Tag Archives: Women in the Bible

Lesson 2 – Sarah – Nothing is Impossible with God

A Note About God’s Providential Care:

No one would say that women are not important, but in reading the stories of Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel we could get the idea that women are not as important as men. The stories of Sarah and the other women in the Old Testament seem to be in the context of their husband’s stories. The stories of the Patriarchs are very important. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the male heads of God’s people in the Old Testament. Their stories are important because it was through their family that the savior, Jesus Christ would come.

We must be very careful, however to see the stories of Old Testament women as accurate historical accounts of the way life was for women in those days. It does not mean that it was the way God intended it to be. 

After the Fall, God told Eve that because of sin her husband “shall rule over you” (Geneses 3:16). God was not dictating a hard and fast rule for men’s and women’s relationships; He was just predicting the consequences of living in a sinful world. The beautiful relationship that Adam and Eve had in the garden was now warped. Not until the coming of our savior Jesus Christ would the curse be reversed. Jesus would model the way relationships between men and women were supposed to be.

But, during patriarchal times, women would not be valued as equal to men. They would not be allowed the same freedoms that men had and women often did not even have their own identity. Women who had no family were completely lost.

Women accepted their lot in life. Many were married to good men and could find happiness and fulfillment in spite of their difficult circumstances. But men aren’t perfect either. They would often let their wives down. What would happen then? Devout women would look to God their savior to care for them.

One such woman was Sarah. Her husband, Abraham, is known as a great man of faith. What was it like being the wife of the great patriarch? 

Let’s find out as we turn to Genesis 11:26, 29-31.

Sarah – Wife and Mother of Patriarchs

After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran…. Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai … Now Sarai was childless because she as not able to conceive. … Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter –in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.

Jesus Christ is central to the Scriptures. The stories in the Old Testament show us how God dealt with His covenant people leading up to the coming of the promised Savior. The genealogy of Christ’s ancestry includes the patriarchs including Terah, Abram, Isaac, and Jacob.  

Terah was a great and wealthy patriarch. In this passage of the Scriptures we are told that he had three sons. We do not learn that Terah had a daughter until later when Abram reveals why he lied to Abimelek about her.

Terah named his daughter “Sarai” which means “princess”. Sarai truly was a princess as the daughter of the patriarch. Sarai grew up in privileged surroundings and then married her half-brother, Abram. Terah’s family grew and expanded and they traveled to the land of Canaan. But this was a time of sadness for Sarai because she was barren. 

Like other women in Sarai’s day her main desire was to give her husband a male heir. We need to understand how important that was for women in patriarchal times or else we won’t understand why Sarai went to such great lengths to give Abram a son.

Let’s continue reading from Genesis 12:1, 4: 

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. … So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

Imagine living all of your life with your family and friends in one place and having to pack up everything and move when you are over sixty years old. Yes, Abram was seventy-five. That means Sarai was over sixty years old! God told Abram to leave the city and his family and move to a place that was totally unknown to him. As a woman, Sarai must have had many anxieties about this, but she left her familiar surroundings to follow her husband in obedience to God. 

That may not seem so bad in our day, but sixty was considered really old in 2100 BC. God must have been blessing Sarai with very good health, because she followed her husband Abram around for most of the rest of her life as he wandered from place to place. We don’t have any record that Sarai complained every time Abram decided to move on. 

Many people are surprised when they realize how old Sarai was. That is because we know the story of how Abraham lied, twice, about her relationship to him when they traveled to other places. Sarai was so beautiful that Abram was afraid that the leaders in the countries that they traveled to would kill him so that they could take Sarai for a wife. The first time was when they traveled to Egypt.

Let’s turn to Genesis 12:10-13:

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

Imagine at age sixty-five, Sarai was still one of the most beautiful women in the world! She would still be so beautiful at age ninety that Abraham would lie again, that time to King Abimelech. To this day, Sarai’s beauty is legendary.

But I wonder if during this incident Sarai saw her beauty as a curse instead of a blessing. After all, her husband was asking her to take the risk that Pharaoh would put her in his harem, which meant sleeping with her. Still Sarai trusted Abram, calling him lord, and obeying him in his every command. God saved Sarai by inflicting disease on the Egyptians. When Pharaoh realized the cause of the sickness of his people he called Abram to him and rebuked him for lying to him. He sent Abram and Sarai away. 

Through all of these years of wandering Sarai desired one thing above everything else. She wanted to have children. She also knew about God’s promise to Abram. She knew that they would be the founders of many nations. God had promised her and her husband that they would have as many descendants as there were stars in the sky. Sarai must have been wondering when God would help them start their family.

The story of how Sarai took things into her own hands and asked Abram to give her a child by using her maid, Hagar, is well known. It is a sad and tragic story. Mostly what is sad about it is that Sarai’s faith wavered here. She concluded that God Himself was restraining her from having children and maybe He wanted her to get children another way. 

Look on ahead to Genesis 16:1,2. 

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

By this time Sarai was seventy-six years old. She must have been feeling desperate. Abram listened to her and slept with Hagar. Hagar conceived a child. Immediately, Sarai’s relationship with her maid changed. Hagar now despised Sarai. Sarai began to treat Hagar harshly. Hagar even ran away for a time. An angel of the Lord met Hagar and told her to return home and submit herself to Sarai’s authority. Hagar did so and bore Abram a son. Abram called him Ishmael. Hagar and Ishmael lived with Abraham and Sarai. 

For over thirteen years Sarai would see the daily reminder of her own childlessness. What agony she must have been in. The pain and humiliation of seeing her husband’s child by another woman must have been unbearable. But I think that Sarai must have also suffered much agony wondering why the Lord would seem to be forgetting her. It was painful enough to think that she had not fulfilled her husband’s desire, but how much worse is the thought that she must have been displeasing God.

But finally the day came when God would demonstrate His faithfulness to His covenant with His people in His own way. 

Turn to Genesis 17:1; 15-19:

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 

God changed Abram’s name to Abraham – father of many nations. Then God changed Sarai’s name to Sarah – mother of many nations.

… God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

At this point, Abraham responded in a way that Sarah did later; he laughed. He thought that surely he and Sarah were too old. Abraham suggested that maybe God could just bless him through Ishmael. But God told Abraham that Sarah would bear him a son and that he should call his name Isaac. Isaac would be the heir that God would establish His covenant with. 

Then one day three visitors came to speak with Abraham. 

We will read this interesting story in Genesis 18:1-15:

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. 

Abraham invited the men to stay. He asked Sarah to help him get a meal ready for them. Abraham stood near them while they ate.

Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There in the tent,” he said.

Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” 

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

I don’t think we should be too hard on Sarah. She was way past the age of childbearing. And don’t forget, even her husband laughed when God promised them a son in their old age. It is easy for us looking back to criticize Sarah for not trusting God. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her to go on year after year for so many years before she bore Isaac. It must have been torture for her. She knew that her long years of childlessness meant that God’s promise that she and her husband would be the father and mother of countless descendants was, humanly speaking, becoming less and less likely as she passed the childbearing age. God knows we are weak as humans. He had patience with Sarah even as He did with her husband when he laughed.

In spite of the fact that Abraham was about 100 years old and Sarah was ninety, they moved again. They traveled to Gerar where the people were pagan and Abraham feared for his life. Sarah was still a very beautiful woman and Abraham decided to lie about her again to protect himself.  

Let’s continue with this story in Genesis 20:1- 18:

Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.  

Imagine at age ninety, Sarah is still such an astonishingly beautiful woman that Abimelech would take her to be in his harem!

But once again God rescued Sarah. God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and told him the truth. Abimelech remonstrated with Abraham for lying to him and asked for an explanation. Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.”

Abimelek sent Abraham away as a wealthy man. He also gave Sarah’s “brother” a thousand shekels of silver. This was to cover any offense Abimelek made and to vindicate Sarah before everyone. 

After this, God fulfilled His promise to Sarah.  Turn to Genesis 21:1-6:

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.  

When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

Now Sarah’s laughter is the laughter of joy! She had to wait a long time, but she finally came to know that truly nothing is impossible with God! 

God granted Sarah about thirty-seven more years. She was able to watch her son Isaac grow up. However, she died before seeing him get married. 

Abraham wanted a special place to bury Sarah. He bought a field in Machpelah near Mamre that had a cave in it. This cave would be the special burying place for Sarah. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Leah were all buried there. 

Applications

God, in His love not only for Abraham and Sarah, but for the whole world planned the events in the way that He did. He had a purpose for calling Abram and Sarai and making a covenant with them. It was all part of His plan for the redemption of His people. Salvation in Jesus Christ would come through Isaac’s line. A tender, loving heavenly Father cared about Sarah and her anguish in waiting for the promise, but in His wisdom, He waited to give her a son until it would glorify Him as the only wise, eternal giver of life.

As sinners ourselves, we can identify with Sarah. Sometimes when we pray for something for a long time and don’t see an answer, we wonder if God is going to answer at all. Sarah’s mistake should be a lesson to us to wait for God to answer. Her solution was immoral, unrighteous, and terribly foolish. The results of this sin are still with us today in ongoing wars between the Jewish descendants of Isaac and the Arab descendants of Ishmael.

There really is a God and He really cares about His children. He really loved Sarah and she knew it all along, even though in her humanness she got impatient and made a big mistake. She overcame that and lived the rest of her days in joy and peace with her husband and son. She remains a great example of a courageous, faithful woman for us today. She was beautiful outwardly, but even moreinwardly. Modeling ourselves after her, we too can have, “the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit”(I Peter 3:4). 

God always answers our prayers. Sometimes He answers “yes”. Sometimes He answers “no”. And many times He says, “Yes, but in My time.” Sarah had to wait a really long time before God granted her a child. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her to go on year after year for probably seventy years before she bore Isaac. I don’t know if I have that much patience.

We now know why God had her wait so long. We know that God intended for Sarah and Abraham to see that nothing was too hard for Him (Genesis 18:14).  God waited until Abraham was nearly one hundred years old, and Sarah nearly ninety. God did this on purpose. They were so old that people were probably laughing, just as they did themselves, when they were told about the promise of God. God wanted everyone to see that this child was very special because it was all of His doing; there was no mistake about it. Only God could perform the miracle of a baby being born to a woman who was past the age of childbearing.

Discussion Questions:

1. Describe Sarah’s relationship with God. Have you ever had times of doubting God? What did you do?

2. What was Sarah’s relationship with Abraham like? Peter calls Sarah an example for wives, “just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.” What do you think about Sarah going so far as to be complicit in Abraham’s lie to Abimelech? What do you think about Abraham asking her in the first place?

3. Should Abraham have said “No” to Sarah when she brought Hagar to him? What should he have responded to his wife? 

4. Sarah was an “ezer”, an image bearer of God. How does this demonstrate that Sarah already had a secure place in God’s plan for her life? How could Abraham and Sarah have been better spiritual allies for each other?

5. What does this story teach us about God’s sovereignty? 

Handout for Lesson 2:

Women of God – Sarah

The first lesson in our series was about Eve, the mother of all living. We learned of the tragic consequences for all of mankind after Adam and Eve sinned. God promised to send a Savior. It would be many years before Jesus would come. God made a covenant with Abraham and his wife Sarah from whose family the Redeemer would descend. 

Notes:

Early Life and Marriage to Abraham

The waiting years: Sarah’s life as she waits for the promise to be fulfilled

Sarah and Hagar

God’s promise to Sarah fulfilled

Discussion Questions:

1. Describe Sarah’s relationship with God. Have you ever had times of doubting God? What did you do?

2. What was Sarah’s relationship with Abraham like? Peter calls Sarah an example for wives, “just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.” What do you think about Sarah going so far as to be complicit in Abraham’s lie to Abimelech? What do you think about Abraham asking her in the first place?

3. Should Abraham have said “No” to Sarah when she brought Hagar to him? What should he have responded to his wife? 

4. Sarah was an “ezer”, an image bearer of God. How does this demonstrate that Sarah already had a secure place in God’s plan for her life? How could Abraham and Sarah have been better spiritual allies for each other?

5. What does this story teach us about God’s sovereignty? 

Scriptures for next week:Tamar –  Genesis 38.

Lesson 1 – Eve – First Woman in Creation

A Note About God’s Creation:

I believe that the picture of creation in Genesis chapters 1 & 2 is an accurate account of God’s creative activity. We can rely on the Scriptural account of the creation of the heavens and the earth and all that is contained in them. The creation story is a beginning point for us for what follows in the remainder of the Bible. History is His-Story and it begins with creation. 

God refers to His creation and to Himself as Creator over and over again in hundreds of places in the Scriptures. Often when the Israelites turn from God to idols, God reminded them that He is the One Who created them and sustains them. They needed to turn from idols and worship the one true God.

The story of the creation of mankind is beautiful and exciting.  Unfortunately, there is a controversy surrounding the relationship of the male and the female. Some believe that though Adam and Eve were both created together on the sixth day, a hierarchy already existed with the superiority of men over women. But the picture of creation in the Scriptures is truly one of mutuality, not hierarchy.

There is only one way to demonstrate that the picture of mutuality in the creation of men and women is the correct one and that is to turn to the Bible and read what it says.

So let’s turn to Genesis chapter 1 and we will begin by telling the story of Eve, the first woman in creation.

Eve – First Woman in Creation

Imagine a perfect world where everyone is kind to one another and you never hear any negative words. Imagine being able to pluck your dinner from a tree without having to labor for it. Imagine ladies what it would have been like to be able to have your babies in ease and comfort. 

Perhaps the scenario would go something like this:

Eve: “Adam, it’s time for our child to be born. I think I’ll just go over to that nice spot we picked out and wait.”

Adam: “Ok, Eve. You go on over and get ready. I’ll go pick us some extra fruit while you deliver that baby.”

The Lord, who is walking in the garden, comes along and says, “Well, done, good and faithful servants. You are doing a fine job as My vice-regents taking care of the earth. The animals are all happy. Oh, I see that you are about to procreate. That is exciting!

You will be blessed with many children. There is enough food for everyone in this beautiful garden.”

A short time later:

Eve: “Wow! It’s a girl child. What shall we name her?”

Adam: “Honey, you are the mother of all living. You name her.”

Does this scene look too fanciful? Is it out of the bounds of possibility?

We really don’t know what life may have been like for Adam and Eve if they would not have eaten the forbidden fruit. The Scriptures do not tell us. 

Many people think that this whole story is just a myth but as Christians we believe that it happened exactly as the Bible says it did. So let’s look at what the Bible says.

Genesis 1:26-31

     Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.

On the sixth day of creation God created mankind. God created humans equally in His image. They were to procreate and fill the earth. They were given the authority to rule over everything on earth together. God said that this was very good.

At the beginning of Genesis, chapter 2 we read that God finished His creation by the end of the sixth day and then rested on the seventh day.

Then beginning in Genesis 2:4, we circle back a bit and get more details of God’s creation of mankind.  This marvelous picture of the formation of Adam from the ground and Eve from Adam’s side actually takes place in the middle of the sixth day. It is important to remember that this story enlarges on what we were already told in chapter 1 – that God created mankind, male and female, in His image.

Genesis 2:7, 8, 15-20

     The the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.

… The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 

Let’s pause for a second. In chapter 1 God said that everything was very good. Here we see that He says something is not good – it is not good for the man to be alone. Why might God say that it was not good for Adam to be alone? Well, for openers, he can’t procreate by himself can he? 

Here might be a good spot for Eve’s appearance, but instead God brings the animals to Adam for their naming. The Bible does not tell us why this is the order of things. Let’s just keep reading. 

Turn back to Genesis 2:19 and 20.

   Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. 

But for Adam no suitable helperwas found.

This last part of verse 20, “But for Adam no suitable helper was found” is the center of much of the controversy surrounding women’s place in God’s creation. People who believe that God created mankind with a hierarchy say that “helper” means “subordinate”. They insist that right from the beginning women were created only to serve human men. But there is nothing in the Genesis account of creation to substantiate a claim that women were not created equally with men. Eve’s boss was God, not Adam.

What would a “suitable helper” look like?

Does “helper” mean “subordinate”? Let’s examine the correct translation of the original Hebrew word for “helper” – “ezer”.

The original Hebrew words for “suitable helper” are “ezer k’negdo”. 

1. “ezer k’negdo” – A “suitable” helper. literally “in front of him”; Not a subordinate.

2. “ezer” – A strong helper. “Ezer” appears 21 times in the Old Testament. 16 times this word is used for God. (Exodus 18:4; Deuteronomy 33:7, 26, 29; Psalms 20:2; 33:20; 70:5: 89:19; 115:9, 10, 11; 121:1-2; 124:8; 146:5; Hosea 13:9).

Examples:  

Psalm 33:20 – “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help (our “ezer”) and our shield.” 

Psalm 121:1-2 – “I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help (my “ezer”) comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

We would never say that God is a subordinate would we? No, God is our helper because He is actually stronger than we are and able to give help. Our brothers who insist on a hierarchy in relationships miss this important point. 

Not only is Eve a very strong helper, one that Adam can’t live without, but the other aspects of her creation equally demonstrate a relationship of mutuality not hierarchy.

Please turn to Genesis 2:21-25.

     So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Here again we need to pause and note: The Bible does not say that this is when Adam gives his wife the name “Eve”. Eve doesn’t get her name until they are sent out of the garden in chapter 3, verse 20. By calling his wife “woman”, Adam was giving his wife a description – “bone of my bones” not a name. Why is this important? 

God showed Adam that Eve was part of him, not the rest of creation. Now Adam can be confident in all that God intended him to be since he has his suitable helper. Adam and Eve were made to tend the garden together, enjoying all of the fruits of their labor, working as one in mind and heart, freely worshipping God Whom they have complete fellowship with.

Note several other important things. In Genesis 1, God said He created mankind. Mankind contained Adam and Eve together in some mysterious way. Then we get the picture of the woman being pulled from the man’s side in chapter 2. They are two beings, but God says that when they come together as man and wife they are one flesh. What a beautiful picture of marriage – man and wife are so close that they are one in body and heart and mind!

And there is something else very interesting. To become this “one flesh” the man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. Is that how we do it today? Does the man leave his family? No, today women leave their families and join themselves to the man taking his name. The children she bears him will also take the name of his family. 

Eve’s husband Adam joined himself to her – note the order here. God did not put Eve underneath her husband; Adam joined himself to Eve.

Back to the story. Right after her creation Eve was happily tending the garden with her husband. Eve was ruling over everything with Adam as God commanded. There were no weeds. Eve would be able to bear children with no pain. Adam and Eve were enjoying perfect fellowship with God and each other. There is no sin yet, but that is about to change.

Let’s go back to the story. Please turn to Genesis 3:1-7.

     Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 

     The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

      “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

     When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Many of us are already familiar with this story. The serpent (who we really know was the devil, Revelation 12:9) came along and tempted Eve to eat from a tree that had been forbidden to her and Adam. We could all wish that she wouldn’t have done it, but she did. Adam was with her and he ate some too.

Then they were ashamed and tried to hide from God. Thankfully, the Lord came looking for them and called out to Adam. We all know what happened. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. God made pronouncements about what the future would be like. He cursed the serpent. In the midst of this curse, He also promised the Savior Who would come and defeat Satan.

In the meantime, we see here that the relationship between husband and wife has changed. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were equal partners. Eve could make her own decisions because they would be right and good. After all, she had God right there and she would know what to do because of her intimacy with Him. When she made the autonomous decision to eat the fruit, she was disobeying God. Adam also ate and now all human beings would be sinful creatures. Now, because of their fallen sin nature, Adam and Eve would desire to get their own way. Relationships between men and women have been terribly distorted since the Fall.

Now after the fall, Eve and Adam will not have an easy life. Adam will struggle with weeds as he tries to provide for his family. Eve will have pain in childbirth. Adam and Eve had to leave the beautiful garden with a fulfilling life and complete fellowship with God. We can only imagine how heart rending this must have been for Eve. How tragic to have known the sweet peace and fellowship with God in the garden and now have to go out and struggle in a pain-filled world.

But let’s don’t forget that God promised a Savior. Eve would have the knowledge that her sins were forgiven and fellowship was restored with God, but not like she had in the garden.

The Scriptures don’t tell us a lot more about Eve and Adam. We know that they lived over nine hundred years and had many children. I believe that Eve had repented and put her faith and trust in God. When Cain was born she said, “I have gotten a man-child with the help of the Lord” (Gen. 4:1). Clearly she was rejoicing in God’s grace, compassion, forgiveness, and promises.

It seems that Eve was a faithful mother teaching her children to honor God as best as she could in this now sinful world. There was sadness as sin showed just how ugly it could be when Eve’s firstborn son, Cain, killed his brother, Abel. But God blessed Eve with another son, Seth. 

We are told that some years later, “men began to call on the name of the Lord” (Gen 4:26). Where would these descendants of Eve have gotten the knowledge of God unless it was from their mother and father? And of course, Adam and Eve would have had the best knowledge of God since it was first hand. What a shame that they lost that close fellowship and had to live in a world of sin. 

Application

How different Eve’s original experience was from ours. We are born in sin and do not know the complete joy and peace of the communion with God that we will have in glory. We will have to wait for that. 

Discussion questions:

1. Eve is the only woman to have had perfect fellowship with God. How tragic that she sinned and lost it. We are all sinners now. What are ways that we can restore lost fellowship with God? 

2. Before the fall Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship. What are some consequences for marriage in a fallen world? What implications about marriage do you see in God’s description of marriage?

3. Now that you’ve read the story of the creation of Adam and Eve from the Bible, what are your thoughts on:

            a. God’s calling for you as a woman;

b. Why is “image bearer” a description of who we are? How does it impact our calling

            c. What does it mean to be an “ezer”? What does that look like in our culture today?

4. Eve lost a son through the tragedy of death. She must have also been distressed when her other son was the cause of this great sin. How as parents have you dealt with your children when they have done things that have caused you grief?

5. What do you think might have happened if only Eve would have taken a bite of the forbidden fruit?

Handout for Lesson 1 –

Women of God – Eve

The story of the creation of mankind is beautiful and exciting. The creation story is a beginning point for us for what follows in the remainder of the Bible. History is His-Story and it begins with creation.  In this study of women in the Bible we will begin with the first woman – Eve.

Notes:

Genesis 1:26-31

Genesis 2:7, 8, 15-20

Genesis 2:21-25

Genesis 3:1-7

Discussion Questions:

1. Eve is the only woman to have had perfect fellowship with God. How tragic that she sinned and lost the special relationship. What are ways that we can restore lost fellowship with God? 

2. Before the fall Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship. What are some consequences for marriage in a fallen world? What implications about marriage do you see in God’s description of marriage?

3. What can husbands and wives do instead of playing the blame game when they have problems in their marriage?

4. Eve lost a son through the tragedy of death. She must have also been distressed when her other son was the cause of this great sin. How as parents have you dealt with your children when they have done things that have caused you grief?

5. What do you think might have happened if only Eve would have taken a bite of the forbidden fruit?

Scriptures for next week:Sarah –  Genesis 11:29-31; 12:5-17; 16:1-8; 17:15-21; 18:5-15; 20:2-28; 21:1-12; 24:36; 67; 25:10-12; 49:31; Isaiah 51:2; Romans 4:19; 9:9; Galatians 4:21-31; Hebrews 11:11; I Peter 3:6.

Women in the bible – Introduction

Welcome to our study of women in the Bible. We are more familiar with the stories of the men in the Scriptures, but many women had a significant part to play in God’s plan of redemption as we see it unfold in the Old and New Testaments. God has put these stories in His Word and we can learn a lot from them. There are over sixty stories of significant women in the Bible.  In the next few posts we will focus on twelve extraordinary women – six from the Old Testament and six from the New Testament.

The stories are designed to be used in a curriculum.

The Stories:

1. Serve as examples of the many stories in the Bible of God’s female servants.

2. Are chosen from both the Old and New Testament.

3. Demonstrate the sovereignty of God in choosing whom He calls and gifts for service.

4. Teach us how we are to serve God as men and women in His Kingdom.

Summary of Lesson Structure:

1. The Scripture passages always come first. It is important to know what God says.

2. Give the background to the story, including where the story fits into God’s plan of redemption.

3. Tell the story.

4. Discussion time.  

5. Give the Scripture references for next week’s lesson.

The twelve stories are:

Lesson 1 – Eve – The First Woman in God’s Creation

Lesson 2 – Sarah – Nothing is Impossible With God

Lesson 3 –Tamar – God is Sovereign

Lesson 4 – Deborah and Jael – God’s Courageous Servants

Lesson 5 – Abigail – Obedience to God Comes First

Lesson 6 – Bathsheba – God is Compassionate

Lesson 7 – Mary of Nazareth – The Mother of Jesus

Lesson 8 – Mary of Magdala – Witness of Jesus’ Resurrection

Lesson 9 –Mary of Bethany – Disciple of Jesus

Lesson 10 – The woman at the well – First Evangelist in Samaria

Lesson 11 –Anna, Daughters of Philip – Early Church Prophets

Lesson 12 – Priscilla, Phoebe, and Lydia – Early Church Leaders

Handouts are available for each lesson. A list of resources will be available soon. These will include the books that will be an encouragement to anyone who wishes to do further study on their own.

Please feel free to print out the stories and handouts to use in your own Bible study or Sunday school program.

God bless you as you dig deeper into God’s Word to see what He has to say about his daughters!