Writing about women in the Bible.

Dear brothers & sisters,

These days I started to write a study about women in the Bible.
The study will be used in Biblestudy groups for woman.
My intension is to write a practical study, something everybody will be able to understand.
At the end of each chapter I will ask some questions, to realy bring it on a personal level for the woman. The women in this group(s) are from all kind of spiritual backgrounds. This will sometimes lead into difficult discussions and I need a lot of wisdom in all of this.
These women are such precious children of God.
Only many of them are wounded in life and need healing deep inside.
During the week in between the study's I will make time to sit with each of them apart.
Will you pray for me? Pray the Lord will build this house and He give me all I need to do the task?

My Question to you is:..

Is there anyone of you who made a serious study in the Word about women?
If so, what did you learn? was this helping you in your walk with the Lord, according His will?

I wonder if there is anyone of you who is willing to share about the "life-lessons" the Lord did give you over the years, reading about the lifes of our sisters living in Bible times.
For instance when we look into Eve's life, what can we learn from her?

It would be great if anyone of you will response to my question.
Hope you will give your permission to use it in my writing when useful?

Shalom,
browny.

Indeed Browny, I will pray that the Lord guides you and blesses you.

BTW...
I have created a handful of bibles studies about the women in the bible, and the lessons we learn from them.
Such as Jael, Hannah and Lydia

When I wrote these, I had women and teens in mind. If you like, I will share them with you, you may use them as you and the Lord sees fit.

O yes 4gvn!

I would be glad to read them!

Bless you,
browny.

Wonderful!

May I send them via e-mail to you? You can e-mail me first. I will post my e-mail address on my profile for 15 minutes from the timestamp stamped on this here reply I am about to submit. If you are unable to get my e-mail address in time, please let me know. & I will repost it on my profile again for you.

By the way here is a glimpse of one of the bible studies I wrote::

Lydia
In the book of Acts 16:13-15,40 we read about a woman by the name of Lydia. We know very little about Lydia from the bible. What, if at all, can we learn from her?

When Lydia is first mentioned in Act16:13, she is by the riverside at a prayer meeting worshiping God.
Just because Lydia worshiped God, it didn’t mean she was necessarily a Christian!

How can that be?
We read Lydia was converted, therefore,..............

QUOTE:
"If you are unable to get my e-mail address in time, please let me know. & I will repost it on my profile again for you. "

Or, if this won't work, I will be happy to share it with you if you will email me, if that is OK, 4gvn. My email addy is in my profile.

ginnyrose

Hi Ginnyrose,

I will be glad to send you my email address.

Bless you!
browny.

(Hope this is ok 4 gvn?)

Browny,

I wish more churches would permit such a study.

The woman at the well. I get soooo annoyed at how men often delight in teaching this scripture as they always emphasize that she had 5 husbands.

Yet, here are a few considerations I've had about this passage, let me know what you think:

The Passage starts with John 4:5 (RSV):

[5] So he came to a city of Samar'ia, called Sy'char, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
[6] Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
[7] There came a woman of Samar'ia to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."
[8] For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
[9] The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samar'ia?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
[10] Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
[11] The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water?
[12] Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?"

COMMENT: In the Bible, the "well" is a place where men usually met their future wives (Jacob met his beloved Rachel at such a well). Interesting that Jesus is asking this woman for a drink...at a well. If she was sooo "harlotrous", would Jesus make such a scandalous gesture - that is, to ask her for a drink? And even His disciples "marveled that He was talking with a woman" (John 4:27)

[13] Jesus said to her, "Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again,
[14] but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
[15] The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
[16] Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."

COMMENT: Ah! What a statement about the limits of human relationships, here, especially if you've been "to the well" five times and still thristing. Nevertheless, if this woman is as licentous about her sexuality as we like to make her out to be, then - according to the Jewish AND Samaritan law (see Deutoronomy), she would not even be allowed to draw water from Jacob's well - and she certainly would not be permitted to speak to a man in public! AND, how would she be so well versed on where our fathers worship? Yet, here is the Messiah, sitting in broad daylight having an open conversation with this woman. Unless, she is a prophet(ess), she would not be permitted to speak to a man in public...that is...unless she IS one.

[17] The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband';
[18] for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly."

COMMENT: Why do we assume that this woman has been married five times? Couldn't she also have ended up in this circumstance due to "serial widowhood". In which case, the man she was currently living with could have been her kinsman husband. Maybe she was a prophet(ess) living in hiding from her calling, and Jesus is the encouraging sign for her to begin her ministry. No wonder then, that she would be so amazed and declare that Our Lord "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did"

I suspect that the woman at the well was a Samaritan prophetess who had been widowed five times in her efforts to escape her prophetic calling, and Christ comes to encourage her in her ministry.

I know that I am probably WRONG! But that is okay. I just think that she gets such bad wrap in the way we handle this piece of scripture.

Either way, it takes an encounter with Christ to put our lives in true perspective.

Love-in-Christ,

KP

Hello KP,

I appreciate your reply on my question.
Only I never have heard somebody saying something like you are saying about this Samaritan woman, about the possibility she could have been a prophetes etc...?
Have to think it over and don't know what to say at this point.

To be honest, my first impression after reading your words are mingled, mixed up somehow.
Not feeling in peace over it and I can not say Amen to your words at this point.
I realy have to think it over, and once again, thank you for your input.

quote you:
"Either way, it takes an encounter with Christ to put our lives in true perspective"
I can say AMEN to these words!

Bless you,
browny.

Hi JiG,

Thanks!

I was thinking the same....:-)
This is a great website to go to
(Thank you StarofGod, your light is shining)

And thank you for your kind words sister JiG.
I know you yourself dearly love the Word.

Shalom,
browny

Dear 4gvn,

I did send you my e-mailaddress yesterday.
Please take your time and don't be in a hurry.

Bless you,
browny.

I suspect that the woman at the well was a Samaritan prophetess who had been widowed five times in her efforts to escape her prophetic calling, and Christ comes to encourage her in her ministry.

I’m excited to hear about your Bible study aspirations. There is nothing better than making your own discoveries. Still, many have written on the subject, and you may wish to check that out.

I’ve led a few bible studies of women in the past, but I think, if I were to do it again I’d take a different emphasis. I’d try to set their stories more into the context of the bigger picture of God’s redemptive purposes for humanity. What do these women’s stories say about the bigger Biblical message, about God, etc?

I’d also take more consideration for the world THEY lived in (ex, how women were viewed, cultural/religious rules and customs, etc) I think that helps us appreciate how our own views and customs might be different, but also how God’s promises hold for all ages and all cultures.... oh..... and both genders!

Hi Roadsign,

Thank you for sharing.

Quote you:
"I’d also take more consideration for the world THEY lived in (ex, how women/wives were viewed, cultural/religious rules and customs, etc) I think that helps us appreciate how our own world might be different for women, but also how God’s promises hold for all ages and all cultures.... oh..... and both genders!"

That's exactly what I am doing now :-)
God Bless you,
browny

Hi Ann, and Agnus...:)
I don't always check SI as much anymore, but I did see this post so of course I clicked it..:)
I have enjoyed many bible studies on women of the Bible, just as I have enjoyed any Bible Study in the Bible..

This first link gives some articles, sermons, etc about women in the Bible.
http://www.womenofchristianity.com/?page_id=5

This link is of Scripture references to women in the Bible.
http://www.womenofchristianity.com/?p=3193

Michelle

Hi Browny,

I have a book by Francine Rivers called 'A lineage of Grace'. It talks about 5 women ie Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. It says that each story includes a 6-part bibe study perfect for personal study or group discussion.

I've not read the book yet and am not going to read it for the forseeable future--so can't help futher. However, you might want to look it up to see whether it will help you.

About the woman at the well...

As I understand the prevailing culture at this time women would go to the well early in the morning. This woman came at noon suggesting she did so to avoid the other women in town because of ostracism due to her lifestyle.

After Jesus talked to her, who did she go to in town? It was to the men, not women, once again suggesting she may have gone to those who shared her lifestyle.

The probability of a woman having five husbands through widowhood is so unlikely. However, it is within the realm of divorcing and remarriage where this can happen. Assuming it is, she was a woman detested by other females because she may have been a flirt, a husband stealer, one that other married women avoided being afraid she may steal their husband as well. Such things happen today all the time.

This is how I view this woman and consider Jesus' ministry to her all the more remarkable.

I have talked to lots of adulteress and they are not dumb or ignorant. One of the most remarkable females I have talked to at CPC was a cocaine addict who was also a fornicator. She was so smart, so knowledgeable. The director at CPC told me that although she knows her history, there just is something about her that she likes about her. And I concur.

My point is that the most vile person out there has the capability to understand the things of the LORD. I have never met an exception to this rule. The incident of the woman at the well illustrates it beautifully.

My understanding of this scripture.

17] The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband';
[18] for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly."

COMMENT: Why do we assume that this woman has been married five times? Couldn't she also have ended up in this circumstance due to "serial widowhood". In which case, the man she was currently living with could have been her kinsman husband. Maybe she was a prophet(ess) living in hiding from her calling, and Jesus is the encouraging sign for her to begin her ministry. No wonder then, that she would be so amazed and declare that Our Lord "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did"

'He Whom you now have is not your husband' is good enough to prove that she was in relationship to a man she was not married to. Also she feared other women who spoke evil of her lifestyle and that is why she came early morning. Though Jesus spoke to her in an open space, it is still not public. There was not anyone to witness except his disciples who came late. Finally when Jesus spoke about her past and present sinful life, she immediately tried to change the subject. If she was not a sinful women she won't have done that.

The beauty of this passage is the women ran into the city and called out the city to come and see Jesus. I am sure she ran back to all men and women. This is how our life should be, when we meet Jesus. We should not fear men anymore but openly confess that I have seen him who is mighty to save and come and see him for yourself.

Personally I came to Christ from Hindu background and had this fear of people mocking me for leaving the religion I was born and bought-up with. Though I knew this is the way, it was more a personal understanding of truth rather than he revealing it to me. In other words Logically I was convinced that I have found the truth but Spiritually I was still not sure about my calling. But once he revealed himself to me after 2 years of conversion, I got this strength to acknowlege that I am a new creation and the life I am now living is for him.

I am most probably WRONG in my interpretation of the woman at the well. Thank you for keeping me on the right track, Sisters!

Perhaps you could offer your insight/impressions about a few other women and gender issues in the Bible:

(By the way, I like some of Francine Rivers' fiction, in particular, her treatment of Aaron in "The Priest" and Caleb in "The Warrior". She is a talented writer).

TAMAR in Gen. 38: Someone mentioned "Tamar" - what a coincidence! I start Genesis 38 this week. What do you all think of this portion of scripture? I am still shocked when I read it! What was she thinking? What was Judah thinking? Thank the Lord for His thinking because He would not tolerate nor allow Judah to "get away with" trivializing his sexual perversion. The boys of Jacob were a right "randy" caravan of young men! Yet, when Shechem raped Dinah, the Lord wrote, "for such a thing ought not to be done" (Gen. 34:7)

RAPE in the Bible: It amazes me how both Jacob and David minimized the rape of their daughters and they paid a dear price for this. In response to the rape of Dinah by Shechem in Genesis 34, and the rape of Tamar by Amnon in II Samuel 13, you have the fathers and the brothers responding on opposite poles of the extreme.

The fathers, Jacob and David, were too passive in their response to the rape of their daughters. Jacob, afterall, was more concerned about the effect of this whole ordeal on his reputation (Gen. 34:30). David just temporarily reassigned Amnon to hard labor.

The brothers, Simeon and Levi in Dinah's case and Absalom in Tamar's case, were overly active in their response. The former pillaging an entire city and the latter killing his brother and harboring dissent for his father.

God is so honorable is his treatment of the female. I don't understand the "Women's Lib" propaganda which complains about the supposed "oppression" of women in the Bible. Malarkey! The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob shows penultimate respect for the female nature, mind and body. God refused to allow women to be exploited all through the Old and New Testament. The Lord was constantly teaching man with severe consequences how to honor and respect women.

POLYGAMY in the Bible: God was NOT a polygamist and any man who adopted such a lifestyle suffered constant strife within the family. Constant! Again, there are "Jezebels" out there who try to claim that the Word of God permitted polygamy. NO IT DID NOT!!! Just because God's Word records the choices of men, does not mean that He condones them. How can we overlook the tragic dysfunction which developed in the famillies of polygamists?

What do you all think?

Love-in-Christ,

KP