September 2025 Daily Devotions

Family Album: Meeting the Mothers      Rev. Eugenia A Gamble

Recently, as I continue to go through my mother’s things, I have been pouring over photographs. My mom kept her High School scrapbook from 1943. She kept my grandmother’s scrapbook from 1905. She kept slides of vacations and piles of pictures of holidays shared in the family home where I now live again. Many of the photos are not labeled so I don’t know the date or the identity of some of those pictured. They were so well known to her she could never imagine forgetting them, nor could she imagine not being with me to tell me when I asked. Nor could I. Even though some of the memories are gone with her, each face tells a story of a moment in time special enough to record in some way.

The Bible itself is like a family album for us. There are those we know so well we could never forget them, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, King David, Jesus, Peter, John and Paul. There are a few women standing next to them, or slightly in the background, whose names we remember, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, the three Mary’s in the New Testament. But there are many others whose stories we may not know. Each day this month, we will explore the story of one women from the Bible. We will begin with a look at women from the Old Testament. Next month we will finish up the ancestors from the Old Testament and continue into the New Testament. These devotions are totally inadequate for the more prominent women but will lift up a thread from each life. We will ponder together what we can learn about ourselves, and about God, from each one. If you want to learn more you might enjoy reading All of the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen. The book is old, written the year I was born, but is still available. It is Deen’s chronology that I am using.

1. Eve – In the image Genesis 1:27; 2:18 – So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them….It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.

Whether you understand the stories of creation in Genesis as literal and historical or poetic and truth carrying myth, the mother of humanity, Eve, remains a pivotal figure in our family faith story. For centuries she has been viewed as “The Problem” or “The Temptress” whose allure and grasping for knowledge led to the downfall of us all. She is characterized as derivative, just something made out of Adam’s spare parts. That is indeed a superficial reading of her story! While she certainly made some disastrous choices, let’s take a moment to look beneath the surface of her life and the witness that she bears. As we see in today’s verses she is created in the image of God. Her presence in the story reminds us that maleness cannot define God and that human wholeness cannot exist without reciprocity and gender inclusivity. When one gender dominates our mental images of the fullness of God, we lose much that can help us. In creation God initially created the human being from the earth to be God’s own consort and love. Seeing that the human creature was not satisfied with that and had grown lonely, God divided that one into two parts, so that their loneliness might come to an end. The word we translate as helper, ezer, refers to the one in whose presence we are safe to become all that God dreams for us to be. Just as with Adam and Eve, our own ezer partners are not perfect. Adam is rather spineless, and Eve wants to know more than is good for her. Still, we are all created in God’s image and can show that image to each other, regardless of gender or even our own personal failings. Eve shows us that rebelling against boundaries can cause real harm. She also shows us love that takes a wrong turn for status, or simply to offer her mate something wonderful, can derail the most beautiful journey. She shows us that being a worthy companion and reflecting the glory of God in her daily life is hard work and sometimes there are tough decisions to be made. She is not evil, but’ like all of us, she is susceptible to evil’s lies and knows how to twist things to make evil look good and good look stupid. Even so, in her ‘banishment,’ God uses her for a glorious purpose, to become the mother of us all, to be a co-creator with God. Yes, laboring to bring new life to birth is painful, but as we still learn, it is a part of the reason for which we were born. Today take a few moments to think about the qualities of Eve’s very human life. How does she mirror your life? In what ways today can you do your part in mirroring the creative beauty of God?

Prayer: Creator God, we thank you that you have given us siblings in which we can see glimpses of your fullness. Help us today to reflect your glory in each action that we take. In Jesus holy name we pray. Amen.

2. Sarah – The Mother of Nations -Genesis 12:1-5 – Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse, and in you all of the families of the earth shall be blessed.

The story of Sarah (Sarai) is, like all human stories, a bit checkered. Early in her story, when her husband hears God’s call, apparently she followed along without resistance. It is hard for me to believe that that was the case. Still, we have no witness to any conversation between her and Abram as she packed up everything she had and left everything she knew behind to satisfy a spiritual whim of his.

She was her husband’s half-sister, a not uncommon practice in those days, and was apparently so renowned for her beauty that even in old age, Abram gave her into a powerful leader’s harem because he was afraid that ruler would kill him to get her. For reasons of God’s own, Abram and Sarai are chosen to be the bearers of God’s desires, God’s promises, to the chosen people and, indeed, as we see in today’s verses, to be a blessing to the whole earth and all of its people’s. Still, the fullness of God’s promise of offspring was long in coming. Long after childbearing years, Abram and Sarah sink into everyday life, with the ache of barrenness between them and the unspoken bitterness of promise unfulfilled in their hearts. One day, three men, or three angel messengers, or God in three persons, came to visit. Sarah rushes to provide hospitality and when she overhears their conversation, she laughs out loud at the audacity of what she hears. The men tell her husband that at her advanced age, next year in the greening of spring, she will have a child. Indeed, that happens and she names her son Isaac, which means laughter. Sarah reminds us that nothing is impossible with God. She reminds us that no matter how it may look in any given moment, God is faithful to God’s promises. She reminds us about resiliency and the explosion of unexpected joy and laughter that is always just around the corner for us. She reminds us that hardship may linger, but God’s promises will always be delivered when the time is right. She reminds us that when we have given up on the things we most wanted, new starts, laughter and fulfillment are still on the way for us. Today think about Sarai. (We will see a bit more about her tomorrow in Hagar’s story.) Are there times when you have given up on the good things you once hoped for, or hoped to achieve? Are there times when God’s promises to you seem laughable? Are there times when you think you are unfit for joy? Are there times when the messages of God seem to come to you in totally unexpected ways and moments? As you ponder that, remember that Sarah’s story tells us that joy is never lost forever, that goals can still be accomplished, according to God’s will, when you think there is nothing left in you to give. You were born to be a blessing and so you are.

Prayer: God of Promise, remind us today, as you did our mother Sarah, that the best is still on the horizon and that when the time is right we will bring it to birth. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

3. Hagar – The Mother of Other Nations – Genesis 16:1-13 – (7) The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”

In the years before Sarah laughed behind the tent flap at the outlandish promises of God, there was a time when her despair over her barrenness resulted in a family schism that continues today. When the years passed and Sarah had no child, she went to Abraham and suggested that he use her maid, Hagar, as a surrogate to produce the heir they longed for. Hagar was an Egyptian women with no power and little influence as a servant in their home. The practice of surrogacy was not unknown in those days. Progeny were so important culturally, emotionally and financially, that families would often do whatever it took to produce a child. For a woman, barrenness was a terrible shame and stigma. The child of the surrogate was considered in every way the child of the one instigating the surrogacy. When the time of birth came, the woman would cradle the birthing mother between her own legs and push and wail as if she were in labor herself. Hagar’s son was named Ishmael, and he took his place as Abraham’s first born. This gave at least a bit of new status to Hagar as well. It all went well until Sarah’s child Issac was born. Sarah became jealous of Ishamel and refused to accept his higher status over her own son. She went to Abraham and told him Hagar was haughty, and she wanted her and her son banished. Rather spinelessly since he loved Ishmael, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael out into the desert. This was basically a death sentence. (It is interesting that in some rabbinic writings it is Sarah who was considered more faithful than Abraham in this episode because she would not give up on the Promise of her own offspring.) But God would have none of either the injustice to Hagar or their banishment. In her despair, God came to Hagar, promised that she would survive and that her son would be the father of a great nation. God opened her eyes then to see a spring of water that gave them strength to go forward. The spring had always been there, but Hagar in her pain and bitterness simply could not see it until God helped her to do so. After gathering strength and relying on God’s promise, Hagar and her son went to Egypt. Ishmael became the father of what we now think of as the Islamic peoples. Today, think about Hagar. Have you ever been in a position in which those over whom you had no control took advantage of you? Have you ever been cast out because of someone else’s jealousy? Have you ever felt unable to protect your child? Have you ever given up on life and found yourself curled up and weeping? If so, remember that God is not finished with your story. There are glorious things to come and there is nothing that you can do or that can be done to you that will foreclose on God’s loving plan for you. One way or another, God is by your side and there is a good future in store.

Prayer: O God of the many beautiful paths, we thank you for the witness of Hagar and your promise that you will not allow oppression and injustice to have the last word. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

4. Lot’s Wife – A Woman Who Could Not Let Go – Genesis 19:26 – But Lot’s wife behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Only fifteen words in the Old Testament give us the picture of this unforgettable women. We do not know her given name. Nearly everything we know about her, we know from putting her life in the context of her husband’s. Lot was Abraham’s nephew. Lot and his family lived in the town of Sodom. Sodom was known in scriptures for its wealth, opulent lifestyle, lack of hospitality and unbounded sexuality. When Jesus spoke looking back at the days of Lot, he referenced a time that was known for ‘eating, drinking, accumulation of wealth, and expansion of commerce. These were the reasons given for its destruction (Luke 17:28, 29) We can easily assume that Lot’s wife was worldly, selfish, and spent and entertained lavishly. This is how she has been depicted in much religious art and literature. Lot and his family lived and intermarried with men of low moral fiber. The story of their family life is sordid indeed. And it is that context that creates, and in the minds of many, defines the character of Lot’s wife. The entire chapter in which today’s verse is found is tough to read. It includes Lot offering his daughters to be raped by a mob threatening the guests in his home, angels warning the family to get out of town quickly because Sodom was about to be destroyed for its misuse of wealth and debauchery, to his future sons-in-law not taking it seriously and getting wiped out, to his two daughters getting him drunk and sleeping with him because there were no other men around and they wanted babies. Now whether these stories are historical, metaphorical or a narratives created to explain geographic and historical catastrophes, is up to interpretation. In any case, Lot’s wife is a cautionary tale of a woman who lived with both wealth and porous moral boundaries. Indeed, even today those conditions of privilege are hard for some to leave behind. Lot’s wife couldn’t fully do it. As she and her family fled the fire and brimstone of Sodom’s fate, she stopped to look back. It seems that that looking back was not so much a curious bystander’s stopping at a train wreck. Rather, there was a kind of wistful longing. She didn’t want to leave behind her wealth, status and free-from-consequences life style. In turning back, she became a pillar of salt, inert, immovable, stuck for all time in her inability to let go of her wealth, status and ways. This is by far the dominant interpretation of her life, and it is no doubt well founded. I wonder if perhaps there is more for us to ponder. How adaptable to change are we when we have to leave behind what we know and love in order to start all over? Are there times when we too become frozen by the images of the past, our joys and our sorrows? Are there times when our wealth or permissiveness blind us to the voices of the angels in our lives who live to draw us to health and new starts? Are there things that we could never leave behind, even to save our own lives? What paralyzes us with longing and desire? What are we willing to pay, or to lose, in order to get what we think we must have to be happy? Lot’s wife invites us to ask those questions of our own lives and moment and to ponder the choices we make.

Prayer: Rescuer God, help us to never turn away from your graceful redemption because we think an old way with old values would be preferable. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

5. Rebekah – The Beloved – Genesis 24:64-67 – And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So, she took her veil and covered herself.”

The ancestress Rebekah comes to us in a cloud of romance worthy of a movie script. Even on the page her voice seems lilting, her manner kind, her countenance too beautiful to be seen. The picture the Bible paints of the young Rebekah seems to come with hearts and flowers surrounding it. From the beginning, she is beloved. All the virtues of womanhood in her day seem to coalesce in her. She is chaste, courteous, helpful and trusting. We meet her when she has gone to the well at Nahor to draw water with the other women as evening approaches. Before we pick up the story in today’s verses, Abraham has sent a servant to scour the land to find a wife for his beloved son Isaac. Sarah has died and Isaac is nearing forty at this time and still unmarried and grieving for his mother. The servant Eliezar has prayed to God for help in his mission. No sooner does his amen flutter in the air than he sees Rebekah. He approaches her and she invites him home to meet her family. She offers food, protection, and water for all of his camels, water she apparently draws herself. That evening a bargain is struck for her to marry Isaac. Her family, she is Lot’s sister, is reluctant to let her go but comforted that she is in the family and seems willing. So, she and her nurse Deborah and her maids set off to meet Isaac. She spots him in the fields covers her face with a veil, as was the custom, and met Isaac, probably twenty years older than she. He is smitten immediately and takes her as his wife. The text tells us that he loved her. This is the first known monogamous marriage on record. It is not until twenty years later, however, that she is blessed with the twins Esau and Jacob and she feels that her life it complete. Now, lest we think of Rebekah as a kind of Hollywood stereotype, she has all of the same foibles that beset us all. She has a favorite child, Jacob, while Isaac favors Esau. She connives on Jacob’s behalf for him to trick his brother out of his birthright which sets up family drama and enmity that crosses millennia. When the two sons parted in fury, she did not see Jacob again in this life. Still, the one thing that was always true, through the thick and thin, Rebekah was always loved. Today think about this lovely ancestress. Have there been times for you when you left home to start a new life full of hope? Have you ever experienced love at first sight? Have you ever struggled with favoritism? Have you ever had to resort to trickery to get a blessing for someone you loved? Have you ever done something out of love that wound up having long term negative consequences? How did healing take place?

Prayer: God of love, help us today to see love, even at a distance, knowing that you yourself are Love. Help us to accept your love and, to the best of our ability, drink from its rich well. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

6. Rachel – The Loved One - Genesis 29:10-12 – Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.

The story of the much-loved Rachel is a dramatic one. The on-the-run Jacob first encountered her when she was tending her father’s sheep on a low-lying hillside near the ancestral home of Haran. She is the daughter of his mother’s brother, Laban. Jacob has fled nearly 500 miles from his home in Palestine to escape the murderous wrath of his brother Esau. He stops three shepherds to ask where he can find his uncle. He hopes to take refuge and work for Laban. The shepherds point out Rachel to him. He helped her water her sheep as his mother had helped to water his father’s camels. One of his first actions was to kiss Rachel and cry out loud. Some scholars suggest this was the respectful kiss of the hand in greetings. Others suggest that it was a kiss full of the inability to control himself that Jacob often displayed. In either case, we have here a picture of joyful meeting that will shape the future of the covenant people. Jacob returns with her to her father’s house and quickly asks for her hand in marriage. The bargain is struck that he will work for Laban for seven years as a shepherd in order to wed Rachel. This he did willingly. She was gregarious, beautiful, light-hearted and perhaps not as spiritually intuitive as some. Still, Jacob’s love for her lasted to the end of his life. But there was a problem, a problem in the form of an older sister, Leah, whose story we will examine tomorrow. Rachel eventually became mother of two of Jacob’s twelve sons, Joseph and Benjamin, who became the twelve tribes of Isael. Today think about the beautiful and always loved Rachel. Have you ever experienced the kind of devotion that Rachel experienced from Jacob? What was that like? When I think of Rachel I often think of the iconic photograph taken on VE day after World War II of the young soldier grabbing and kissing a woman on the street. Other than in a physical way, have you ever been responded to with unrestrained love or devotion? Perhaps that outpouring of love has not come from a spouse or partner, but maybe from a child who rushes into your arms at the end of the day. Even if you cannot identify a moment of wonder like that, know this for sure: God greets you with an even more lasting and profound love than Jacob offered Rachel, even when there are obstacles! Our job as we learn from Rachel, is to recognize that love, embrace it, live into it and do what we can to spread it.

Prayer: O God of Sudden Bursts of Love, help us today to see your love and respond to it. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

7. Leah – The Unloved One - Genesis 29:31- When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

As we saw yesterday, there was an obstacle in the love story of Jacob and Rachel. Rachel had an older sister and their father was devious. It was custom in the ancient near east at this time that daughters married according to birth order. Leah was the eldest. We learn through the complicated story of this family, that Leah was not as beautiful nor as outgoing as Rachel. She had weak eyes. We don’t know exactly what that means but it was significant enough to shape her identity. As for many of us, her defect informed how she saw the world with its beauties and its prejudices. The hints of her story that we find in the scripture indicate that she was probably a bit more introspective than her beautiful sister. Leah had a well-articulated prayer life and trusted God to be her comfort. Leah longed for Jacobs love. At the end of Jacob’s seven years of service to marry Rachel, Laban the girls’ father, tricked Jacob by sending into his tent a heavily veiled Leah instead. It was not until the morning that Jacob realized the deception. He then worked another seven years for Rachel. When Leah’s first son, Reuben was born, she cried out, “Surely the Lord has looked upon my affliction; now my husband will love me.” Gen. 29:32. There surely must have been tension between the two sisters. For many years Rachel was loved but remained childless and Leah was unloved but bore sons for Jacob. Leah believed that God had blessed her with sons. After her first four sons were born, Rachel could not bear her own barrenness any longer and so offered her handmaid as a surrogate. Her name was Bilhah, and she bore two sons for Jacob. Not to be outdone, Leah’s handmaid then bore two sons for Jacob. Then Leah bore two more sons and a daughter before Rachel bore her two sons and died in childbirth at the birth of Benjamin. God’s plan for the sisters included greatness but it came with hardship. Rachel for decades endured the pain of childlessness while watching her sister’s children play and grow strong. Leah endured the knowledge that her husband did not really love her, although it seems that a mutual respect grew between them. In all of this, for Leah, the true loving partner of her life was God. She attributed every blessing and every dried tear to God’s constant attention and vindication of her honor. She loved her children and her husband. She bore six of the twelve tribes of Israel and one lovely daughter whose story we will consider tomorrow. Today think about Leah. Have you ever thought that you had a defect of some sort that left you overlooked or unlovable? Have you ever known the pain of love not being reciprocated? What compensations has God offered to you when you were hurting? Have there been times of pain or rejection in your life that God has used to elevate you, or that were unexpectedly fruitful? Who are the “children” God has brought to you to comfort you in time of trouble? These could be people, pets, natural wonders, warm friends, or mentors. God can use just about anything to lift us when we are down. Think today about the endurance, faithfulness and love of Leah and see if you can see some of that in your own story as well.

Prayer: God of Everlasting Love, we thank you for your kindness and all the consolations that you bring into our times of difficulty. Help us to never lose our love for you. Open our eyes to your wondrous care. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

8. Dinah – The Abused One – Genesis 30:21 Afterwards she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

Leah and Jacob’s final child was their daughter Dinah. Sadly, her story is largely remembered from its darkest chapter. Over the years Jacob has prospered. As time passed, Jacob became homesick and, it seems, spiritually restless. The estrangement between himself and his twin Esau, from whom he tricked his father’s blessing has worn on him. He wants to go home but is afraid of the reception that awaits him. By the time we pick up Dinah’s story, Jacob has wrestled with God at Peniel, reconciled with Esau who has forgiven him, and his daughter is about fourteen years of age. This was marriageable age at that time. When Dinah’s story comes to center stage, the family caravan is encamped in the Shechem valley which was a pivotal migrant pathway between Mount Ebel and Mount Gerazim. This land was in Canaan and Jacob had business with Hamor and his sons who were in that area. Jacob buys a plot of land there and the family settle for a time. Once settled, Dinah wants to go to visit the women of the region. We are not told the reason she wants to do this but it seems natural for a young woman to seek out the company of other women as she settles with her family in a new place. As she is on her way everything changes. A prince of the region, son of Hamor, named Shechem saw her and was so struck by her beauty and innocence that he grabbed her and raped her. This is where the story gets complicated. The scriptures say that his soul was drawn to her, that he loved her, spoke tenderly to her and wanted to marry her. We have no idea how Dinah responded. Throughout the entire narrative she does not speak. Some commentators fill in the blanks as you would expect. Rape is rape and never an act of love and so they see her as outraged and brutalized. Others, drawing from Shechem’s emotions contend that this was a love at first sight story and that she met his emotions. That is hard for me to imagine but still some insist on it, perhaps to soften the horror of sexual violence which can, in actuality, never be softened. Even among God’s people at the time, women had little agency over their own bodies. We can hardly even imagine what Rachel’s and Leah’s handmaidens were required to endure for the sole reason of providing offspring for their mistresses. For whatever reason,  Dinah went with Shechem to his home. Hamor, the local tribal king and Shechem’s father, then meets with Jacob and sets the property terms of the marriage. Shechem is so enthralled that he agrees to pay anything. Dinah’s brothers, however, are outraged. It is not completely clear if the outrage is due to the rape, or the fact that Shechem and his people are uncircumcised. In any case, they demand that all the men of the city be circumcised. In a move that boggles the mind, the men agree. While they are recovering Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, go with swords and kill all of the men and bring Dinah home. She is not heard of again in the Old Testament. Today, think about Dinah. Have you ever felt on the brink of something wonderful and suddenly it all goes away due to no fault of your own? Have you ever been dealt with violently and had to submit to something against your will? Have you ever felt that you were rendered voiceless in your own life story? Have you ever had to deal with the consequences of the mixed motives of those who claimed to love you? Have you ever found yourself defined and remember by the worst thing that ever happened to you? Have you ever been a pawn in the games of the powerful? How are you like Dinah? How are you like the others in her story?

Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you that, by your grace, we are not defined by the worst that happens to us. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

9. Tamar – The One Who Insisted on Justice – Genesis 38:6 – Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.

The story of Tamar is another one that boggles the minds of those of us who cannot understand the sexual ethics of the ancestors. She is the daughter-in-law of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. To understand her life, we must understand the practice of levirate marriage. This custom, required by Mosaic law, was meant to insure the continuity of the chosen people, the promises of God and the retaining of property within the tribe. This law required that if a husband died before having male children, the husband’s brother was required to marry the widow and father children in the name of the dead husband if the two brothers were residing on the same family property. Such was the case with Tamar. When she had lost two husbands, the scripture declaring that both were slain because they displeased God, the younger remaining brother, supported by his father, refused to marry her, fearing the same fate would befall him. What is astounding in her story is that despite the tragedy and shame, she still stood up for her family rights to motherhood and protection. Some have described her as a wicked woman, but the Bible does not by its internal ethical code do so. What did she do that would lead modern readers to condemn her? After her mother-in-law died, she turned to her father-in-law to do the duties of the law for her. It is a tangled tale worthy of a thriller. When Judah goes out for sheep shearing, Tamar takes off her widows clothing, dresses in festive robes with a veil and stands on the side of the road where Judah will pass. Assuming her to be a prostitute he approaches her. She asks what he will pay. He promises to send a kid from his flock to her. She asks for an assurance, so he gives her his signet ring as a pledge. Three months later he is told that his daughter-in-law is pregnant from whoring, and he sends for her to have her burned to death, at which point she presents the signet ring. Judah could not deny its ownership and declares that, according to the law, as it was understood in those days, Tamar was more righteous than he was. She gives birth to twins, the elder of which becomes ancestor of King David. Some have sought to paint Tamar as a harlot, but they have done so using sexual ethics that were unknown to the ancestors. Rather, the scripture depicts her as a woman who insists on her lawful rights and is ingenious enough to use whatever tactics necessary to achieve them. There are other Tamars in scripture, perhaps named for their courageous ancestor who risked death for justice and the continuation of her family and the Promise as well. Today think about Tamar. Have there ever been times in your life when you found yourself denied justice? Have you ever had to strategize to accomplish a just cause? Have you ever used trickery to tame an injustice? Have you ever needed to risk your life to accomplish what you believed to be God’s will for you and the community? How have you acted with courage to deal with injustice? If you can identify moments like that, you can feel a bit of Tamar’s blood flow through your veins.

Prayer: Holy and Just God, help us today to have the courage we need to undo injustice wherever we find it. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

10. Potiphar’s Wife – The One Who Takes Revenge – Genesis 39:6-8b – So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and with him there he had no concern for anything but the food that they ate. Now Joseph was handsome and good looking. And after a time, his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”

The women in the Bible are often sexualized either to demean, discredit or depict them as sinners. In the case of Potiphar’s wife, the criticism seems justified. Many years have passed when we pick up the story in Genesis 39. This narrative takes place in the Joseph stories. Joseph was Jacob’s twelfth child and the first with the beloved Rachel. He was by all accounts his father’s favorite. He was the one who was given the multicolored coat with long sleeves. That was the final straw for his brothers who then threw him in a cistern and eventually sold him into slavery in Egypt. In Egypt he was a servant in the home of Potiphar who was the well-respected chief of the king’s bodyguards. Potiphar’s wife is pictured in ancient Egyptian sculptures and on the walls of tombs, as a woman dressed in fine linen with a jeweled belt and crown, painted lips, dark eyebrows and golden anklets. She was the picture of a privileged woman who was not accustomed to hearing the word no. She moved in a setting of elegance and splendor and, she thought that she deserved everything she wanted. In the scriptures there is no softening of her character. She is depicted throughout as wanton and unable to see others as more than objects brought to satisfy her desires. When her husband was away, she tried to seduce the younger Joseph who was the overseer of Potiphar’s household, particularly over his stables, chariots, grain stores and more. He had risen to a position of trust in the household. When Potiphar’s wife made her advances, Joseph resisted her saying that he would not do this wickedness and sin against God. Potiphar’s wife was outraged and continued to invite him to her room for days. Still, he resisted. Finally, one day when he fled from her, she caught his garment in her hand, pulled it from him and kept it. When Potiphar returned, she accused Joseph or trying to seduce her and used the garment as evidence. Her last words in scripture are this lie. As with all lies, someone always pays the price. In this one, it was Joseph who was thrown into prison. Potiphar’s wife is a picture of just how wanton extreme wealth and privilege can become. We see in her a person who thinks she is deserving of everything and cares nothing for what her lies do to others. She can admit no guilt and happily allows others to pay for her broken character. Think about Potiphar’s wife today. We don’t like to try to identify with her in anyway. And mercifully most often we do not. Still, we know that we have character defects as well that spiritual growth requires us to face and release. Has there ever been a time when your desires for something got out of bounds? Has there ever been a time when you refused to take no for an answer and then turned on the one opposing you? Has there ever been a time when you lied to protect yourself or your status and allowed someone else to be scapegoated? Can you, with a measure of humility, identify the ‘Potiphar’s wives’ at work in the world today? How have you resisted their wicked actions? How do you resist those tendencies in yourself?

Prayer: Gracious God, help us today to see any errors in our character that harm us or others. Help us to identify the lies that scapegoat others so that we can live and behave with integrity at all times.  In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

11. The Hebrew Midwives – Bringing Life to Life Exodus 1:15-21

 In the book of Exodus, we move into the stories of Moses, the winding process of the people’s redemption from slavery, and eventual entry into the land of promise. The midwives Puah and Shiphrah are pictures of wise resistance. By the time we pick up the story, Joseph has been exonerated. He and his brothers have reconciled and the whole family has come to Egypt to find refuge from famine. They prosper there. Eventually Joseph dies and a new Pharoah arises who does not remember the honorable Joseph. All he knows is that the Hebrew people are growing numerous. They are vigorous and prolific. The land was filled with them. This is always a threat to unjust or unexamined power. When the new Pharoah saw that the Hebrew people are growing in numbers and strength, he spreads the fear filled word to his people that the Hebrew are more numerous and strong than his own people so they must be restrained and controlled lest they weaken Pharoah’s power and control. So, he forces them into hard labor to build great cities. The regime placed harsh taskmasters over the Hebrews and made their lives exceedingly bitter. Those in power were ruthless in their treatment of people they saw as outsiders and whose strength and vigor they feared. In that context of xenophobia and political fear, the king calls the midwives to him and orders them to kill all the sons of the Hebrews at birth. Whether they agreed or not at that time, we do not know. What we do know is that they refused to comply. Eventually, the king called them in and asked them why they had allowed the boys to live. The woman essentially told the king that they couldn’t help it. They said that the Hebrew women were not like the Egyptian women. They were so strong that by the time the midwives arrived at the birthing, the babies were already born healthy and swaddled. We are told that God loved this and dealt well with the midwives. So much so that the Hebrew people continued to grow strong. When his plan with the midwives did not work, the king ordered all his people to throw every son of the Hebrews into the Nile to drown but to spare the daughters. Systemic oppression often results in genocide in one way or another. Labeling of others as different or a threat is the first step in escalating tragedy. Puah and Shiphrah would have none of it. They refused to participate in the evil self-serving orders of the powerful no matter what. In so doing they saved countless lives. I cannot help today thinking about the suffering in Gaza, and in our own detention camps. We know even today that fearful power will do anything. In the stories of these tough little Hebrew midwives, we learn that God is pleased with their resistance. Today think about Puah and Shiphrah. How can you act to support those who are being scapegoated due to the fears of the powerful? In what ways can you resist harsh conditions imposed on others? What skills do you have that you can put to work for the good of people? How can you act with bravery when asked to do the unconscionable thing? Is there a small action for the sake of the oppressed that you can take today?

Prayer: God of Mercy, help us today to use the skills, gifts and resources you have given us on behalf of those who are being harmed or exploited. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

12. Jochebed - The Mother of Moses – Exodus 2:1-4 – Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.

Immediately after the story of Puah and Shiphrah’s resistance we come to the story of the birth of Moses, the greatest hero of the Old Testament. Jochebed was the mother of Moses, Miriam and Aaron. Her husband was Amran of the House of Levi. Traditionally she is seen as a mother who has learned to trust her creator in all things. She is so united with the promises of God that she is absorbed with them and exhilarated by them. Descended from the tribe of Levi, she handed down the priestly traditions to her children. Aaron was set apart to be a priest and is considered the bedrock example of the Hebrew priesthood which he practiced for forty years. Her daughter Miriam led the people in song and dance when they crossed the Red Sea and, of course Moses was the great lawgiver and statesman of the people. Today we pick up Jochebed’s story as a young woman and mother in the time when male babies were condemned to die at birth by the order of Pharoah. The facts around her life are difficult to trace. Some suggest that Jochebed was an ancestor of Moses and not his mother, although many names are repeated through generations. Regardless of her name, today we will consider Moses mother. By name she is only mentioned twice in the scriptures, but her stature is not obscured by this fact. In today’s story we see her as the wise and determined mother who does what has to be done to save her child. We do not know how she managed to save Moses for his first three months. Perhaps Puah and Shiphrah played a role. Perhaps she just hid in her home. But by the time he was three months she knew she could no longer take the risk of hiding him. So, she placed her baby in a floating basket and put him into the Nile in the hope that he might be rescued and protected in ways that she could not offer. What faith and courage she must have had while weaving and preparing that sacred little basket! With the help of her older daughter Miriam, she set the basket afloat and set Miriam to keep watch at the spot in the river where Pharoah’s daughter was known to bathe. We will look at more of the story tomorrow when we get a glimpse of the role of the Egyptian princess. Today thing about Jochebed. Have you ever needed to hatch a dangerous plan to safeguard someone or something you loved and valued? Have you experienced or observed a mother of faith making a path for her child to live out God’s call? What are the qualities of ingenuity and faith have you seen in others? In yourself? What are some of the ‘offspring’ of your faith? How can you protect them?

Prayer: God of Creativity and Grace, help us today to have the courage and faith of Jochebed so that we may protect the vulnerable to the best of our ability. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen

13. The Princess of Egypt – The Rescuer – Exodus 2:5 – The daughter of the Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews children,” she said.

When the baby Moses was set afloat in the Nile river by his mother with his sister standing watch, it was not too long before a rescuer arrived in the person of the princess of Egypt. We know little of her story. We can image that she grew up with wealth and ease. Those qualities that distorted her father’s values did not seem to do so with her. More than anything she is remembered for her compassion and willingness to rescue and raise the child Moses. When she and her entourage arrived at the river to bathe, she spotted the baby in the basket among the reeds. The baby was crying, and she was moved with pity for him. When her attendants went to bring the crying infant to her she realized that he must be one of the Hebrew’s children. At this point Miriam jumps from her hiding place and asks if the princess would like her to find a wet nurse for her. The princess agrees and vows to pay the nursing mom until the child grew up enough to come and live with her in the palace. So, Miriam takes the baby to his own mother who nurses him and nurtures him until he is old enough to be presented to Pharoah’s daughter. The princess takes him as her own son, and he is raised in the mansions of Pharoah as a prince of Egypt. The princess names the child Moses. That word resembles the word for drew. She names him Moses because she drew him from the river. She is not heard from again in the scriptures. Today think about the princess of Egypt. Have you ever been moved with pity in an unexpected way? She is a person who seems to lack the cultural and familial prejudices of her day. Have you ever come into contact with someone like that? How can you be more like that? She is also a person remembered for her compassion and her faithfulness to the promises she made. Can you think of times when you have been like her in those qualities? Have there been times when you felt those qualities were lacking?

Prayer: Of God of Compassion, help us to be like this princess, people of compassion and integrity. Help us to see need where it exists and do what we can to alleviate it. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

14. Zipporah – The Wife of Moses – Exodus 2:21 – Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage.

Many years have passed since the baby Moses was found in the bullrushes by the Egyptian princess. Moses grew up strong and prosperous as a prince in Pharoah’s house. His destiny seemed assured. The scriptures tell us nothing about those years. After he was grown, he went out and saw the forced labor of the Hebrew people. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and was moved with fury. It is not entirely clear what he had been taught about his birth or heritage. It is clear in the text that he recognized that these were his people that his adopted family was exploiting and beating. When he saw this he looked around to see if anyone was watching and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian overseer and buried him in the sand. A few days later he saw two Hebrew men fighting and tried to break it up only to discover that they had seen, or heard about, the murder. In fear, he fled his home and settled in the land of Midian, where the priest of Midian, Jethro, had seven daughters. One day he came across the women tending their father’s sheep and he helped them water their flocks. When the women returned to their father and told him what had happened, he invited Moses to dinner. Afterwards he offered his daughter Zipporah to Moses as a wife. She bore him two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. Moses went to work for his father-in-law. He was doing that work when he learned of the death of the Egyptian king and the even harsher treatment of the Hebrew people. God then, from a burning bush, told Moses to go back to Egypt and find a way to set the people free. We know little about Moses and Zipporah’s marriage. Some suggest it was contentious due to their differing religions, but I don’t see much in the record to support that, except that it is assumed that it was her objection that prevented the two sons from being circumcised on the appropriate day. They were however eventually circumcised, with Zipporah performing one of the surgeries herself while Moses was deathly ill on their journey to Egypt. She was present at Mt Horeb with her sons. Sadly, Zipporah is never given a voice in scriptures. Some of the commentators who suppose it was a contentious marriage, claim that she was rebellious and lacked spiritual depth. Perhaps so. But perhaps she was a woman in a man’s world who had trouble adapting to a new religion, new family arrangement, and the life-threatening assignment upon which God sent her husband. Still, when the chips were down, she did for her husband what he longed for, circumcised his sons. When he was not able, she did it herself. Today think about Zipporah. Have you ever had a chance encounter that changed your entire life and circumstances? Have you ever struggled to accommodate the beliefs of others without losing yourself in the process? Have you ever followed a spouse, leaving family and friends behind, because that one had a new job? Have you ever struggled with your identity and expected it to be defined by others? Put yourself in her shoes for a moment. If you were her voice, what might you say?

Prayer: Gracious God, help us today to adapt as we need to in order to face change. Help us to hold on to what is fundamental and to release what we must for the sake of others. Help us to follow when we do not understand. Equip us to do your will even if it seems outlandish. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen. 

15. Miriam – The Oldest Fragment – Exodus 15:20-21 – Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them: Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Miriam is the full human package. She is a guardian of the young Moses a leader of the people, a singer, and a dancer. She is a sibling who later opposes her brother about his foreign wife, and is envious of his position. She is later healed of leprosy by her Moses. She is jealous and strong-willed. She is the first woman in the Bible whose interests were national and not just personal, whose life mission she saw as patriotic. She was brilliant and courageous. She was poised and quick thinking. She was deeply faithful. The oldest fragment of the scriptures ever found contains the song she led the people to sing after they passed through the Red Sea from slavery to the hard work of becoming free. When she led the women of Israel in this song of liberation it was a turning point in Israel’s religious development. She became known as a prophetess. There is no mention of her marriage, although tradition says she married Hur, who with Aaron, held up Moses arms holding the staff of God when he became tired during battle. Still, there is no mention of such a marriage in the scripture. The final scene of Miriam’s life takes place in Kadesh, probably in the Wilderness of Zin. She dies there and like her brothers, does not reach the Promised Land. After her death her funeral was celebrated solemnly for thirty days. She died in the wilderness but her song of exultation to the Lord that signaled Israel’s freedom has never died. Today think about Miriam. She is the first woman singer on record. Have there been moments when you, like Miriam, felt like bursting into song at the wonders of God’s goodness toward you? Have there been times when you became envious over not getting credit that you thought you deserved? Did that envy in any way make you a bit sick? Think about a moment when you realized that your faith was not only personal but also had profound implications for your national life? Can you think of a time when you felt released from some sort of bondage and felt like dancing in the streets. Your ancestor Miriam taught you that. Give thanks.

Prayer: Redeemer God, we sing and dance our praise to you today. You release us from bondage, and we are learning to live free! In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

16. Daughters of Zelophehad – Game Changers -Numbers 27:4 – “Why should the name of our fathers be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.

We meet the five daughters of Zelophehad, Mahah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah in the book of Numbers. To understand their extraordinary role in our family story we need to examine some of the laws in the day surrounding inheritance. In the ancient Near east of their time, women had no property rights. If a father died leaving no sons, his daughters received nothing, and all the deceased property was distributed to his brothers or other male relatives. They were the first women to challenge these rights. The five of them marched before Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the whole congregation to state their case publicly. They had to establish that their father, who had died in the wilderness, had not been in the company of Korah who had rebelled against Moses and fled with his compatriots to the wilderness. Once that was established they got to the interesting and groundbreaking legal argument upon which they stood. They argued that the laws were unjust as they robbed their father of the continuation of his name simply because he had no sons. This was so perplexing to Moses that Moses adjourned court and went away to pray. Moses asked God what was the right thing to rule and apparently God said that the women were in the right because Moses comes back into the court assembly and declared “The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them.” Moses goes on to speak to all of the people saying, “If a man dies and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his daughter. If he has no daughter, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his brothers.” He continues the new law down the line of inheritance in the extended family. The daughters of Zelophehad had filed one of the first lawsuits on record. Jurists to this day still turn to it for guidance declaring that it is the oldest decided case. In Feb. 1924 in the Journal of the American Bar Association, Henry C. Clark describes this case as an early declaratory judgment in which the property rights of women married outside their tribe are clearly set forth.” In effect, the courage of these women allowed in the Mosaic law for the first time for women to be numbered among human beings. Of course, appeals were raised, largely around what would happen if women married outside of their tribes. The gist of the ruling was that the women could marry whomever they wished within the broader family of their father’s tribe. The reasoning for this ruling, which only applied to heiresses, was to avoid the accumulation of too much wealth in any one tribe. These rulings made a lasting difference for many, and they still do. Today’s scripture also reminds us that God always takes the side of justice and equity; and when consulted will always lead to just and equitable decisions. Today think about the five daughters of Zelophehad. Have you ever had to stand up for your rights in court or otherwise? Can you imagine the courage it took for these women to stand before the powerful and declare, in essence, that they too were fully human and entitled to the rights denied them by their gender? Have you ever felt moved to fight unjust laws that objectified some for the benefit of others? If so, then the courage of these ancestors runs through you.

Prayer: Great God of the just cause, help us today to stand up for ourselves, if need be, and for any who are demonized and denied just rights. Give us the courage of our ancestors to do what has to be done. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

17. Rahab – A Woman of Faith – Joshua 2:1-4 – Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So, they went and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and spent the night there. The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out the land.” But the woman took the two men and hid them.

Our ancestor Rahab, mentioned in both the Old Testament and the New, is identified as ‘the harlot.’ As is sometimes unjustly the case for all of us, she was largely defined by her most problematic decisions. Still, even with that, she is remembered not for her profession, but for her faith, humanity and ingenuity. Her story unfolds in the great walled city of Jericho. Known as The City of Palms, Jericho was surrounded by two huge walls. Recent archeological finds have discovered that there was a space of 12 to 15 feet between them. Houses supported by large timbers were built between the two walls. Rahab’s house was one of those. Her story unfolds in a time of military battle and intrigue. Joshua, Moses’ successor, and his army made plans to advance to Jericho on their long journey from slavery in Egypt to the land of Promise. Jericho commanded the entrance to Palestine from the east. While encamped at Shittim, two spies were sent from Joshua to scope out the situation. Because of the strategic situation of Rahab’s house, the spies hastened to it. Word spread to the king of Jericho that Israelite spies were in the city. The king’s men went to Rahab to arrest them, but she lied about their presence and sent the guards on a wild goose chase. She then lowered the spies on ropes from her house and sent them to safety in the opposite direction. First, she extracted a promise from the spies that if Joshua’s army did advance on Jericho that she and her family would be spared their lives and allowed to join with the Israelites. There are two traditions about what happened to Rahab next. One says that she became the wife of Joshua. Another says that she became the wife of Prince Salmon, who may have been one of the spies. If that is so she was the mother of Boaz who married Ruth and became the ancestor of David. She is listed in the book of Hebrews as one of only two women, along with Sarah, in the list of the faithful. (Heb. 11:31)Some of the early rabbis do not refer to Rahab as a harlot but rather an innkeeper. Often innkeepers were not the most moral of the community and sometimes called harlots. In either case, that is not what matters. She was a women of faith. She was kind and ingenious and she risked her life for strangers in trouble for what she believed as a noble cause. Today think about Rahab. Have there been times in your life during which you felt compelled to act for someone in danger? Do you think it is ever proper to lie to protect a life? Have you ever found that you were labeled by your worst behavior? Have there been moments when you turned your life around? If so, you are a bit like Rahab, who is listed in the genealogy of Jesus.

Prayer: Gracious God, help us today to have the courage of Rahab to protect others from harm, and, if needed, to turn our own lives around. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

18. Deborah – A Judge of Israel – Judges 4:4 – At that time Deborah, a prophet, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel.

We find Deborah’s story in the first part of the book of Judges. The time covered in this book, sometimes called the conquest of the land, was bloody and dangerous. When the Israelites crossed over the Jordan river to claim the Promised Land, they found that many other peoples who did not know Israel’s God, or care to, already lived there. This part of our history, rife with blood if not genocide, can feel repugnant to us today. At that time, however, the people, weary from wilderness wandering, longed for a home of their own and believed that God had set aside that land for them and them alone. Scholars tell us that the conquest was not always as bloody as it seems, but it was still a battle. At this time, Israel had refused the typical hierarchy of the rule of kings. They claimed that God alone was their king, and they would follow no other. At the same time, they realized that in times of change and conflict they needed rulers. So, they trusted that when the moment arose, God would raise up a charismatic and God empowered leader for them in order to meet that moment. They called those leaders judges. While they did have a judicial role, they also led the people into battle when called up. Judges were affirmed by the people as what we would today called political leaders. Deborah is the only woman in the Bible who was placed in political leadership by the common consent of the people. She was a prophetess which meant that she was so attuned to the ways of God that she could tell where things were headed and speak of God’s desires. Tradition says that before her elevation to leadership, she was a keeper of the tabernacle lamps. She was a counselor and sat under a palm tree near her home and saw those who needed her counsel. She was an astute observer and counselor of peace.  People came from all over the area to seek her guidance. Still, her greatest service to her people came in time of war. When the men of Israel paled in fear at the threat of invasion, she summoned the great military strategist Barak to help her plan. Together they led her army into battle. She had religious zeal and patriotic fervor, and some have said of her that she became the magnificent personification of the free spirit of the people of Israel. We will see more of her story tomorrow with a story within the story. Today, think about Deborah. Have you ever felt elevated to service in a time of crisis? Even if you would have preferred to sit under your ‘palm tree’ and counsel people to peace? Have you ever had moments of spiritual insight that seemed to push you from one role to another? Have you ever felt like you needed help to do what you believed God desired and sought out the best and brightest to help you? Have you ever overcome your fear and done what you never dreamed possible? If so you, you are a bit like Deborah who is remembered as one of the most powerful spiritual and political leaders of the Hebrew scriptures.

Prayer: God of Peace, help us today to seek peace in all things. When we find that that is not possible, help us to be our best selves and do what we can to restore peace by the means that we have in our control. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

19. Jael – A Woman who Breaks the Rules for her Faith – Judges 4:17 – Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite.

Within the story of Deborah, we meet another remarkable woman who did what she believed had to be done for her people even though the action went against a deeply cherished ethical norm. When Deborah called on Barak to go out against the Canaanite king’s far superior army with chariots and multitudes, Barak told her that he would go but not without her by his side. She managed to convince Barak that God would deliver the Canaanite army to them and restore people to the land. So they rode out together.  King Jabin’s commander was a noted warrior named Sisera. A crippling storm arose with floods and mud slides that stuck Sisera’s chariots and made it impossible for his archers and swordsmen to fight effectively. Sisera, abandoning his mighty chariot ran for his life through the blinding rain. He managed to reach the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite. Because the Kenites had been at peace with Sisera’s tribe, he thought he would be safe there when Jael came out and offered him hospitality. Yet, while he lay sleeping, she took a tent peg and a hammer and drove it through his skull killing him instantly. What made her action more storied that one would think, is that she chose to violate an immutable law of desert peoples at the time, the law of hospitality to the stranger. When invited into someone’s tent, it was assumed that not only would one be safe and provided for, but that the host would never surrender the guest to harm for any reason. Jael is revered in our family story, not for her brutality of course. It was a brutal time. Rather, she is extoled by Deborah for her courage to break societal norms for the greater good. The death of Sisera, which Jael credited to God, (always a dangerous practice but nonetheless) led to a time of peace and deepening devotion to God. Today think about Jael. Has there been a time in your life when you had to sacrifice a cultural norm, one that you cherished and believed in, in order to further the common good? We are not always commended for those actions as Jael was. Nor do our attempts always lead to peace and security. If you have been in a Jael-like situation, what were the outcomes? Try to put aside the violence of Jael’s action as you consider her. Most of us have not been called to that except, perhaps in times of war. Still, we are often called to express our faith in ways the culture does not understand or generally affirm. Have you ever felt compelled to something like civil disobedience to further the common good? If so, there is a bit of Jael in you. I hope, however, that you will keep your hammer and tent peg at home!

Prayer: God of surprising callings, help us to sort clearly and cleverly what your priorities are and what our role is in furthering the common good. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen,

20. Jephthah’s Daughter - Noble Obedience – Judges 11:34 – Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah, and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her.

Every family album inevitably contains a picture, or several, of downright tragedy. Jephthah’s daughter is one such picture. Barely a century has passed since the dynamic national wins during the time of Deborah and Barak. The people once freed by the judges now have fallen into idolatry and are threatened with foreign domination again. It is into this time that the picture of a father and daughter come into the story. The father, Jephthah, was known as a faithful man of valor in a time or twisting allegiances. His daughter is painted as a woman of such reverence for God that she was willing to lay down her life at God’s bidding and for the sake of her people. Jephthah’s early life was a bit of a muddle. He was the son of a great leader, Gilead, who ruled over the area of that name. His mother was a foreigner referred to as a harlot. Because of his parentage, at one point his father sends him away into the nearby country of Tob. He became the leader of a cohort of freewheeling raiders. When war broke out between the Ammonites and the Gileadites, the later sought him as their leader. He consented only after a solemn covenant was signed. He led his small army into battle. At one point the troops became discouraged and Jephthah  made a public vow to God. It was a rash and reckless promise, but typical of the time. He vowed that if God would give him victory that whoever was the first from his home to come out to greet him, he would give as a burnt offering to God. He wins and goes home to fulfill his pledge only to have his only child, his daughter rush from the house to greet him. He had thought a servant or a dog would rush to greet him. Not his beloved daughter. But there she was and an oath to God could not be taken back. When he tells her what has happened, she submits with a beautiful, almost lush faith in God and in her father. It seems that the crisis she faced dawned on her slowly, but when it did she asked her father for two months to go the mountains to spiritually prepare herself with her friends. The text says that they go forth to bewail her virginity. As I see it, that is a way of acknowledging that her hopes and dreams for a family and an honorable life had to be mourned by herself and those who loved her. When she returned, her father did with her as he had vowed, not only cutting off her dreams but also putting an end to his family name as well. It is natural for us to recoil at this story, to berate the father’s recklessness and even to bewail her submission. It is natural for us to wonder what kind of monster Jephthah thought his God was to think such a sacrifice was needed or desired. And yet, if we look deeply beneath the ancient and foreign mindset of the story, I expect we too have had moments when we made rash promises that we have come to regret and yet cannot escape the consequences of them. Some few commentators, reflecting on a rather obscure phrase in the story, suggest that during her two-month absence, her father reflected and found a way around the deadly aspect of the vow and rather gave her to God as a celibate servant in the Lord’s sanctuary. We simply do not know. Think today about this daughter. The scriptures portray her as a woman who trusted herself to God come what may in her life. She asked for a time of spiritual strengthening in order to face her fate. Time and again I have seen, in my long ministry, parishioners who get a dire diagnosis and spend the days immediately after in a kind of retreat in which they gather strength and find a deep peace that neither chemo nor death can shake. Have there been times like that for you? Times when all your plans fell down. Times when there was nothing left to do except to gather inner strength and trust God to draw near you and help you face what comes? If so, you have lived a bit of this woman’s wisdom. You have not allowed her legacy to disappear from the earth, even though the text itself never gives us her name.

Prayer: Gracious God, sometimes we read the wild words of ancient scripture and get lost in a foreign land, time and mindset. Yet in even the hardest of texts, if we dig we find the smell of grace and accompaniment in time of trouble. Thank you. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

21. Delilah – The Downfall of Samson – Judges 16:4 – After this he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.

Even as we all have stories of tragedy in our lineages, we also have no few stories of varmints, cads and horse thieves. Even from them we have something to learn. Delilah is one of those. The picture we get of her from scripture is almost a caricature of the horrible lengths to which evil energy will go to accomplish its ends. From her we can learn both a path not to take, and the consequences of making our choices from a selfish point of view. The ancient rabbis generally suggest that she was a Philistine who lived in the Valley of Sorek, a brook valley that cut through the foothills between the Philistine plains and the highlands of Judah. The Philistine’s long hated Judah and wanted to diminish its strength. Enter the beloved and heroic judge of Judah, Samson. Yet Samson had a problem. He was long on physical strength but short on willpower and moral resistance. The Philistines knew this and sought to work his ruin through the exotically beautiful Delilah. He had at one time been married to a Philistine woman, answering the objections of his Godly parents by simply saying, “She pleases me.” She was a trial in the long run, weeping and being unfaithful. He was also known to frequent a harlot in the region. The Bible indicates that both of these women in some way victimized Samson. The worst of the three was Delilah. Please remember, that while inspired, most of the stories in the Bible we have of women are told in the voices of the men who decided their futures and the lens through which we should remember them. The stories of their complexity are largely lost to us. Whatever the rest of the story might be, Samson, in her presence, became a slave to his passions. His vow to God to protect Judah from the Philistines melted in the arms of the ruthless and alluring Philistine, Delilah. He was undone and completely blind to her deceit and determination to discover the secret of his strength. Day after day while he lay helpless in her arms she pressed him to discover the answer to his remarkable physical strength. When she finally learns the secret, his long hair, that he kept all his life as part of a vow made to God, it was no challenge to render him helpless and have a compatriot cut the hair off, leaving him broken, useless to God’s purpose for him. With his strength gone, the Philistines fell on him and gouged out his eyes. As the Philistine’s celebrated their victory, they called Samson to entertain them. In his pain and fury Samson called on God to pay back the Philistines. He then leaned his full weight on the pillars holding up the place. It came crashing down, killing many present, including Samson. We do not know Delilah’s fate, but she was likely present as well. It is impossible to tell for certain how much of this story is historical and how much is metaphorical. In either case, the moral is the same. Moral weakness leads to destruction and the foreclosure of one’s holy purpose. Further, complicity in the downfall of others, leaves a mark on the soul that becomes attached to one’s name forever. Think today about Delilah. Did she act from patriotic fervor or for money in your opinion? Have you ever used whatever gifts you have to deceive and hurt others? Are there moral choices in your life that leave you open to deception, appetites or certainties that make you either willing to do anything, or vulnerable to manipulation? What have you seen as consequences for the kinds of choices both Samson and Delilah made? Where are you yourself vulnerable to crossing the lines? Take a moment today to pray that God protect you from harming others and give you insight into any destructively manipulative habits in your life that need to change.

Prayer: Great God of Life Lessons, help us today to notice when we fall into manipulative actions. Help us to see what passions have come to destructively rule us, so that we may honor our vows to be your people with integrity. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

22. Naomi – A Migrant Mom – Ruth 1:3 – But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.

Also, during the bloody and turbulent period of the Judges we find a poignant pastoral story of a family’s triumphs and tragedies in the book of Ruth. Naomi was born in Bethlehem and, as far as we can tell, lived a normal and contented woman’s life in those days. She married a man named Elimelech and was the mother of two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. She seemed to have everything she dreamed of until famine hit the land. The family made the hard and lifesaving decision to leave their home and go to the neighboring country of Moab where they had heard that things were better. So, the family moved to a well-watered area in the highlands of Moab east of the Dead Sea. They settled there. The sons grew up and in time married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. We don’t know what happened, but we are told that Elimelech and both sons died. Was it a horrible accident in which all three were killed? Was it disease? Was it just the toll taken by a hard agrarian life? We don’t know. We can assume that it was not too long after the sons marriages as neither Ruth nor Orpah had children. What we do know for sure, is that widows without the protection of extended family were both vulnerable and shamed. People thought that to be left a widow was a judgment from God for the remaining spouse’s sin. There was little opportunity for widows to earn a living, and it was not generally possible for them to own land or start a business. We know that Naomi took her tragedies very hard. How could she not? Her grief was overwhelming, so overwhelming that she changed her name to Mara, which means bitterness. We don’t know how long the three women remained where they were lost in grief and despair. The next thing we see is Naomi deciding that she should return to Bethlehem in the hope that a family member will take pity on her and take her into his household. She has heard somehow that the famine had ended and there was the hope of food and shelter. The three women leave together to make the journey. However, Naomi does everything in her power to get the younger women to turn back. She urges both Orpah and Ruth to go back to their father’s houses where their birth families might find new husbands for them. She begs them, orders them to go home, and prays that God will deal as favorably with them as they have with her. It is clear that there is real affection between the three. At first Orpah and Ruth refuse. They want to go with her to her people whatever may await them. As Naomi’s arguments and commands grew more fervent, and rational, the three stopped in the road and wept together. We will look at what happens next over the next two days, and we think about Orpah and Ruth. Today think a bit about Naomi’s journey to this point. Her young life started with promise and a kind of contented hominess. Then suddenly everything changed, and she found herself helpless and grieving. Have you ever had a moment like that? When you thought you had your ducks all in a row? When you thought your life was on track? When you were content with your family and your place in your community? Have you ever been blindsided by change or grief or rejection? Have you ever suddenly lost your means of support, either financially or emotionally? Have you ever hit hard times and had to leave your home to try to provide a life for your family in another land? Have you ever suffered so long, or grieved so heartily, that you wondered if God had turned on you? Have you ever had a time when your pain seemed to overtake you to the point that it became your whole identity, Bitterness? Have you ever had to make life and death decisions feeling that nothing looked right and you didn’t know if you had it in you? Have you ever felt that the loyalty of those who loved you was not good for them, that their caregiving of you was not in their best interest? Have you ever felt that life was over, that there are no good days left and wondered if even ‘home’ would accept you? If you have then you can identify with where Naomi is at this point in the story, but just hold on! God was not finished with Naomi and God is not finished with you.

Prayer: Gracious God, sometimes our grief piles up on us and we don’t know what to do. We wonder if we have the strength to face an uncertain future. We even wonder if you have turned your back on us. Help us today, to hold on, as Naomi did. Help us to put one foot after the other. New life is right around the corner. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

23. Orpah – A Daughter-in-Law Who Obeys – Ruth 1:4 – These took Moabite wives; the name of one was Orpah and the name of the other was Ruth.

Orpah’s story is brief and often overlooked. We know nothing of her family or her religion. Did she, in quiet, hold to her Moabite religion or did she convert whole heartedly to that of her husband who was of the tribe of Benjamin? Did she love yellow? Did she make a fabulous lamb stew? Was she gifted as a seamstress? Did she keep the farm animals? Did she weave and dream of more? Did she listen with an open heart to the story of God with the people of Israel? We don’t know. What we do know is that she was a young woman who knew grief and was devoted to her mother-in-law Naomi. And we know one more thing as well. She was obedient and respectful of the traditions of the elders. When tragedy struck, Naomi was left as head of the household. Orpah, as she tried to put her life back together, seems to have transferred the loyalty she had for her husband to her mother-in-law. When Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, Orpah was ready to stay by her side and go with her. The custom in those days, under the circumstances, would have been exactly what Naomi urged. The young women would return to their birth families, to their mother’s house, to the protection of their fathers, who would find new husbands for them. But for reasons we must read between the lines, Orpah did not do that. On the long foot journey to Bethlehem, Naomi continued to urge the young widows to go home. Somewhere along the way, Orpah agreed. They kissed each other, wept, and she left Naomi and Ruth to their futures and went home to her mother’s house We do not know what became of her. What we learn from Orpah is that obedience to her mother-in-law’s request was more important to her than the affection that kept her close. Sometimes the greatest affection we can show someone who loves us and has our best interests at heart, is to do what they ask of us, knowing that the request is rooted in love and a wisdom we may lack. Think today about Orpah, have you ever felt compelled to be obedient when your heart tugged in a different direction? Have you ever had to wrestle with a fork in the road? What helped you make that decision? How do you listen to the wisdom of the elders when you are confused or hurting? Have you ever chosen to forge your own path when those closest to you made a different choice? It is important as we think about Orpah that we remember that, just as we will see tomorrow with Ruth, sometimes there is more than one faithful option before us. Orpah gives us a picture of a person who is obedient and trusts in tradition. There are times in our lives when this ancestor has much to teach us as well.

Prayer: God of Many Paths, we thank you that you give each of us a chance to make choices in times of trouble. We thank you for Orpah’s lessons in respect and obedience where it is due. Help us to discern those that we can trust to lead us and make our choices accordingly. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

24. Ruth – The Unshakeoffable One - Ruth 1:4 – These took Moabite wives; the name of one was Orpah and the name of the other was Ruth.

The story of the Moabite widow Ruth, who becomes the ancestress of King David and ultimately of Jesus, is richly drawn in the book of the Bible that carries her name. She, with her mother-in-law Naomi and sister-in-law Orpah, find themselves facing tragedy and an uncertain future. All three unexpected widows must find a way to survive in a world that was not always kind to widows. Naomi is from Bethlehem and decides to go home there. Is she searching for life and protection? Does she just want to go home and die? The depths of her motives are left to our holy imagination. On the journey, Naomi, urges the young women to go home to their birth families. Eventually Orpah obeys and Ruth utters some of the most profound and beautiful words ever uttered. These words are often read in wedding services today, even though they are spoke from a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. Read them now and see if you can open your heart to the majesty of them. “Do not press me to leave you, or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus with me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” With those words, Naomi gives up her urging of  Ruth to return to her mother’s house and the two continue their journey to Bethlehem. We are told that they arrive at harvest time. This little note interjects a wonderful hopefulness into the story. In a hilarious turn, Naomi orchestrates a plan to offer Ruth as a wife to her kinsman Boaz. It is a boisterous and bawdy plan that works. Ruth and Boaz happily marry, and she becomes the mother of Obed who is the father of Jesse who is the father of King David. Matthew includes her in the genealogy of Jesus. What is most striking to me is that Ruth is the only human being in the Hebrew scriptures of whom the word ‘hesed’ is used. In all other incidents it is used to describe God’s faithfulness and steadfast love. I translate hesed as ‘un-shake-off-able-ness. In using the word to describe Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi, the biblical writers give us a glimpse of how that quality of God can be manifest in us as well. Today think about Ruth. Have you ever found yourself showing Ruth’s kind of steadfastness? Perhaps it is easier to see it in others when we can identify it in God. How have you experienced God faithfully sticking by your side no matter the circumstances? Have you ever seen that best by looking back? What is important to remember is that human faithful, steadfast love is modeled on God’s own steadfast love of us. God will not allow us to shake God off. It is a promise.

Prayer: O God of steadfast love, help us to cleave to you as you cleave to us. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

25. Hannah – A Woman Who Prays for a Child – 1 Samuel 1:2 - He had two wives; the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Hannah is presented in the Hebrew scriptures as an ideal for motherhood and devotion. She is the mother of Samuel, one of the greatest Hebrew prophets and the last of the “judges of Israel.” Her story is found in the first two chapters of the first Bible book named after her son. It is a story filled with love, care, confidence and expectation. She was a woman of prayer in a time that was not conducive to prayer. Israel had lapsed in both devotion to the law of Moses, and the morality that law inspired. Her husband, Elkanah was a good but easy-going priest. Remember that polygamy was common and accepted in those days and Elkanah had another wife named Penninnah. Penninnah had children but Hannah did not. Still, she believed to her core that God would open her womb and give her a child. She prayed for this blessing constantly. Each year she went from her home in Ramah to the temple of Shiloh to pray for a child. Although we are told that she was her husband’s favorite wife, the journeys to Shiloh each autumn were difficult for her. The whole family made the trek alongside many other families. Hannah saw the children and their parents, and Penninnah and her children.  The ache in her only grew. When Elkanah made the required sacrifices he gave portions to Penninnah and their children and a worthy, but smaller, portion to Hannah since she had no children. Penninnah was jealous of Hannah and taunted her on the journey. Hannah never returned hurt for hurt. On one fateful trip, it all became too much for Hannah. She wept and refused to eat. Elkanah was distraught and tried to comfort her, asking if he was not more to her than ten sons. We don’t have her response. We do know that she rose and went to the sanctuary where she poured her soul out to God. In her prayer she promises that if she has a male child she will dedicate him to God’s service. Eli, the priest at Shiloh, sees her and thinks she is drunk. She then tells him of her sorrow and Eli joined with her in prayer. Her prayer was answered, and Samuel was born. Her song of joy is one of the most beautiful and heartfelt in all of scripture. Hannah is true to her promise to God regarding her son. As soon as he was weaned, she began to train him for his role in the priesthood. She dressed him in a special gown and took him to the tabernacle where she would leave him in the care of Eli. When she had done this, she prayed her remarkable joyous prayer in which she celebrates God’s goodness and entrusts her son to God’s service. Each year when the family returned to Shiloh she brought her son a new robe that she had lovingly stitched. Later she had three sons and two daughters. Think about Hannah today. Have you ever longed for a child and been unable to conceive? Have there been other life dreams that seemed long delayed in your life? Hannah had a deep faith that God wanted good for her and would respond to her heartfelt prayer at the right time in the right way. Have you had that experience? Do you find that you pray more for something and less in gratitude when you receive something longed for? If you have children, have you had a time when you let them go into their future? Remember that the power in Hannah’s prayer was her trust in God. It burst from her in gratitude and sustained her in hardship. How would you like to be more like her?

Prayer: God of Grace we pour our hearts before you today….trusting that you are at work in our lives and the lives of those we love. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

26. Ichabod’s Mother – A Mother Without Hope – 1 Samuel 4:19-22 – Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant, about to give birth. When she heard the news that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth for her labor pains overwhelmed her. As she was about to die, the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or give heed. She named the child Ichabod, meaning, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God has been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

In many of our families there is a member who succumbs to despair. Ichabod’s mother is one such character in our faith family. She was married to Eli’s son Phinehas who was greedy and immoral. Trained to be a priest in the line of his father, both he and his brother were known to sleep with prostitutes on the steps of the tabernacle and to steal from the monies given to the support of the tabernacle. They were guardians of the ark of the covenant, that mysterious and sacred symbol of God’s loving and leading presence that guided the people. At this time war broke out with the Philistines. Phinehas and his brother had been guardians when the ark fell into the hands of the Philistines. Both of Eli’s sons were killed in that battle. When Eli heard the news he fell and broke his neck. Ichabod’s mother, Phineas’ wife was pregnant at this time. When she heard the tragic news she went into premature labor and died shortly after giving birth to Ichabod. The women who attended the birth told her not to fear. She had a healthy son. Still nothing could break through her despair. She had no hope even for her child. Was it her despair at the capture of the ark that was the final straw for her? Some suggest so since she named her child Ichabod which means ‘the glory has departed.’ Others think that her despair was much deeper. They suggest that the years of being tied to an immoral husband, and her helplessness in the presence of that, so eroded her faith and stamina that when the tragedies came to a head she did not have the resources to withstand the complicated delivery of her son. Nor could she imagine raising him in a ravaged land with no male family members for protection. Whatever the cause of her despair, we are not given her name and her son in not mentioned again in the scriptures except for a mention as someone else’s brother in 1 Sam 14:3. Think today about Ichabod’s mother. Have you ever known personally, or witnessed, a despair that saw no hope for the future? Many have. Have you ever received tragic news that seemed the last straw for you? Have you ever been worn down by the difficulty and immorality that surrounded you? I am assuming since you are reading this, that you did not lie down and die. How did you find hope again? Was there anyone, like the birthing attendants in this story, that stood by you in hardship and whispered hope into your ear? If so, thank God for those ones and for the life force in you that brought you through. Not every character in the Bible is a role model, obviously. Ichabod’s mother is however a person to ponder so that in our lives, or others’, we may recognize how deadly despair can be, pray fervently, and offer what hope we have to them.

Prayer: O God, sometimes we are at the point of despair. Nothing around us seems hopeful and we are worn down by it. Sometimes people we love find themselves in that hopeless circumstance. Help us to draw on a faith we may not feel. Help us to rest in hope and offer that hope to others. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

27. Michal – The One Who Had Had Enough – 1 Samuel 14:49 – Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua, and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the first born was Merab, and the name of the younger was Michal.

Michal was the daughter of King Saul, the first King of the united Israel, a mercurial and sometimes insecure and ruthless father, and his wife Ahinoam who was a gentle and patient mother. David was first promised Michal’s older sister as his wife, but King Saul reneged. Saul’s relationship with David often seemed marked by jealousy even as David was a young man of modest means. Saul placed tests before him that seemed designed to cause him to fail, especially after David’s defeat of Goliath. The test to gain Michal’s hand was particularly brutal. When David succeeded, the king had no choice but to offer Michal to him. She was David’s first wife, and she loved him dearly. Even so, her father continued to try, by strange means, to kill David. Michal was distraught by this and began to plot how she could save him. Word came to her one evening that her father was sending someone to kill David the next morning. She warned her husband and let him down through a window and he escaped. David was well on his way to escape when Michal took a large image that resembled a sleeping David and put it in his bed. When Saul discovered the trick he could not believe his daughter had deceived him. She lied to her father, who was struggling with his own demons by this point. For some time after this David lived as an outlaw on the run. After time passed, Saul arranged for Michal to marry Phalti and it was a number of years before David and Michal met again. During this time David married Abigail and Ahinoam. When David became Saul’s successor as king, he demanded that Michal be returned to him. But things had changed between them. When David marched up to Jerusalem with the returning ark of the covenant, he was accompanied by 30,000 men in an exultant dance. David wore nothing but an ephod, a kind of apron and when Michal saw this display, she despised him and ridiculed him. She had a queenly demeanor, and this was too much for her.  Their estrangement progressed from there. She had no children and disappears from the narrative shortly after. We don’t have much of a record of Michal’s own faith. We know that as a young woman she was a dedicated and intelligent wife who loved her husband and risked her own life to save him. But life took a toll on her. She was torn away from two husbands. She saw family members hung for her father’s wickedness. She watched her father descend into madness and her husband David become more and more distant and behaving in ways she despised. Today think about Michal. Have you ever had a relationship that began with love and descended into bickering and disgust? We are not told if Michal turned to her faith for consolation or if she just became more bitter. Have you ever felt like you were a pawn in the hands of those more powerful than you? Have you ever recoiled at the behavior of someone close to you? Were you able to get over it? Have you ever struggled with something you thought was immoral or unseemly that others seemed to accept? How did you respond? If so, you know a bit about Michal in your own life.

Prayer: Gracious God, sometimes our lives take turns we cannot predict or prevent. Help us today to see your hand of grace in it all. Fill us with the blessing of forgiveness and help us to move on. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

28. Abigail – A Wise Mediator – 1 Samuel 25:3 – Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail. The woman was clever and beautiful, but the man was surly and mean; he was a Calebite.

Abigail first married to a rich drunkard, Nabal. Later she became a wife of King David. She might be called the first woman pacifist on record. She is thought by many scholars to be the wisest woman in the Old Testament. From the time David met Abigail, both his devotion to God and his destiny seemed to improve. She first met him when he was a wandering shepherd in Paran, fleeing the mercurial wrath of king Saul. At that time, one of the richest men in the area was Abigail’s husband Nabal who had some three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. Abigail was known to be a great hostess and frequently held lavish feasts for friends and local associates of Nabal. She is described as beautiful, wise and efficient in running her large household. At one point, David, who had gathered about six hundred followers and shepherds to accompany him, ran low on provisions. Since he and his men had helped out Nabal’s shepherds earlier, it was quite natural for him to send ten men to Nabal to ask for food during a time of festival. Nabal was drunk and reviled both David and his emissaries. Word of this reached Abigail through one of David’s men who reminded her of the protection David had offered to her husband’s flocks. He also reminded her that he had come in peace, and their request was just. She went to work immediately providing special food for David and his men. She supervised the baking of two hundred loaves of bread, the preparation of five sheep, five measures of grain, two wineskins of wine, one hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred fig cakes. She had them loaded onto donkey’s and went with them to deliver the supplies. By the time she arrived at David’s encampment, the future king was already fuming that Nabal had refused to compensate him. She overheard him plotting to destroy his entire household. Abigail fearlessly went to David, basically told him that her husband was a drunken fool and offered the food she brought as compensation. In that encounter she saw a deepening faith in David and praised it. She predicted that he would be great. Of all of his eight wives (remember that marriage was understood very differently in the time of the ancestors than it is today) Abigail was the one who helped awaken David to God’s providential plan for his life. She opened his eyes to see God’s deep love and care for him. After completing her mission she went home quickly. Nabal was still drunk. When he sobered up and she told him how near he had come to losing everything due to his inhospitality and injustice, Nabal became violently ill and died ten days later. When David heard the news, he sent for Abigail to be his wife. Little is recorded of Abigail after her marriage. Still her story is rich with wisdom, insight, humility, generosity and willingness to sacrifice to keep her family safe. Without her the story would have been very different for thousands of people. Today think about Abigail. Who have been your Abigails? Who are the ones who read the signs of the times and move out with justice and compassion to right wrongs? Who are the wise and discerning ones in your life? Have there been times when you were like Abigail, reaching out, even from difficult personal circumstances, to be a peacemaker and justice doer? If so, that is the story of Abigail working itself out in you!

Prayer: O God, we thank you for the wise and discerning peacemakers in our lives and world. Help us to be in their number! In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

29. Woman of Endor – A Cave Woman Who Tells Fortunes 1 Samuel 28:7-25 – Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.”

Different translations of the scriptures have called this woman many things. She has been called a woman with a familiar spirit, a medium and in modern writing dubbed the witch of Endor. We don’t know much about her, but can make some educated guesses. In all likelihood she was a wise old person who had resorted to fortunetelling to earn her living. She lived in a cave, and many went to her seeking her counsel. Still, by her magic and means, she broke laws set down for the people of Israel. Look at Leviticus 19:31 as an example. “Do not turn to mediums and spiritualists; do not seek them out, to be defiled by then: I am the Lord your God.” Still, at this time king Saul was becoming more and more volatile, frightened and paranoid. He was jealous of David, disrespected by his son Jonathan, and reviled by his people. He was facing new military threats. He needed help. Earlier he had expelled all the mediums and wizards from the land, but facing a new threat, in his fragile state of mind, he decided to go and seek advice of the medium of Endor. He took with him a retinue of others, disguised himself and approached her cave on the outskirts of town. It was probably lined with animal skins to keep out the wind and cold. In summer its portal was open and dark. It was nowhere anyone would expect the King of Israel to go. It is striking just how alone he is even with his kingly retinue. His prophet and mentor Samuel has died, and he has nowhere to turn. When he greets the woman, she is cautious. Whether for her own safety or the king’s, she reminds him of the way he had rid the land of people like her. Through her powers, either magical of pure wise intuition, she realizes it is Saul, and conjures the spirit of his beloved Samuel who foretells Saul’s downfall and death. No longer able to battle his inner demons, Saul falls to the ground in fright. She then puts aside her medium status and tends to the old, frightened man. She had him placed on her bed. When he was rested enough she made him a meal and urged him to eat and regain his strength before returning home. That was probably the last meal he would ever eat. The next day the Philistines capture the king. They kill him, cut off his head, and attach his body to the wall of the city. Think today about the medium of Endor. Have you ever felt pushed to the margins of society because your gifts or insights were seen as evil or polluting? Have you ever had to earn your living in a way that may not have been for your greater good? Have you ever felt like you had special spiritual insight, that you could see what was logically coming next? Have you ever found yourself offering comfort and service so someone who was ashamed to be seen with you? Have you ever tried to help someone whose life was spinning apart? Have you ever sought out spiritual shortcuts? If so, you know a bit about the life of the medium of Endor.

Prayer: O God, you give each of us many gifts. Help us always to use them for the good of others and in ways that accord with your will. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

30. Rizpah – A Guardian of the Dead – 11 Samuel 3:7, 21:8 – Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah daughter of Aiah.

The poignant story of Rizpah stands out for its steadfastness and its tragedy. Rizpah was  one of Saul’s concubines. These were lesser wives who enter into a marital relationship of a secondary status. They are not mistresses of prostitutes. Rizpah’s story is heartbreaking. Her tribulation was largely the fault of Saul. She had two sons by him. At his death she was appropriated by Abner, Saul’s general and the regent for his son who, according to the laws of the day, would have inherited her. The two men argued about her. It is a twisted tale indeed. During David’s reign a famine descended upon Israel. David believed that this was due to Saul’s unavenged conduct toward the Gibeonites. To, in his mind, appease God, David had Saul’s descendants hanged. This included Rizpah’s two sons as well as Saul’s five grandsons. Taking up sack cloth, Rizpah keeps watch over the bodies for nearly four months until David hears of it and has the men’s remains buried in the family graves. Alone on a weary rock, day after day, she kept watch over the dead so that their bodies would not be further defiled by dogs and vultures. It is one of the most heart-rending pictures of maternal love imaginable. Even in death she tried to protect her sons. From a queen in the palace of the king, she descends into the grief of a woman who has no power to even honor her dead. Her endurance and love are profound. Several years ago, I saw a picture online of a young woman prostrate on the grave of her fallen soldier husband. It was almost too sad to look at. And yet there are many in our day as well, who mourn children and spouses whose lives were taken too soon, especially these days in Gaza, not far from where Rizpah mourned. My fervent prayer is that none of you have known this kind of tragedy, but I bet some have. Today think about Rizpah. Have you ever known profound grief? Have you ever kept vigil with a loved one and refused to leave their side? Have you ever sought a way to honor a dead loved one? Have you ever found that there was no one willing to listen to your story of injustice? Think today about the emotional cost of deep love. How do you show faithfulness to those you love, living or dead?

Prayer: O God, sometimes love come with such unexpected agony. Help us today to show the courage, tenacity and integrity of Rizpah in the face of grief or injustice. Help us to remember and trust that help eventually arrives. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.