Last time we spoke about patient women who despite all the hardships they were through, remained strong in the Lord. This time around I will be looking into different types of women; the wise one, the ones who made mistakes and the evil ones.
Abigail
Abigail was the wife of Nabal, a rich but wicked man. In the book of 1 Samuel chapter 25 we see how David (who wasn’t a king yet) and his men get turned down by Nabal after they asked him for his generosity.
1 Samuel 25:5-11
So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name.
6 Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!
7 “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing.
8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’
9 When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.
10 Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.
11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”
In anger David decided to kill Nabal and everything associated with him. But just like how Queen Esther was able to use wisdom to save her people, Abigail did the same.
1 Samuel 25:18
18 Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
She quickly followed David and his men and tried to appease their anger instead of following her husband in his foolish ways. Not only did she give David that which he asked for, she also prayed for him and blessed him while she humbled herself (bowing down with her face to the ground, addressing David as ‘her lord’ and reducing herself to ‘his maidservant’).
Not only was she able to save her entire household from the wrath of David, she also became his wife after the death of her husband Nabal.
Lessons to learn from Abigail:
- Don’t allow fear to hold you back from doing what is right; Imagine if Abigail out of fear of her husband’s anger, sat at home hoping and praying that the fool would change his mind. She and her household would have died along with him. Because even though David changed his mind and spared them, God still dealt with Nabal for his wickedness.
- Be humble in all that you do; When Abigail sent provisions after David and his men, she personally went along to ask for forgiveness knowing her husband had wronged them. She didn’t treat them like beggars, instead she lowered herself and sincerely asked for forgiveness from those who her husband wronged.
(1 Samuel 25:23-24; 23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say). - Allow your actions to speak for you; as mentioned above Abigail delivered what was asked from her household and humbled herself to the point where David had no other choice but to forgive her. This also was proof of her wisdom and courage and with her actions, she earned his respect.
Unfortunately not all women in the bible have favorable character traits like most of the women I’ve discussed so far in this series. Although this is no reason for us to condemn them, instead we should learn from them (pick the good parts and throw away the bad ones).
The following women weren’t perfect and they surely made mistakes but eventually they were able to redeem themselves by the grace of God.
Eve
Eve was the first woman to ever walk this earth. She was also the first wife and the first mother ever.
Genesis 2:22
Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
She is known for feeding her husband the forbidden fruit (the bible never mentions an apple) which led them both to be sent out of the Garden of Eden. For this reason she has been called; a manipulator, a liar, a sinner etc. But looking into her story there is more to take from it.
After God created Adam, He instructed him about what he could and couldn’t eat from the Garden of Eden (this all happened before Eve was created).
Genesis 2:15-18
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
This means that the instruction Eve got about not eating a certain fruit was from her husband and not directly from God. This doesn’t take away the impact of God’s instruction because she was fully aware that it was forbidden. She allowed her ambition for wisdom to take over rationality and obedience and so she gave into the deception of the devil.
Genesis 3:6a
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
Another thing I noticed was that the bible never mentioned Eve deceiving her husband or manipulating him into eating the fruit. It seems like he went along without much thought.
Genesis 3:6b
She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
So Adam was present and he didn’t resist even when she offered him the fruit.
Since there are consequences to disobeying the word of God, both of them were chased out of the Garden of Eden and they got punished along with mankind.
It is very important to note that God didn’t curse both of them, He punished them but cursed the serpent and the ground. For the woman, pains from childbearing would be worse (meaning it was already bad) and for the man the toil (hard work/effort) will become painful.
Although they lost eternal communion in the presence of God, they weren’t completely forsaken by Him neither were they cursed by God.
Lessons to learn:
- To obey is better than to sacrifice: Eve was aware of the instructions God gave unto Adam (Genesis 3:2-3; The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’). Despite being aware of His instructions she still decided to listen to the counsel of the evil one because of how good it sounded to her. Not only did she disobey God, she also caused her husband to sin by giving him the forbidden fruit. - Sin separates us from the presence of God: True believers always feel convicted/guilty after doing something wrong. This sometimes makes it difficult for us pray, read the scriptures or even worship God. In that moment we don’t feel worthy of His love and affection so we try to hide, leaving room for the enemy to wiggle his way through (Genesis 3:8; Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden). Genuine repentance should be our reflex whenever we do something wrong instead of hiding and distancing ourselves.
- Do not entertain temptation: Eve made the mistake of arguing with the devil when she already knew what was right (the instruction given to them from God) but because she allowed room for discussion and debate, she ended up being convinced to do the wrong thing. (Genesis 3:5-6; “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.). By entertaining his temptation she allowed her greed to take over and this led to their demise. - God knows what is best for us: There is a reason why God commanded them to not eat from that very tree. He gave them access to all that was in the garden except one and yet she wasn’t satisfied with what she had. I believe God commanded them not because He wanted them to remain ignorant but because He loved them and didn’t want them to know sin; for the wages of sin is death (Genesis 3:11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”). Once they disobeyed Him, He had no other choice but to send them out of the Garden of Eden.
Despite all this God was still with them, they didn’t lose their position as the father and mother of mankind, Eve was never barren even though she was punished to experience more pain during childbirth. She also wasn’t replaced with another woman and God still remained in their lives.
Rahab
After the death of Moses, the Lord spoke to Joshua to lead the Israelites further into the promised land (Jericho). So Joshua sent spies to survey the land and report back to him. In Jericho there was a prostitute named Rahab who protected the spies and saved them from the King of Jericho.
This didn’t happen because she wanted to betray her country but because she knew the Israelites were sent by God.
Joshua 2: 8-11
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof
9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.
10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.
11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
Not only was she able to decern that these men were sent by God, she was courageous enough to hide them safely from their pursuers while she could have chosen to be a bystander.
Joshua 2:15-16
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.
16 She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”
Because of this she and her household were saved while the rest of Jericho was conquered.
Joshua 2:14
14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”
Lessons to learn:
- God can use anybody: Yes Rahab was a prostitute and yet thanks to her the Israelites were able to successfully spy on Jericho. She played her part in them reaching the promised land despite of how sinful her life might have been. Through-out the bible there have been various examples of people who didn’t seem worthy in our sight but were used by God for greater things. So no matter who we are, the kind of life we’re living or whatever sin we’re struggling with, God can still use us as long as we’re willing to submit ourselves to Him.
- Develop your spirit of discernment: Nowhere in the bible does it mention that God spoke to Rahab. She heard of how God had been guiding them from Egypt and the miracles He performed. She also knew they were there to spy on the country and take over. There is no explicit instruction given to her to take care of the Israelites that came to her. Due to her discernment she was able to make the right choice and this saved her life and that of her family members also.
Woman at the well
This story is about a Samarian woman, hated by the Jews and despised by her own people. She was an unmarried woman who had known six men.
John 4:7-9
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
After speaking with Jesus for a little while, she gave her life to Christ and went back home to spread the gospel.
John 4:39-42
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
From this short story they’re a few thing worth mentioning:
- God doesn’t judge people based on their past: Beggar, teacher, widow, soldier, slave, prostitute…God doesn’t care about the labels the world has given to us. He has a plan for us all and He can use anyone for His will to be done.
- Listen to God’s word with an open heart: She was no bible scholar but yet she was able to understand the message Jesus gave her because she actually listened to Him. This is where the Jews missed it; they heard Jesus speak multiple times but never really listened because they had hardened their hearts. Because of that , they weren’t able to accept Him as their Lord and Savior.
- Do not keep the word of God to yourself: The first thing she did after accepting Christ was to tell others about Him. She literally brought people to Christ and by doing so, she followed a very important commandment (Matthew 28:19; Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit).
Unlike these women who somehow got a redeeming ending to their story, the following were plain evil and they didn’t get a redemption arc, but there are still valuable lessons to learn from their stories.
Delilah
She was a woman from Sorek with whom Samson fell in love with and she was ready to betray his love and find out the source of his power for shekels of silver. She repeatedly and persistently used the love Samson had for her to find out where his strength came from until she was able to deliver him into the hands of the Philistines (his enemies).
Judges 16:15-19
15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.”
16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.
19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
She and Samson were never married but due to the nature of their relationship she was able to deceive him. No where does the bible mention that she loved him rather she was more interested in the money the Philistines had to offer. She was a smart woman who used her wisdom for evil (deceitful, manipulative, cunning…). The bible doesn’t mention her being redeemed and she’s never spoken of again.
Lessons to learn from her story:
- Women are powerful beings: When a man truly loves a woman, he is willing to lay his life for her. In this case Samson was unfortunate enough to love the wrong person. Women have the power to change their husband for the better, support him, elevate him and be his place of comfort BUT Delilah was the exact opposite. In fact she is everything a virtuous woman ought not to be.
- Do not be the reason for another’s demise: Because of her love of money and lack of loyalty, Delilah caused her lover great harm. Not only did Samson lose his strength but he also lost his sight and was publicly ridiculed. We as believers in Christ should strive to uplift our brethren and support them in every way we can instead of causing them harm.
Jezebel
Jezebel was a princess of Tyre and also the wife of Ahab, the King of Israel. Not only was she his wife, she wielded enough power to be considered a co-ruler at the time (still ruling even after the death of her husband) although the bible never calls her Queen. Her husband who was more on the passive side encouraged her authoritative position.
1 Kings 21:7
Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”Through-out the bible she is known for her evil deeds, she is seen as power hungry, violent, wicked and dishonest.
1 Kings 18:4
While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.
She was a follower of Baal and Asherah and was persecuting the prophets of God without consequences or fear. But after prophet Elijah defeated her false prophets, there was a turn around in the spiritual realm and this marked the beginning of the end of Ahab’s and Jezebel’s reign in the land.
1 Kings 18:19
Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Even after all her killings, threats and evil plots against those who stood in her way or worshipped the Lord God Almighty, she ended up dying a horrible death.
2 Kings 9:9-10a
9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.
10 As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’
Lessons to learn:
- Use your talents for good: Jezebel was a smart and ambitious woman, if only she used her wisdom to improve her kingdom instead of terrorizing its inhabitants.
- There is only one true God: Not only was she serving false gods, she refused to acknowledge the power of God even after her gods were defeated. Instead she chose to threaten the life of the prophet. She wanted to contest the power of God and this only led to the shame of her gods and its prophets.
- Be careful of who you marry: Ahab’s choice of a life partner was detrimental to his kingdom. He chose someone who was more assertive than he was, who doesn’t listen to correction and who does as she pleases. A man is supposed to lead his home as the head of the family and he failed terribly at that.
The bible has (good and bad) examples of how women ought to be, their role and position at home and in the society and the power they wield. Out of every story there are lessons to be learnt and things to take note of.
God has a plan for each and every one of us but it is up to us to know what that plan is, so our talents will not be wasted or used for evil.
Stay Blessed x
One response to “Prominent women of the Bible (Pt 4)”
Absolutely right!