Woman Begat Woman

TV fans know that soapies are not happy stories.  The story of Michal in the Bible (1 Samuel 18) appears to be such a story. Movies, commentators and preachers have shown her in an unfavourable light but she was a woman betrayed by the two men in her life, David and her father, King Saul.  From the beginning it seems that the concerns of Michal's father, the servants and David revolved around David becoming the king's son in law. Michal however loved David who appears to have had the good looks of a young Brad Pitt. This is the only time in the Old Testament when we are told that a woman loved a man. We are never told that David loved Michal. When things did not go well for David and Michal's father, Saul, tried to kill him, Michal saved David's life and helped him escape.  No sooner was David out the way that her father married her off to another man, Palti (1 Samuel 25:44). In the next episode of this good soapie material we discover that David had been v...

The story of Deborah cannot be told without telling the story of Jael, the one prophesied about in Judges 4:9. Jael was the wife of Heber of the Kenites who were known for their metalworking skills. (Judges 4:17-22). Perhaps it was good for business to be seen not taking sides so the Kenites choose to not live with the Israelites even though they were the descendants of the father in law of Moses. During the battle between Barak and Jabin's armies, Sisera, commander of Jabin's army, fled on foot due to the chariots being stuck in the mud and arrived exhausted at the tent of Jael.   Sisera knew that Jabin, the king, was friendly with the family of Jael’s husband and according to the custom Jael’s hospitality guaranteed protection for Sisera. Jael treated Sisera like a mother. She gave him milk to drink and even tucked him in with a rug. When he was sleeping like a baby she took a hammer and a tent peg and drilled him from temple to temple and fastened his head to the g...

I read a blog recently by a man who believes that the "biblical pattern of male leadership limits the pastorate to men"!  Why believe him when the overwhelming evidence in the bible is that God gifted both men and women equally?  A silly ditty, 'How the hell can we believe you?',  sung at weddings when the groom is about to give his speech comes to mind!  Why are  we still having this conversation? Let's rather read the bible in large chunks and not just obscure passages to disprove those with clear and obvious meanings. The message of the bible tells us that human beings cannot know the thoughts of Almighty God! Why continue to put God in a box that can be controlled and manipulated to serve our own selfish desires. "Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counsellor? Who did the Lord consult to enlighten him?" Isaiah 40:13 God's creation of Adam first (in Genesis 2) is not an indication that males are meant to be do...

Two air flights, a taxi and a bus trip have taken a family member to St-Jean-Pied-de Port to walk the Way of St James. She plans to return 32 days later after walking 804 kilometers. In about AD 55 another brave woman, Phoebe, undertook a journey, mentioned by Paul in Romans 16, to deliver an important document to Rome. The journey that Phoebe undertook from Corinth was dangerous. No air flight only trav el on a sailing ship for a great distance from Greece to Puteoli on the stormy Mediterranean Sea. On arriving at Puteoli there would be no bus or taxi to Rome, she had to travel on foot or caravan for the rest of the way. However Phoebe, woman of valour, had the strength to undertake this treacherous journey. Scholars agree that the reason for her journey was to carry Paul’s letter to Roman Christians and Paul had no doubt that Phoebe could be trusted to deliver this important correspondence. The letter was to introduce himself and his message to the Romans before his imminent arr...