If you were to ask someone to name five biblical women, Mary Magdalene would almost certainly make it to the list. Her name appears 12 times in the gospels, and her story has taken on mythical proportions.
Mary Magdalene deserves top billing—not in fictionalized accounts of her life but among the ranks of women who sincerely followed Jesus. It’s time to separate (more…)
The king’s soldiers battered the city’s wall with ramparts. It wouldn’t be long before the town of Abel Beth Maacah fell and its citizens were slaughtered.
At the helm of the assault was Joab, King David’s commander-in-chief. The warrior’s hands likely were still red with the blood of his cousin, whom he had just executed to avoid being supplanted.
But one fierce woman (more…)
By nature, women exert a certain amount of power over men. We see it beginning in the garden, when Adam meets his helpmate and then when he yields to Eve’s persuasion, resulting in the birth of sin. Throughout scripture, women often influence men either for good or for evil.
Men can be swayed, for better or worse, by a woman’s beauty or (more…)
As King Saul’s concubine, Rizpah lived largely as less than—less than the wives, less than any bona fide member of the royal family. Her children, though considered legitimate, were unlikely to ascend to the throne. Acquired for their beauty or political connections, concubines were unseen and unheard.
Such was Rizpah.
Scripture doesn’t record a single word that Rizpah says. But her courage, loyalty, (more…)
Resilience was not an aspiration in Achsah’s day. It wasn’t a quality to be fostered. Nor was it a trait for which people received an award at the end of the school year. It was a matter of survival.
Achsah grew up wandering the desert—packing up as the Lord led His people on, facing constant threats from enemies, walking endlessly, longing for (more…)