Do You Know These Women of the Bible?

My friend had a beautiful and meaningful coffee mug sitting on a countertop as we were both helping our Broadway Lions Club make pancakes, sausages, biscuits and gravy on recent Saturday morning.

I was struck: wow. what a message she was sharing and I’ve just got to show y’all too. I had heard of them all, but hadn’t thought about them in eons. Have you heard of these women?

Here goes:

Wait like Sarah
Protect like Rahab
Trust like Ruth
Pray like Hannah
Lead like Esther,
Rejoice like Mary

Sarah was hoping for a baby. She was married of course to Abraham and they both longed for a baby but nothing was happening. I’m guessing some of my readers have experienced both the hope and perhaps the downturns when nothing was happening.

Rahab was/is perhaps the most unusual woman–because she was actually a prostitute in that time. A harlot. Imagine. She lived in Jericho and if you are familiar with the Bible you might know that Rahab helped hide Joshua’s spies and according to the Bible, there had been spies sent by God.

Ruth was a widow at that time and a Moabite widow who stayed loyal to her Israelite mother‑in‑law Naomi, moved with her to Bethlehem, and ultimately married Boaz—and Ruth eventually become the great‑grandmother of King David. Yeah, that David, who we know had many stories and even loves, but that’s another story.

Hannah wanted a baby too, badly. The Bible says she was barren. She was the wife of Elkanah who also wanted a baby–men had hopes too. Finally, they got that baby, Samuel, and raised him, and eventually Hannah dedicated her boy to God because she knew that was best. (Of course, he grew up to be a good boy who listened to the call of God and he became a prophet and judge at the time (lots of info on Samuel in numerous chapters of the Bible).

Esther was a beautiful woman of the Bible and longtime was my favorite as a child or hearing of the stories. She too was considered for the harem (the king’s place to find women, basically. Eventually she was chosen to become a queen, and she interceded for her people, invited the king to a banquet. and together they all denounced a guy named Haman, the bad guy.

Mary of course was the chosen mother of Jesus, who was born in a manger in Bethlehem; she loved and cuddled him of course like any woman or decent man. You probably know what eventually happened to Jesus, and Mary mourned him when he died on a cross in Jerusalem, and went to his grave. That story actually ended well with Jesus being the known savior–of the world if you can believe that way. Which I do, obviously.

There were many many other women of the Bible who did courageous and perhaps outlandish things in the Bible and generally just in life! The Bible is worth reading and believing and if you look things up, you may be surprised by the excellent and amazing things women do, even today!

Okay, I’m done preaching and done writing for this day but hope you will ponder some of these delightful and difficult stories that exist in the Bible.

And I thank my friend Gina who provided this wonderful backdrop–with a coffee cup. I was using a mug too but I drank in these stories and memories and all!

P.S. I have a small Bible Concordance which gave me these small tips and references–some things I had forgotten about the Bible. Worth grabbing! I’m sure you can find something similar in a bookstore, if you look.

P.P.S.S I’m so sorry that the photo has to fold over like that but I’m working on it. Any help here?? How do you straighten a sideways photo like this!! Help!

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I do hope you might enjoy and ponder some of these women, and share some thoughts about them too!

And add some of your female favorites in the Bible as well.