Michal. Princess daughter of Israel’s first king and first wife of its second. She has been vilified by most who have attempted to write or teach about her and is even listed in a book called, Bad Girls of the Bible. However, I believe that a careful study of her will reveal a sympathetic, and […]

There is so much to love about Hannah! Her devotion to God, her willingness to dedicate her son to His work, the fact that she didn’t punch her husband when he told her that he was worth more than ten sons to her…and her commitment to prayer. The Bible tells us that Hannah prayed for […]

Naomi and Elimelech were young parents when a famine struck their hometown of Bethlehem. In ancient times, famines were no joke.  Entire people groups could be wiped out, and dying of starvation is not a pleasant way to go.  It would be impossible to overstate how frightening a famine would have been to Elimelech and […]

The entire book of Judges portrays a nation rotting from the inside and the last few chapters record the most horrifying story conceivable. Tragically, the narrative sounds like something that we might hear from modern day Boko Haram or ISIS, not from God’s chosen people. At this point in history the Israelites had moved themselves […]

The Wikipedia definition of an “idiot” is this: “An idiot is a person perceived to be lacking intelligence, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way.” After this week’s scripture reading we might define “idiot” as: ”Samson”. Just when we think that Samson’s parents were so wise and godly that their child […]

The time of the Judges in scripture was complicated. On one hand, everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25), which led to widespread societal evil, followed by God’s judgment against the nation over and over again. On the other hand, God kept showing up in surprising ways. One of the […]

There are certain women in scripture who get all the press. Mary was gentle and obedient, Martha was a good homemaker (even if she did go a little overboard), Ruth was loyal, Esther was gorgeous and don’t even get me started on the Proverbs 31 woman- she did it all! These women make up nearly […]

Today we are going to talk about Rahab, but before we get to her I want to tell you some fascinating things about her hometown, Jericho. Jericho is likely the oldest city in the world and is thought to be the oldest to have a protective wall around it. It has been rebuilt three times […]

Mahcah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah had a problem. Their father died, and because he left no male heir, their inheritance and his name were about to be lost forever. “We might expect that women, heirs to Egyptian slavery and put under a law that favors men, might react by keeping silent (The Torah: A […]

Numbers chapter twelve opens like this: “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married…So they said, ‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it.” There is so much in these few sentences! First, there is […]