LESSONS FROM WOMEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Did you know the Bible is filled with many lessons that we can learn from the women in the Bible?

In this blog post, I will share with you 5 women from the Old Testament whom you can learn from and apply these lessons to your walk with Jesus Christ. In their stories, we can identify qualities they possessed in their walk with God and how God showed up in their relationship with Him.

Let’s get to it!

1. Sarah

Sarah, the wife of Abraham. The majority of us know who she is, and there are some lessons we can learn from her story. In Genesis 18:1-15, we find out that Sarah is barren and she is way past the age of childbearing. Although God promised Abraham that by the following year, she would bear a son in her old age, she did not believe it. She was in such disbelief she laughed. However, she came around and believed in God’s promise despite the odds against her and by faith, she bore a son named Isaac (Hebrews 11:11-12).

I’m going to be honest, I was unsure whether I would include Sarah in this blog post. I felt indifferent towards her because I felt that there was not much to learn from her but her mistakes. This highlighted my bias, of only wanting to perceive the people in the Bible as perfect, when in fact they were just as human as us, flawed and all. Yet God chose them. Initially, Sarah did not believe in God’s promise to her, she was seeing it from the point of logic – she is too old to have a child, her time was up, and her biological clock was over. But, we see in Hebrews 11 that she was added to the list of people who were rewarded for their faith in God. She eventually came around and believed in God’s promise.

Doesn’t Sarah sound like most of us? When God has a promise for us that seems outlandish, we try to use logic to understand it and because we can’t, we rather doubt than walk by faith. And then when we become too impatient with the promise we try to help out God, when He definitely doesn’t need any of our help, and it just delays the process longer than it needed to. However, she learned from her tests and trials and realised that she can depend on and trust God because His faithfulness doesn’t depend on our faithfulness or lack thereof. God could do what was humanly impossible!

2. Ruth

The Book of Ruth is one of the 2 Books named after a woman in the Bible. The story of Ruth takes place starting in Moab, where we read in Ruth chapter 1 that Naomi’s (her mother-in-law) husband is dead alongside her husband and Orpah’s (her sister-in-law) husband is dead also. As they are three widows with no men to protect them, Naomi wanted to return to her home country, Bethlehem. Ruth insisted on coming with her, although Naomi initially refused. But due to Ruth’s persistence to be by her mother-in-law’s side, Naomi brought her along. The story of Ruth is a beautiful story of loyalty, love and God’s redemption.

The majority of us may know of the love and redemptive story of Boaz and Ruth. In Ruth chapter 2, Ruth meets Boaz in his grain field during the barley harvest to get food for herself and Naomi. Boaz was moved by Ruth’s story and loyalty to Naomi that he shows remarkable generosity to her with a special provision to gather grain in his field, and he prays that God will bless and reward her for her loyalty and boldness.

It is through this encounter that Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is their family redeemer, which was a cultural practice in Israel where if a man in a family died and he left behind a wife or children or land, it was the family redeemer’s responsibility to marry the widow, take up the land and protect the family line. From this, Naomi and Ruth devised a plan to get Boaz to notice their situation to redeem the family. The plan worked, Boaz married Ruth and redeemed the family line.

We can learn from Ruth that loyalty is an act of love and it can lead to redemption. At the beginning of the story, we see that Ruth loved Naomi so much that although she was not a Jew and did not believe in God, she was willing to not only go to Bethlehem with Naomi but also believe in her God. She would end up being an immigrant in a foreign land. But that did not bother her. This set Ruth on the path of God blessing her just like Boaz prayed for. God saw Ruth’s loyalty and rewarded her with loyalty in return through Boaz. Additionally, God made an immigrant woman a part of the Messianic line when he redeemed their family line through Boaz. You see, decisions made today can impact generations!

This is a beautiful picture of God’s loyalty and redemption plan for us. God sent His one and only Son to sacrifice His life for our sins so that we would be redeemed through His blood and reconciled to the Father for eternity (John 3:16).

Another lesson we can learn is a dating tip, ladies, make yourself available if you are ready to date with the intention of marriage. Naomi told Ruth to get out of her grieving clothes, put on clothes that showed that she was available and position herself where Boaz would see her so she could be pursued (Ruth 3:3-4). Take notes!

3. Hannah

Hannah is known as the fervent prayer woman of the Bible. Here’s why!

Hannah was one of Elkanah’s wives and she was barren, whereas Peninnah had children. She endured abuse and oppression from Peninnah for years because she could not bear children, yet Elkanah loved her more than Peninnah. However, that was not enough for Hannah because she longed to have children for years.

So, one year Hannah took a trip to the tabernacle to pray. We see in 1 Samuel 1:9-11, she prayed so hard in deep distress that words were no longer explicitly coming out, to the point the priest thought she was drunk. In her prayer, she made a vow to God that if He were to give her a son, she would dedicate him to the house of the Lord to serve God all his life. Guess what? God answered her prayers, she bore a son called Samuel, meaning ‘asked of God’ and she fulfilled her promise to God.

We can learn from Hannah’s perseverance. The Bible teaches us that we should ask of the Lord and we will receive (Matthew 7:7). But, unfortunately, some of us have misinterpreted the verse and believe it to mean that we can ask God once and that’s it. However, the translation of the scripture actually means ‘to keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking’, then you will receive. It is all about persistence and perseverance. So, even when it may not look like God is moving or your prayer is being answered, don’t give up, keep praying, and keep believing because faith is not about what you can see, but about who you place your faith in; God (Hebrews 11:1).

4. Abigail

Abigail is introduced to us in 1 Samuel chapter 25 as an intelligent and beautiful woman, the wife of Nabal contrary to her husband who is wicked and rude.

She made a fond first impression on David by wisely advising him to not kill her husband and his men, due to her husband’s foolish behaviour for not helping David and his men after he had helped him. She praised David for his noble character and for not avenging himself but allowing God to avenge him. She reminded David that God will make him a lasting dynasty and therefore, blood did not need to be shed in his own hands, but the Lord would fight on his behalf. She also came with not only wise words and faithful instruction but with food, sheep and wine to meet the needs that they initially requested from Nabal. Due to how she carefully took care of the matter, David did not proceed to kill her husband and men and thanked her for her good judgement, wise advice and resources.

We can learn from Abigail’s wise advice and good judgement when dealing with David and Nabal. She could have easily cut her husband with a sharp tongue by insulting his behaviour for the way he treated David, but instead, she apologised to David on behalf of her husband, praised him for the man of God that he was, and blessed him with the resources he asked for. She used her words for good as wise words and faithful instruction were on her tongue, which is a characteristic of a virtuous woman (Proverbs 31:26). David saw this and immediately married the woman after Nabal died 10 days after their encounter.

Related: A Guide to Becoming a Woman of God Ebook

5. Esther

The Book of Esther is one of the 2 Books named after a woman in the Bible. The story of Esther takes place during the reign of the Medes and Persians in Susa; the Persian capital. An interesting fact is that God is never mentioned in the Book of Esther. Now, that is odd, but it is a brilliant technique from the author (who is anonymous) to invite the reader to look for God’s activity in the story. The story of Esther is exceptional, portraying God’s purpose at work behind the scenes.

In Esther chapter 2, we read that Esther is a Jewish orphan, who was raised by her uncle, Mordecai. We are told that she is very beautiful. She entered a beauty pageant held by the King of Persia, who wanted to find a new Queen. But she hid her Jewish identity advised by her uncle. However, she found favour with the king’s harem and with Hegai (the man in charge of the king’s harem) during her preparation to meet the king, and when she met with him, she also found favour with him and became Queen. Keep in mind she is not Persian.

There were countless other times where she found favour with the king including when Haman, an evil man who wanted to kill all of the Jewish people, but miraculously Esther was placed in a position to save the Jewish nation and the story ends with Haman being killed instead.

We can learn from Esther that obedience and reverence is the key to unlocking so much favour and respect. Esther obeyed the advice from her uncle, Mordecai when he told her to hide her Jewish identity and that Haman was plotting to kill the Jewish people and she was in a fortunate position to put a stop to it (Esther 4:12-14). Because she listened to the advice of her uncle, she was able to act upon it and devise a plan for all the Jewish people, herself and her attendants to fast and pray for three days. After the fast, she would go to the king, pleading on the behalf of the Jewish people to stop their extermination, although it was against the law for a queen to approach the king without his request. However, she found favour with the king and he stopped the execution of the Jewish people.

But her favour with the king doesn’t stop there. On top of that, he gave her the estate of Haman, executed Haman, and granted her to write another decree in the king’s name on behalf of the Jewish people (Esther 8:7-8). As you can see obedience opens many doors. Although God is not mentioned in the Book of Esther, we can learn that we should have reverence for the Lord and obey Him because 1. He gives wise counsel and instruction and 2. It unlocks favour to be positioned to do the will of God. Esther became Queen “for such a time as this” because it was the will of God for His elect; the Jewish people to be saved.

We can also learn that it is important to be prayerful as it can bring about miracles and breakthroughs. Fasting and prayer were Esther’s spiritual actions that produced physical outcomes. Think about it. Esther was a Jewish woman pleading on behalf of the Jewish people to a Persian king. Plus, she came to the king unannounced which is against the law. Logically, you would think there is no way she would be able to find favour with the king. But she did because she found favour with God first. Her first response was to pray to God and fast about it before going to the king. That’s how we should be, with any matter, good or bad we should go to God first and He will take care of the rest (Matthew 6:33).

Related: How to be a Woman of God

I hope this blog post blessed you with lessons you can take away from these incredible women from the Old Testament.

Leave a comment, sharing what lesson you have taken away from this blog post.

Stay blessed,

Divine L.