We live in 2021 but we think with 2021 minds. Long ago things were different and women were seen as property. God disagreed with that viewpoint and throughout the Bible He demonstrated that.
In Numbers chapter 30, women are given rights to enter into business deals. Husbands are given the right to overturn a wife’s deal. Single women, however, are given the same rights as men in business! You give up rights when you marry, whether you were a man or a woman, and one person has to have the final say. I heard Kris Langham say that perhaps it is because of what happened in the garden of Eden. We will not know on this side of glory, but for that time in history, equal rights were unheard of!
Deborah was a prophet and a judge in a time when only men were rulers, but in God’s kingdom things are different. She would be an oddity in that day. You can read about her in Judges chapters 4-5.
Proverbs 51 says a woman of noble character considers and buys a field. It goes on to say her husband has full trust in her. This means he has full trust in her intellectual capacities to consider a real estate deal and see it through. Nowadays there are many women realtors, but again in this historical context these concepts are not the norm.
Hundreds of years before Christ, God used a woman to save Israel. He could have used a man, but He chose Esther “for such a time as this.” Haman hated one man (Mordecai) and was determined to kill all people to get rid of that single person. God could’ve used a man but he used Queen Esther.
Mary Magdalene traveled with Jesus during his ministry in a time when men didn’t even speak to women. She was both a woman and had a sordid past. Still God used her in a big way and she was part of his inner circle.
Then there’s the Samaritan woman at the well. She was 5 times married and currently living in sin. Jesus went out of His way to meet her and used her to reach her countrymen. See John chapter 4. The bulk of it is about her. Spoiler alert: her testimony saved her town. I grew up in a small town. Growing up in a small town you know a high percentage of the people. She was well known and people saw a change in her and they believed in Jesus because of it.
God uses women with colorful pasts greatly. People with scars are often the first to reach out to others who hurt.
In the book of acts there is Lydia who was a home church leader. The fact that she is mentioned twice in Acts 16 is significant because it means she was important to Paul’s ministry.
So, when I hear people spout off things like the Bible is archaic and against women’s rights, I know they haven’t seriously studied the Bible and are ignorant about what clearly jumps out: God values and uses women, even imperfect ones like me!
Following Jesus 