Biblical Descriptions of Women

Here's a fairly exhaustive study of the word "woman" in the Bible, with all of its uses and descriptions (from the ESV version, so I may have missed some mentioned in other versions). I thought it would be helpful for us to see how women are described in the Bible, positively and negatively, as we strive to be godly women.

Not all of them will apply in each of our lives, and some are situation-specific... but perhaps one or many of these will catch your eye and inspire you in a particular area of your life... and we'll come back and examine these a little at the end of the list.

POSITIVE OR NEUTRAL BIBLICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF WOMEN:

• made by God (Gen 2:22)
• taken out of man (Gen 2: 23, 1 Cor 11:9)
• "beautiful in appearance" (Sarai-- Gen 12, Rebekah-- Gen 12, Bathsheba--2 Sam 11:2, Tamar-- 2 Sam 14:27, 1 Ki 1:3-4)
• "pregnant" (Exod. 21:22, Is 26:17, and many, many more)
  
• "skillful" (Exod. 35:25)
• "tender" (Deut 28:56)
• "refined" (Deut 28:56)
  
• "delicate" (Deut. 28:56)
• "loved" (Jud 16:4)
• "worthy" (Ruth 3:14)
• not worthless (1 Sam 1:16)
• "discerning" (1 Sam 25:3)
• "wise" (2 Sam 14:2, 2 Sam 20:16, Prov 31:26)
• "wealthy" (2 Ki 4:8-- the Shunammite woman who cared for Elisha)
• "barren, childless" given a home and children (Ps 113:9)
• "gracious" (Prov 11:16)
• receives honor (Prov 11:16)
  
• precious (Prov 31:10)
• trustworthy (Prov 31:11)
  
• interested in doing good for and pleasing her husband (Prov 31:12, Prov 31:23, 1 Cor 7:34)
• a willing worker (Prov 31:13, 19)
• prudent (Prov 31:16, 18)
• "strong" (Prov 31:17)
• diligent (Prov 31:18-22, Prov 31:27, Luke 15:8)
• generous (Prov 31:20)
• teaches kindness (Prov 31:26)
• "excellent" (Prov 31:29)
  
• "woman who fears the Lord" (Prov 31:30-- worthy of praise)
• great in faith (Matthew 15:20-28)
• worshipful, sacrificial, worthy of remembrance (Matt. 26:6-13)
• "saved" by faith (Luke 8:40)
• freed from disability (Luke 13:12)
• bearer of a faithful testimony that led many to believe (John 4:39)
• uncondemned by God (John 8:10-11)
• "believer" (Acts 16:1)
• "seller of purple goods" (Acts 16:4)
  
• "worshiper of God" with an open, attentive heart (Acts 16:4)
• unmarried/betrothed are interested in holiness & "the things of the Lord" (1 Cor 7:34)
• "glory of man" (1 Cor 11:7)
• not independent of man (1 Cor 11:11)
• "quiet" learner (1 Tim 2:11, 12)
• "submissive" (1 Tim 2:11)
• "weaker vessel" (1 Pet 3:7)
  

NEGATIVE BIBLICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF WOMEN:

• "drunken" (1 Sam 1:13-- Eli was mistaken when he thought this about Hannah)
• "perverse, rebellious" (1 Sam 20:30-- spoken by Saul to Jonathan about his mother in order to shame him)
• "desolate" (Tamar-- 2 Sam 13:20, because she was defiled)
• "cursed" (2 Ki 9:34-- Jezebel)
• "wicked" (2 Chr 24:7-- idolatrous woman)
• "barren, childless" (Job 24:21)
• "forbidden woman" (Prov 2:16, 5:3, 5:20, 7:5-- the adulteress)
• "evil" (Prov 6:24-- the adulteress)
• wily of heart (Prov 7:10-- a woman dressed as a prostitute)
• "a beautiful woman without discretion" is like a gold ring in a pig's snout (Prov 11:22)
• "quarrelsome" & fretful (Prov 21:19-- living with this kind of woman is worse than living in a desert)
• heart of snares & nets (Eccl 7:26-- godly men escape her)
• deceived transgressor (1 Tim 2:14)
  

There's a lot here, but I think it may be helpful to look at this both in a micro- and macro- way.

THE MACRO VIEW OF BIBLICAL WOMANHOOD: (The BIG picture)
Generally, the biblical woman is discerning, gracious, generous, and kind. Generally, women are given a role defined by family and the home. Rather than seeking to control or manipulate men, the biblical woman is focused on the Lord, and her husband, children, and home (if married). A godly woman passes her faith on to others (specifically including her children and those who know her testimony) and is willing to sit at the feet of Jesus and love and worship Him.

THE MICRO VIEW OF BIBLICAL WOMANHOOD: (The nitty-gritty)
Starting with what she is not... she is not quarrelsome or worrisome. She does not seek to ensnare, capture, or deceive men. She does not dress seductively. She doesn't act thoughtlessly or imprudently.

She works hard in order to serve her household, the poor, and widows. She worships God. She tells others what Christ has done for her. She learns with a quiet spirit, willing to submit to what is taught.

She is protected by the men in her family when she is a virgin (there were many instances of this, but these were not necessarily descriptive passages so I did not include them in the list), and focused on her family and home once married. She serves her husband and is faithful to him. She seeks to make him known as an honorable man. She raises children, teaching them kindness and faith. If unmarried, she is single-mindedly focused on serving Christ and being holy for Him. She fearfully, faithfully, and attentively serves a gracious, forgiving, and healing Creator God by serving, loving, and giving to the people around her.


This is encouraging and challenging stuff, huh? Any thoughts you'd like to add or other things you see in these descriptions?

Private Prayer

It probably seems contradictory to write a public post about private prayer, but I'm reading a Puritan classic by Thomas Brooks (called "The Secret Key to Heaven: The Vital Importance of Private Prayer") that is teaching me so very much in this area and I want to share some of the highlights here. Brooks lays out a phenomenal case for not only the necessity but the blessing of spending time in one's closet, engaged in private prayer with the Father.

Pointing to Matt. 6:6, he writes:

In the text, "But thou, when thou prayest", He does not say, when you [plural] pray, but thou, as speaking not so much of a joint duty of many praying together, as of a duty which each person is to do alone. The command in the text sends us to the closet [as well as] to the church. He is a real hypocrite that chooses the one and neglects the other; for thereby he tells the world that he cares for neither. He that puts on a religious habit abroad to gain himself a great name among men, and at the same time lives like an atheist at home, shall at the last be uncovered by God, and presented before all the world for a most outrageous hypocrite.

Heavy stuff, that.

Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus stealing away for private moments with His Father. Brooks points to Christ as an example for us in spending much time in private prayer:

Christ is a pattern of patterns; His example should be to us instead of a thousand examples. It is not only our liberty, but our duty and glory, to follow Christ... Other patterns are imperfect and defective, but Christ is a perfect pattern; and of all His children, they are the happiest that come nearest to this perfect pattern.

Brooks lays out a point-by-point case for why Christians should be utterly dependent upon and defined by their closet prayer time with the Father. Some of the reasons that he offers that really resonate with me and motivate me are these:

#4- Secret prayer lets us unbosom ourselves before God. In secret we may more freely and fully, and safely unbosom ours souls to God than we can in the presence of many or a few. ... In secret, a Christian may descend into such particulars, as in public or before others he will not, he may not, he ought not, to mention. Ah! how many Christians are there who would blush and be ashamed to walk in the streets, and to converse with sinners or saints, should but those infirmities, enormities, and wickednesses be written in their foreheads or known to others, which they freely and fully lay open to God in secret.

#6- God most manifests Himself in secret. [Brooks lays out many examples from Scripture and then writes:] Private prayer is a golden key to unlock the mysteries of the Word to us. The knowledge of many choice and blessed truths is but the outcome of private prayer. ... Certainly that Christian or that minister that in private prayer lies most at the feet of Jesus Christ, he shall understand most...

... A husband imparts his mind most freely and fully to his wife when she is alone... Wise men give their best, their choicest, and their richest gifts in secret; and so does Christ give to his the best of the best, when they are in a corner, when they are all alone.

... But as for such as cannot spare time to seek God in a closet, to serve Him in secret, they sufficiently show that they have little fellowship or friendship with God, whom they so seldom come to.

That last sentence is so convicting and illuminating, isn't it? I confess that I am guilty as charged... I have not consistently made private fellowship with my Heavenly Father and Friend a priority as it ought to have been. I am striving to be more faithful to spend time in closet prayer to the Father, as I have been convicted by Brooks' words, and even more by his right division of God's Word as he presents his case.

I have more to share, and I will do so soon, but wanted to get these thoughts out this morning. Hopefully it will challenge and convict others as it has done and is doing in my own heart.

PENNSYLVANIA STAR BARN

I do believe this has to be the most wonderful site in all our travels we have taken over the years...

Last Spring on a trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania we stopped and took some pictures of a beautiful old barn.

We have traveled this route for 30 years and seen this wonderful piece of architecture and never gotten off the highway to visit it, but after hearing it will be re-located we thought it was time to visit this wonderful beauty.

Over the years it has taken a hit with wood decay and shoddy upkeep and was due to be demolished if someone didn’t come forward to save it.

Fortunately enough funds have been raised and has been purchased and all buildings will be taken apart board by board, stone by stone, numbered and re-assembled in their new location sometime this year.

Here is the video clip of the announcement and new location http://www.wgal.com/video/16764868/index.html

Go to this site to read about this beautiful piece of architecture. http://www.thestarbarn.com/About_OwnershipHistory.aspx

On February 29, 2000, the Millport Conservancy and Preservation Pennsylvania joined forces and funds to purchase The Star Barn Complex. The two organizations shared common goals in moving to save this endangered property: to preserve The Star Barn complex as a symbol of the region’s agricultural heritage and to insure its future survival by making it a part of the life of the communities that now surround it.

In December, 2007, Agrarian Country, a non-profit corporation from Middletown, Pennsylvania, assumed ownership of The Star Barn. AND SHE WILL BE SAVED!!!