripture records that Seth founded a line of godly people: “As for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:26).

Sarah: Hoping Against Hope

Reading the biblical account of Sarah’s life, it is impossible not to notice that she sometimes behaved badly. She could throw fits and tantrums. She knew how to be manipulative. And she was even known to get mean. At one time or another, she exemplified almost every trait associated with the typical caricature of a churlish woman. She could be impatient, temperamental, conniving, cantankerous, cruel, flighty, pouty, jealous, erratic, unreasonable, a whiner, a complainer, or a nag. By no means was she always the perfect model of godly grace and meekness.

The name given to her at birth, Sarai, means “my princess.” (Her name was not changed to Sarah until she was ninety years old, according to Genesis 17:15.) Scripture remarks repeatedly about how stunningly attractive she was. Wherever she went, she instantly received favor and privilege because of her good looks. That kind of thing can spoil the best of women.

The biblical account of Sarah’s life doesn’t really even begin until she was already sixty-five years old. Amazingly, even at that age, her physical beauty was so remarkable that Abraham regularly assumed other powerful men would want her for their harems.

From the time she became Abraham’s wife, Sarah desired one thing above all others, and that was to have children. But she was barren throughout her normal childbearing years.

After recording that Abraham took her as a wife in Genesis 11:29, verse 30 says, “But Sarai was barren; she had no child.”

Sarah’s faults are obvious enough. She was certainly fallen. Her faith, at times, grew weak. Her own heart sometimes led her astray. Those shortcomings were conspicuous and undeniable. If those things were all we knew about Sarah, we might be tempted to picture her as something of a battle-ax—a harsh, severe woman, relentlessly self-centered and temperamental. She wasn’t always the kind of person who naturally evokes our sympathy and understanding.

She had important strengths as well as glaring weaknesses. Scripture actually commends her for her faith and steadfastness. The apostle Peter pointed to her as the very model of how every wife should submit to her husband’s headship.

Sarah’s life on the whole is actually characterized by humility, meekness, hospitality, faithfulness, deep affection for her husband, sincere love toward God, and hope that never died.

Although she gave birth to only one son and didn’t become a mother at all until she was well past the normal age of fertility, she is the principal matriarch in Hebrew history.

In Genesis 20:12, Abraham describes for King Abimelech his relationship with his wife: “She is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.” Such marriages to close relatives were not the least bit unusual or scandalous in the patriarchal era—nor in previous times extending all the way back to creation.

Scripture made no prohibition against consanguine marriages (matrimony between close relatives) until well after Abraham’s time.

Ur was the heart of a sophisticated pagan culture. Sarah and Abraham would have lived there during the very height of its power and affluence. The city government was a superstitious theocracy supposedly under the Babylonian moon god.

Sarah was sixty-five—the exact age most people today think is ideal for retirement—and by no means a young woman, even by the standards of the patriarchal era, when people obviously lived much longer and remained agile, healthy, and vigorous well past their sixties.

Scripture tells us, “Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan” (Genesis 12:5). What we know of Sarah suggests that far from complaining, she went eagerly, gladly, and enthusiastically with Abraham. She was utterly and completely devoted to her husband.

Scripture says that before they even entered Egypt, Abraham discussed with Sarah the dangers this place posed for a man with a beautiful wife. “When the Egyptians see you…they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live,” he told her (Genesis 12:12). And so at Abraham’s suggestion, she agreed to pose as his sister (v. 13). Abraham’s motives were selfish and cowardly, and the scheme reflected a serious weakness in his faith. But Sarah’s devotion to her husband is nonetheless commendable, and God honored her for it.

As Sarah remained barren, she took it upon herself to hatch a scheme that was so ill-advised and so completely fleshly that she regretted it for the rest of her days. Frankly, some of the tensions we see in the Middle East today are rooted in Sarah’s foolhardy ploy to try to concoct a manmade solution to her dilemma.

Ten more fruitless years passed after Abraham and Sarah arrived in Canaan (Genesis 16:3). Sarah was now seventy-five years old, postmenopausal, and still childless. It was natural for her to think God was deliberately withholding children from her. As a matter of fact, He was. When His time came for the promise to be fulfilled, no one would be able to deny that this was indeed God’s doing. His plan all along was for Sarah to have her first child in her old age, after every prospect of a natural fulfillment of the prophecy was exhausted and after every earthly reason for hope was completely dead. Thus YHWH would put His power on display.

Abraham took a concubine, at his wife’s urging. “Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife” (Genesis 16:3).

God’s design for marriage was monogamy from the beginning. “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Matthew 19:4–5). Paul likewise made clear what God’s ideal for marriage is: “Let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2).

As soon as Hagar conceived, Sarah knew it was a grave mistake. Hagar suddenly became haughty and contentious toward Sarah: “When she [Hagar] saw that she had conceived, her mistress [Sarah] became despised in her eyes” (Genesis 16:4).

Given Sarah’s disposition at that moment, he did what most husbands would probably do and simply let Sarah deal with Hagar her own way. “Abram said to Sarai, ‘Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.’ And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence” (Genesis 16:6).

Although Sarah dealt harshly with her maidservant, the Lord showed extreme grace to Hagar. The Angel of the Lord sought her out. The Angel said, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand” (Genesis 16:9). As a legally indentured servant, she had no right to run away, and she needed to go back and be humbly obedient. The Angel then made an amazing, completely unsolicited promise to Hagar: “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude” (Genesis 16:10). Prophetically, he described her unborn son for her, saying she would call him Ishmael and that he would be wild, yet dwell in the presence of his brethren (16:12). She, in return, acknowledged Him by a unique name: “El-Roi,” or “the God who sees,” a reference to the omniscient eye that followed her and sought her out even when she tried to hide (16:13).

When Ishmael was born to Hagar, Scripture says Abraham was eighty-six years old (Genesis 16:16). Thirteen more frustrating years passed for Sarah after that. She remained barren. By that time she was eighty-nine years old. She had lived in Canaan for twenty-four years.

Most women would have given up long before this. A lesser woman might have despaired of ever seeing YHWH’s promise fulfilled and turned to paganism instead. But we are reminded again that Sarah “judged Him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11). This is what made her so extraordinary.

For the first time on record, He specifically brought Sarah by name into the covenant promises: “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai [“my princess”], but Sarah [“Princess”] shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her’” (Genesis 17:15–16). By removing the possessive pronoun (“my”), the Lord was taking away the limiting aspect of her name, since she was to be ancestor to many nations.

Notice his reaction: “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’” (17:17).

Surely we can understand Abraham’s amazement, perhaps even tinged with a measure of uncertainty. But don’t mistake it for unbelief. In Romans 4:20–21, the apostle Paul, speaking of this very moment, says Abraham “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and [was] fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”

The Lord had one thing left to say: “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year” (Genesis 17:20–21).

The apostle Paul uses the expulsion of Hagar as an illustration of the conflict between law and grace. He calls it “an allegory” (Galatians 4:24). Paul’s conclusion? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman” (Galatians 4:30). Harsh as it may have seemed, there was a very crucial, necessary, and positive spiritual principle in the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael. This symbolized the important truth that the kind of religion that is dependent on human effort (symbolized by the carnal scheme that conceived Ishmael as an artificial fulfillment of God’s promise) is utterly incompatible with divine grace (symbolized by Isaac, the true heir of God’s promise). And the two are so hostile to one another that they cannot even abide in close proximity.

After Hagar was cast out, Sarah returned to a healthy, monogamous life with her beloved husband and their child, Isaac, who was a perpetual reminder to both Sarah and Abraham of God’s staunch faithfulness. As far as we know, the rest of her years were lived out in joy and peace.

In the very same way the New Testament portrays Abraham as the spiritual father of all who believe (Romans 4:9–11; Galatians 3:7), Sarah is pictured as the spiritual matriarch and the ancient epitome of all faithful women (1 Peter 3:6). For more about Sarah, check out my post entitled “Sarah: Mother of Nations.”

Rahab: A Horrible Life Redeemed

Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. Matthew 1:5–6

In Hebrews 11:31 (though identified even there as “the harlot Rahab”), she is specifically singled out by name for the greatness of her faith, and she even appears in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1. Extraordinary? That word is an understatement in Rahab’s case.

It is fair to assume that Rahab had enjoyed phenomenal financial success in her trade. Unfortunately, her “trade” was prostitution. She regularly sold herself to the most wicked men in that already-wicked city.

Rahab therefore epitomized the vileness of the Amorite culture at a point when they had collectively filled the measure of human wickedness to its very brim. Her whole life had been devoted to the profane pursuit of carnal self-gratification. Her livelihood was totally dependent on consensual evil.

Joshua sent only two men, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho” (Joshua 2:1). Scripture says simply: “So they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there.” Thus, Rahab is the very first person Scripture introduces us to in the Promised Land—Rahab, a harlot, who was prosperous enough to have a house in a prime spot on the wall. Both she and her business were probably well-known in Jericho. Here was an ideal situation for the spies. She would have opened her door to them without any questions about who they were. In her business, the strictest confidentiality was essential. She would have welcomed them and invited them inside quickly, just as she did all her clients.

Rahab’s house was perfect for their purposes. The position afforded a close-up look at the wall, which was the city’s chief defense. But the location also made possible a quick escape if necessary.

Also, by God’s sovereign design, Rahab’s heart was ready to believe in YHWH. Rahab is a beautiful example of the transforming power of faith. Although she had few spiritual advantages and little knowledge of the truth, her heart was drawn to YHWH. She risked her life, turned her back on a way of life that did not honor God, and walked away from everything but her closest family members (whom she brought into the community of God’s people along with her). From that day on, she lived a completely different kind of life, as a true hero of faith. She has a place of honor in Hebrews 11 alongside some notable names in that “great cloud of witnesses” who testify to the saving power of faith.

Rahab was redeemed not because of any meritorious works she did. She did not earn God’s favor by any good deeds. Remember, even what she did do right—harboring the spies—was morally tainted because of the way she handled it. She lied. But she is not given to us as an example of the power of human works. She is not a lesson in how to better ourselves through self-improvement. She is a reminder that God by His grace can redeem even the most horrible life.

Rahab is extraordinary precisely because she received extraordinary grace. For more about Rahab, check out my post on “Rahab: An Unlikely Ally.”

Ruth: Loyalty and Love

Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Ruth 1:16

Naomi was childless, widowed, impoverished, and aging (Ruth 1:12), destitute of all land and possessions, and without any relatives close enough to count on them to care for her. Still, she longed for her homeland and her own people, and she decided to go back to Bethlehem. Both daughters-in-law began the difficult journey with Naomi, but as Naomi considered their circumstances (especially the hardships these two young women might face if they staked their futures to hers), she decided to release them back to their own families. It seemed to Naomi as if the hand of the Lord was against her (v. 13).

Ruth was determined to stay with Naomi, regardless of the personal cost.

Naomi still tried to dissuade Ruth from going any farther with her. “She said, ‘Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law’” (Ruth 1:15).

Ruth’s reply is a beautiful piece of poetry in Hebrew style:

Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me. – Ruth 1:16–17

Thus Ruth expressed her firm resolve to stay with Naomi. When Naomi saw the firm resolve of Ruth, Scripture says, “she stopped speaking to her” (Ruth 1:18)—meaning, of course, that she gave up trying to dissuade Ruth from coming with her to Bethlehem. Their souls and their destinies were bound together by their friendship and their common faith.

Rather than being the immediate son of Rahab, Boaz may very well have been a great-grandson. He was nonetheless in Rahab’s direct line.

Boaz and Ruth were married, and the Lord soon blessed them with a son. At the birth of this child, the women of Bethlehem gave a blessing to Naomi as well: “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him” (Ruth 1:14–15). All of that came true as well. As verse 17 explains, “The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, ‘There is a son born to Naomi.’ And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” In other words, Ruth was David’s great-grandmother.

Ruth is a fitting symbol of every believer, and even of the church itself—redeemed, brought into a position of great favor, endowed with riches and privilege, exalted to be the Redeemer’s own bride, and loved by Him with the profoundest affection. That is why the extraordinary story of her redemption ought to make every true believer’s heart resonate with profound gladness and thanksgiving for the One who, likewise, has redeemed us from our sin.

Hannah: A Portrait of Feminine Grace

Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.” 1 Samuel 2:1

Hannah was unique among the women we have studied so far because she was not in the genealogical line of the Messiah. But Hannah’s famous dedicatory prayer, when she offered her son to God, is actually a prophetic paean to Israel’s Messiah.

Hannah faithfully traveled with Elkanah to the tabernacle every year to worship and offer a sacrifice. Scripture portrays them as a devout fam- ily, yet living in a dismal period of Israel’s history. The Bible reminds us that at the time Elkanah made regular trips to Shiloh to worship and offer his sacrifice, “the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there” (1 Samuel 1:3).

In that same battle in which the ark was captured, Hophni and Phinehas were killed. Eli fell over from shock as soon as he heard the news. He died too—from injuries sustained in that fall. Phinehas’s wife delivered a child shortly after that, and she named him Ichabod, meaning “the glory has departed” (1 Samuel 4:12–22). It was an apt description of that whole era of Israel’s history. This was indeed a time of great spiritual darkness. In those dry and gloomy days, Hannah stood out as a ray of light. Not only was she the quintessential godly mother and wife, but in a spiritually cold generation she exemplified patience, prayerfulness, faith, meekness, submission, spiritual devotion, and motherly love.

Hannah was in constant anguish because of her own infertility. She was further tormented by Peninnah’s carping taunts. The burden and stress made life almost unbearable. Hannah wept bitterly, and she literally could not even eat at times (1 Samuel 1:7). She longed to be a mother. This was her one ambition in life.

In this generation, motherhood is frequently derided and belittled even in the name of “women’s rights.” But it has been God’s plan from the beginning that women should train and nurture godly children and thus leave a powerful imprint on society through the home (1 Timothy 5:10; Titus 2:3–5). Hannah is a classic illustration of how that works. She is a reminder that mothers are the makers of men and the architects of the next generation. Her earnest prayer for a child was the beginning of a series of events that helped turn back the spiritual darkness and backsliding in Israel. She set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately usher in a profound spiritual awakening at the dawn of the Davidic dynasty.

Hannah’s love for her husband is the first key to understanding her profound influence as a mother. Contrary to popular opinion, the most important characteristic of a godly mother is not her relationship with her children. It is her love for her husband. The love between husband and wife is the real key to a thriving family. A healthy home environment cannot be built exclusively on the parents’ love for their children.

The properly situated family has marriage at the center; families shouldn’t revolve around the children. Furthermore, all parents need to heed this lesson: what you communicate to your children through your marital relationship will stay with them for the rest of their lives. By watching how mother and father treat one another, they will learn the most fundamental lessons of life—love, self-sacrifice, integrity, virtue, sin, sympathy, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness. Whatever you teach them about those things, right or wrong, is planted deep within their hearts.

The value of persistent and passionate prayer is one of the central lessons from Hannah’s life. Notice how the passion of her praying is described in 1 Samuel 1:10–11: “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, ‘O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.’”

Hannah obviously wanted her son to be a godly man, serving and glorifying the Lord all his life. These were not promises she made lightly, and when God finally answered her prayer, she did not recoil from the difficult duty her vow had placed on her as Samuel’s mother.

When God finally did answer Hannah’s prayer by giving her the son she had asked for, her thankful soul responded with a pure, unbroken stream of praise. Her words, recorded for us in 1 Samuel 2:1–10, are a masterpiece.

Then Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

    in the Lord my horn is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies,

    for I delight in your deliverance.

There is no one holy like the Lord;

    there is no one besides you;

    there is no Rock like our God.

Do not keep talking so proudly

    or let your mouth speak such arrogance,

for the Lord is a God who knows,

    and by him deeds are weighed.

The bows of the warriors are broken,

    but those who stumbled are armed with strength.

Those who were full hire themselves out for food,

    but those who were hungry are hungry no more.

She who was barren has borne seven children,

    but she who has had many sons pines away.

The Lord brings death and makes alive;

    he brings down to the grave and raises up.

The Lord sends poverty and wealth;

    he humbles and he exalts.

He raises the poor from the dust

    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

he seats them with princes

    and has them inherit a throne of honor.

For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;

    on them he has set the world.

He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,

    but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.

It is not by strength that one prevails;

     those who oppose the Lord will be broken.

The Most High will thunder from heaven;

    the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.“

She acknowledged, for example, God’s holiness, His goodness, His sovereignty, His power, and His wisdom. She worshiped Him as Savior, as Creator, and as sovereign judge. She acknowledged the fallenness and depravity of human nature, as well as the folly of unbelief and rebellion. In short, her few stanzas were a masterpiece of theological understanding.

Hannah spoke about God from her own intimate knowledge of Him. Her words of praise were filled with love and wonder. That love for God, and a love for all things heavenly, was one of the keys to Hannah’s lasting influence as a mother.

Hannah seemed to understand how vital those early years are, when 90 percent of personality is formed.

She prepared Samuel in those formative years for a lifetime of service to God—the high calling to which she had consecrated him before he was ever born. History tells us that she did her job well.

Scripture says God blessed Hannah with five more children—three sons and two daughters. Her home and family life became rich and full. She was blessed by God to be allowed to achieve every ambition she had ever longed to fulfill.

Hannah showed us what the Lord can do through one woman totally and unreservedly devoted to Him. May her tribe increase.

Mary: Blessed Among Women

The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” Luke 1:27–28

Indeed, no woman is more truly remarkable than Mary. She was the one sovereignly chosen by God—from among all the women who have ever been born—to be the singular instrument through which He would at last bring the Messiah into the world.

Mary herself testified that all generations would regard her as profoundly blessed by God (Luke 1:48).

While acknowledging that Mary was the most extraordinary of women, it is appropriate to inject a word of caution against the common tendency to elevate her too much. She was, after all, a woman—not a demigoddess or a quasi-deiform creature who somehow transcended the rest of her race. The point of her “blessedness” is certainly not that we should think of her as someone to whom we can appeal for blessing; but rather that she herself was supremely blessed by God. She is never portrayed in Scripture as a source or dispenser of grace, but is herself the recipient of God’s blessing. Her Son, not Mary herself, is the fountain of grace (Psalm 72:17).

Even during Jesus’ earthly ministry, for example, there were those who showed undue reverence to Mary because of her role as His mother. On one occasion, Scripture says, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed.” His reply was a rebuke: “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it” (Luke 11:27–28).

Mary herself was a humble soul who maintained a consistently low profile in the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. In fact, far from portraying Mary with a halo and a seraphic stare on her face, Scripture reveals her as an average young girl of common means from a peasants’ town in a poor region of Israel, betrothed to a working-class fiancé who earned his living as a carpenter. If you had met Mary before her firstborn Son was miraculously conceived, you might not have noticed her at all.

Scripture is very clear in teaching that Mary was still a virgin when Jesus was miraculously conceived in her womb. Luke 1:27 twice calls her a virgin, using a Greek term that allows for no subtle nuance of meaning.

Elizabeth’s immediate response to the sound of Mary’s voice gave Mary independent confirmation of all that the angel had told her. Scripture says, It happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:41–45).

Mary replied with prophetic words of her own. Her saying is known as the Magnificat (Latin for the first word of Mary’s outpouring of praise).

My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever. – Luke 1:46–55

Throughout Christ’s earthly ministry, Mary appeared in only three scenes. On two of those occasions, Jesus Himself explicitly repudiated the notion that her earthly authority over Him as His mother entitled her to manage any aspect of His saving work. He did this without showing her the least bit of disrespect, of course, but He nonetheless clearly and completely disclaimed the idea that Mary was in any sense a mediator of His grace (Mark 3:31–35).

Jesus sent the message that as far as His spiritual work was concerned, His earthly relatives had no more claim on Him than anyone else. He certainly did not set Mary on any exalted plane above His other disciples.

Once again, however, we see Mary learning to submit to Him as her Lord, rather than trying to control Him as His mother. She became one of His faithful disciples. She seems to have come to grips with the reality that He had work to do, and she could not direct it.

As soon as Simeon saw Jesus, he knew this child was the Lord’s Anointed One. Scripture says he took the infant Jesus up in his arms and uttered a prophecy. Then, turning to Mary, he told her, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34–35).

Years later, as Mary stood watching a soldier thrust a sword into Jesus’ side, she must have truly felt as if a sword had pierced her own soul also. At that very moment, she might well have recalled Simeon’s prophecy, and suddenly its true meaning came home to her with full force.

In his own gospel account, John describes what happened: “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26–27). So one of Jesus’ last earthly acts before yielding up His life to God was to make sure that for the rest of her life, Mary would be cared for. That moment on the cross—Jesus placing His mother into the earthly care of John—formally marked the end of that earthly aspect of Mary’s relationship with Jesus.

Mary herself never claimed to be, or pretended to be, anything more than a humble handmaiden of the Lord. She was extraordinary because God used her in an extraordinary way. She clearly thought of herself as perfectly ordinary. She is portrayed in Scripture only as an instrument whom God used in the fulfillment of His plan.

Anna: The Faithful Witness

She gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:38

Luke recounts the stories of multiple witnesses of Jesus’ birth and dedication in the temple in succession in order to establish the matter.

The final witness he calls is Anna. Everything Scripture has to say about her is contained in just three verses: Luke 2:36–38. She is never mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. But these three verses are enough to establish her reputation as a genuinely extraordinary woman:

Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. 

Luke’s narrative is loaded with key phrases that give us a surprisingly rich understanding of Anna’s life and character.

“She was a Prophetess”

Her name in Hebrew is identical to “Hannah.” Remember, from the story of Samuel’s mother Hannah, the name means “grace”—an appropriate name for a godly, dignified woman. Anna’s character does bear some striking similarities to her Old Testament namesake. Both women were singled out for their practice of prayer and fasting. Both were perfectly at home in the temple. Both prophesied. In Hannah’s case, you’ll recall, her celebratory prayer (1 Samuel 2:1–10) was also a prophetic psalm about the Messiah. Anna is said to be a prophetess whose heart was prepared for the coming of the Messiah.

In all the Old Testament, only five women are ever referred to as “prophetess.” The first was Miriam, Moses’ sister, identified as a prophetess in Exodus 15:20. In Judges 4:4, we are introduced to the second woman in the Old Testament designated as a prophetess: “Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth.” In 2 Kings 22:14, Scripture mentions Huldah as a prophetess.

The only two other women called prophetesses in the Old Testament were an otherwise unknown woman named Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14), who was classified among the false prophets; and Isaiah’s wife (Isaiah 8:3), who was called a prophetess only because she was married to Isaiah, not because she herself prophesied (unless her decision to name her son “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz” could be counted as a prophecy).

“Of the Tribe of Asher”

Asher was the eighth son of Jacob. He was the offspring of Zilpah, Leah’s maid and Jacob’s concubine (Genesis 30:12–13). The tribe that descended from Asher belonged to the apostate northern kingdom of Israel.

“This Woman was a Widow”

Anna’s whole world was shattered by tragedy when she was still quite young, apparently before she had even borne children. Her husband died seven years after their marriage, and she had remained single ever since. Assuming she married very young (remember, thirteen was a typical age for engagement in that society), then lived with her husband seven years before he died, that would make her at least 104—very old indeed, but entirely possible.

“Who did not depart from the temple”

Evidently, Anna lived right there on the temple grounds. There were some apartments in the outer courts (Nehemiah 13:7–9). She lived the simplest kind of life. She could always be found at the temple. She was singularly and completely devoted to the service and worship of God—mostly through her prayers and fasting.

“She…spoke of Him to All”

The verb tense signifies continuous action. It literally means that she continually spoke of Him to all who were looking for the Redeemer. This became her one message for the rest of her life. Notice that Anna knew who the believing remnant were. She could identify the true worshipers—the ones who, like her, were expectantly awaiting the Messiah. She sought such people out, and at every opportunity from then on, she spoke to them about Him.

The Samaritan Woman: Finding the Water of Life

Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ? John 4:29

What is staggeringly unexpected about this whole fantastic account is that Jesus chose this time and this place and this woman to be part of the setting where He would (for the first time ever) formally and explicitly unveil His true identity as the Messiah. And that singular fact automatically gives this woman a prominent place in the “extraordinary” category.

“How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (John 4:9). Gender taboos, racial divisions, and the class system would normally keep a man of Jesus’ status from conversing with a woman such as she, much less drinking from a water container that belonged to her.

Who was right? The Jews or the Samaritans? Gerizim or Jerusalem? Jesus did not brush her sincere question aside. He didn’t reproach her for changing the subject. He gave her a brief but very potent answer in John 4:21–24.

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

With that reply, He accomplished several things:

1. Jesus let her know that where you worship isn’t the issue. True worshipers are defined by whom and how they worship.
2. He made it clear that the religious tradition she had grown up in was totally and utterly false: “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). He did not airbrush the reality or trouble Himself with trying to be delicate. He answered the real question she was asking.
3. He subtly steered her back to the main subject by telling her that a new age was dawning when neither Gerizim nor Jerusalem would have a monopoly on the priesthood. The era of the New Covenant was just on the horizon. There was a subtle expression of messianic expectation in His words, and she got it.

No sooner had she broached the subject of the Messiah, than Jesus said, “I who speak to you am He” (John 4:26). This is the single most direct and explicit messianic claim Jesus ever made.

It is absolutely astonishing that the very first time Jesus chose to reveal Himself as Messiah, it was to a Samaritan woman with such a shady past. But His self-revelation is a testimony to her faith.

The immediate impact of this woman’s testimony on the city of Sychar was profound. John wrote, “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did’” (John 4:39).

Jesus had indeed found a true worshiper. Scripture doesn’t tell us what ultimately became of the Samaritan woman. Her heart was clearly changed by her encounter with Christ.

Martha and Mary: Working & Worshiping

Mary…sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving. Luke 10:39–40

Martha and Mary of Bethany are classic examples. They became cherished personal friends of Jesus during His earthly ministry.

“Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5).

Martha in particular is portrayed everywhere as a meticulous hostess. Even her name is the feminine form of the Aramaic word for “Lord.” It was a perfect name for her because she was clearly the one who presided over her house. Luke 10:38 speaks of the family home as Martha’s house.

Three Snapshots of Martha & Mary Together

First, Luke 10:38–42 describes a minor conflict between Martha and Mary over how best to show their devotion to Christ.

A second close-up glimpse at the lives of these two women comes in John 11. Virtually the entire chapter is devoted to a description of how their brother Lazarus died and was brought back to life by Christ. Jesus’ personal dealings with Martha and Mary in this scene highlighted their individual characteristics.

A third and final account where both of these women appeared together one more time occurs in John 12 (with parallel accounts in Matthew 26:6–13 and Mark 14:3–9).  The account records how Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with costly ointment and wiped His feet with her hair. Although both Matthew and Mark described the event, neither of them mentioned Mary’s name in this context. It was nonetheless clear that they were describing the same incident we read about in John 12. Both Matthew 26:12 and John 12:7 indicated that Mary, in some sense, understood that she was anointing Jesus for burial. She must have strongly suspected that her brother’s resurrection would drive Jesus’ enemies to a white-hot hatred, and they would be determined to put Him to death (John 11:53–54). Jesus Himself had gone to the relative safety of Ephraim right after the raising of Lazarus, but Passover brought Him back to Jerusalem (vv. 55–56). Mary (and probably Martha as well) seemed to grasp more clearly than anyone how imminent the threat to Jesus was. That surely intensified their sense of debt and gratitude toward Him, as reflected in Mary’s act of worship.

Mary (The True Worshiper) & Martha (The Devoted Servant)

At the end of Luke 10 when Jesus gave Martha a mild rebuke and a strong lesson about where her real priorities ought to lie (10:38–42). Some important lessons emerge from Jesus’ reprimand of Martha.

A Lesson about the Preference for Others Over Self

In the Luke 10 account, Martha’s external behavior at first appeared to be true servanthood. She was the one who put on the apron and went to work in the task of serving others. But her treatment of Mary soon revealed a serious defect in her servant’s heart. In reality, Mary was the one whose heart was in the right place. Her motives and desires were more commendable than Martha’s.

Martha’s behavior shows how subtly and sinfully human pride can corrupt even the best of our actions. Martha’s thoughts and feelings had become too self-focused. Because of that, she also fell into an all-too-common religious trap described by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians: “They, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12).

A Lesson about the Priority of Worship Over Service

Many women would be inclined to sympathize with Martha, not Mary. After all, it would normally be considered rude to let your sister do all the hard work in the kitchen while you sit chatting with guests. So in a real sense, Martha’s feelings were natural and somewhat understandable.

Mary’s humble, obedient heart was a far greater gift to Christ than Martha’s well-set table.

It is a danger, even for people who love Christ, that we not become so concerned with doing things for Him that we begin to neglect hearing Him and remembering what He has done for us. We must never allow our service for Christ to crowd out our worship of Him.

Worship (which is epitomized here by listening intently to Jesus’ teachings) is the one thing most needed. Service to Christ must always be subordinate to that.

A Lesson about the Primacy of Faith Over Works

This third principle is the truth (taught from the beginning to the end of Scripture) that what we believe is ultimately more crucial than what we do.

Human instinct seems to tell us that what we do is more important than what we believe. But that is a false instinct, the product of our fallen self-righteousness.

Martha and Mary also remind us that God uses all kinds of people. He has gifted us differently for a reason, and we’re not to despise one another or look at others with contempt, just because we have differing temperaments or contrasting personalities.

Mary Magdalene: Delivered from Darkness

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. Mark 16:9

She has the eternal distinction of being the first person to whom Christ revealed Himself after the resurrection.

Church traditions dating back to the early fathers have identified Mary Magdalene with the anonymous woman (identified only as “a sinner”) in Luke 7:37–38, who anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. But there is absolutely no reason to make that connection.

Some early commentators speculated that Mary Magdalene was the woman described in John 8:1–12, caught in the very act of adultery and saved from stoning by Christ, who forgave her and redeemed her. There is no basis for that association, either.

Mary Magdalene did have a dark past. Mary was indeed a woman whom Christ had liberated from demonic bondage. Luke introduced her as “Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons” (Luke 8:2). Mark 16:9 also mentioned the seven demons.

“Magdalene” is not a surname in the modern sense. She wasn’t from a family that went by that name; she was from the village of Magdala. She was called “Magdalene” in order to distinguish her from the other women named Mary in the New Testament, including Mary of Bethany and Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Demon possession is portrayed as an affliction, not a sin, and Satan tormented her with seven demons. There was nothing any mere man or woman could do for her. She was a veritable prisoner of demonic afflictions. These undoubtedly included depression, anxiety, unhappiness, loneliness, self-loathing, shame, fear, and a host of other similar miseries. In all probability, she suffered even worse torments, too, such as blindness, deafness, insanity, or any of the other disorders commonly associated with victims of demonic possession described in the New Testament.

One intriguing fact stands out about all the demonic deliverances that are recorded in Scripture: demon-possessed people never came to Christ to be delivered. Usually they were brought to Him (Matthew 8:16; 9:32; 12:22; Mark 9:20). Sometimes He called them to Himself (Luke 13:12), or He went to them (Matthew 8:28–29). On occasions when demons were already present upon His arrival, they would sometimes speak out with surprise and dismay (Mark 1:23–24; Luke 8:28).

How and when she was delivered is never spelled out for us, but Christ set her free, and she was free indeed. Mary owed everything to Christ. She knew it too. Her subsequent love for Him reflected the profound depth of her gratitude.

If there had been any way whatsoever for them to drum up doubts about the propriety of Jesus’ relationships with women, that issue would have been raised. But even though His enemies regularly lied about Him and even accused Him of being a glutton and a winebibber (Matthew 11:19), no accusations against Him were ever made on the basis of how He treated the women in His band of disciples.

It is true that most rabbis in that culture did not normally allow women to be their disciples. But Christ encouraged men and women alike to take His yoke and learn from Him. This is yet another evidence of how women are honored in Scripture.

Mary Magdalene first appeared in Luke’s gospel at a time when opposition to Jesus had grown to the point that He began to teach in parables (Matthew 11:10–11). When others became offended with His sayings, she stayed by His side. When others walked no longer with Him, she remained faithful.

Matthew, Mark, and John all record that Mary Magdalene was present at the crucifixion. Combining all three accounts, it is clear that she stood with Mary, the mother of Jesus, Salome (mother of the apostles James and John), and another, lesser-known Mary (mother of James the Less and Joses).

Mary Magdalene had remained longer than any other disciple at the cross. Then she was also the first to reach His tomb at daybreak on the first day of the week. Her devotion was never more plain than in her response to His death, and that devotion was about to be rewarded in an unimaginably triumphant way.

Mary seemed to have remained outside the tomb, still disconsolate over the missing body. Jesus spoke: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” (John 20:15). Mary, thinking He was the gardener, pleaded with Him to show her where they had taken the body of Christ.

“Rabboni!” Mary’s grief instantly turned to inexpressible joy (John 20:16), and she must have tried to clasp Him as if she would never let Him go. His words, “Do not cling to Me” (v. 17), testified in a unique way to the extraordinary character of Mary Magdalene.

The biblical epitaph on her life was recorded in Mark 16:9: “When He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.” That was her extraordinary legacy. No one can ever share that honor or take it from her. But we can, and should, seek to imitate her deep love for Christ.

Lydia: A Hospitable Heart Opened

Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. Acts 16:14

Lydia is best remembered as the original convert for the gospel in Europe. She was the first person on record ever to respond to the message of Christ during the apostle Paul’s original missionary journey into Europe.

Lydia was a remarkable woman who appeared suddenly and unexpectedly in the biblical narrative, reminding us that while God’s sovereign purposes usually remain hidden from our eyes, He is always at work in secret and surprising ways to call out a people for His name.

According to the tradition, in communities without synagogues, Jewish women could pray together in groups if they liked. Since Philippi’s Jewish community was apparently not large enough to form a legitimate minyan, Paul and his group learned the place where Jewish women gathered to pray on the Sabbath, and they went there instead. Luke writes, “On the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there” (Acts 16:13).

Paul went to the riverside to preach. Ironically, the one woman who responded most eagerly was not Jewish at all. Lydia was a worshiper of YHWH, at least externally. But she was a Gentile, an active seeker of the true God who had not even yet become a formal Jewish proselyte. Luke described his first meeting with Lydia this way: “A certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God” (Acts 16:14). She was, in effect, a businesswoman. She sold purple dye and fancy purple cloth, manufactured by a famous guild in her hometown of Thyatira.

The more expensive Tyrian dye was the basis for royal purple, and that substance was one of the most precious of all commodities in the ancient world. So Lydia must have been a woman of some means.

Wherever you see a soul like Lydia’s truly seeking God, you can be certain God is drawing her. Whenever someone trusts Christ, it is God who opens the heart to believe. If God Himself did not draw us to Christ, we would never come at all. Jesus was quite clear about this: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). “No one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” (v. 65).

Acts 16:14 describes Lydia as a woman “who worshiped God.” Intellectually, at least, she already knew that YHWH was the one true God. She apparently met regularly with the Jewish women who gathered to pray on the Sabbath, but she had not yet become a convert to Judaism. Luke recorded that Lydia “heard us” (Acts 16:14). He used a Greek word that meant she was listening intently. Her heart was truly open. She was a genuine seeker of God.

Luke expressly affirms the sovereignty of God in Lydia’s salvation: “The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul” (Acts 16:14).

“Irresistible grace” is how God draws sinners to Himself. Luke’s description of Lydia’s conversion captures it beautifully. The Lord simply opened her heart to believe—and she did.

Lydia’s faith immediately was evident in her actions. Almost incidentally, Luke said, “And when she and her household were baptized…” (Acts 16:15). She was baptized then and there. Whoever was included in the household, they all came to faith and were baptized right along with Lydia. She was already leading others to Christ. And God was graciously opening their hearts too.

Lydia’s reward in heaven will surely be great. She was a truly extraordinary woman.

Epilogue

All twelve of these women—together with every other godly woman from the pages of the Bible—share several characteristics in common. First, and most prominently, their faith and their hopes were absolutely and resolutely Christ-centered. That is the single, central, dominant truth that emerges from a study of all the godly women in Scripture.

Among these twelve, not one of them distinguished herself through a great career, some worldly accomplishment, or anything that would even stand out in the eyes of a cultural observer.

Bear this in mind: faith was the root and the quintessence of everything that made these women extraordinary. But in no case did their excellence stop with bare faith. The fruit of their faith was virtue.

1. With Eve, it was her perseverance in faith and expectation, even after her world had been totally shattered by her own sin.
2. In Sarah’s case, it was her steadfast hope that persevered against unbelievable obstacles.
3. The lesson of Rahab’s life is seen in the example of her remarkable conversion, because she reminds us of how dramatically God’s grace can rebuild a sin-ravaged life.
4. Ruth was a living example of devotion, love, trust, and humility.
5. Hannah exemplified the dedication of motherhood and the importance of making one’s home a place where God is honored above all.
6. Mary, the mother of Christ, was a model of humble submission.
7. Anna was an apt illustration of how to be a faithful witness to the grace and glory of God.
8. The Samaritan woman personified an eager response to the gospel message.
9. Martha &
10. Mary embodied the twin virtues of worship and service, prompted by deep devotion to Christ.
11. Mary Magdalene was a living example of how Christ’s deliverance and forgiveness prompts great love (Luke 7:47).
12. And Lydia is best remembered for a heart that was wide open to Christ.

Extraordinary as they seem, what God was doing in their lives is really no different from what He does in the life of every true believer.

May the extraordinary results of that process be the everyday experience of your life.