My friend Gabe Hartfield recently interviewed me on Facebook Live about my book Women of the Bible. Gabe works with Intervarsity at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Check out this Women of the Bible interview.
I’m a writer for a reason, preferring to avoid cameras and microphones, but Gabe and I had a great time talking about the Women in the Bible, as well as a few related topics too.
Listen to this live recording of our discussion.
I hope you enjoyed this this conversation about the amazing women in the Bible.
Here’s some of info from the back cover of the book:
“The Bible has story after story about fascinating women. They’re more nuanced than men, have profound insights people often overlook, and can teach wisdom that everyone needs to hear.
“Ideal for personal reflection or group Bible study, Women of the Bible is an excellent read with stimulating stories that are interesting, informative, and entertaining.
“As a bonus, each woman’s story ends with thought-provoking questions for private introspection or group discussion. Then dig deeper by examining related Bible passages to expand your understanding.
“It’s time for a change. It’s time for a fresh perspective. It’s time for every woman—and man—to discover powerful, life-changing truths from Women of the Bible.”
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
God Takes Away Naomi’s Bitterness Over Losing Her Husband and Her Sons
Naomi means pleasant. She, her husband, and their two sons leave their home country and travel to Moab because of a famine. While in Moab, her husband dies, leaving her a widow.
Later both of her sons die, too, leaving her with two widowed daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth.
Naomi blames God for her misfortune and grows bitter.
She decides to return home when she hears they have food. Orpah and Ruth start back with her.
At Naomi’s urging Orpah decides to remain in Moab, but Ruth expresses deep commitment to her mother-in-law and to God, promising to stay with her forever.
Soon after they return to Israel, Naomi develops a plan for Ruth to marry their relative, Boaz. They get married and Ruth has her first child, Obed.
Naomi cares for Obed like a son, as the local women celebrate the baby and Naomi’s good fortune.
Like all of us, Naomi’s life contains struggle and disappointment, but God cares for her, providing a loyal daughter-in-law and a cherished grandson.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Rahab is a prostitute who two spies stay with when they scope out Jericho. We don’t know if they seek her for her services, or if they merely want to get out of public view.
When the king of Jericho commands Rahab to turn the men over to him, she commits treason. She hides the men and lies to the king. she tells him that they already left, but she doesn’t know where they went.
Rahab knows God favors Israel and will give the city to them. So in exchange for her protecting the spies, she asks for the safety of her family when they raze the city.
In her list of who’s included as family, she mentions parents and siblings, but not a husband or any children. After securing their promise of protection, she helps the spies escape.
Later, Joshua confirms Rahab and her family will be spared when they take the city, while the rest of the city will be destroyed. She then lives with the Israelites.
Rahab in the New Testament
In the New Testament, Matthew reveals Rahab is one of Jesus’ direct ancestors and the great-great grandmother of King David (Matthew 1:5). She is honored as only one of four women mentioned in Jesus’ family tree.
Further, the book of Hebrews affirms her as a person of faith, one of only two women included in its impressive list (Hebrews 11:31).
Finally, James confirms she is righteous because of her actions in hiding and protecting the two spies (James 2:25).
While our reaction may be to judge this woman for her profession, God sees her differently, as a righteous woman of faith, rewarding her accordingly.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Miriam is the older sister of Moses; she’s also the sister of Aaron, but we don’t know which one is older.
At the time Moses is born, there’s a degree to kill all baby boys. Moses’s mom hides him as long as she can, then she puts him in a basket and places him in the Nile River. Mariam watches at a distance to see what happens.
When the pharaoh’s daughter finds him, Miriam pops up and offers to find a woman to nurse him; she picks her mom.
As an adult, Miriam is a prophet and worship leader of sorts, leading the women in song and dance to celebrate God’s rescue when they crossed the sea to escape the Egyptians.
Unfortunately, what we know most about Miriam is when she and Aaron oppose Moses over his choice for a wife and out of jealousy.
God’s judgment is quick, instantly inflicting her with leprosy (a contagious skin disease, untreatable at the time).
Though Aaron is also at fault, he is not so afflicted, suggesting that perhaps Mariam led their tiny rebellion. When Aaron sees what happens to his sister, he immediately admits his bad attitude and begs Moses to intervene.
Moses does and implicitly God heals her. The whole nation then waits for her for seven days as prescribed by Jewish law.
A few years later Miriam dies; there’s no mention of the people mourning her death, a sad end to a promising life.
Though Mariam started well as a brave and obedient daughter and later as a prophet and worship leader, she let judgment and jealousy define her later life. God was not pleased.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wasn’t so wise with his love life. In all he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.
Even worse, many of King Solomon’s wives were foreigners, something God prohibited because he feared they would distract his people from fully worshiping him (Deuteronomy 7:3).
Unfortunately, just as God feared, King Solomon’s foreign-born wives, who had vastly different views on spiritual practices, did lead him astray.
They caused him to turn from God. As a result, Solomon ruined his legacy and consequently his son would lose the kingdom.
When God tells us “no,” there’s a good reason for it. Will we obey him or think we know better? King Solomon thought he knew better and things didn’t work out so well for him.
Finish Strong
Though Solomon started off well, focusing on God and honoring him, he ended poorly, turning from God and pursuing other gods.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Answer: Throughout my life I’ve sat through thousands of sermons and most all of them talked about the men in the Bible. They ignored women or gave them a mere footnote in the message.
If a sermon was ever about a woman, the director of women’s ministry might have given it, or it popped up on Mother’s Day. And frankly we don’t need another sermon about the Proverbs 31 Woman. All the messages I’ve heard about her miss the point.
The women of the Bible deserve more attention, and I want to give it to them. There’s so much they can teach us.
Q 2: What drew you to the women in the Bible?
A: Women make up slightly more than half the people on our planet, yet we don’t talk about biblical women too much in church. That is to our shame and our discredit.
I desired to discover more about the women who appear in the Bible. I wanted to learn from them and share the insight that God gave me with others.
Q 3: In all due respect, how can a man write about women? What makes you qualified?
A: I’m glad you asked this question so that we can talk about it, but at the same time I wish it weren’t necessary. The short answer is that I believe God has given me a heart for women.
Obviously, I can’t understand everything women go through, but that doesn’t disqualify me from writing about them, to encourage and inspire others.
In researching and writing this book God gave me a curiosity to ask questions other people would skip, to seek to understand these women’s circumstances, and to draw lessons from their lives. I put all those insights in the book. The outcome is what matters.
Q 4: What was your intent in publishing this book? How do you expect people to use it?
A: My goal was to compile and provide the information for readers to use as they saw fit. Some have treated it as a devotional and others as a Bible study. I’ve heard from people who’ve bought it as a reference and were glad to have it.
One reader intended to read one chapter a day but couldn’t put it down and kept turning pages. She read it in a couple of days. Many have told me they kept reading, with the pledge to read “just one more chapter.”
I also hope small groups or classes will use it for a study or discussion guide.
Q 5: Is this book just for women, or can men read it too?
A: I wrote the book for everyone.
The fact that it’s about women, doesn’t mean it’s only for women. The truths it covers are universal, applying to both women and men.
Q 6: What did you learn about yourself as you worked on this book?
A: It seemed perfectly natural for me to write about women in the Bible, but I was surprised at how many people thought it was strange.
That may make me atypical, but I prefer to think of it as me having a little bit of God’s heart for the female half of his creation.
Q 7: What surprised you most when you researched this book?
A: The character of Mary Magdalene has taken a hit in recent years. But after studying what scripture says about her a different story unfolded.
Mary Magdalene was the one to carry the good news about the greatest event in the history of the world—Jesus’s resurrection of the dead—to the disciples.
God didn’t have a man do it, even those that’s what the society of the day expected and even demanded. This makes Mary Magdalene the first missionary for Jesus. Never forget that.
Q 8: Many people criticize the Bible for how it portrays women. Does this make God sexist?
A person who reads the Bible quickly without a discerning eye—or a person who has never read it at all—might claim that the Bible treats women badly or that God is sexist.
This, however, is far from the truth.
Remember that God created us in his image, male and female. When he finished, he pronounced it as “very good.”
Yes, the Bible reveals God to us, but the narrative takes place during a time when sin badly distorted what God had in mind for the human beings he made.
In this regard, the Bible reflects man’s mistakes, not God’s heart.
Q 9: Who is your favorite woman in the Bible? Why?
A: That’s such a great question. I have many favorites, so it’s hard to pick just one. Ruth is a longtime favorite because of her dedication to her mother-in-law and to God.
Esther is another cherished favorite for using her position to influence the king and save her people from an inevitable genocide. I also like Judge Deborah and Rahab in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament I especially appreciate Priscilla because she often received first billing over her husband.
And then there’s Rhoda. Her story, her faith, and her exuberance make me smile every time.
Q 10: Your subtitle is “The Victorious, the Victims, the Virtuous, and the Vicious.” Why did you select these words?
A: The overall arc in Women of the Bible is to celebrate the feminine half of God’s creation. This makes it natural to look at the victorious and the virtuous. But that’s not a complete picture.
Due to sin’s impact, some of them are victims. And there are a few who are just vicious.
This is a reminder that terrible behavior isn’t the sole domain of men. Women can fall into evil as well. That’s why we must all be vigilant, to protect ourselves from falling into their error.
Q 11: How many women does your book cover? Why did you include that many?
A: I cover 135 women in Women of the Bible. Most books about biblical women address only a handful, usually twelve or less. And that omits a lot of interesting women and ignores what we can learn from them.
Initially my goal was 100, but I quickly realized that wasn’t enough. Although I could’ve kept writing and gone beyond 135, at that point I covered what I felt was important.
To continue writing about some of the very obscure names that remained wouldn’t really add anything to the discussion. So, I stopped at 135.
Of course, that’s not to say there couldn’t be an expanded version of Women of the Bible in the future. An appendix in the book lists dozens more women I could add in the second edition—if there’s value in doing so.
Q 12: Will you write a counterpart to this book, Men of the Bible?
A: I’d never considered doing that, but some people have asked about it and one reader assumed I would.
So, there might one day be a book Men of the Bible.
Q 13: Will you be writing any more about women in the Bible?
A: I’m glad you asked. The answer is yes!
Women in the Bible is book one in the Bible Character Sketches Series. My next book in the series is Friends and Foes of Jesus. This looks at New Testament characters. Many of those in Women of the Bible will make a reappearance.
For them I offer new and expanded content. In this way their story continues. Then I repeat the process for a book about Old Testament characters: Old Testament Sinners and Saints. And I’m currently working on a sequel of sorts: More Old Testaments Sinners and Saints.
Beyond these, I have several more books planned for the Bible Character Sketches Series, such as prophets, priests, judges, kings and queens. And every book will include women.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
The Four Gospels Each Have a Story of a Woman Who Worships Jesus
Each of the four accounts of Jesus’s life—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—give a story about a woman who anoints Jesus with expensive perfume, but the details in each report vary.
It may be that this happens on four separate occasions. Or it could be the same story, with a few details that differ. Or it might be somewhere in between.
Matthew and Mark’s Version
Matthew and Mark’s accounts are the closest, with the only difference being who criticizes the woman for wasting expensive perfume: Matthew says it’s the disciples. Mark says it’s some people. Matthew and Mark likely cover the same event.
In these passages the woman anoints Jesus’s head. Some people think this symbolically prepares him for what he is about to endure: his death, burial, and resurrection.
John Says
In John’s version, the woman who anoints Jesus is Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, but in the other three reports, we don’t know the woman’s name.
John’s version is like Matthew and Mark’s, but one key difference is that this woman anoints Jesus’s feet, not his head as in the first two accounts.
Also, John names just one person who criticizes her: Judas Iscariot.
Last, John says that Martha is serving dinner in Jesus’s honor, so we assume it’s at her home, while Matthew and Mark say Jesus is hanging out at Simon the leper’s house.
In anointing Jesus’s feet, some people think this symbolically prepares him for ministry.
Luke’s Account of the Woman Who Anoints Jesus
Luke’s version differs the most. First, he calls her a sinful woman, something not even hinted at in the other three accounts. Next, his version takes place at a Pharisee’s home.
His name is Simon, but it doesn’t say he’s a leper. And there’s no mention of it being in Bethany, as with the other three versions.
In Luke’s story, a woman comes up behind Jesus as he reclines at the dinner table. She weeps at his feet, showing sorrow for her wayward actions.
Her tears fall on him and she uses her hair to dry his feet. Then she dumps her perfume on his feet.
In this account, the woman doesn’t receive criticism, but Jesus does. The Pharisee thinks that Jesus should have known the woman touching him is a sinner.
Jesus affirms the woman for washing his feet, something his host didn’t do. Then he forgives her for her many sins, confirms her saving faith, and sends her off in peace.
Luke’s account has enough differences that it’s likely a separate event.
What Really Counts
It doesn’t really matter if this event happened once, twice, three times, or even four. It also doesn’t matter where it happened or who was involved.
What counts is the lavish adoration given to Jesus. This woman or these women really know how to worship Jesus. May this passage inspire us to do the same.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
I blogged about Tamar and her lustful half-brother who raped her. I spent three weeks reading and re-reading this story, meditating on it and trying to make sense of it. Despite that, five perplexing verses still mystify me.
Surely there’s some historical context I don’t comprehend, still I’m left with the feeling there’s more to this story. Consider:
“Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her,” (2 Samuel 13:2). First, she’s his sister. Second, what difference does it make if she’s a virgin; it’s still wrong? Third, what acceptable thing could he do if she wasn’t?
When solicited, Tamar said, “‘Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you,’” (2 Samuel 13:13). Again, they’re brother and sister; they can’t get married. Is this a ploy to escape or is she open to marriage?
After he raped her, “Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her,” (2 Samuel 13:15). True love cannot immediately turn to intense hate, perhaps lust can, but not love.
Tamar’s response: “‘No!’ she said to him. ‘Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me,’” (2 Samuel 13:16). After he rapes her, she wants to stay with him. Why? Is she trying to make the best of a bad situation?
“Her brother Absalom said to her, ‘Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you?’” (2 Samuel 13:20) Absalom doesn’t ask, “What happened?” He assumes the perpetrator is Amnon. If he suspected Amnon’s intent, why didn’t he protect his sister?
Like these five verses, the Bible contains many passages that perplex us.
We need to accept that we can’t comprehend all of the Bible’s nuances and embrace what we can understand; that should keep us busy the rest of our life.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Joab seeks an object lesson for King David to encourage him to reconcile with his estranged son, Absalom. Joab sends for a wise woman from Tekoa and coaches her what to say to the king.
The story she skillfully shares with the king—of how one son killed the other and is now on the run—is a ruse. With her surviving son being sought for murder, she seeks the king’s protection.
Her pretend story parallels David’s real story, of Absalom killing Amon and then fleeing to another country.
With increasing urgency, she three times asks for David’s support. Three times he promises his protection, each time with increased fervency.
Then, with boldness, she connects her story to King David’s, asking him to follow his own advice and apply it to his son Absalom. David suspects Joab’s hand in this and then tells Joab to arrange for Absalom’s return.
Playing her part brilliantly, the wise woman from Tekoa, sets in motion the homecoming of Absalom. Thanks to her, Joab’s plan worked.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Listen to some people in church. Watch what they do. It may
cause you to assume God views women as second class. Far from it.
The truth is, the Bible has story after story about how fascinating women are. They’re more nuanced than men, have profound insights we all often overlook, and can teach us wisdom that everyone needs to hear.
In Women of the Bible,
Peter DeHaan, PhD., digs deep into these Bible stories and uncovers how these
women rise above their circumstances—even though society pushes them down.
He also explores the women who were powerful, in both good
and bad ways, and what we can learn from them.
In this book, you’ll discover how to celebrate your victories, embrace your virtue, have more compassion for the victims in our world, and avoid the errors of the vicious.
It’s time for a change. It’s time for a fresh perspective.
It’s time for every woman—and man—to discover powerful truths from the Women of the Bible.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
