Women I’m Starting to Admire (pt. 1)
The feminist movement today can be a hot topic, and people have all types of opinions on it. I’m not here to talk about my opinion on feminism or what women should or shouldn’t do. We don’t need another voice “should-ing” us around. What I do want to talk about is how a few women in the Bible were used by Jesus maybe in the ultimate of ways…to be His ancestors. I mean, how cool is it that women were included in the list of how the Person who saves the world comes to earth?
Were these women perfect? No. One of them was part of one of the biggest mistakes recorded in the Bible. But they are all on record as bold and brave and virtuous.
I want to preface this by acknowledging I am the furthest from a Bible scholar that one could be. What I’ve written below barely scratches the surface of this story and meaning. Being a Bible scholar isn’t a requirement, though, for the Holy Spirit to touch our soul.
Lately, I’ve heard people talk about how Jesus treats women well and how women throughout the Bible are integral. I’ve believed that, but honestly hadn’t really done the research until…
The other morning, I felt an urge to start reading in Matthew. I wanted to read the words of Jesus. Apparently, Jesus didn’t want me to read His words just yet. He wanted me to read how He redeems and loves and uses imperfect women. Most of the time, a genealogy usually contains the names of men, so when a woman’s name shows up, I perk up. “Judah begot Perez and Zarah by Tamar…” Hmm, Tamar. I googled her, searched for a more reliable link to click on, and immersed myself in her story. She has a whole chapter in Genesis explaining how she was brave, smart, and did the socially unacceptable in order to accomplish the purpose God had for her. If you don’t believe me, go read Genesis 38 for yourself and find an as-reliable-as-possible article on Google to help with the historical context. The short version is that she dressed up as a prostitute in order to out-smart Judah so that she could still accomplish God’s mission. And what did Judah end up saying about her when he realized what she’d done? “She has been more righteous than I.” (Genesis 38:26)
I think inside of me, I’ve always felt like I need to be perfect and quiet. Don’t do anything outside of the traditional church-accepted norms and if I do, I need to hide it. But Tamar didn’t hide. She was out in broad daylight as a prostitute and was completely unapologetic about it. Now, I’m not saying let’s all go be prostitutes……our culture today is different than it was in Genesis. But I am saying that God shows us through Tamar that it’s okay to branch out and be brave when we follow Him. God empowers men AND women. He’s given each of us a voice to use, not to silence. And it’s okay if how we use that voice is socially unacceptable. He puts the right people in our lives to encourage and prod us forward while we use the voice He’s given us to point to His love and truth and grace.
As a disclaimer, I set out for this blog to just be about my life, not essays on the Bible, and I still want that. But as a woman navigating life on my own for now, I’m really curious about what God’s design for women is. Like, what am I even here for and how can I bring my God-given value to this world? I’m sure I’m not the only one with those types of questions. And I thought it was really cool to see God include in His Book some really good examples of how we are valuable. To me, that just validates the example of a lot of women we know in life today. We are a pretty cool creation of God. And it’s okay to bring our uniqueness and our voice to the world we’re in. Tamar did. So we can too.