Ann Spangler - Women of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study

ZONDERVAN

Women of the Bible

Copyright 1999, 2002, and 2007 by Ann Spangler and Jean Syswerda

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition August 2015: ISBN 978-0-310-344568

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Spangler, Ann.

Women of the Bible : a one-year devotional study of women in Scripture / Ann Spangler and Jean E. Syswerda. Updated and expanded

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-310-27055-3

1. Women Prayer-books and devotions English. 2. Devotional calendars. 3. Women in the Bible. I. Syswerda, Jean. II. Title.

BV4844.S67 2007

220.92082 dc22

2006025082

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Also The Holy Bible, Todays New International Version, TNIV. Copyright 2001, 2005 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Interior design: Pamela J. L. Eicher

First Printing July 2015

To Judy Weaver

Your faith has strengthened mine.

ANN SPANGLER

To my daughters,

Holly and Shelly

You have shown me the beauty of young women of God.

JEAN E. SYSWERDA

Contents

Abuse,

Adultery,

Angels,

Beauty,

Betrayal,

Birth,

Bitterness,

Blessing,

Burial,

Childlessness,

Choices,

Comfort,

Dancing,

Demons, see Witchcraft

Dignity,

Dissension,

Dreams,

Erotic love,

Faith,

Forgiveness,

Friendship,

Genealogies,

Gift-giving,

God remembers,

Gods direction,

Gods faithfulness,

Gods grace,

Gods jealousy,

Gods judgment,

Gods love,

Gods mercy,

Gods power,

Gods protection,

Gods provision,

Gods purposes,

Gods timing,

Grandchildren,

Healing,

Heaven,

Hospitality,

Humility,

Idol worship,

Illness,

Jealousy,

Jesus lineage,

Jesus love, see Gods love

Joy,

Last Supper,

Leadership,

Living water,

Loyalty,

Marriage,

Miracles,

Mothering,

Mourning,

Obedience,

Occult, see Witchcraft

Power,

Praise, see Worship

Prayer,

Promises fulfilled,

Prostitution,

Purity,

Rape,

Reconciliation,

Remembering,

Repentance,

Resurrection,

Seduction,

Sickness, see Illness

Sin,

Slavery, ,

Sorcery, see Witchcraft

Strength,

Surrender,

Time,

Touch,

Trickery,

Trust in God,

Vengeance,

Victory,

Virtue,

Warfare,

Widows,

Wisdom,

Witchcraft,

Worry,

Worship, ,

Abigail

Anna

Athaliah

Bathsheba

Deborah

Delilah

Dorcas

Elizabeth

Esther

Eve

Gomer

Hagar

Hannah

Herodias

Huldah

Jael

Jehosheba

Jezebel

Joanna

Jochebed

Leah

Lots Wife

Lydia

Martha

Mary of Bethany

Mary Magdalene

Mary, the Mother of Jesus

Michal

Miriam

Naomi

Pharaohs Daughter

Potiphars Wife

Priscilla

Queen of Sheba

Rachel

Rahab

Rebekah

Rizpah

Ruth

Salome, Mother of the Zebedees

Sarah

Shulammite Woman

Shunammite Woman

Syrophoenician Woman

Tamar, Daughter of David

Tamar, Daughter-in-Law of Judah

Widow with the Two Coins

Widow of Zarephath

Wise Woman of Abel

Woman of Endor

Woman of Proverbs 31

Woman of Samaria

Woman with the Issue of Blood

Woman Who Lived a Sinful Life

Angels

Baal Worship

Baskets

Books and Scrolls

Bottles

Burial

Childbirth

City Walls

Dancing

Demon Possession

Disciples

Egyptian Life

Fabrics and Dyes

Famine

Festival of Purim

Food

Gift Giving

Gleaning

Hair

Healing

The Herods

Hospitality

Incense

Infertility

Jewelry

Marriage Customs

Menstrual Bleeding

Menstrual Cycles

Money

Mothering

Names

Passover

Prophets

Prostitution

Rape

Ritual Bathing

Romantic Love

Salt

Siege

Slavery

Spinning and Weaving

Temple

Temple Courts

Tentmaking

Washing Feet

Water

Widows

Witchcraft

Women as Leaders

Women in Jesus Life and Ministry

Womens Work

Worship

S hortly after we first published Women of the Bible, a publishing colleague confided how astonished he was by the books immediate success. After encountering it in a local bookstore, he had confidently predicted it would never sell. He smiled as he told us this, glad for our sakes that his prediction had proved wrong. I think our colleague made an understandable mistake. He had underestimated the hunger women have for authentic stories about other women who reflect their own struggles to live with faith and hope.

The Bible is so much more than a dry compilation of genealogies, prophecies, and laws. It is the story of the most important relationship in the world, the one between God and his people. The setting of this story moves quickly from Paradise to a fallen world and then culminates, after much foolishness and suffering, in heaven itself. It reveals what was, what is, and what will be. As the story unfolds, it exposes the nature of our deepest problems and the roots of our worst sufferings. Through its various characters, we recognize the tug-of-war that takes place in our own souls as we struggle to respond to God.

Sometimes the most profitable and enjoyable way to understand any historical era is to learn the stories of its most famous men and women, people whose lives both reflect and influence the times in which they lived. The popular television series Biography does just this. The series promotes itself with an intriguing tagline, assuring us that Every Life Has a Story. The same could certainly be said of the women of the Bible, whose lives reveal so much about Gods character and his strategy for saving us.

Though we are familiar with Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Samson, Saul, David, and Peter a few of the Bibles most noteworthy men many of us might fail to recognize Hagar, Miriam, Deborah, Naomi, and Esther, to say nothing of Jael, Rizpah, or Joanna. We

know how the men fit into the story of salvation, but what of the women? What do their stories tell us about Gods love and our own response to him?

STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

Women of the Bible looks at the lives of fifty-two prominent and not so prominent women of Scripture, offering a fresh perspective on the story of salvation. The cast of characters is long and colorful, including a parade of prostitutes, evil queens, prophetesses, wealthy women, abused women, single and married women, and widows young and old. Far from being one-dimensional characters, these are real women who struggle with tragedy and sometimes create it, who risk their lives and their reputations for the sake of others, whose compassion and wisdom often save the day. Even though our culture is vastly different from theirs, we share many of their emotional responses and concerns. We agonize over infertility, worry about our children, long for a little affection, strive for wisdom, and sometimes harbor doubt about Gods real intentions toward us. Their stories reveal so much about Gods grace, his relentless love, and his creative ability to bring good out of the most desperate of circumstances.