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...

There is a story in the bible of an African woman who was harassed not only for being a woman and black but also because she was a slave. Hagar's story begins after years had passed and there was no sign of a child for Abraham and his wife Sarah, Hagar's mistress. Sarah decided a solution was for Hagar to be a surrogate mother! (Genesis 16:1-3). However relationships at home become unbearable between the two women when Sarah started ill-treating Hagar and she  decided to flee. The Angel of the Lord found her at the road leading to Shur and told her to return to Sarah but not before making her the amazing promise that she would be the ancestress of a multitude that could not even be numbered. (Genesis 16:9-12).   She was also given a name for the child, Ishmael, meaning, "God hears".   In response Hagar does what no male or female had ever done before! She gives God a name. She calls God, El-roi, "the God who sees me". She is amazed that she can say, ...

Tradition continues to call Mary Magdalene a prostitute. The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives “reformed prostitute” as the meaning of Magdalene and preachers continue to tell us the gospels tell us so! The musical Jesus Christ Superstar and Mel Gibson’s movie do too.   However, nowhere does the Bible state that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. The Bible tells us that she was cured of possession of evil spirits. Where did this misunderstanding begin and why is it so important to set the record straight?   Mary Magdalene is mentioned more frequently in the Gospels than any woman other than Mary, Jesus’ mother and more than most of the disciples. She was a devoted follower of Jesus who accompanied the Lord and His disciples and provided funds for them as they ministered (Luke 8:3).   Mary was at the crucifixion when the rest of the disciples except John had fled (John 19:25). She was the one the Lord appeared to at the tomb and whom He appointed as history’s first w...

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...

It is only when the bible is read in context that we can be informed and transformed. The term “homosexual” wasn’t used until about a hundred years ago and Biblical Greek or Hebrew have no word that is the same as the word homosexual in English. The first translation of the Bible to use the word was only in the 1946 Revised Standard Version (RSV). It is therefore quite astonishing to discover how translations have evolved from 1599 until 2017. Words like homosexuality and lesbian that are not in the original Greek appearing in a translation as in the case of The Passion Translation (TPT) in 2017! 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) Romans 1:26-27 For this cause God gave them up to vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men left the natural use of the woman, and burned in their lust one toward another, and man with man wrought filthiness, and received in themselves such recompense of their error, as was meet...

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...