Women of Faith-Deborah-Wife of Manoah-Naomi and Ruth

I want to continue to talk about the women in the Bible who impacted their world by their faith in God and made for themselves a lasting legacy in history.

Deborah - lived in the time of the Judges and we see her story in Judges 4. She was a prophetess and became a Judge after Judge Ehud died. She Judged Israel from Mt. Ephraim.

Now in these days the Spirit of the Lord would come upon a prophet or prophetess to give His Word to the people. Today, through the redemptive action of our Savior, we can have the Holy Spirit living in us all the time.

The children of Israel did evil in the sight of God and the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan whose captain was Sisera. Jabin's army had 900 iron chariots.

These would be pulled by 2 horses and have a teamster and a warrior inside. There was a host of infantry that would be deployed with the chariots.

Deborah called Barak from Kedesh-Naphtali and prophesied to him: Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded saying go toward Mt. Tabor and take with you 10,000 men of the children of Naphtali and Zebulun? I will draw unto you at the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army and I will deliver them into your hand.

Barak said unto Deborah, I will go if you go with me. She answered, I will surely go with you, but the journey you take will not be for your honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Heber the Kenite which was from the children of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, and had left the Kenites and had pitched his tent in the plain by Kedesh. He told Sisera that Barak had went to Mt. Tabor.

So, Sisera took his army and 900 chariots to the river of Kishon. Just as the Lord had said, through Deborah.

Jethro, who was Zipphora's father and a priest in Midian had come to visit Moses in the wilderness and advised him on how to be the judge of so many people, Exodus 18.

So, Sisera took his army and 900 chariots to the river of Kishon. Just as the Lord had spoken through Deborah.

Deborah said to Barak to get up and go for this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand; has not the Lord went out before you? 

So Barak went down with 10,000 men, and defeated Sisera’s army with the sword for the battle was decided by the Lord.

Sisera left his chariot and ran away on foot. He ended up at the tent of Heber the Kenite. Now there was peace between king Jabin and the house of Heber. Jael, Heber’s wife went out to meet him and told him to come on in the tent and turn in, fear not. She covered him with a blanket. Sisera said to please get him some water and she gave him some milk and tucked him in. He asked her to watch the door and if any one asked if a man came in, tell them no.

So he went to sleep in the tent, for he was exhausted. Jael then took a tent peg ad drove it through his temples with a hammer and into the ground. Once again the household of Jethro had helped Israel.

As Barak looked for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said come, I will show you whom you seek. And she took Barak in the tent and there was Sisera, dead, his head nailed to the floor. Just as God had said, through his prophetess, Deborah.

So Jabin the king of Canaan was subdued that day by Barak, and Deborah, and Jael at the Word of the Lord. They listened to, and believed God.

Judges 5 is the song of Deborah and Barak that gives Praise to God and recounts the events of that day. The land had rest for 40 years.

1 ¶  Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,

2  Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.

3  Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.

4  LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.

5  The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel.

6 ¶  In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.

7  The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.


The Wife of Manoah-  the mother of Samson we read about in Judges 13. Although not named, this woman struck a special place in God’s heart. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. So, with faith it is possible to please Him. Manoah was from the tribe of Dan and so, probably was his wife. It appears that she was barren and had entreated the Lord about this. The children of Israel had

did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for 40 years.

Judges 13:3  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4  Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

5  For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Now the angel of the LORD is special…none other than Jesus appearing as a man.

She went and told her husband and said that a man of God had come to her and his countenance was like an angel of God, very terrible. She related what the man had said. Now this was Jesus in His glory, like the transfiguration in the New Testament.

She went and told her husband and said that a man of God had come to her and his countenance was like an angel of God, very terrible. She related what the man had said.

So Manoah entreated the Lord and asked that the man of God would come again to teach us what to do to the child to be born. God responded and again the angel of God came again to the woman who was in the field without her husband. So she ran and got him. It is interesting that the angel of the Lord came to the woman the second time and not Manoah. Faith moves God and this woman had some.

Judges 13: 11  And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am, (another hint He was Jesus).

12  And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

13  And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

14  She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

15 ¶  And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

16  And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

17  And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

18  And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

Some translations add wonderful.

19  So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20  For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

21  But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.

22  And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

23  But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

24 ¶  And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

As you know the man Samson Judged Israel for 40 years and defeated many Philistines by himself. The Spirit of the Lord would come upon him and he became supernaturally strong. In one fight he killed 1000 soldiers with a donkey’s jawbone. 

In his death he pushed down the Philistine temple to Dagon and killed more Philistines than in his whole life.

Sampson would not have been except for the faith of his mother, the wife of Manoah.

Naomi and Ruth – in the time of the Judges there was a famine. A man from Bethlehem-Judah,  Elimelech (God of the king) and his wife, Naomi (pleasant), and their 2 sons, Mahlon (sick) and Chilion (pining- destruction) went to sojourn in Moab. They were from the tribe of Judah.

Judges 1:3  And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.

4  And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

5  And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

Seems to me that Elimelech had not made God his king for who would name their sons; sick and destruction? Naomi was probably the biggest influence on Ruth.
Elimelech was an Israelite, who by his race and inheritance had covenant with God. God by His Grace has always taken care of His own. However if they would not believe this or depend upon their God, that loving covenant would not help them. If Elimelech had stayed in his own land and trusted God, he would have been alright. Isaac stayed in Gerar (modern Gaza) where famine was severe and was blessed 100 fold, Genesis 26:1-12. But Elimelech did not stay and did not believe as did Naomi, and it cost him his life as well as his sons.  

6 ¶  Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.

7  Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

8  And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.

9  The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.

10  And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.

11  And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

12  Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;

13  Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.

14  And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.

15  And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.

16  And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

17  Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

The faith of Naomi and maybe her husband, Mahlon, had affected Ruth. Her statements are ones of strong conviction. She went with Naomi back to Israel.

Naomi had a kinsman who had wealth whose name was Boaz. Ruth told Naomi that she would go and glean (explain gleaning) after him in whose sight I shall find grace and Naomi said, go my daughter. It so happened that it was in Boaz’s field. He saw her later and liked her and told her to glean in his field only. He told his young men to leave her alone and drop extra barley where she was gleaning.

2: 10  Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

11  And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

12  The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Boaz fed her that night and spoke to his men to let her glean among the sheaves as well. When Ruth went home to Naomi and told her that the grain she had was gleaned in Boaz’s field she was very happy.

20  And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.

Ruth continued to glean with the maidens during the barley and wheat harvest.

Following Naomi’s advice, Ruth went after dark to the threshing floor where Boaz was after the days harvest. He had eaten and drank and was merry. Ruth had cleaned up and dressed and lay down at his feet. When he woke up he said who is there? Ruth answered, It is Ruth your handmaid; spread your skirt over your handmaid for you are a near kinsman.

3:10  And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.

11  And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

12  And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.

13  Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning.

14 ¶  And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor.

Boaz met with the other kinsman and told him about Naomi in front of witnesses. He said he would buy the land from Naomi and be her kinsman. Boaz said that he would have to take Ruth and raise children for her dead husband as well and he would not. So, Boaz took in Naomi as her kinsman and he took Ruth as his wife. They had a son, Obed, who had a son, Jesse, who’s son was David the great king of Israel.

So Ruth, a Moabite, by faith was allowed into the Holy family line of Jesus Christ and became the great-grandmother of David. The knowledge of God that she obtained by Naomi and her husband, is what enabled her to believe and have faith in God's blessings and promise.

Quotes from KJV. Art from Internet.

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Women of Faith in the Bible - Sarah - Miriam - Rahab

I want to talk about women who impacted their world with positive faith and made an everlasting mark in history in the Word of God.

Sarah – Wife of Abraham and his half-sister through their father. At first she was Sarai, which means, lord or captain,  from where we get the word “sir”. She was rather domineering in the Abram household.

Sarai had stayed with Abram when he left his family and sojourned in the land of Canaan (modern day Israel). Abram's nephew Lot also went with them.

When the Lord told Abram that he would have a son from his own body and made blood covenant with him (Genesis 15), Sarai did not believe it would be her because she was about 76years old and past child bearing age. So, she convinced Abram to have a child with their Egyptian maid, Hagar. 

This was not God’s Word to Abram, and delayed the birth of the promised child by 14yrs. Then God appeared to Abram again and told him that the child of promise would come from Sarai and his descendants that would be like the stars in number, as the Lord had promised before.

God changed their names by adding the His breath and Grace to them. This was by adding the 5th Hebrew letter to their name, which is Hey. Hey is in the Holy Name of God twice.

Abram became Abraham…father of nations.

Sarai became Sarah…princess. In Hebrew, the last letter of Sarai is Yud which is also the number 10=law. God replaced this with Hey, which is the number 5=Grace.

Sarah’s perspective changed and she became the Grace bearer in Abraham’s household. Her faith had kept her youthful. She was taken twice by kings to add to their harem because of her beauty when she was in her late 60’s and in her 70’s. Abram had told her to say she was his sister which was a half truth.

Each time she was taken and released, the couple was blessed with wealth, livestock, and servants. She was never forced to have relations with the kings. She was released because of God's pressure on the kings. She was blessed because of the goodness of God and her faith in Him. The Bible speaks of  Abraham having the faith of God who calls things as not as though they were.

Romans 4:16 Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17 ¶  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Sarah could not have lived with her husband, who she called lord, and not have learned of faith and strength in the Lord God.

Psalms 103 tells us that God can renew our youth like the eagle. But now with her new name she had developed a strong faith and was believing God’s promise. The Lord, in a man's form,  visited Abraham  with two angels just before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18). During that visit, God told Abraham that when the time of life came next year, Sarah would have a son. Sarah heard it and laughed within herself. But God heard her and said, why did Sarah laugh? She denied it, but God heard.

When Sarah had the time of her life and her faith became sure, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son and named him, Isaac (laughter). In Hebrews 11 we read of the faith of Sarah:
11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Sarah was 90 years old when Issac was born. She lived another 37 years.

Miriam – daughter of Amram and Jochebed and the sister of Aaron and Moses. 

We see the faith of Jochebed in her actions to save baby Moses by putting the infant in the river according to the Pharaoh’s command, however in an ark made of bulrushes. 

Moses was quite safe in the little ark that his mother had made for him.

Miriam we see in Exodus 2 follows the little boat and watches to see her brother is alright. 

Miriam sees that the Pharaoh's daughter retrieves the ark and her brother from the Nile.

She is a child but has faith also like her mother, and walks up to the Princess and tells her that she could find one of the Hebrew women to come and nurse the child. So, she gets her mother to go and nurse the child in the palace and get paid for it. She watches Moses grow up as a Prince.

Miriam is also a prophetess and witnessed all of the plagues brought upon Egypt by God through her brother, Moses. After the Lord drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea, she led the women in dance and song in praise to the Lord. Numbers 15:20  And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

21  And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Miriam, Aaron, and Moses were Levites and were sent to deliver the Children of Israel by God.  Micah 6:4.

  

                                                                                                                  

                

Miriam had one instance where she spoke against Moses and angered God in Numbers 12. Her and Aaron were upset with Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman, (Zipphora). They said, “Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us?” God heard it and called them out. God spoke to them from the pillar of cloud and said He would make Himself known to a prophet by a vision, but speak directly to Moses. Why do you speak against my servant, Moses?? When the cloud left, Miriam was leprous. 

Aaron cried to Moses for forgiveness and Moses entreated God for her healing. She still had to be outside the camp for 7 days until she was healed.

Numbers 12:14  And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

15  And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

So the Lord was merciful and healed her.

From the time that her brother, Moses was taken by the Princess,

to her adult life in the wilderness, Miriam served the Lord by serving her people.

Miriam stayed as a part of the Levite religious order of her family to serve the people of Israel until they approached the promised land. She died and was buried in the desert of Zin at Kadesh, Nu 20:1.

Rahab was from the city of Jericho in Joshua 2. When Joshua was preparing to go into the promised land as directed by the Lord, he sent two spies to look over the city of Jericho, a walled fortified city.

Ruins of Jericho as can be seen today. 

The spies were able to enter the city while the gates were open and there Rahab saw them and invited them in.

So they went into the house of Rahab, who was a harlot.

The king of Jericho sent soldiers to get them for they had been seen going into her house.

But, Rahab hid the spies on the roof and told the soldiers that they had escaped through the city gates before they were closed, so they went pursuing after them.

Joshua 2: 8 ¶  And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

9  And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

10  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

11  And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
12  Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:
13  And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

The men told her as long as her family were with her in her house which was on the wall, they would be safe. They said to mark the window with a scarlet cord.

This was the same scarlet cord that she lowered them down from the wall after the gates had been shut behind the soldiers who went out looking for the Israelite men.

They went back and reported to Joshua who at the direction of an angel of the Lord made plans to take Jericho.

 Miraculously, God took the walls down at Jericho by a shout from the people after marching around the city 7 times with the Ark of the Covenant. The signal was a horn blast from the priests.

Then Joshua and the army of Israel wiped out the city…except for Rahab and her household.

They then joined up with Israel. She knew that the God of Israel was the God of heaven and earth. Her faith in God and believing God, put her in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 1. 

More ruins from Jericho.

                                                                                                                                               

The Holy Spirit in the Word testifies of her faith:

Hebrews 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

James 2:25  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

The scarlet cord represented a type of the blood of Jesus Christ. This was similar to the blood of the Passover lamb that was put on the doorposts of the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt. Faith in the God of the Hebrews covered Rahab and her family and protected her from harm just as faith in the blood of Jesus protects us today.

Art found on the Internet, authors in html if known. Quotes from KJV Bible.

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