The next book in the Bible (Leviticus) is a book of Jewish laws.  I only found one reference to a woman--I may have missed one, but after reading all the laws and instructions concerning a woman's monthly period, I went brain dead.  The one woman mentioned was Shelomith--an Israelite--who married an Egyptian man.   (So much of the trouble God's people got into involved intermarriage with other nationalities--which was forbidden.)  Shelomith had a son that got into an altercation with a Hebrew man, and her son cursed and blasphemed God.  They brought Shelomith's son to Moses, who had the people stone him to death.  "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," was the law.  

The next woman mentioned was in the following book--Numbers.  Her name was Cozbi--a Midianite woman who married a Hebrew man named Zimre.  Once again, intermarriage was going to lead  to trouble.   The problem basically was that the people would stray from worshiping God.  They disobeyed all of his laws, including the laws concerning marriage and sexual conduct.  The grass was greener on the other side of the Hebrew fence.   

"The men of Israel began to commit whoredom with the daughters of other nations, the Midianites and Moabites, and to worship their gods."  So when Zimre brought one of their women home to his tent, Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron--who was the priest--took a javelin and ran it through Zimre and into Cozbi--killing both of them. 

Zimri was a smart man; he was the son of an Israelite tribal chief.  And he knew that 24,000 of his own people had already died of a plague because the men chose to worship idols that encouraged sexual orgies with foreign women. (Could it have been syphilis?) Zimri was wrong to flaunt his relationship by bringing a Midianite woman into the Israelite camp.

You remember that Moses married a Midianite woman named Zipporah when he fled from Egypt.  (She called Moses a "Bloody husband" because of the Hebrew ritual of circumcision.)  Perhaps Zimri thought that if Moses could marry a Midianite, then he could too.  But when Moses married, the law had not been given.  Now it was a different situation.  God had said "No" and Zimri didn't care what God thought.  

We may think we can flaunt God's instructions.  We should probably rethink that.

The next mention of a woman was Elisheba--who married Aaron.  All we know is her name and that she had a son.  (Aaron was Moses' brother and his "Press secretary.")

Back in the book of Genesis, God told Abraham that the day would come when his great, great grandchildren would live in a land that wasn't theirs--and would serve the people of that land for many years.  But that, "In the fourth generation they shall come hither again."  And exactly four generations later, that prophecy came true, as Moses led the people (who were descendants of Abraham) out of Egypt.  God always does what he says he will do.  Right on time.

All the Hebrew women baked unleavened bread for the trip out of Egypt, gathered everything that they could carry and left.  And when God parted the sea for them to cross over--and drowned the Egyptians who were trying to catch them--the people stepped onto dry land, and listened as Moses began to sing a song of praise about how God had delivered them.

The women were so moved, and thankful that they had been protected by God, that they took timbrels in their hands and danced.  It was a very joyful moment.  Miriam--Moses sister--who was by this time a prophet--led the way.  "Miriam took a timbrel in her hand and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances."  Miriam also began to sing praises to God, "Sing praises to the Lord for he has gloriously triumphed.  The horse and his rider have been thrown into the sea."

Miriam had protected Moses when he was a baby in a basket in the bulrushes.  Now she was a grown woman who taught others about God.  The Bible calls her a prophet.  I wish I could say that she remained a staunch supporter of Moses, but later, she criticized Moses because he had married a woman who was not a Hebrew.  So, God came down in a cloud and told Mariam, "Wherefore were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"  God was angry and struck her with leprosy and had Moses cast her out from the camp of the people for seven days.  Just because she was Moses' sister didn't give her the right to belittle him.  Moses was God's chosen leader.  Miriam wasn't.  But Moses loved his sister and pled with God to heal her--which God did.

I think she learned her lesson.  She followed her baby brother from then on.

We all know the story of Moses.  When he was grown, he killed a man that was lashing a Hebrew--one of his own brethren.  Moses knew where he came from--he wasn't a baby when Pharaoh's daughter took him to the palace--he remembered the family of his childhood.

The Bible says that Moses "looked this way and that way, and saw that nobody was watching.  He slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."  But the Hebrew man knew, and the story spread like wildfire. Pharaoh heard, and set out to kill Moses.  So Moses fled for his life into the land of Midian--where he met a priest who had seven daughters.  He married one of them named Zipporah, had sons, and settled into a new life.  But God had other plans.  Those five women I wrote about yesterday had raised Moses to be a leader, and God wasn't going to waste the training those women had given him.

One day as Moses was tending his livestock, he saw a bush that was burning, and it didn't burn up--it just stayed on fire.  So Moses stopped to watch and wonder about the bush.  Then God spoke and said," Moses, Moses.  Take off your shoes for you are standing on holy ground."

God knows our names.  And when we are in his presence, we are always on holy ground.  Jesus said, "Hallowed be Thy name," when he was speaking about God in the Lord's prayer.  God is holy; he is hallowed.  But when God is going to indwell a person, it's not the bush that is holy.  Any old bush will do.  You, or me.  Or anyone who will, "Be still, and know that I am God."  What we have to do is recognize that something unusual is going on--that God is speaking to us.  But if we are not familiar with his voice, if we don't spend time with him, we will miss his call to speak to us.

God sent Moses back to Egypt and Moses was frightened, "O Lord, I am not eloquent.  I am slow of speech and have a slow tongue."  But he did as God directed.  "Moses took his wife and sons, set them upon a donkey and returned to Egypt where Moses was a wanted man. Which made Zipporah angry.  She took a sharp stone, circumcised her son, cast the skin at Moses feet and said, "Surely you are a bloody husband to me."  Probably because he was taking her son back to be a Hebrew where they practiced circumcision--and she was afraid of what was going to happen to him.

Can't say that I blame her.  Everyone knew that Pharaoh had been killing Hebrew boys.

All of the women I have talked about so far were found in the first book of the Bible--Genesis.  This book is a treasure trove of wonderful stories of real people who had great qualities, and great faults.  You get their stories--warts and all.  I am thankful that some "Holier than Thou" kind of person didn't try to edit it and "clean it up."

The second book of the Bible is Exodus, the story of Moses.  But it is also about the story of the great women of that time.  It begins with Moses' mother, Jochebed, trying to protect him from being killed.  But her story is the story of every mother of newborn baby boys among the Israelites.

Remember that Joseph had been sold to the Egyptians.  And when a famine struck the land, Joseph's entire family came to Egypt.  They multiplied.  "...and there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. " He said, "...the people of Israel are more and mightier than we are."  So he made slaves of them and made their lives bitter with hard bondage.  He then spoke to two midwives named Shiphrah and Puah, and told them that they were to kill all baby boys born to the Hebrew women.

But the midwives feared God and saved the children and told the king that the Hebrew women were "lively" and delivered their babies before the midwives could get there.  God blessed the midwives and "gave them houses to dwell in."  When the king's first plan to get rid of the baby boys didn't work, he then charged all the people to throw the Hebrew's male babies into the river.

But this woman, this brave woman named Jochebed, hid her son for three months after he was born.  And then, when he was a little bit older, she hid him in the bulrushes of the river and had her daughter Miriam stand guard over him.

One day, Pharaoh's daughter (I wish we knew her name) was bathing in the river, found the baby and had compassion on him.  Miriam said, "...would you like for me to find someone to nurse him?"  Pharaoh's daughter said that she would pay for his care--and to bring him to her when he was of age so that he could be her son.  Of course, Miriam took the baby to his own mother.  Two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.  And three women, Jochebed, Miriam, and Pharaoh's daughter.  Those five saved the boy who would grow up to be the greatest leader in Jewish history.  Moses.

The book of Genesis is chuck full of stories that we are familiar with.  The final chapters deal with Jacob's sons becoming jealous of their brother Joseph--because he was Isaac's favorite.  Which was because Joseph was Rachel's child.  (As was Benjamin.)  Jacob truly loved and adored Rachel.

You remember this story:  Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors and Joseph lorded it over his brothers.  Joseph was spoiled.  But in anger, the 10 of them (Benjamin wasn't with them) threw him in a well, soaked his coat with blood and told Jacob that Joseph must be dead.  But instead, they drug him out of the well and sold him.

Joseph ended up in Egypt and became trusted by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, to be in charge of his house.  And the next woman of the Bible that is mentioned is Potiphar's wife--who tried every trick in the book to seduce Joseph.  But he said "...can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" And fled.  She grabbed his toga and angry, from being rejected, told her husband that Joseph had tried to defile her and left his robe.  Potiphar threw him in the dungeon--where Joseph stayed many years until Pharaoh himself released him. (Joseph had interpreted Pharaoh's dreams.)

"...Pharaoh took off his ring and put it upon Joseph's hand and made him ruler over all the land of Egypt."  Then Pharaoh gave Joseph a woman named Asenath to be his wife.  Asenath gave Joseph two sons.  Manasseh and Ephraim.  You may remember that years later, when the Israelites fled Egypt and subsequently went into the promised land that those two sons were given equal portions along with Jacob's other sons.

I left out the names of Esau's wives--he had a bunch of them.  Esau is not in the chain of events that are central to the Israelites.  That belongs to Jacob--renamed Israel.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  They are the sons of promise who along with their wives raised up a nation.

These women were the mothers of the nation of Israel. They played an important part of God's story as it unfolded into the coming of Christ.

Back then, women had no protection unless they married--only sons inherited property.  And if their husband died, they were destitute unless they could remarry.   So, they had a rule among the Israelites that if a man died, the next brother in line would take the widow to be his wife.

Leah's son Judah married a woman named Shuah, and they had three sons.  Judah found a suitable woman--whose name was Tamar--for his oldest son El to marry.  But El was very evil in God's sight so God "slew" him.  As a result, Judah gave Tamar his second son Onan as a husband.  Who was also displeasing to God.  So he also died.  Leaving Tamar a widow for the second time.  As a result of this, Judah told Tamar that when his third son Shelah was a bit older, that she could marry him.  But when Shelah was of age, Judah reneged on his promise and left Tamar with no one to care for her.

So Tamar devised a plan to to put Judah to shame for leaving her with no husband.  "For she saw that Shelah was grown and she was not given unto him to wife."  She took off her widow's clothes, put on a wrap and a veil, and went to town and sat in an open place.   When Judah came by, he asked her what her price was--he didn't recognize her, and assumed that she was a harlot. (So much for Judah's morals.  What was he thinking!!  He should have been tending his livestock.)

She asked for his signet, his bracelets, and his staff.  Which he gave her, and also promised her a kid goat as well.  Three months later, someone told Judah that his daughter-in-law was pregnant and he called for her to be burned for her immorality.  "Who is the man that is the father of this child," he asked her.  She held up the signet, bracelets, and staff, and said, "Discern, I pray you, whose are these?"  And of course, Judah knew that he was the one who got her pregnant.  He was caught.

Judah had not given Tamar his son as a husband--as custom demanded, but he admitted what he had done and said, "Tamar has been more righteous than I; because I didn't give her my son to wed." (I have some question as to either of their morals--but back then, women who had no husband  turned to prostitution as their only means of support.  She is listed as an ancestor of Jesus.  Forgiven.)

Tamar gave Judah twin boys, but once again, the birthright would be in doubt. The baby that seemed to be coming first was marked with a red thread--but did not come, and was actually born second.

To be the only daughter among 12 brothers would have been both trying, and special.  They all loved Dinah.  And protected her.  In the one story we have about her, they defended her, and rescued her.

When Jacob returned to his homeland (with his 2 wives, 2 concubines, 12 sons, 1 daughter and a multitude of livestock) Esau met him and wrapped his arms around him and wept.  He had long ago forgiven Jacob for stealing the birthright and had become a very wealthy man in his own right.

Jacob and Leah's daughter Dinah was so excited to be in a new land that she, "...went out to see the daughters of the land."  She had been raised with boys, and wanted to make friends with young women like herself.  But she had been so protected by her brothers, she had no idea of the dangers out there.  And when Shechem (a prince, the son of the Hivite ruler called Hamor) saw her, he took her, raped her and defiled her.  And fell madly in love with her.  "His soul clave to Dinah...and he loved the damsel and spoke kindly to her."

Shehcem told his father Hamor, "Get me this damsel to wife."  When Jacob heard what had happened, he took his sons--who were also furious--to confront Hamor, who said that there didn't need to be a dowery, but that he would give Jacob whatever he wanted if his son could wed Dinah.

Jacob's sons told him that Dinah couldn't marry an uncircumcised man from a nation of men who were uncircumcised.  But if they would all go "under the knife" then they would be acceptable.  Which all the men under Hamor did including his son Shechem.  "And on the third day, when all the men were sore, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi...killed all the males in the city."  The other 10 brothers "...spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister."

Jacob was worried at what they had done, and told Simeon and Levi that he was afraid of retribution.  They answered their father, "Should he have dealt with our sister as with a harlot?"  And they took Dinah out of Shechem's house and took her home with them.

I suggested the other day that you read the book, "The Red Tent" which is a story about Dinah.  I loved it.  It is factual-fiction.  But historically accurate.

Jacob didn't waste all of those fourteen years sitting around and waiting for Rachel.  He learned about cattle, sheep, goats and camels.  He learned, and kept to himself, the secrets of breeding genetic strains of colors in those animals.  And he would ask for his wages to be all of the speckled ones.  Laban would agree, and all the fouls would mysteriously be speckled.  So Laban would change Jacob's wages to all the striped ones.  And then, all the fouls would end up striped.  Jacob knew what he was doing.  After twenty years of this, Jacob possessed hundreds and hundreds of animals.  He then took his livestock, and his wives, and left to go back to his father Isaac's house to face Esau--without telling Laban he was leaving.  Three days later, Laban found out and came after him.

And just when we thought Rachel was the finest woman that we had thus far encountered in the Bible, we find out that she had stolen Laban's idols.  Why would she do that?  Did she worship them?  Or just like to look at them?  It certainly lets us know that her father Laban was not a man of the one true God.  And makes us wonder, if she was going to steal something, why was it idols.

And when Laban comes to reclaim his cattle, daughters, and idols, his daughter Rachel sits on the idols and says that, "...she is in the monthly way of women and can't get up."  She had been raised by a man who was not a shining example of honesty, so lying was not a new thing for her.  Mercy.  Every time think that I have found a woman of the Bible that is perfect, she proves that she is just like all the rest of us.  Flawed.

Which is interesting.  We usually hear how wonderful these characters were.  These people of God.  These people that God had blessed.  But in truth, God had to work with people that were sinful.  And still he blessed them.  Just like he does today.  We are all so undeserving of his mercy.

Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Hagar, Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah, Rachel.  Women like you and me.  Learning from their mistakes and going on.  Enduring.  Loving their husbands and raising their children--with very little recognition for their contribution to the story of God's people who were the ancestors of Jesus.

And then, there is Dinah--Leah's daughter--the sister of Jacob's twelve sons.  She's next.

Exiled.  Living off the largess of a man who deceived him into marrying the wrong woman.  Working as a servant so that he can honor his mother Rebekah and father Isaac's desire that he marry one of Laban's daughters.  What a pitiful life for the heir of Isaac--and Abraham.  The only bright spot in his life was Rachel.  Fourteen years he waited for her.

In the meantime, Leah gave Jacob four sons.  Reuben--the first born, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.  "And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I die."  She was telling him that her life had no meaning.  But it made Jacob very angry, "...am I in God's stead, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"  In other words, "Don't blame me!"

Rachel then did exactly what Sarah had done when Sarah sent her handmaid into Abraham.  Rachael said, "Behold, my maid Bilhah.  Go in to her and she she shall bear...that I may have children by her."  So Bilhah gave Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali.  Which made Leah angry, so she sent her maid Zilpah into Jacob to be his fourth wife.  (He must have been quite a man!)  Zilpah had two sons: Gad and Asher.  But Leah wasn't through with Jacob.  She had two more sons: Issachar and Zebulun.

And Finally, just when you start thinking that having sons is all there is in this story, Leah bears a daughter named Dinah.  And there is a wonderful book of "factual-fiction" about Dinah called "The Red Tent."  I loved it.  It brought the story of all of these people to life.

The Bible concludes the story of Rachel this way:  "And God remembered Rachael...heard her...and she bore a son--Joseph.  Years passed, and Rachael conceived once more.  But her labor was hard and  she died giving birth to Benjamin--Jacob had lost the love of his life, but Rachel's two sons were his pride and joy.  And the other sons--well, they were jealous of them--which is another story.

Leah, Rachael, Bilhah, and Zilpah.  And twelve sons.  (underlined above) Who became the twelve tribes of Israel.  (Jacob's new name that God gave him.) And that is why the Jews are in the land of Israel today.  And why they will never give it up.  All because of Leah and Rachael and their love for Jacob.  The stories about the children of Israel are stories of real people like you and me.  Flawed.

Isaac is dying.  Esau is intent on murdering Jacob.  Jacob is scared.  And Rebekah is distraught.  She has betrayed and deceived her one true love.  She has alienated Esau.  She has taught Jacob that it is alright to lie and deceive.  She has pretty much torn her family apart.  And Jacob, the son she loves so much, is going to have to leave the country or end up dead.  One mistake has cost her everything she loved.  All because she wanted Jacob to be the heir, and not Esau.

But even though Isaac had been tricked, even though Esau was his favorite, Isaac showed his true character by honoring the blessing he had given to Jacob.  "I give the blessing of Abraham to you; that you may inherit the land...which God gave to Abraham."  So here Jacob was.  Abraham's grandson.  He had the inheritance, but he couldn't stay home and enjoy it.  It was an empty blessing--because he couldn't claim it.

He set out (fled for his life) on the journey to his uncle Laban's home, with direction from his father and mother to marry one of Laban's daughters.  Laban had two daughters, Leah--the oldest--and Rachel.  Jacob fell madly in love with Rachel and told Laban that he would serve him for seven years if he would let the youngest one marry him--which was not the custom.  "And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had to her."

When the years were up, Jacob said, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may (finally) go in unto her."  But Labon, Rebekah's brother, must have been cut from the same deceptive cloth as Rebekah. He tricked Jacob, because in the morning, after Jacob had spent the night with a woman that he assumed was Rebekah, the sun came up and he discovered that he had consummated a marriage with Leah instead.  Labon had lied and his excuse was that, "It can't be done in our country that the younger should marry before the eldest."

Jacob got a taste of his own medicine of deception.  He had to serve Laban seven more years to get Rachel.  Which he did.  "And Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah."  Once again, however, we have a barren woman.  Leah gave him sons, but Rachel couldn't. And Leah said, "God has looked on my affliction, (not being loved as much as Rachel), but now that I have given my husband a son, maybe  my husband will love me."  I have always felt sorry for Leah.  (The Bible says she had tender eyes.)

One problem that comes from doing something wrong is that you have to live with the results of your actions.  And Rebekah had driven a wedge between her two sons that would last for most of their lives.  Not to mention betraying her husband's trust in her.  But she chose deception and betrayal.

When Esau discovered that his father had given Jacob the blessing and the birthright, he begged his father to bless him as well.  "Don't you have even one blessing for me my father?  Bless me, even me also, O my father."  He was so distraught that he lifted up his voice and wept.

I bet he would have given anything to relive that day when he traded his birthright to Jacob for a pot of beans.  He flew into a rage and said, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will slay my brother Jacob." (After my father dies.)

Rebecca learned what had happened and called Jacob and said, "Your brother is planing to kill you.  Arise and flee to my brother Laban back in the land that I came from.  Stay awhile until Esau cools off.  Give Esau some time and he will forget what you have done to him."

And then she said to Isaac,  "I am weary of the women in this land.  I want Jacob to marry a wife from among my people back in Canaan."  (I think she was once again being deceitful to Isaac.  This time about the real reason she wanted Jacob to leave--she didn't want Esau to kill him.)  So Isaac sent Jacob back home, and told him to find a wife from among the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban.

Before all of this happened, Esau had married two women from the local community.  Judith, and Basemath.  Isaac and Rebekah didn't approve, and were bitter about this.  So after his parents sent Jacob to find a wife that his parents approved of, Esau tried to placate them by going to his uncle Ishmael, and marrying one of his daughters.  Compounding one problem with another.

What a mess.  It seems like the only person that wasn't deceitful, sneaky, rebellious, intent on murder, or didn't betray someone--was Isaac.  (The problems that all of this created will begin to be magnified in the years to come.)  Rebecca--by her actions--taught her boys that deception and lying was okay.  What we do is passed on to our children.  Your behavior is the book that they read.

Isaac was 37 when his mother died.  He was 40 when he married Rebekah.  But she had the same problem that Sarah did.  She was barren for many years.  So Isaac prayed to God to give them children, and God did.  Twins.  Jacob--the youngest--and Esau.  Very different personalities.  And they looked very different as well.  Esau was covered with hair.  Jacob wasn't.

Esau was born first,  and as the firstborn, he would be Abraham's heir and receive the blessing.  So "...the boys grew: Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; Jacob was a plain man who dwelled in his tent."  Later, their differences would cause conflict.  It came about over the birthright of the first born.  One day, Esau came in hungry and valued his birthright so little that the gave it to Jacob--and swore to honor it--for a pot of beans.  "Thus Esau despised his birthright."  The only thing left to do was to trick Isaac into giving the blessing--and the birthright--to Jacob. "Isaac loved Esau--because he ate his venison:  but Rebekah loved Jacob."  Partiality never works out well, and it will cause a huge conflict their lives. And Rebecca was right in the middle of it.

"...when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, he called Esau..." and told him that he would die soon and to go get him some venison.  Rebekah heard this, spoke to Jacob, and told him to go get venison and she would cook it like Isaac liked it.  She told him that Isaac would eat the meat, think it was Esau, and give Jacob the blessing.  But Jacob told his mother, "I have smooth skin and my father will know the difference when he feels my arms, and curse me."  Rebekah said, "...the curse will be on me, just do what I say."  She then wrapped Jacob's arms in furry goat skins and dressed him in Esau's clothing--which probably smelled to high heaven considering the life Esau led in the wild.

It worked.  Isaac gave Jacob the birthright and blessing, thinking he was Esau.  Later Isaac found out what had been done and trembled.  He was old and feeble, bedridden--and at the mercy of Rebecca and Jacob--who had tricked him.  I'm sure he felt betrayed by the woman he loved.  I would have.  I hate it when someone you love lets you down.  This beautiful love story ends badly because  Rebecca did something very wrong that would have lasting repercussions.  Perhaps she saw the man she loved at the end of his life, and wanted to come under Jacob's protection in her old age.  (Rather than Esau's.)  Who knows.  The Bible is full of stories of human failure.  That is why we need a savior.

Years later, when Rebekah's son Jacob left home, and she didn't know if she would ever see him again, I'm sure she realized what her own mother had gone through as Rebecca had climbed on a camel and headed off into the unknown.  Able to understand the pain her mother felt at losing her child.  That's part of what growing old is all about.  Understanding what your parents went through.

But that day, the day she left her home, she was excited by what lay ahead.  "And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man (and all of those who had come with him).  And the servant took Rebekah, and went his way."  At least she was able to take some of her maids with her so that she wasn't leaving everyone she had ever known behind.

What happens next makes your heart swell.  Isaac was sitting, meditating in one of his fields, he looked up and saw the caravan of people on camels coming toward him.  Rebecca looked up at almost the same moment, and when she saw him, she asked who he was.  And when the servant told her that it was Isaac, she covered herself with a veil and "...lighted off the camel."  Dirty, dusty from her long ride, she hopped down to meet Isaac.  I can't help but imagine that she covered herself with a veil because she was disheveled.  She wanted Isaac to wait to see what she looked like.  Any woman would want to take a bath and put on clean clothes before she greeted her betrothed!!

Abraham's servant told Isaac all that had been done.  All that he had experienced.  He told him everything about this girl and her family.  And we can assume with certainty that Isaac was pleased with everything he heard, because he did something very touching.  He took her to his mother's tent--not to his own tent.  "And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."

Isaac was 37 years old when his mother Sarah died, and he must have been extremely lonely in the ensuing years.  He was her only child.  His father Abraham was very old, and Isaac was sure to have felt his father's pain at losing Sarah--as well as his own.  She was the most important woman in their lives.  I love those words, "...and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."   By Rebekah.
She was beautiful.  She was descended from his father's people.  And she willingly came to him--to be his wife without ever seeing him.  Who wouldn't love her.  What a beautiful story.

The Bible always gives the "begats" from father to son, but where Rebecca was concerned, she named her linage first to her grandmother Milcah--the wife of Abraham's brother.  And only then did she mention her grandfather.  Unusual.  But then, Rebecca is an unusual woman.

After Rebecca had given Abraham's servant water to drink from the well, and also his camels, the servant gave her some gold jewelry that he had brought with him from Abraham, and asked her if her father would give him lodging for the night.  She answered him that they "had straw--for the camels--and provender enough, and a room to lodge in."  The servant bowed and worshiped God and said, "...blessed be the Lord God...who has led me to the house of my master's brethren."

Rebecca ran home and told the women of her mother's house about the man, and the gifts he had given her.  And when the servant came to the house, he told his entire story to Rebecca's brother Laban, and to her father Bethuel.  All about Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, and how he had come to seek a wife for Isaac.  The men decided that he had to ask Rebecca about that, and called her in.  "... they called Rebecca, and said...will you go with this man?  And she said, I will go."  A fearless woman.

Her mother asked for ten days to spend with Rebecca before they left, but Abraham's servant said no, they had to go now.  So, her family blessed her and said, "Be thou the mother of thousands of millions..."  and ended by saying, "...and let your children possess the gate of those which hate them." Which seems to be the case today, as the entire mideast hates the children of Israel.

I feel sympathy for Rebecca's mother.  She must have been broken hearted.  The men had decided what would happen by leaving it up to Rebecca.  And the young girl must have had her head swayed by the great adventure she was embarking on.  But her mother knew she would probably never see her daughter again.  And she had no idea whether this man named Isaac would be good to her daughter or not.  I bet she spent more than a few days crying over the loss of her child.

The only compensation was that the servant had told them that Abraham was old, very rich, and had left everything to Isaac--so her daughter would not want.  Poor compensation, however, for a loving mother who will never see Rebecca again.

Everybody loves a love story.  And one of the most tender love stories in the Bible is about Rebecca and Isaac.  When Isaac was of age to marry, Abraham didn't want him to marry just anybody.  He wanted Isaac to have the perfect woman, and was willing to do whatever he needed to do to make that happen.  It was usual back then for a father to arrange a marriage for his son.

Every time I read this story, I think about Ken--after a year at war in Korea, and two years teaching cadets to land on carriers--going on leave, back to Pryor, to the place he grew up.  I don't know that he was looking for a wife, but needed a rest from the previous four year--and there is something comforting about the people in your home town.  They were people he knew and trusted.  And even though he didn't know me, he knew my mother and father very well.  I think that is what Abraham felt.  He knew those people back in the land that he had left.  He knew their values and their history.  That was what he wanted for his son Isaac.  What you know is better than what you don't.

So Abraham sent a servant that he trusted to find a wife for Isaac.  He gave him very explicit instructions, "...go to my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac...The Lord shall send his angel before you..."  And I'm sure he added, "Not just any woman..."

When the servant arrived, he stopped at a well and prayed to God and said, "Behold I stand here by the well...and the daughters...will come out to draw water...Let the one that says, drink, and I will give your camels drink also...the same be she that you have appointed for your servant Isaac...and I shall know that you have showed kindness to my master."  And when the daughters came to the well, one of them said exactly that.  But further, she went to the well and drew water for the camels herself, going back and forth until the camels had been cared for.  She went above and beyond for a stranger.

He asked her who she was, and she said Milcah was her grandmother, and Nahor--Abraham's brother was her grandfather.  At that point, the servant bowed and blessed God that he had found this woman.  He went to her father's house and told the story of who he was and why he was there.  I can't imagine how brave she was.  She agreed to go to a strange land and marry a man she had never met.

After Sarah died, Abraham married a third wife.  Keturah--all we know about her is her name.  She gave Abraham 6 more sons.  However, when Abraham died, he left all he had to Sarah's son Isaac.  The son of promise.

The Bible gives us the details of people who served and pleased God, but it also gives us details of people who didn't.  Such as Lot's wife and daughters--who are not given names.

Lot was Haran's son.  Haran (Abraham's brother) had died before they left their homeland, so Abraham took Lot with him to the new land.  And he gave Lot the best grazing land.  But Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom where "...the men were exceedingly wicked and sinners before the Lord."  You have to wonder why Lot chose to move his family into such an evil place.  It turns out to be the family's undoing.  His choice of a place to live and raise his children was disastrous.

The city was so evil that God decided to destroy it--and everyone in it.  Two angels warned Lot to take his wife, daughters, and both of their fiancés, and get out.  (The fiancés of his daughters decided not to go with them.)

But Lot was hesitant, so the angels took hold of the four of them and took them out of the city--and told them, "Escape for your life; and don't look behind you."  And we all remember what happened.  When the cities burned with fire and brimstone from heaven (sounds like a volcano hit it), Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.  Just like a woman.  Curiosity killed the cat?

And Lot's daughters?  Well, having been raised in such an evil place must have compromised their sense of morality because they got their father drunk, and when he passed out, they both raped him so that they could have children and their blood line wouldn't die out.

Rape, incest, sodomy, etc., etc.  The Bible has it all.  And lets us in on the consequences of sin.  God won't put up with it.  Like the old time preacher Billy Sunday used to day, "Payday, someday."

As for Hagar, she was trapped.  She was a lowly maid servant of Sarah.  Whatever Sarah said, Hagar was compelled to do.  So after Sarah sent Hagar to be a second wife to Abraham--so that Sarah could raise Hagar's child as her own--that's what Hagar had to do.  She was a slave.  She had no voice.

Problem was, Sarah didn't want her around after Hagar gave birth because Hagar taunted Sarah--lording it over her because Sarah couldn't get pregnant. So Sarah wanted her gone and ran her off.  But after awhile, Hagar returned.  She came back under the protection of Abraham.  Abraham loved his only child.  His son Ishmael.  And Sarah had to watch this relationship between Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael--that she was responsible for--with envy.  Ishmael was a thorn in Sarah's side.  But not as big a thorn as Hagar.  Hagar had given Abraham something that Sarah couldn't.  It hurt.

It's interesting to note that we sometimes do exactly what Sarah did.  God said that Sarah would bear a son, but she didn't believe him.  She laughed at His words.  But seeing the need for an heir, she took matters into her own hands.  She got ahead of God.  She tried to fix the "heir" problem herself--with regrettable outcome.  We also sometimes forget that when there is something we want done, we need to make sure that it is God's plan rather than implementing our own.

When Ishmael was 13 years old, Sarah (to the astonishment of everyone) gave birth to Isaac.  And that's when Sarah went to Abraham and asked him to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. "Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bond woman shall not be an heir with my son."  The Bible says that this was very grievous to Abraham because he loved Ishamael.  But God comforted Abraham and told him that He would make a great nation of Ishmael.

So Abraham gave Hagar provisions and sent her away into the desert.  However, when her water was gone, she was distraught and wept.  But God heard Ishmael's voice and an angel spoke to Hagar.  "Don't fear.  For God has heard your son's voice." God opened her eyes and she saw a well, and gave Ishmael water to drink.  God watched over Ishmael, and he grew, dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer and the father of the Arab nations.  And Hagar?  God had spoken directly to her, through an angel.  And he called her by name.  "What is wrong with you Hagar?  Don't be afraid."  God sees even the most unimportant of us, and knows our names.

You can always learn something new by reading God's word.  I discovered something about myself as I have been reading, and writing, about the women of the Bible--that I had never thought about the stories from a woman's point of view.  The women had always been presented to me as minor characters in events that happened to men.  However, looking at the stories from a woman's point of view has been a revelation.  They were real.  They lived through the same events, but were practically unnoticed.  Putting myself in their shoes has given me a new perspective.

How did Sarah feel when Abraham was frightened and passed her off as his sister?  How did she feel when Abraham didn't save her from being taken into another man's harem?  How did she feel when Abraham took his entire family with him to their new land, but she had to leave all of her family behind?  How did it feel to be a woman in a culture that gave her no voice?  We can't be sure, but women must have felt invisible.  Second-class.  They must have felt like they were just property.

But when Sarah had a child, Isaac, her world changed.  She was elevated to a place of prominence.    Isaac was a promised child.  God had promised to make a great nation of him.  Her son.  Her joy must have been palpable.  I can just picture her nursing him, watching him grow, loving him with all her heart.  But then, when he was a young boy, Abraham was willing to sacrifice him.  True, at the last second, God provided a ram instead.  But surely Sarah was never again able to let Isaac go somewhere with Abraham that she didn't feel dread, fear, or deep concern.  I would have.

She lived a life that was emotionally difficult.  But Abraham was very wealthy, so she had it better than most women of her day.  She lived to be 127 years old, and saw her son Isaac live to be 37 years old before she died.  We hear much about the relationship of Isaac and Abraham, and nothing about the relationship of Isaac and Sarah.  But you can only imaging how proud she was of him.  He became a great man in his own right--the father of Jacob and Esau.  And Jacob was the father of the 12 tribes of Israel.

We look at linage through the men.  We look at love through the women.

A huge portion of the book of Genesis covers the life of Abraham, Sarah, and their family.  Up to this point in the Bible (chapter 11), no other women have been named, not even Noah's wife.  

After they left their homeland, they went to Egypt to wait out a drought.  And Abraham, a man of God, did the most horrible thing.  He told Sarah that since she was beautiful, men would want her, and in turn, kill him (to get rid of him) so that they could have her.  So he told her to lie, to say that she was his sister.  Abraham trusted God enough to leave his home and go to a strange country, but not enough to protect him and his wife.   And what he feared would happen, did.

Pharaoh saw Sarah.  And took her to his house.  Because of this, God sent great plagues on Pharaoh--even though Pharaoh didn't know that he had taken another man's wife.  When Pharaoh found out what Abraham had done, he threw Abraham and Sarah out of Egypt.  You would think Abraham would have learned his lesson, but years later, he did the same thing again.  Poor Sarah.

God had made a promise to Abraham that he would have many children--as many as the stars.  Sarah told her husband, "...the Lord has restrained me from bearing...go into my maid (Hagar) that I may obtain children by her." But when Hagar was pregnant, Sarah was furious with jealously, so much so that Hagar had to flee to the wilderness.  And the entire mess between the Jews and the Arabs is a result.  Hagar gave birth to Ishmael--the father of the Arabs.  Who claim title to the Mideast as the first born of Abraham.  But God's promise was to Sarah's son, not Hagar's son.  (Eve, and Sarah, seem to share part of the responsibility for much of the world's woe!!)

God's promise was to Sarah, that she was going to have a son--a woman who was past 90 years old, married to a man who was 99 years old.  She was way past the age of childbearing, past menopause--a woman who had been barren for her entire life.  And what did Sarah think about that?  "And Sarah laughed within herself...shall I bear a son...I am old."  But she conceived, (Isaac) and said, "God has made me laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me."

The world isn't laughing anymore.


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Before we get to the name of the next woman mentioned in the Bible, we have to wade through hundreds and hundreds of "begats" where men begat sons, sons who have names.  Sometimes it mentions that they also had daughters, but the daughters are never named.  Only the men.  Hundreds and hundreds of Biblical years pass before another woman is given recognition.

When you start looking for women's names in the Old Testament, the books are pretty empty.  I counted over a hundred men's names before I came to the next time a woman was mentioned.  I wonder if this was because of the culture at the time, or because the books were written by men?  And some of these men--such as Methuselah and Noah--lived over 900 years and had multitudes of other children who were not named.  It simply says they had many sons and daughters.

But in Genesis 11:26, we come to an end of the "begats."  For awhile.  We come to a man named Terah who has three sons: Nahor, Haran, and most importantly, Abram--later called Abraham, the father of the Jews.  And at this point, we finally come to the next woman who has a name--Sarai.

This woman is someone that you and I can equate with.  I especially sympathize with the requirement that was made by God that she leave her home, her mother, father, sisters, brothers, and everyone else in her life--and go with her husband Abraham to a strange land.  Never to return to her people.  I bet she spent a few days weeping.  Sad.  Preparing for loneliness.  Abraham's father went with them, but  there is no mention of any of Sarai's people leaving with them.  You know she felt alone.

The first words concerning Sarai--later called Sarah-- are found in Gen. 11:30.  And these words are very telling:  "But Sarai was barren; she had no child."  So, as she was leaving her people, her home, her parents and siblings, she already knew that she would never have a child.

I have friends who have not been able to have children.  And unless you have been in their position, you cannot possibly understand the heartbreak they have.  Their friends seem to have no trouble bearing children, but year after year they are unable.  And with each month that goes by, they lose more hope, and a terrible sadness descends.  And just like Sarah, sometime the day comes when they know that the possibility of ever having a child is behind them.  It's over.

The next woman mentioned in the Bible was the wife of Cain.  We don't know her name, but after Cain killed Abel, he went to the land of Nod and married.  Genesis 4:16-27.  We are told that the land Nod was on the East of Eden.  From which Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck named his classic novel:  "East of Eden."

There is so much speculation about this woman.  Who was she?  Where did she come from?  (My personal opinion is that she was from earlier races of people who did not have the capacity to hold the breath of God.  That is 100% speculation on my part--from my science background--which, through carbon dating, has shown that people lived long before the Biblical timetable of Adam.)

But perhaps the timetable of the Bible doesn't tell us everything we need to know about exactly when Adam lived.  Maybe he was the first man, even though the Bible doesn't say that.  The thing we know for sure is that the Bible says that Adam was made "in God's image" which is spirit filled.

Some say Cain's wife was his sister--which would not have been a problem back then because if Adam was the first man, the genetic DNA had no flaws. (I personally don't think that she was his sister.)  Gen. 5:2 says: "Male and female created he them...and called their name Adam."  Because of that verse, some people say that Adam was a race, and not just a man.  There is no way we can know.  I believe the Bible is perfectly accurate--it just doesn't tell us everything.  (My opinion is that Adam was a man, not a race, and that this refers to the people that came from Adam--his linage.)

 Later in the 6th chapter of Genesis, God tells the children who came from Adam's son Seth's linage--whom he called the "Sons of God"--not to intermarry with the "Daughters  of men."  Which seems to imply that there were people from another linage other than Adam.  Again, speculation.

Two other women are mentioned by name in chapter 4.  Adah and Zilla--who married the great-great-great grandson of Cain--Lamech.  Why they are mentioned is a puzzle when we don't even know Cain's wife's name.  When I get to heaven I'm going to have a million questions.

I'm going to write about women in the Bible--Carolyn's idea.  So I may as well start with Eve.  She was named by Adam, and called "The mother of all living."

She had an arranged marriage.  Arranged by God.  And to top that off, her assigned purpose was to be a "help-meet" for Adam.  There were no other women to be friends with, and no one to talk to except a man.  (And you girls know how that goes.)  However, she did get to live in the most beautiful, perfect place in the world--the garden of Eden--and from the description of the food that she and Adam were provided with, (by God), she didn't have to cook, or do much of anything else that we are told about.

The instructions on what was expected concerning the garden, tending it, naming the animals, etc., etc...were given to Adam.  As well as the commandment not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden.  (Genesis 2:17)  We can only assume that Adam told Eve about this tree and about God's command, because when the serpent approached her, Eve said that they could eat from every tree except one--but she  exaggerated.  She said, "...we mustn't eat it or even touch it, or we will die."  God didn't say anything about touching the tree--just about not eating from it. So, she listened to the serpent instead of Adam and tasted the fruit.  Gen. 3:6 says that Adam was with her and she gave him some.  After Adam ate the fruit their eyes opened to the truth.  He knew what he was doing.

Subsequently, God punished Eve by telling her that she would bear children in pain and suffering.  (I might note that the serpent was not a snake.  It was a beautiful winged creature--which God cursed and condemned to travel on its belly--only after tempting Eve.  You can't tempt a woman with something ugly.  Especially a snake.  We fall for pretty every time.)

People blame Eve for eating the fruit, but God blamed Adam because he was the one God gave the instructions to.  Paul says in Romans 5:12-14, "...by one man sin entered into the world...(and) death reigned from Adam to Moses..."  Like I wrote a few weeks ago, God could have said, "Don't whistle."  Or, "Wear shoes every day."  Or anything.  The point was obedience.  And Eve, along with her husband, failed.  And we've been failing ever since.