Women of the Old Testament

Meditations for August 10th, 2025 by Jan Savory

Introduction

Today we are celebrating the Remembrance of the Holy Women of the Old Testament, which was actually celebrated yesterday, but of course we weren't here. There are many women mentioned in the Old Testament, not all of them named. Approximately 133 women are named in the Old Testament, according to Women In The Scriptures. This list includes both prominent figures and women mentioned in passing. Additionally, there are around 90 unnamed women and 145 groups of unnamed women mentioned. 

Obviously we can't talk about all of them today. But I have chosen four that we will talk about during our service. The service will start and end in a fairly traditional manner. But we'll have four short talks, one about each of these women, separated by a hymn or a prayer.

In talking about these four women, I am not interested in the historicity of the people and events. The earlier books of the Bible were written not to give us an exact history, but as sacred literature to teach the people who read or heard these stories spiritual truths. They are a genre known as sacred literature. Most of these stories were told from generation to generation long before they were written down. Details got lost, changed, and sometimes added to give the spiritual meaning to the people. What we'll be looking at today is what the Bible says about these four late women and what it tells us about God and living with God. I hope you find it interesting and spiritually meaningful.

Hagar the Slave Girl.

For the first of the women of the Old Testament that we're going to look at today, we go right back to the time of Abraham. As you will remember, Abraham and his wife Sarah (initially called Abram and Sarai) left Ur of the Chaldees with their family and traveled many many miles to the land of Canaan which God promised to them. When they reached Canaan, there was a famine in the land. They went down to Egypt, where they knew there would be food because the Nile provided water every year for irrigation. Once the famine was over, they returned to Canaan to settle there, bringing with them all the property they had acquired in Egypt, including animals and slaves.

One of those slaves was called Hagar, and she was Sarah's slave.

Now God had promised to make Abraham the father of a great nation, but Abraham and Sarah were getting old. According to the Bible, Abraham was 85 years old and Sarah was 75 years old at this time, and they had no children. But God had promised Abram a son.

Sarah, realizing that she can no longer bear children, suggested to Abraham that he visit her slave girl Hagar. Any son born to Hagar would be the property of Sarah and could be her substitute son. And that's what happened. Period. Hagar quickly became pregnant, but, after becoming pregnant, begins to disparage and despise Sarah.  Sarai was hurt and angry and verbally abused Hagar. Hagar, pregnant with Ishmael, fled into the wilderness.

Here we have Hagar, a runaway slave, in a strange land, pregnant and all alone.

We just heard the next part of Hagar’s story, “The Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness . . . And he said, calling her by name. ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ She said, ‘I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.’” Notice how He begins by asking Hagar a question, gently exposing the reality of her situation. Then, he tells her, “Return to your mistress Sarai, and submit to her.”

The Angel of the Lord does not affirm Hagar’s decision to run away or promise to change Hagar’s situation. In fact, He reaffirms Hagar is still the slave of Sarai and tells her to go back and submit to her mistress Sarai, however unpleasant it may be, and.blesses her with God’s promise of a multitude of children that cannot be numbered. Even more, He tells her to name her son Ishmael, which means "God hears," and the son of Hagar becomes the first person named by God before he is born. 

And how did Hagar respond? Was she upset? Frightened? Distressed? No. She is so overcome by His intimate concern for her that she gives God the name  El Roi, a God Who Sees Me”. In fact, Hagar is the only person in the Bible who is credited for giving God a name

So Hagar goes back and has his son Ishmael. Relations between Sarah and Hagar do not improve, even when Sarah finally has her own son, Isaac, about 15 years later. When Sarah hears Ishmael harassing the toddler Isaac, she's had enough. She casts Hagar and Ishmael out of the family, out of the compound, into the wilderness where Hagar and Ishmael find themselves alone, thirsty and with no water in sight. But God has not deserted her. The pair is then miraculously saved from dehydration and death by the angel of God. And tradition has it that Ishmael became the descendant of the Arab nations.

So, what do we learn from this story about Hagar? Running away from a difficult situation with Sarah likely offered her the temporary illusion of being in control. Even if she did not know where she was going, at least she could feel she was the one deciding which direction to take. It is not difficult to sympathize with Hagar’s identity crisis. But was running away the right answer? God came to Hagar in the form of an angel and called her by name. She may have been a slave, a non-entity in Abraham's family. But God knew her. And knew her situation. But running away wasn't the right answer. And God sent her back to the difficult situation with promises for her future and her son's future.

In her distress, she learned that God saw her in her affliction. She called him El Roi, the God who sees me. However difficult her situation, however much of a non-entity she felt she was in Abraham's home, God knew her. God called her by name. God sees her, and as the story goes on to tell us, God continued to look after her and her son.

God does not always call us to an easy road, but his ways can always be trusted. Despite how Hagar may have felt, Scripture assures us that she was never alone. And we are never alone.  We have God's promise, given to us by Jesus. “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Let us Pray

God, thank you for your promise to be with us always.  Even when we feel weary or overwhelmed, remind us that you are present, carrying us through.  Help us to lift our heads and see the ways you are working in our lives and the lives of those around us. Thank you for being El Roi, the God who sees us and Emmanuel, the God who walks with us. "    Amen

Rahab

We now move forward several hundred years. We've left the time of the patriarchs. The Israelites have spent time as slaves in Egypt and, after their escape, 40 years wandering in the wilderness. The time has now come for Joshua to lead them into the promised land.

They knew that, once they crossed the Jordan, they would find themselves confronted by a city, Jericho. We're going to talk about a woman who lived there, called Rahab. It's not our intention today to discuss whether Jericho really existed or whether this is a piece of mythology. We want to know what this story can teach us about how to live a God-filled life.

Joshua sent his spies into Jericho to determine the city's defenses. They went first to the house of Rahab, a Canaanite and a prostitute, possibly for the temple of Baal or Astarte, who agreed to hide them because she believed in the God of Israel who would be victorious.  Somehow, she seems to know about the Israelite God and tells the spies, "I know the Lord has given you the land. There was no courage left in any man because of you; for the Lord your God is he who is God in heaven above and on earth beneath."

When the king of Jericho heard that these two Israelite spies were in the city, he ordered them to be brought out to him. Rahab protected them by hiding them on her roof. She told them how the citizens of Jericho had been fearful of the Israelites ever since they defeated the Egyptians via the Red Sea miracle some forty years earlier. She agreed to help them escape provided that she and her family were spared in the upcoming battle. The spies agreed to this request giving her three conditions.

1.   She had to hang a scarlet rope out of the window so the Israelites would know which house to spare.

2.   Her family must be inside the house during the battle.

3.   And she must not later turn on the spies.

When the king came looking for the spies, Rahab had a plausible explanation for how they got away and sent the king on a wild goose chase looking for them. Rahab didn’t deny that she had entertained the men. She says that they left at dusk when it would be difficult for anyone to be sure of clearly seeing anything. The agents did not dare to risk stopping to search Rahab’s house because, if they did, the spies might get away. After the gates of the city had been locked for the night, Rahab let the spies down from her window which faced outside the walls, and they were able to get away and report to Joshua.

This enabled Joshua to conquer Jericho and all the inhabitants of that city except Rahab and her family were killed. When the Israelites left, Rahab and her family went with them. She eventually left with the Israelites, According to Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, she married Salmon and was the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth, and the great great grandmother of King David. Rahab is one of only 4 women mentioned in Jesus lineage, the others being Tamar, Ruth and Bathsheba.

When we think about Rahab of Jericho, we should be reminded that none of us is too insignificant for God to use. CS Lewis (in The Weight of Glory) tells us, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snug, and exploit…” Each of us is holy; each of us matters; we are in Christ, and Christ is in us.I wonder what difference it would make in my life, in your life, in the world, if we were conscious of the Christ hidden in each of us. If we, like Rahab, were truly willing to cast our lot with the God of Israel who is “the Lord your God is he who is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

Deborah

The two women we have spoken about so far, Hagar and Rahab, have been way down on the social totem pole. A slave and a prostitute. The next two women that we are going to talk about are much higher in social status. By the time Deborah comes on the scene, the Israelites are established in Canaan, but life is not peaceful for them. The Israelites and the Canaanites are constantly at war. At this period in their history, it is the Canaanites who have the upper hand. The Canaanites, ruled by King Jabin, have entered the Iron Age and have iron chariots, while the Israelites are still in the Bronze Age. It would take a brave leader to take the Israelites against the better-equipped Canaanites.

The Israelites, at this time, are led by a series of judges, who might better be called military leaders. The judges were predominantly male, but there was one female judge, Deborah. She was also one of the few women prophets such as Miriam, sister of Moses, Huldah, who prophesied to King Josiah, (2 Kings 22) and Anna whom we’ll hear about in our Gospel reading. God called Deborah to a prominent position as a prophetess and judge at a time in history when God commonly appointed men to those positions.

Every day, Deborah could be found seated under the “Palm Trees of Deborah” determining causes and controversies while judging the people according to the laws of God. I can only imagine how many disputes this wise and godly woman must have resolved. Deborah is the only “judge” identified as having a legal function. Clearly Deborah is not providing military deliverance under her palm tree. The Israelites sought her out to obtain justice.

One ordinary day while conducting her duties as judge, Deborah delivered God’s message to Barak to take 10,000 men to battle against Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army. Deborah’s prophecy continued, “And I [God] will deliver him into your hand”.  I rather doubt that she expected this answer from Barak.. He told Deborah. “…if you will not go with me, I will not go.” (Judges 4:6-8) Was this cowardice talking, or was Barak looking for confirmation of God's promise under such unequal circumstances? If Deborah would go, then Deborah must believe the promises. Yes, Deborah said. I will go too, and together they made a formidable tram

This is what the Bible says: Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, ... Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?” 

Picture the scene.  Barak has gathered together 10,000 men. Remember that they have no (or only a few primitive) weapons.  Sisera sees them at the top of Mt. Tabor and gathers his chariots and armies together at the foot of the mountain. At the top of the mountain – Barak, Deborah, and 10,000 unarmed farmers.  At the foot of the mountain, 900 iron chariots, a multitude of trained, armed men.  The plan is for Barak and the farmers to charge down the mountain. Think about that for a moment.

Now Deborah receives word from God. She says to Barak, “Now. God has given them into your hand.”

And they go!

And they go!

They charge down the mountain, and God gives the entire army into their hands.

Yes, the Israelites won!

But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.” The Canaanites and the Kenites were allies. After Sisera falls asleep in the tent, Jael killed him.

Have you heard this story before. It's not one we hear very often in church. It only appears once every three years in the lectionary, and then only a part of it. The lectionary reading ends with Deborah calling Barak to go and fight Sisera and prophesying that God will give them victory.

Why don’t we know this story? It’s exciting! It has God delivering God’s people from oppression! It has not one but two strong women in it!  Why does it stay hidden away in the shadows? What makes it hard for us to read this as a story for us, for our times?

For one thing, I think we feel distant from the mindset of the story. This is a time in Israel’s history when they understood their relationship with God in entirely political terms. When they are conquered by their enemies, that means God is angry at them; when they are free, God has forgiven them and accepted them back into God’s favor. 

It seems barbaric to us on the face of it; but are we really so different? Are we not tempted to feel abandoned by God when things do not go our way or our cause fails, and justified by God when life favors us or our causes?

Secondly, hard for us in the 21st century to understand how enormously counter-cultural it was for Deborah to step out of her assigned role as a female and go with the armies to defeat the enemy. I think the closest I can think of in our current society is for a trans person to change their gender.

But when we don't hear this story and think about it, we miss the message of who Deborah was and what she did as a prophetess. She heard what God was calling her to, and she followed in spite of stepping out of her comfort zone and the roles assigned to her. And the greater message that God was faithful to God’s promises.

This week, in the midst of the heat of summer, might be a good time for us all to stop and consider how much we, like Deborah, listen to God and trust to God’s faithfulness vs. how many times we try to do ministry in our own strength. I know that is something I need to meditate on.

Esther

We have followed three women through the early stages of the Israelite nation: A slave girl, a  harlot, and a judge and prophetess. Now we move several hundred years later and we meet a queen, Queen Esther. But not a queen of the Israelites. A Persian queen. Esther was in Persia because her family had relocated there from the Holy Land after it was conquered. Her family, including her cousin Mordecai, were among the Jewish people who remained in Persia after the Babylonian exile, rather than returning to Jerusalem when given the opportunity. Esther was later chosen as Queen of Persia through a beauty pageant after King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes) deposed his previous queen. 

She has a whole book in the Bible devoted to her life and a Jewish feast, Purim, remembers her courage. As an aside, the book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention the name God, although it's obvious that God was present guiding events.

Mordecai, wise in the ways of the court tells Esther her not to reveal that she is Jewish. “The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” (Esther 2:17)Enter the villain in this story—Haman, the Agagite. He hates Mordecai and all Jews. When the king promotes Haman he issues an edict in the king’s name to “destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, with is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.” (Esther 3:13) Mordecai tells Esther that she must intercede for her people (the Jews) to the king. This was not a task as easy as it sounds because “if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law; all alike are to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter. [Mordecai responds] ‘if you keep silence…relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter…who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’” (Esther 4:11-14) Esther sets aside three days to fast and pray.

She approaches the king and after a heart stopping few seconds, he “held out to Esther the golden scepter.” (Esther 5:2) Then Esther shows her wisdom. She does not immediately tell the king what she wants, but rather invites him and Haman (!) to a dinner. At the second banquet with Queen Esther, Haman’s plot starts to unravel. She asks, “let my life be given me…and my people…for we are sold…to be annihilated.” When the king asks who issued the order, she responds, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” (Esther 7:3-6) Haman is hanged on the gallows he prepared for Modecai and the king issues a decree allowing the Jews to “gather and defend their lives [against] any who might attack them.” (Esther 8:11)

Esther did not expect to be the one who saved her nation from destruction. She was just an ordinary girl who never expected to become a queen. God used Esther as he has used many anonymous (and well-known) people in many unexpected ways to further the Kingdom of God.  We may think we're just ordinary people, and probably we are, but that doesn't mean that God cannot use us. We may find ourselves faced with seemingly impossible situations, but like Esther we can find the strength to act with courage and faith in God's love and care for us. I hope Esther's story will always remind us that God is faithful to us, and we should be faithful to God even when God doing in and through our life something we never expected? 

We have moved through over a thousand years of Israelite history, through the lives of four brave and faithful women; our Gospel reading takes us to the time of Jesus and to the last of the Old Testament prophets, a lady called Anna, who recognizes in the baby Jesus that the long-awaited Messiah has arrived.