How many women can you name that are mentioned in the Bible? I am sure that many of us can list the most obvious ones such as Eve, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Ruth. When I Googled the question of how many distinct women are named in the Bible, one reference noted that there are 133 named women in the Old Testament and 33 named women in the New Testament. Of course, there are the unnamed women that appear throughout the Bible. For example, in the Old Testament (2 Kings 4:1-36) there are two women with no names that were helped by the prophet Elisha – the widow and the Shunammite woman. In the New Testament, we hear of the Canaanite woman asking for help (Matthew 15), the women in Jesus’s parables (the woman and the lost coin, Luke 15), and at the crucifixion one of the witnesses was the mother of Zebedee’s sons (unnamed). In the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew identified four specific women as mothers within the lineage – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba.
In the Bible, we see women in many roles from the dutiful daughter, the neglected wife, the dedicated mother, as well as a queen, a prophetess, an apostle, and a leader in the early church. Each brings a unique story to the relationship they had with God. Their stories are important to us - they can help us to understand ourselves and how we travel through life with God’s help.
Here at Lord of Life, we have women that allow our church community to grow and prosper by taking on the many roles needed. We are not just daughters, mothers, wives, and grandmothers, the roles which some of us embrace, but we are also the teachers, the musicians, the leaders. We organize to serve those in need (e.g. Family Promise and Stepping Forward), shepherd youth from birth through senior high, serve on council and committees, bake bread, and serve in various ways during worship to name just a few.
This year, the Women at the Well Bible study group is looking at twelve women of the Bible (named and unnamed), their story and their relationship with God and Jesus, and how we can relate to their stories as women in today’s world. The author indicates that by learning about the triumphs and failures of these women, we can learn things such as how to apply biblical lessons to our struggles, how to find contentment in every situation, and how to overcome rejection and insecurity (Twelve Women of the Bible Study Guide by Sherry Harney, 2010). So far, we have studied Eve, Rebekah (wife of Isaac and mother of Esau and Jacob), and Leah (the first wife of Jacob). With Eve, we discussed how we can find lasting contentment in the truth. With Rebekah, we learned how to break free of feminine stereotypes. This month, with Leah we talked about overcoming rejection and insecurity. There are nine more women to study; not all are familiar or named.
I would like to encourage the women in our community of believers to join us in studying these biblical women, learning how their relationship with God and Jesus can relate to our lives, sharing stories, laughter, and tears with a beautiful fellowship of women.
Yours in Christ,
Denise Krallman