Women of the Bible: Life Lessons from Women in the Old and New Testament

Women of the Bible

Life Lessons from Women in the Old and New Testament

By Beverly Hammett

Copyright 2011 Beverly Hammett

Smashwords Edition

All scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One: Eve

Chapter Two: Sarah

Chapter Three: Rebekah

Chapter Four: Miriam

Chapter Five: Rahab

Chapter Six: Ruth

Chapter Seven: Hannah

Chapter Eight: Esther

Chapter Nine: Mary

Chapter Ten: Mary and Martha

Chapter Eleven: Mary Magdalene

Chapter Twelve: Elizabeth

About the Author

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Introduction

The women whose stories we find in the Word of God offer to us many valuable lessons. For all those women who get priorities confused and tend to run in circles, Martha is there to remind you to slow down and remember what’s important in life. For any woman who has ever faced the heartbreak of infertility, the stories of Sarah, Rebekah, and Elizabeth remind you that you are not alone—and that God can do the impossible! And for anyone who has ever longed for true love and acceptance, the stories of Mary Magdalene, Ruth, and Esther remind us that God can work, even when circumstances seem impossible.

We find these and many other lessons as we study the Word of God. As we read the stories of different women in the Bible, we can see that they were human just like we are. They experienced a lot of the same difficulties and problems that we face. We can also see how God transformed their lives and used them in His service—and how He can do the same for us. There are stories of love and devotion, of heartache and blessing, of prayers answered, and of miracles from God. Their stories touch our hearts—because we are women too—and they give us hope that God can somehow look past our failures and restore us.

Though the events happened thousands of years ago, they are still relevant today. There are stories describing human events such as childbirth, death and marriage. There are women from every social level: queens and peasant girls, slaves and princesses, saints and sinners. As we put them all together, they cover all of life’s experiences and teach us many valuable lessons.

Sometimes we get so used to hearing things that we miss what God is trying to teach us. I challenge you to approach these stories as if you were hearing them for the first time. Remember that these women were just human—and they had the same faults that you and I have. These are lively stories about real people searching for God. We see how God worked in their lives, in spite of their shortcomings—this gives us hope that He can work in our lives too, if we will let Him.

Each of the lessons contained in this book has four sections. First, there is a brief biographical sketch of each woman’s life. Second, there are several life lessons—truths we can draw from their lives and their experiences to help us in our life. Third, there are Scripture passages to study which can help you to learn more about each of the women. Fourth, there are questions to think about. You can use these for discussion if you are using this study with a group. Or if you are doing the study alone, you can answer the questions for yourself. The questions will help you to consider what you have learned and help you to apply those truths in your own life.

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Chapter One: Eve

Biographical Sketch

Go back in your mind to the beginning of time as we know it. The Bible tells us that God stepped out on the ledge of nowhere and spoke the world into existence. For the next six days, God filled that world with all that was necessary for life—sun, water, plants, animals. God declared that it was all good.

God’s creation was almost complete—the stage was set. God’s magnificent scenery stood finished and all in place. The sun shed its light on a perfect world. All the universe stood at attention, awaiting God’s final creation. And then God presented His masterpiece to the rest of creation—a man, created in the image of Himself. His name was Adam. A little later, God presented the man with a woman formed from a rib taken from the man’s side. Her name was Eve, and God said that His crowning act of creation was very good.

Few words are as exciting or hope-filled as the words begin or beginning—and few are as frightening. Eve was definitely a woman whose life was one new experience after another, an adventure in the unknown. In her position as the first woman to ever live on earth, Eve indeed faced many firsts. She walked through unchartered territory. It is not a place that I would have liked to have been in.

As the first woman to ever live, she had no mother to go to with those all-important questions that we as women face. There were no books written that she could buy and read, no seminars to attend to learn how to be a good wife and mother, or no Titus 2 women to go to for advice. Being the first and only woman on earth, she truly was all alone, in the sense of female companionship. Yet, we know that she had her husband, and she also had her Creator, God Himself. She could go to God or her husband with any questions she had.

Imagine that you are this first woman on earth. Can you identify with her? Can you imagine yourself walking in unclothed innocence through a sunny garden, picking fruits and nuts when you are hungry, having your husband as your constant companion and friend, seeing and personally knowing God, and never having to worry about anything? Oh, what a life of perfect happiness that must have been!

Eve had the distinct privilege of being the only woman to ever live in a perfect world with no sin and no curse. In her original state, undefiled by any evil, unblemished by any disease or physical defect, unspoiled by any imperfection at all, Eve was flawless and beautiful in every way. Can you imagine her grace, charm, virtue, ingenuity, intelligence, wit, innocence, physical beauty and strength—all untainted by sin? She must have been a living picture of sheer radiance. I think it is interesting, therefore, that God does not give us a physical description of Eve. Her splendid beauty is never mentioned. The focus of the Biblical account is on Eve’s duty to her Creator and her role alongside her husband.

Unfortunately, as the mother of all living, Eve is obviously a major character in the story of humanity’s fall and redemption. Yet in all the Word of God, her name is only used 4 times—twice in the Old Testament (Genesis 3:20, 4:1) and twice in the New Testament (Second Corinthians 11:3, First Timothy 2:13). Not only is no physical description given of her, but we also don’t even know such details as how many children she had, how long she lived, or where and how she died. To me that is a puzzling thing. However, I think God wanted us to focus on the aspects of her life that are important to us—her creation, her temptation and fall, the curse placed on her, and the hope that she clung to.

Eve was also the first wife. After God created Adam He said, It is not good that man should be alone. I will make an help meet for him. Eve was God’s answer to Adam’s incompleteness. Her number one role—and the purpose for her creation—was to complement Adam and to be a helper to her husband. She was a special gift to Adam. She was the necessary partner who finally made his existence complete.

Eve was never a child, never a daughter, never had parents to learn from or to turn to in times of need. She was created as a mature woman. Eve was not made out of dust like Adam. She was taken from the side of man—carefully designed from living flesh and bone with just the right set of attributes to make her the ideal mate for Adam. But she was still created by God. Therefore, she too existed before she appeared on earth in the thoughts of God.

Just because Adam was created first does not mean that man is superior to woman. Eve too was the result of God’s creation. Adam existed first, therefore he was the head of woman and the root from which she came. But Adam could not get along without her. He was wanting, and she was the help he needed. God created her as a helpmeet for him, but as a helpmeet who for support must lean on him.

Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony in the beautiful Garden that God had created for them. The world God had created was beautiful and everything they needed was there in the Garden. Don’t think that they just spent all their time lounging around, eating fruit and lying in the sun. No, God had given them work to do—it was their responsibility to take care of the Garden. And each evening, God came and walked and talked with them. Oh, what a wonderful place it must have been!

Eve was also the first sinner, the first to fail. We are not told how long Adam and Eve lived in perfection in the Garden before Satan showed up. It might have been only a few days--or it might have been many years. Satan knew that Eve was amiable and graceful, but also vulnerable. He saw immediately that Adam could not be tempted except through Eve. Satan appealed to Eve’s love of beauty and her desire for knowledge. Eve listened to Satan because she was deceived, not recognizing the lies he was telling her.

The Bible also doesn’t say how much time elapsed between the time that Satan first talked to Eve and the time she actually ate the fruit. It could have been immediately, or she might have taken some time to rationalize and ponder it in her heart. Maybe she went back several times and looked at the fruit. Each time she looked at it, it became more appealing to her. Soon she began to formulate her arguments that she could use to persuade her husband that eating of the fruit was a good idea.

I can almost imagine their conversation—it might have gone something like this. Hey, honey, you will never guess who I saw today! This cool snake was talking to me in the garden, and he pointed out some very interesting things to me that I had not thought about before. Did you know that God is trying to hide something from us? Yes, that is right—God does not want us to become like Him. God told us that we would die if we ate of the forbidden fruit. But that snake told me that God lied to us—if we eat of the fruit we won’t die, but it will make us like God. I think it is pretty selfish of God to keep us from eating the fruit of that tree. After all, what could be wrong with being smarter? I really don’t understand why God doesn’t want us to eat of that fruit. It is the most beautiful fruit in the garden, and it looks so very delicious. And I think it is pretty exciting that the fruit will make us wise. Why don’t we go have a look at it?

Maybe the first few times she brought the subject up, Adam immediately told her, No way! You stay away from that tree. God clearly told us not to eat of the fruit of that tree. We must not disobey God. But as she kept talking about it, and maybe even shedding a few tears, Adam finally decided to go with her to look at the tree. As she keep talking about it and pointing out how wonderful it was, one day she took the plunge. Adam was with her and watched her eat of the fruit, and then he ate some too. She had influenced him to follow her into sin.

Now, this is all just my imagination of how the scene might have played out, because the Bible doesn’t tell us how it came about. But we do know that Eve ended up believing Satan’s lie, and she convinced, persuaded, and influenced her husband that he should eat of the fruit too. She listened to Satan, ate of the one tree God had forbidden