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How many women are in the Bible?

I had the privilege of being the commencement speaker for a high school graduation. About 150 gathered to see the home schoolers in Beijing graduate and this year there was a small, but mighty group of impressive young women. The next three days I’ll share what I said. (I wanted to be sure I wasn’t parched but didn’t mean for the water bottle to feature so prominently!)

Me giving the commencement address

Amy giving the commencement address

******
Well done, good and faithful servants!

The words we all long to hear :). You made it! Congratulations to you on being here … your high school graduation. You three are the vertex, the focal point, of this gathering as most of us fall into two categories:

1. Those younger than you who look to you and see the hope that lies before them if they keep studying  … “Look at Sarah, Anne, and Isabel! Someday that will be me.”

2. And those of us who once were where you are – our own high school graduation and we are (even now as I’m speaking) remembering our graduations and all of the years that have passed. Right now I’m here before you in 2013 fashionable clothes …

but I’m also in a gold gown, sitting in Red Rocks Amphitheater wearing a dress that rocked the face off of the 80s and have flippy big bangs that also point to the 80s :) — and like others in this gathering, I wonder where the years have gone and am amazed at the ways God has used my childhood and high school to prepare me for life’s journey.

But today is your day!

We are in the unusual position of having only females graduating  — and having been given this unique opportunity,

I  want to look at women of the faith and focus on a few to see the ways in which an earlier part of her life prepared her the work God had for her.

If next year you are asked the foolish question, “is there a place for women in the Christian faith” you could answer them like this:

Eve

Deborah

Jael

Mary

Martha

Tamar

The woman caught in adultery

Rachel

Leah

Hannah

Vashti

Zilpah

Bilhah

Esther

Mary Magdalene

Woman with the chronic bleeding problem

Bathsheba

Ruth

Gomer

Dinah

Jephthah’s daughter

Hagar

Daughter of Jairus

Rebekah

Hagar

Sarah

Rahab

Mary mother of Jesus

Tabitha the disciple

Phoebe

Abishag

Priscilla, teacher, church planter

Huldah the prophet who helped King Josiah

Actually there were 10 female prophets – Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah, Isaiah’s wife, Anna, and the four daughters of Philip

Haggith

Abigail

Michal

Miriam

Delilah

Junia the apostle

The Samaritan woman at the well

Naomi

Ruth

And the cast of women characters in Proverbs: the virtuous woman, the foolish woman, the excellent wife, the shaming wife, Lady Wisdom, and Lady Folly.

Five women are listed in Jesus genealogy and four of them, like you, were foreigners.

In the bible we see named and unnamed women, there are wives, daughters, sisters, rivals, friends, singles, disciples, an apostle, those in leadership, those who lived in obscurity, we find foreigners, those who are loved, those who are unloved, women with ailment, those with many children, and other who were barren, we have a pregnant teen, a whole range of mothers, a shepherdess, merchants, one really good with a tent peg, prophets, those who served both inside and outside the home, those who were told to be silent, there are mistresses, prostitutes, great marital faithfulness, and those who were loved deeply by Jesus.

Sadly our gender, like Adam, was a part of bringing sin into this world, but as Tertullian wrote, “Eve had believed the serpent; Mary believed Gabriel. That which the one destroyed by believing, the other, by believing, set straight.”

Ours is a faith steeped rich with women.

And before me are three who will join their ranks. Sarah, Anne, and Isabel .

************

Part 2 tomorrow!

Who did I forget in my list? What hair style or outfit did you rock at your graduation?

 

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13 Comments May 30, 2013

About Amy

My name is Amy and I live in the messy middle of life. I have been Redeemed from permanent muck and live with the tension of the Already and Not Yet.

Comments

  1. Amy says

    May 30, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    I can’t remember the dress but I know I had long curly/wavy PERMED hair! Job well done, Amy, and congrats to the young ladies with solid foundations and incredible futures ahead of them! PTL! ^_^

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 30, 2013 at 8:48 pm

      Oh yes, yes, yes! And I felt fancy, fancy, fancy because my perm was a spiral one :)

      Reply
  2. Martha says

    May 30, 2013 at 9:00 pm

    I heard Ravi Zacharias say, “The only difference between a good man and a bad man is that the good man believes the truth and a bad man believes a lie.” I’ve pondered that for a long time and every day see how right he is. Oh, Father, may I accurately understand and believe Your Truth!

    Reply
  3. Sarah says

    May 30, 2013 at 10:02 pm

    Orpah, Zipporah, Asenath (not some of the most remembered women, but they are mentioned by name!) Oh yeah, Chloe and Lydia, the woman with the open heart, and the arguing ladies, Syntyche and Euodia.

    Reply
  4. Jenn says

    May 31, 2013 at 12:40 am

    I really look forward to the next installment of your blog! The Tertullian quote is great. Thank you for reminding us of the significance of women in the faith. It’s very encouraging.

    I don’t remember what I wore to graduation. My hair was permed, but I wore it relatively straight. It was the “body perm”. My hair was a pretty, rich brown with red tints (naturally) while naturally straight and flat. I styled (or tried to style it) with a little wave.

    Reply
  5. Holly says

    May 31, 2013 at 2:13 am

    LOVE this…I wish I would have had that answer ready for my freshmen year of college! And to High School graduation I wore a mid-length dress in multiple shades of teal and a pair of fabulous white shoes :) And here’s my little shout out to Isabel, you GO GIRL!!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 31, 2013 at 3:51 pm

      I bet you looked GREAT :). And I’ll shout with you for Is!

      Reply
  6. Susan says

    May 31, 2013 at 9:00 am

    Glad you mentioned Julia the Apostle…kind of shakes up Protestant thinking :D)

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 31, 2013 at 3:18 pm

      Indeed, but in doing some research, it wasn’t until the reformation that it was really in question :) … thus the Protestant reference, :)!

      Reply
  7. Mark Allman says

    June 1, 2013 at 2:52 am

    My guess is that the unnamed women had profound effect on the men of the Bible. I believe most every man has a woman in their life that has a profound effect on him; be they the woman he loves, his mother, a sister, a daughter, or his wife.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      June 2, 2013 at 10:12 pm

      My guess is you’re right :)

      Reply
  8. Clayton says

    May 9, 2015 at 6:27 am

    Amy, thanks – am wondering if I can find and then use any of your writings in spanish? We live in Ecuador.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 9, 2015 at 7:57 am

      Hi Clayton, what a lovely question to ask! I don’t know of any specific site, but am a fan of Google Translate when in a pinch. This is unrelated to your question, but have you heard of Velvet Ashes? (www.velvetashes.com)

      Reply

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My name is Amy and I live in the messy middle of life. I have been Redeemed from permanent muck and live with the tension of the Already and Not Yet. Read More…

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