An Answer to Prayer “Elizabeth, your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month,” Gabriel told Mary, “For no word from God will ever fail.” Luke 1:36–37 Elizabeth waited with the others assembled outside the temple. Inside, her husband Zechariah burned incense …
Abigail: The Negotiator
Prepared for Disaster [Abigail] was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings. 1 Samuel 25:3 “Disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household.” The servant’s words were laced with fear. What could one woman do to prevent such a catastrophe? The Bible says Abigail “wasted no time” when …
Hagar: A Desperate Woman
Precious in His Sight Then the angel of the Lord told [Hagar]: “Go back to your mistress and submit to her. … I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count” Genesis 16:9–10 Few Old Testament narratives convey God’s love for the desperate as poignantly as Hagar’s story. She was merely a slave, probably a …
Eve: The First Woman
A Perfect Ending Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1 She had a husband who loved her as purely and completely as a man could. She communed with God …