Mary, the Mother of Jesus (rev 3, 2018)

When we started studying the People of the Bible we started with Abraham. During the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, these men talked to God and followed where he led. This is called the time of the patriarchs, because they were men who led their families and their families were God’s chosen people. If you remember, Jacob had twelve sons who had some troubles between them, and so one of the brother’s ended up sold into slavery in Egypt. This all ended up working out in everyone’s favor because a famine came to Israel, and Jacob and his sons had to go to Egypt to escape. If you remember what happened next, the chosen people didn’t end up leaving Egypt, instead they become slaves, and they were enslaved for 400 years before Moses came along and set them free.

Then we enter the time period where prophets are the ones who speak to God and communicate it to God’s people. For a while these prophets lead Israel as Judges—you may remember Deborah, Gideon, Samson and others before finally the last one to lead Israel was Samuel. Then the people demanded a king and that’s how we got Saul and then David.

David was considered a man after God’s own heart—despite his many grave sins—because he always in the end asked for repentance and turned back to God. Because of his faithfulness, God made him a promise. Someone please read 2 Samuel 7:16.

16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;[c] your throne shall be established forever.

God tells David that his children will rule Israel forever, that his throne will be forever. Forever.

But as we saw in the past semester of studies, Israel doesn’t exist forever. It doesn’t stay united—it splits into two kingdoms. Then the Northern kingdom of Israel is conquered and the people scattered through Assyria. The Southern Kingdom of Judah lasts a bit longer, but then it too is conquered—this time by Babylon. The Temple is destroyed. The Kingdom falls. David’s royal line being on the throne in Jerusalem ends.

We talked about with Daniel and the other exiles that this was a crisis of faith and identity. What did it mean that there was no longer a son of the line of David on the throne? Had God broken his promise? Was Israel no longer his chosen people? Had he forgotten them and left them to their own devices?

What did any of this mean for them? But most importantly what did it mean in regards to their relationship with God?

Eventually Judah is somewhat restored. The Temple is rebuilt. The city is rebuilt. But it’s not the same. There is no Davidic king anymore. And between the conquering of Babylon and now there has not been a Davidic king sitting on a royal throne in Israel.  Israel spends most of the next hundred years as a minor pawn shuffled about by much larger kingdoms.

But God promised them. God promised them a son of David. God promised them they were the Chosen People. God chose them, and while they could have strayed from their faith in this time instead they double down. They knew God would make good on his promise. They had faith.

And this brings us to Advent. Does anyone know what advent means? [Let them answer.] It comes from a Latin word: Advenio/Advenire which basically means "to arrive." It’s about an expectation, about waiting for a coming.

The last book of the Old Testament is Malachi. The first book of the New Testament is Matthew. Malachi was the last prophet of Israel. Ever since Malachi, no one has claimed to be a prophet of Israel, claimed to be speaking God’s words to his chosen people.

For all intents and purposes, God went silent.

For 400 years.

The people of Israel were waiting, expecting, something anything, a sign from God, a message, for 400 years. Waiting for something to come. A reinstatement of the throne, for God to deliver on his promise for David’s kingdom to reign forever. A waiting for another prophet, another anything.

In a state of Advent.

We spend Advent ever year looking forward to Christmas, looking forward to what—presents? The fun of Christmas trees and Christmas songs? The days get longer and darker as we look forward to the light of Christmas day. All of this just gives us a small, tiny taste of what these people probably felt, the people of Israel as they waited for something, anything, as a sign from God, for God to deliver on his promise.

And Christmas is the answer. Christmas is the delivery of that promise! Because what did we get on Christmas day?

Yes, Jesus! Jesus is the answer to the silence, the answer to the cry of the Chosen People asking for God to deliver on his promise. Jesus is the final prophet—because not only does he speak God’s words he is God, all of his words are God’s words. Jesus is the final king, the eternal king, of the line of David, to lead his people, to lead the world!

This is what Christmas is about: God’s delivery of his promises.

In light of all of this, we’re going to spend the next two Sundays focusing on Advent through the perspectives of two people: Mary and Joseph. Today we’re going to talk about Mary and next week we’re going to talk about Joseph.

So if you guys would, please turn get your Bibles and turn to Luke 1:26-29.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

For 400 hundred years God is silent. 400 years. And then, out of nowhere, he sends an angel with a message to a teenage girl in a hick town in Northern Israel. Nazareth is like in the middle of nowhere, far from Jerusalem, far from power, not a place where important people live. And the angel doesn’t go to the most politically or religiously important person in Nazareth to deliver his news. Heck, he doesn’t even go to the more powerful person in the Mary/Joseph relationship. He goes to the an unmarried teenage girl.

God is silent for 400 years and the person he breaks that silence with—the first person God talks to—is a teenage girl.

Woah.

Even today teenage girls get a bad wrap, and we don’t in the patriarchal times of the Bible! Teenage girls are sometimes viewed as modern society as silly and unimportant, and well, that’s a view of teenage girls that goes back a long way. But right here, in the story, in this appearance, in this moment, a teenage girl is the most important person in the entire world, and the person in the world that God esteems the most.

We’ve seen in the stories we’ve studied that women often get the short end of the stick in the Bible. There are exceptional stories like Deborah and Jael—women who go into battle, lead people, and do extraordinary things. But most of the women in the Bible? They are regulated to the side—often not even named—and when they are, they are at the mercy of men. And often those men aren’t very merciful.

Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife to save his own life, causing Sarah to be taken and used by a foreign king. Hagar was used by Sarah and Abraham, and treated poorly by both. Rachel and Leah were used as pawns by their father and pitted against each other. In the times of the kings, Michal was used as a pawn by both Saul and David—a game piece in their civil war. Bathsheba was raped and then her husband murdered and then she was forced to marry her rapist. Tamar was raped by her brother, and David—her own father—refused to do anything about it.

Even when we look at Esther—a powerful woman in that she is a queen—when we dig deeper we see a scared girl terrified she will be disappeared like the queen before her.

Women in patriarchal times had no power. They were property. They had very little say in their lives. Men often did not listen to them or consider their thoughts worthwhile. Men often did not even view them as people. And lest you think these sort of thoughts died out when we switched from BC to AD, I’m sad to say they did not. Christians for a long time have had similar thoughts about women. St. Augustine—a prolific and foundational Christian philosopher from the fourth century—said that women did not possess the image of God and their only purpose in life was to bear children, which mind you is in direct contradiction of the Bible. Thomas Aquinas—a 13th century Christian who is so popular I have heard him quoted from the pulpit in almost every church I have ever attended—said that a woman “is a misbegotten men” and is faulty and defective by nature.

These men are wrong. The Bible is clear. Women are made in the image of God. Women are equal to men. But men have historically had this view of women as lesser and we see that view everywhere in history. Sometimes even in our modern world we can get a sublimal message that women are lesser. But I am here to tell you that God does not think that. How do we know that? Because of this, and so much more in the New Testament.

Because when God was silent and no one had any idea what was going on, the first person he spoke to was a woman. A girl.

God chose to bind his plans to a woman. God didn’t have to have Jesus be born. He could have snapped his fingers and handed Joseph a fully formed baby and cut Mary completely out of the loop. God is capable of creating a baby out of nothing. Instead he chose to involve a woman in his plans—plans no man even knew about.

When God had to rely on one person in this world to get something done, he turned to a teenage girl.

Jesus was born male and that is important—he could not have completed his ministry in the time period he was born in if he was born female—but I think by having this design, by having God be born of a woman, God is saying that the women are not less than me. Mary is a critical part of God’s plan.

God chose to include women in the story because he views women as important. Because women are valuable.

400 years no priests or leaders or men heard from God. Until one day an angel shows up in a teenage girl’s bedroom.

“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you!” The angel declared. And Mary is confused by his words. Why? Why is she confused do you think?

Well let's look back at what the angel said to Mary. He called her what? [Favored One.] And said "The Lord is with you." Why would this bother her?

Well how would you feel if an angel of the Lord came to you and called you a "favored one." Would you feel that you deserved that?

Well Mary didn't seem to feel like she deserved such a favor.

Can someone keep reading Luke 1:30 - 33?

30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Why do you think angels in the Bible are always telling people to not be afraid?

Yeah they're probably scary looking! I'm going to read to you a couple of Biblical descriptions of angels.

Matthew 28:3

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

Ezekiel 1: 4 – 12

4 As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually, and in the middle of the fire, something like gleaming amber. 5 In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance: they were of human form. 6 Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another; each of them moved straight ahead, without turning as they moved. 10 As for the appearance of their faces: the four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle; 11 such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. 12 Each moved straight ahead; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. 

None of these are really pleasant descriptions are they?

There are also descriptions in the Bible of angels who look no different from men, which is why they don't get recognized initially. However, considering Mary was afraid, I think it's safe to say she recognized him as something other. Though maybe he was also telling her not to be afraid because he was about to deliver her some concerning news.

You’re a teenage girl and an angel shows up in your room and is like, “Surprise! You’re pregnant! And not just pregnant but like with the Son of God who will be king of Israel forever!”

This would be extremely scary news. (1) Mary is not married. Today when a teenage girl gets pregnant and isn’t married, people may gossip about it, but that’s really the worst punishment. Back then, if Mary was pregnant and it wasn’t by her soon-to-be-husband Joseph that would mean she committed adultery. And a woman could be stoned to death for committing adultery.

Mary could be killed because she’s pregnant.

The second reason why this would be scary news, is well it sure does sound like this angel is saying her son is going to be the next king of Israel. And well….what empire rules Israel at this moment? Does anyone know?

Rome.

In many ways Rome is a lenient master. As long as you pay your taxes and don’t make waves, they’re going to leave you alone. But…setting up a king of Israel outside of the Roman authority would definitely fall under the category “making waves.” Declaring someone king would lead to war and rebellion. And Mary was probably not so out of touch that she didn’t know that.

Rome was scary. And a seventy years after this when Israel does rebel, Rome cracks down with an iron fist. It results in the Temple being destroyed for the second and final time and half of the Jewish population being killed by the Romans.

The Romans didn’t mess around.

Mary might be afraid for what this means for her, her people, and her son. She might be afraid her son would end up dying early, that she would live to see him die if he tried to establish himself as king.

And well….she wouldn’t be wrong. Mary does live to see Rome kill her son.

Alright can someone please read for me Luke 1:34 – 37

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 

Basically here Mary is saying it is impossible for her to be pregnant. She's a virgin! Virgins don't have babies--unless you're watching that CW show Jane the Virgin, but back then they didn't have things like artificial insemination or other sciency ways of getting women pregnant. Plus Mary would've known if she'd undergone those things too.

The angel basically tells her though that all things are possible with God, he can do whatever he wants. And he references her cousin Elizabeth as proof. Does anyone here know who Elizabeth is?

Let's flip back to Luke 1:5-17

5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

 8 Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. 10 Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

Elizabeth is John the Baptist's mother. And her pregnancy was also foretold by the angel Gabriel.

So hearing all of this, what would your response be if you were Mary? I want you to keep in mind that Mary was probably quite young. Probably around 15 or 16. She's about to get married to a really great guy who would be very upset to discover she's pregnant. And back then we're not talking like getting pregnant just means you have to take care of your baby and have people whisper behind your back because you’re a teenage bride. The punishment for adultery could be severe, like death. So Mary was risking death if Joseph didn't agree to go along with this, which she had no idea ifshe would.

So what would you say if you were in Mary's shoes?

[Let them answer]

Well let's see what Mary says, can someone read to me Luke 1:38

38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Mary agrees, she says she's is the Lord's bondslave. The English Standard version of the Bible translates this as "let it be" and there is actually a really famous Beatle's song written abou this statement, if you guys know who the Beatles are.

"When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be."

This was not an easy hand to be dealt, to be Jesus' mother. I mean think about all the terrible things Jesus had to endure, and Mary outlived him. She had to watch her son die and be tortured. She didn't know she was agreeing to that then, but she trusted God. And she wasn't just resigned to it, like the Beatles song might imply. Turn a little further to Luke 2:46 - 55. Can someone read that?

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

These verses are often referred to as "The Magnificat." I think it's called that because in the Latin translation of this prayer, the first word is "Magnificat" which is basically the verb in that first sentence there. "My soul exalts." Or in my ESV translation "My soul magnifies."

So this prayer, what is it saying?

She basically spends the entire prayer just talking about how awesome and wonderful God is. She does say one thing about herself in there, verse 48, if we re-read that "for he has looked on this humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed." And I think that's only human. To marvel that God chose her and to be like "woah, people are going to remember my name like forever." Maybe even a little bit of pride, which I think we can allow her. But the other verses are all about how God is awesome. What do you think that says about Mary's character?

I think it means that Mary does put God first, and she is righteous. And God knew that. That’s probably why he chose her.

But well, it doesn’t matter how happy Mary is right now, because she is still just Joseph’s property. If Joseph doesn’t believe her or go along with this plan, things aren’t going to end well for Mary. So that’s what we’re going to look at next week, the Joseph side of this story.

Mary: The Mother of Jesus, Version 2

Note: The original version of this lesson is posted here. I gave this lesson again this year as part of my Advent series but I added some updates to reflect the things we'd been going over in the past year. I didn't want to get rid of the old post either even though they're almost identical. So they're both here for reference. :)

We have been going through people of the Bible, as you guys know, for a year now. We started with Abraham, and remember during the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, these men talked to God and followed where he led. This is called the time of the patriarchs, because they were men who led their families and their families were God’s chosen people. If you remember, Jacob had twelve sons who had some troubles between them, and so one of the brother’s ended up sold into slavery in Egypt. This all ended up working out in everyone’s favor because a famine came to Israel, and Jacob and his sons had to go to Egypt to escape. If you remember what happened next, the chosen people didn’t end up leaving Egypt, instead they become slaves, and they were enslaved for 400 years before Moses came along and set them free.

Then we enter the time period where prophets are the ones who speak to God and communicate it to God’s people. For a while these prophets lead Israel as Judges—you may remember Deborah, Gideon, Samson and others before finally the last one to lead Israel was Samuel. Then the people demanded a king and that’s how we got Saul and now finally David. That’s where we ended.

Why am I recapping this? Because all of this is leading up to Jesus. We’re going to study next semester that God makes David a promise. Someone please read 2 Samuel 7:16.

16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;[c] your throne shall be established forever.

God tells David that his children will rule Israel forever, that his throne will be forever. Forever.

But does Israel exist forever? Is there still a king on the throne in Israel? No. Israel has been conquered and disbanded a number of times. We’re going to see that in the next year in the Bible, as we study more people of the Bible, but King David’s line ends. The kingdom falls.

What does that mean? Does it mean that God broke his promise? [Let them answer, or think about it.]

It means that God’s promise meant something different, something more than David could possibly imagine.

And this brings us to Advent. Does anyone know what advent means? [Let them answer.] It comes from a Latin word: Advenio/Advenire which basically means "to arrive." It’s about an expectation, about waiting for a coming.

The last book of the Old Testament is Malachi. The first book of the New Testament is Matthew. Malachi was the last prophet of Israel. Ever since Malachi, no one has claimed to be a prophet of Israel, claimed to be speaking God’s words to his chosen people.

For all intents and purposes, God went silent.

For 400 years.

The people of Israel were waiting, expecting, something anything, a sign from God, a message, for 400 years. Waiting for something to come. A reinstatement of the throne, for God to deliver on his promise for David’s kingdom to rain forever. A waiting for another prophet, another anything.

In a state of Advent.

We spend Advent ever year looking forward to Christmas, looking forward to what—presents? The fun of Christmas trees and Christmas songs. The days get longer and darker as we look forward to the light of Christmas day. All of this just gives us a small, tiny taste of what these people probably felt, the people of Israel as they waited for something, anything, as a sign from God, for God to deliver on his promise.

And Christmas is the answer. Christmas is the delivery of that promise! Because what did we get on Christmas day?

Yes, Jesus! Jesus is the answer to the silence, the answer to the cry of the Chosen People asking for God to deliver on his promise. Jesus is the final prophet—because not only does he speak God’s words he is God, all of his words are God’s words. Jesus is the final king, the eternal king, of the line of David, to lead his people, to lead the world!

This is what Christmas is about: God’s delivery of his promises.

In light of all of this, we’re going to spend the next two Sundays focusing on Advent through the perspectives of two people: Mary and Joseph. Today we’re going to talk about Mary and next week we’re going to talk about Joseph.

So if you guys would, please turn get your Bibles and turn to Luke 1:26-29.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

So first question. Why do you think Mary was confused by Gabriel's statement?

Well let's look back at what the angel said to Mary. He called her what? [Favored One.] And said "The Lord is with you." Why would this bother her?

Well how would you feel if an angel of the Lord came to you and called you a "favored one." Would you feel that you deserved that?

Well Mary didn't seem to feel like she deserved such a favor.

Can someone keep reading Luke 1:30 - 33?

30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Why do you think angels in the Bible are always telling people to not be afraid?

Yeah they're probably scary looking! I'm going to read to you a couple of Biblical descriptions of angels.

Matthew 28:3

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

Ezekiel 1: 4 – 12

4 As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually, and in the middle of the fire, something like gleaming amber. 5 In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance: they were of human form. 6 Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another; each of them moved straight ahead, without turning as they moved. 10 As for the appearance of their faces: the four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle; 11 such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. 12 Each moved straight ahead; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. 

None of these are really pleasant descriptions are they?

There are also descriptions in the Bible of angels who look no different from men, which is why they don't get recognized initially. However, considering Mary was afraid, I think it's safe to say she recognized him as something other.

Alright can someone please read for me Luke 1:34 – 37

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 

Basically here Mary is saying it is impossible for her to be pregnant. She's a virgin! Virgins don't have babies--unless you're watching that CW show Jane the Virgin, but back then they didn't have things like artificial insemination or other sciency ways of getting women pregnant. Plus Mary would've known if she'd undergone those things too.

The angel basically tells her though that all things are possible with God, he can do whatever he wants. And he references her cousin Elizabeth as proof. Does anyone here know who Elizabeth is?

Other than Mary's cousin.

Let's flip back to Luke 1:5-17

5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

 8 Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. 10 Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

Elizabeth is John the Baptist's mother. And her pregnancy was also foretold by the angel Gabriel.

So hearing all of this, what would your response be if you were Mary? I want you to keep in mind that Mary was probably quite young. Probably around 15 or 16. She's about to get married to a really great guy who would be very upset to discover she's pregnant. And back then we're not talking like getting pregnant just means you have to take care of your baby and have people whisper behind your back because your a teenage bride. The punishment for adultry could be severe, like death. So Mary was risking death if Joseph didn't agree to go along with this, which she had no idea if she would .

So what would you say if you were in Mary's shoes?

[Let them answer]

Well let's see what Mary says, can someone read to me Luke 1:38

38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Mary agrees, she says she's is the Lord's bondslave. The English Standard version of the Bible translates this as "let it be" and there is actually a really famous Beatle's song written abou this statement, if you guys know who the Beatles are.

"When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be."

This was not an easy hand to be dealt, to be Jesus' mother. I mean think about all the terrible things Jesus had to endure, and Mary outlived him. She had to watch her son die and be tortured. She didn't know she was agreeing to that then, but she trusted God. And she wasn't just resigned to it, like the Beatles song might imply. Turn a little further to Luke 2:46 - 55. Can someone read that?

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

These verses are often referred to as "The Magnificat." I think it's called that because in the Latin translation of this prayer, the first word is "Magnificat" which is basically the verb in that first sentence there. "My soul exalts." Or in my ESV translation "My soul magnifies."

So this prayer, what is it saying?

She basically spends the entire prayer just talking about how awesome and wonderful God is. She does say one thing about herself in there, verse 48, if we re-read that "for he has looked on this humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed." And I think that's only human. To marvel that God chose her and to be like "woah, people are going to remember my name like forever." Maybe even a little bit of pride, which I think we can allow her. But the other verses are all about how God is awesome. What do you think that says about Mary's character?

That maybe she put God first? And God knew that. That maybe that's why he chose her.

Alright but let's step back a moment here. Did God NEED Jesus to be born of a woman?

There are a few prophecies sure, that imply he'll be born and talk about it. But set that aside--cuz God wrote those prophecies. Could God just snap his fingers and instead have made a fully grown Jesus who went around calling disciples and doing the same thing?

Yeah. So why do you think God chose Jesus to be born of a woman? Why was this part of his grand plan?

Obviously we can never know the mind of God, and we can't really know why he chose this path. But I think it's because if you look over the Old Testament women have sort of gotten a bad wrap. Call it what you will--Eve's curse, the patriarchy, whatever--women in the Bible have not been treated the best. But here we have God telling a woman, the lowest of the low, that she has found favor from God. That she is the favored one.

Jesus was born male and that is important, I think, but I think by having this design, by having God be born of a woman, God is saying that the statement he's making by being incarnate in a male doesn't make women less. Mary was a critical part God chose to include in this story.

God chose to include women in the story, because he views women as important. And there may be times where boys--you're encouraged to devalue women, or girls you may think less of yourself because you are female. But in those times, I want you to remember Mary. Because she was the favored one, and God chose to use her. God views women as valuable, and therefore you should to.

Alright guys, that's it. Next week we're going to talk about Joseph.

Michal and Abigail: Women of Courage

Last week we talked about how David and Saul are at war with each other, and how Saul is basically willing to destroy Israel to get to David. Today we’re still going to talk about this on-going battle but we’re going to change our focus. Instead of focusing on the men, we’re going to focus on two incredibly brave women who were caught in the crossfire of this war and still did what they thought was best.

We’ve talked before about how being a woman in the ancient world was not an easy thing, if anything a woman’s position was precarious, completely dependent on the men in her life. And if they disappeared, she was destitute, not even allowed to earn a living to survive without them. Women needed men to survive, and men did not always treat them kindly. If a woman defied the men in her life—whether a husband or a father, she could risk horrible things happening to her, from being beaten to being disowned and cast out. So for a woman to ever stand up to a father or husband was a braver act than many of us can even imagine.

I want you to keep that in mind as we discuss two women: Michal and Abigail.

First we’ll talk about Michal, and to do that we need to back up to before this whole open war between David and Saul even started. This story takes place during the time period where David still lived in court, and was greatly esteemed by all, except Saul who was beginning to grow jealous of David and was passively trying to plan David’s death.

Someone please read 1 Samuel 18:17-19.

 17 Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife; only be valiant for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I will not raise a hand against him; let the Philistines deal with him.” 18 David said to Saul, “Who am I and who are my kinsfolk, my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19 But at the time when Saul’s daughter Merab should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

Because of David’s many victories, Saul basically promised David his eldest daughter in marriage. But Saul was basically trying to get David killed in battle by the Philistines at this point, so he didn’t really think David would actually live to marry Merab. So in the meantime, Saul married Merab off to some other woman.

David for his part, well it’s not like he was in love with Merab or anything. What he cared about was the great honor of becoming son-in-law to the king, basically being related to the king. And in regards to that honor he was humble, and all like “Who am I that I deserve this?”

This is kind of weird for us as modern people because we’d think David would care more about the girl he was marrying than the position that the marriage conferred to him, but that was not the case. Marriage back then wasn’t really about love, and for a king marriage was almost always about alliances and politics.

Alright someone please read 1 Samuel 18:20-23.

20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. Saul was told, and the thing pleased him. 21 Saul thought, “Let me give her to him that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,[a] “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 22 Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘See, the king is delighted with you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’” 23 So Saul’s servants reported these words to David in private. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and of no repute?”

Saul promised Merab to David, but then he married Merab off to someone else so he still needed to give David a daughter. Turns out his other daughter, Michal, actually loved David. And Saul was like “Great! I’ll give her to David, if David survives my evil scheme, which he won’t! Ha!” So Saul tells David that he’ll be his son-in-law—again—and then he also instructed the servants to tell him private and be like “See the king really loves you” When we all know the king really hate shim. But David is still humble, and like “What did I do to deserve this great honor?”

Someone please read 1 Samuel 18:24-29.

24 The servants of Saul told him, “This is what David said.” 25 Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no marriage present except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged on the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26 When his servants told David these words, David was well pleased to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 27 David rose and went, along with his men, and killed one hundred[a] of the Philistines; and David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife. 28 But when Saul realized that the Lord was with David, and that Saul’s daughter Michal loved him, 29 Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy from that time forward.

So the servants report back to Saul David’s humbleness, and Saul is like “I can use this. He doesn’t think he deserves it? Well I’ll give him a task where he can earn the honor but it’ll be an impossible task and he’ll never succeed and he’ll die and I will never have to worry about stupid David ever again.”

So Saul tells David he has to kill 100 Philistines and bring back proof to earn Michal’s hand in marriage. Then to Saul’s surprise, David does it and lives through it. So Saul really has no choice but to go through with his promise and let him marry Michal. This just makes Saul hate David even more, because Saul realizes God is with David—and that’s what makes David a threat. Not that people think he’s a hero or that people like him, but Saul can see the writing on the wall now that God has chosen David.

Fast forward a bit. David is still at court, and everyone is realizing that Saul wants to kill David. Another successful battle against the Philistines happens, where David comes back victorious and Saul is so mad he wants to kill David. Someone please read 1 Samuel 19:11-17.

11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed; she put a net of goats’ hair on its head, and covered it with the clothes. 14 When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 When the messengers came in, the idol was in the bed, with the covering of goats’ hair on its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go; why should I kill you?’”

Saul sends messengers to basically run a stake out around David’s house, so that in the morning Saul can kill David. But once again, everyone in Saul’s court pretty much knows at this point that Saul wants to kill David, and Michal can see it as well. She basically tells David that he will be killed in the morning if they don’t do something that night. So she helps him escape through the window.

Remember Michal is David’s wife but she’s also Saul’s daughter. Without David there to protect her, she could easily fall under her father’s wrath. But she still hatches this plan to help her husband escape and then she covers for him as long as she can. She basically pulls a Ferris Bueller, and makes it look like there is someone sleeping in the bed. When the messengers come to take him away, she’s just like “HE’s sick!” When Saul demands the messengers see this proof for himself, they of course see that they have been tricked.

Saul goes to his daughter and demands to know why she would side against him and with David. Once again, Michal is in a very precarious position here. Her father has decided her husband is an enemy. Her father is the king of Israel. If she says the wrong thing it could mean her own death.

So she lies and basically says David threatened her life.

Michal saved David’s life here, even though doing so essentially betrayed her father.

Now we’re going to fast forward to talk about another woman who also defied the man in her life. This story takes place while David is in the wilderness, hiding out from Saul.

Someone please read 1 Samuel 25:2-4.

2 There was a man in Maon, whose property was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was clever and beautiful, but the man was surly and mean; he was a Calebite. 4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

So the setup here is we have this man named Nabal and he’s married to a woman named Abigail. Nabal is described as surly and mean—and wealthy—while Abigail is described as clever and beautiful. Nabal is also described as a Calebite, which just means he’s a descendent of Caleb. He’s still an Israelite.

David is basically hanging out in the wilderness near here and he hears that Nabal is out in the field shearing his sheep.

Someone please read 1 Samuel 25:5-8.

5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6 Thus you shall salute him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 I hear that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing, all the time they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight; for we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

David sends some of his troops down to Nabal, and he tells them exactly what to say to Nabal. They are to great him respectfully. David then implies that his army has been protecting Nabal and his property, and that Nabal should be aware of both this and who David is. And then because it’s a feast day, and Nabal should therefore be feeling generous, David asks the favor of basically food and supplies for his army.

Let’s see how Nabal responds to this request. Someone please read 1 Samuel 25:9-13.

9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David; and then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 12 So David’s young men turned away, and came back and told him all this. 13 David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every one of them strapped on his sword; David also strapped on his sword; and about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

When the young men approach Nabal he basically feigns ignorance and is like “David? I don’t know any David. I just see some random strangers who are trying to get a handout. No thank you. You guys go away.”

When the men report this back to David he is furious—like ridiculously angry to the point where he let’s his anger get away with him. Because David knows Nabal should know him, and that they’ve been doing this service of protecting Nabal’s land, and he basically wants to kill Nabal. So he orders his troops to suit up, and readies four hundred men to go down and basically destroy Nabal.

This is not actually a good response to this. David is letting his temper get away from him.

Someone please read 1 Samuel 25:14-20.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he shouted insults at them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we never missed anything when we were in the fields, as long as we were with them; 16 they were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do; for evil has been decided against our master and against all his house; he is so ill-natured that no one can speak to him.”

18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys 19 and said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me; I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 As she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

So someone tells Abigail what’s happening, that David came sent men to Nabal and that Nabal basically insulted them. The man reminds Abigail that it was David’s men who protected them and never harmed them, but Nabal is so ill natured that they’re afraid David will do something rash and bring badness upon their house. And while Nabal might deserve it, the rest of them don’t.

Abigail then does what seems reasonable, she wants to placate David and his men. So she packs up food and drinks and animals and loads it all up on some carts for her men to take to David. But she also goes with them.  The Bibel then points out that she did not tell her husband.

She is acting in complete defiance of her husband’s wishes. Sure Nabal didn’t directly tell her to do anything, but she knows what Nabal said to David’s men. She knows Nabal doesn’t want to give David or his men anything. She also knows that’s a stupid decision that puts them all in danger from this army that’s basically sitting on their doorstep. By defying her husband, she might save her people, but possibly at the cost of herself. For when she comes back Nabal might punish her. She knows this. But she does it anyway. Because her people’s lives mean more to her.

But going before David is also dangerous because David may not listen to her. And a lesser man might kill her to exact his vengeance against Nabal. We don’t know if Abigail has met David before, we don’t know if she knows what kind of man he is, so she may have no idea what sort of reception she may receive.

Someone please read 1 Samuel 25:21-22.

21 Now David had said, “Surely it was in vain that I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; but he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

Meanwhile David is all angsty, basically despairing that he ever protected these ungrateful people. But because David is a man of action his angst isn’t just words. He’s planning on basically going down to Nabal’s town and killing all the men.

Which isn’t a very nice thing, is it? Sure Nabal isn’t really paying David his due, but killing everyone seems a little bit like an overreaction, doesn’t it?

Alright someone please read 1 Samuel 25:23-31.

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, and fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 My lord, do not take seriously this ill-natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal[a] is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.

26 “Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, since the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from taking vengeance with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be like Nabal. 27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If anyone should rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living under the care of the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

Abigail reaches David and basically she begs. She bows to the ground and pleads with him. She admits her husband is stupid, and that she didn’t see the men when they were origianlly sent. So now she comes to beg for her people. She begs him to forgive Nabal because she comes bringing everything David has asked for and more. She also then affirms that she knows he should be king, and that she believes God will make him king, and that when that happens he’ll not want to look back on this and feel guilty or bad.

She begs for the life of every person she is responsible for. Because David is so mad that he actually is planning to go on a murderous rampage through her property.

Let’s see how David reacts to her pleas. Someone please read 1 Samuel 25:32-35.

32 David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today! 33 Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be you, who have kept me today from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by my own hand! 34 For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him; he said to her, “Go up to your house in peace; see, I have heeded your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

Her words make David realize what he was about to do was more than a little crazy. And he thanks God for sending her to him to stop him from killing everyone, and he thanks God for her—her good sense to defy her husband and come after him. Because if she hadn’t come after him and begged him, his anger would have gotten the better of him and he would have killed all those people.

This is actually something of a character flaw in David, we’re going to see over and over. When he thinks he’s been wrong, or when he thinks something is his, he’s not afraid to take it by force. He doesn’t do this most of the time, but here and in a later story we see it. He gets so wrapped up in what is rightfully his and his rage, that he can’t see the truth right in front of him that what he’s doing is wrong, until someone else points it out to him. In this case, it’s Abigail.

So David tells her to go home in peace, and that he will not harm her or any member of her house—even her no-good husband.

Someone please read 1 Samuel 25:36-38.

 36 Abigail came to Nabal; he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him; he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

Abigail comes home and Nabal is holding this huge feast, feasting on all the food he wouldn’t give David and his men. When Abigail gets there she sees he’s drunk, so she doesn’t tell him what she did. Possibly because in a drunken state he won’t remember anything she tells him anyway. But also possibly because in a drunken state he might overreact to her words.

So in the morning, she tells him, and he like goes catatonic. Possibly Nabal is an old man, and with the news he has some sort of stroke, we don’t know. We just know that for ten days he basically doesn’t move or do anything. And then he dies.

Now Abigail is left without a husband. We have no idea at this point if she has a son or anything. Nabal was very rich, but his estate won’t go to Abigail, it’ll go to a mail relative unless Abigail has a son to inherit it.

So what is to happen to Abigail?

Someone please read 1 Samuel 25:39-44.

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who has judged the case of Nabal’s insult to me, and has kept back his servant from evil; the Lord has returned the evildoing of Nabal upon his own head.” Then David sent and wooed Abigail, to make her his wife. 40 When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41 She rose and bowed down, with her face to the ground, and said, “Your servant is a slave to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 Abigail got up hurriedly and rode away on a donkey; her five maids attended her. She went after the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel; both of them became his wives. 44 Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

David hears Nabal is dead and is basically like “Hah! I get it, God! I shouldn’t take vengeance with my own hands because you are more than capable of doing that for me.” And then David is like “Hey that Abigail was pretty awesome. I think I’ll marry her.”

So Abigail becomes one of David’s wives. Which remember she wouldn’t have been able to inherit Nabal’s estate so this is really a best situation for her. Plus her old husband was pretty lame and David is pretty cool. The only downsides are David is still like being hunted down and she’s just one of David’s wives. At this point David has three. And that number is just going to increase.

This whole sage of David vs. Saul can seem like it’s a bunch of dudes doing stuff, but both of these stories illustrate that women are always around, and always affecting outcomes. Even when the Bible doesn’t highlight them. In this case, the Bible gives us insight into these two women and how they changed things. Michal saved David. Abigail saved every man on her property. Both women’s actions put themselves in danger from the men in their lives. Saul could have seen through Michal’s deception and had her killed for betraying him. David could have killed Abigail rather than listened to her. Nabal could have reacted in violence to her defiance of him. But still they acted, because they knew they had to do what was best to protect the people they loved and to do what was right in God’s eyes.

Hannah

Today we’re going to start one of the most epic books of the Old Testament, and that’s saying something considering we’ve already had plagues, parting of seas, invasions, and conquering. So what’s the books of Samuel about then?

A mad king. A small shepherd boy who seems unlikely for anything great—takes down an enemy twice his size and then goes on to lead an army against the mad king. A friendship forged with the mad king’s son, in which both risk their lives. The rightful king ascends the thrown and his dynasty will reign forever!

This is the stuff of the stories we still tell: King Arthur, the Lord of the Rings, a hundred different tellings and re-tellings. So if you want kings and knights, loyalty and oaths, romance and violence, heroes and villains, all told with the backdrop of the fate of an entire nation, this is the book for you.

However, this book doesn’t jump straight into this business of kings. Because when we last left the people of God, the Israelites, did they have kings? [Let them answer]. No! They had something else. Who were the leaders of Israel? [Let them answer.] That’s right! Judges. So the first part of this book that we’ll be looking at today it bridges those stories between how we go from Judges to Kings and the way it does it is with, surprise, a guy named Samuel. Today we’ll be studying Samuel only a little, because we’ll be focusing on his mother, Hannah.

Please go get your Bibles and let’s open up to 1 Samuel 1:1-8.

1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; 5 but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

We’re introduced to a lot of characters right here, but the most important is Hannah. Hannah is married to a man who also has another wife. The other wife has many children, Hannah does not, but the man favors Hannah. We’ve seen this before haven’t we? Who remembers the similar story to this? [Let them answer.]

That’s right, Rachel and Leah. Leah had many children, but Jacob loved the childless Rachel. Seems to be a theme here.

Like Jacob, the husband thinks his love for her should be enough. That as long as he loves her she shouldn’t want children. But I think this is the case of a man missing the point, and not understanding this woman’s pain.

Having a child meant a lot to women back then. Nowadays it still means a lot, emotionally. It means the start of a new family, the start of a new life, and for some women it’s all their dreams coming true. But back then it was more than that. It wasn’t just your dream coming true—it was your purpose coming to fruition. An ancient woman’s only role back then was to produce an heir, and to fail to do that? To fail to do that was to fail your purpose in life.

Personally I am grateful we live in a world that has moved beyond this. Babies and children are great, obviously. You guys are kids and we love you! But women are capable and able to do so much more. Unfortunately the patriarchy and misogyny of the time didn’t really allow for women to reach the full capabilities. It pinned them into this one purpose, this one job. Reproduction. So if you failed at that one job? Things were not good for you.

It also put them in a precarious position—as we saw with Ruth—if your husband dies. Remember Ruth had no heir, and because of that she was a poor widow with no way to make her life better. She needed a son to claim her husbands inheritance, she couldn’t claim it legally as a woman. She had no way to make her life better without a man of some sort—husband or son in it. So while not being able to have kids today can be sad, it’s not nearly the big deal it was back then.

So every year Hannah goes to the Tabernacle and makes sacrifices with her husband and her family. Remember the Tabernacle is the tent where people worshiped and where the Ark of the Covenant was kept and sacrifices was made. There was no Temple yet. The Bible refers to it as lower case “temple” of the Lord as opposed to Temple with a capital T. Because it is not *the* Temple. That has not been built yet. So anytime in this section it uses lowercase temple, just imagine in your mind the Tabernacle—which is like a ten church.

At the Tabernacle is where we’re introduced to Eli and his two sons. They are the priests and will be important shortly. And as we’re going to see this year Hannah goes up to the Tabernacle and prays. Can someone read 1 Samuel 1:9-11?

9 After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. 11 She made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.”

As a woman I don’t believe Hannah would have been allowed in the Tabernacle proper. She might be allowed in the Tabernacle’s courtyard but maybe she could only come to the gates, I’m not sure. But she gets as close as she can, where she is allowed to go as a woman and prays. She is very emotional and prays to God, basically just like “Oh God if you would just give me a son and I will dedicate him to you.” Remember from our study of Samson, being a Nazirite was basically being a layman priest. Only Levites could be priests—and Hannah and her family are not Levites. But anyone, even women, could become a Nazirite and serve God in this way.

Eli the high priest at the time sees her. It says he’s sitting at the doorpost of the Tabernacle. Let’s see what Eli thinks of Hannah’s pray. Can someone read 1 Samuel 1:12-14?

12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.”

Does Eli see Hannah praying and think “Oh my what a pious woman praying to God?” Nope. Does he see her and think “Oh my, this woman is very emotional right now and sad and maybe I should comfort her?” Nope. Eli’s mind goes immediately to the worst case, cynical situation. This woman must be drunk, he thinks to himself. As if there is no other reason a woman might want to come and pray. Now it’s possible that drunk people stumbling around happened a lot, but I think it also says a lot about Eli that he went for the cynical, little faith in humanity first thought. People do this a lot. We see someone looking sick and throw up into the bushes and we think “They must be drunk!” instead of maybe they’re honestly sick and need help. We see someone acting strange and we think “they must be high” instead of maybe there is something wrong. We write off people as the worst examples of humanity instead of giving them the benefit of a doubt we’d give ourselves.

Can someone read 1 Samuel 1:15-18?

15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

Words like Eli’s could have scared Hannah off. It could have made her feel ashamed, that he thought she was drunk instead of just trouble. Sometimes we feel that way when wrongly accused of something, as if we did something wrong even though we didn’t. And if Hannah was left she would never had a chance to talk to him and actually feel some relief in her soul. It’s not our job to scare people away from church, away from God, and Eli should have known better. Thankfully, Hannah does not go away ashamed. Instead she corrects him and tells him how troubled she is. Eli then basically says he hopes God grants her request. This makes Hannah feel better—maybe because she thinks Eli’s words might mean more to God than hers, since he is the high priest. We know that’s not the case, but that is a misconception people often have, that pastors and priests have God’s ear more than the rest of us. So maybe that is why Hannah felt comforted. Or maybe it was just she was done praying and felt as if she had given the problem to God. We don’t know.

Alright let’s see what happens next, can someone read 1 Sam 1:19-23?

19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.”

21 The man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there forever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.” 23 Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only—may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. 24 When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” She left him there for the Lord.

Hannah has a son and she names him Samuel. The next year when it’s time to go back for the yearly sacrifice, Hannah doesn’t go. She says she is waiting until she can offer him as a Nazirite, before she takes him. Basically she’s waiting until he’s old enough that he doesn’t need to be breastfed, which back then could be fairly old, three or even four.

Then when he’s old enough she takes him to the Tabernacle and they make their sacrifice and then they go to Eli. She’s basically like “I was that woman praying all those years ago and look how God has answered my prayers! Now I give him to God.”

The implication here is that she actually leaves him at the Tabernacle to be raised by Eli.

Why? Samson didn’t have to be raised at the Tabernacle to be a Nazirite. But Hannah wanted to fully give her son back to God, because she knew her son didn’t belong to her. He belonged to God. So she gives him to God’s house—the Tabernacle—where he will be raised by the priests so that he can fully serve God.

This child was the only thing Hannah wanted in her entire life. It would be very easy for her to keep him, for her to say that being a Nazirite doesn’t really require him to be fully God’s. She can raise him and keep him home. But Hannah is a woman of great faith and she knows that it was God that gave Samuel to her. So she doesn’t take the easy route. Instead she gives up her son. She gives back to God what God has given her, probably the hardest thing any mother can do.

Can someone read 1 Samuel 2:1-10?

2 Hannah prayed and said,

“My heart exults in the Lord;
    my strength is exalted in my God.[a]
My mouth derides my enemies,
    because I rejoice in my[b] victory.

2 “There is no Holy One like the Lord,
    no one besides you;
    there is no Rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly,
    let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
    and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken,
    but the feeble gird on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
    but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
    but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 The Lord kills and brings to life;
    he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
    he brings low, he also exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust;
    he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
    and inherit a seat of honor.[c]
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
    and on them he has set the world.

9 “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
    but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
    for not by might does one prevail.
10 The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered;
    the Most High[d] will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
    he will give strength to his king,
    and exalt the power of his anointed.”

Giving up a child is one of the hardest things a mother can do and yet as we see in this prayer, Hannah does it with exultation for God. Hannah’s prayer is not one of despair, even though it would be easy for her to do so. Instead she praises God for his great strength and power. There are few people with faith like Hannah. So many of us want to keep close to us the things God has given us. We think the thing—whether it’s money, a talent, or whatever—is ours. We earned it. We produced it. We worked for it. We forget that it is God who gives and takes. But Hannah doesn’t forget. She does what most of us can’t.

Now we’re going to skip forward slightly. The section we’re skipping we will come back to next week though, because it’s important. But for now let’s skip ahead to 1 Samuel 2:18-21.

18 Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord”; and then they would return to their home.

21 And the Lord took note of Hannah; she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

Even though Hannah gave Samuel to the Tabernacle, she does not forget him. She makes him a little robe every year, it says, and brings it up to the Tabernacle to him. Now when you think of making a robe, you’re probably thinking going to the store to buy a bolt of cloth and then coming home to sew it into a robe. Not too hard. But that’s not what this would be. There weren’t really stores where you could just buy a bolt of cloth. You generally had to weave your own cloth. So imagine it to be much more painstaking. Hannah weaving individual threads until they from a cloth which she can then make into a robe. This was her labor of love, her way to remember her son every year and to remind him, when she came to the Tabernacle for her yearly sacrifices that she still loved him.

I don’t want you to think Hannah gave up her son because she did not love him. That is not the case. As we see from this Hannah greatly loved Samuel. That’s what makes the sacrifice all the more poignant. It’s not really a sacrifice to give up something you don’t love. That’s why your parents don’t ground you from things like school or vegetables. They ground you from things you like. That’s why for Lent you’re supposed to give up something you love. So it means something. You feel the pain of it’s loss.

Hannah would feel the pain of Samuel’s loss keenly. Her firstborn son, the son who fulfilled her life’s purpose, but she knows he belongs to God.

God sees Hannah’s faithfulness and he rewards her. He gives her three more sons and two daughters.

Hannah’s story is generally revered and taught for two reasons: one being this idea of sacrifice and giving back to God what is his. If Hannah can give up her son, how much easier should it be for us to give up our tithes, or to give up candy for Lent. But the other is her prayer. Hannah didn’t hide her emotions from God. Hannah didn’t pretend with God that everything was fine. In the beginning when she was praying, so hard and fervent that the priest thought she was drunk, she was not hiding. Was her prayer angry or just sad? We know it was anxious and she was greatly troubled.

God doesn’t want us to hold back from him. He wants you to take your requests and emotions—yes even anger—to him.

So remember Hannah when you pray. Remember you can take anything to God, and you can take any emotion to him, and you can pray as calmly or emotionally as you like. God hears you. And he will answer—though perhaps not always the way we want.

And with that we’ll end here. Next week we’ll talk about Samuel himself.

Ruth

Note: When I did this lesson I was pressed for time. Also the teacher of the other hour of Middle School Sunday School was not going to be there, so I taught both hours, so there wasn't as much reason for me to write up a pretty post explaining all my notes. So this post is basically just my notes. Next time I do this set of lessons I will come back and pretty this up, but for now, I present my notes.

Ruth 1:1-5

• The set up.
• This story takes place during judges. There is a famine so a Hebrew man leaves Israel with his family and goes to Moab, where there is presumably food.
• Everyone dies. Poor Naomi left alone.

Ruth 1:6-9

• Famine is over, Naomi wants to go home, but she tells the girls not to come with her.

Ruth 1:14-18

• Ruth is all like “I’m not leaving you!!!”
• Naomi is like “okay”
• Greatest example of female friendship in the Bible.

Ruth 1:19-22

• Naomi is basically upset with God here. She has lost everything and come back with nothing.

Ruth 2:1-3

• Widows basically have no way to make money. And no one to look out for them. So to provide food for them, Ruth goes to glean in the fields.
• Lev. 19:9-10: 9  ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

Ruth 2:4-7

• Boaz notices Ruth.

Ruth 2:9-15

• Boaz talks to Ruth and lets her eat dinner with his other people.
• And tells his people to let Ruth do her thing and not bother her.

Ruth 2:17-23

• Ruth tells Naomi everything that went down and Naomi is like O.O This man is our nearest kin. Depending on your version of the Bible different words can be used here but if you look in your Bibles there is a footnote symbol and if you look down it says “one who has the right to redeem.” What does that mean?

What is redemption as we think of it? [Let them answer]

• The word redeem can mean many things. You can both redeem a coupon and the Star Wars story can redeem the character of Darth Vader. How can that be? Well it has to do with the meaning of the word. Redeem basically means to compensate for or save something from it’s faults…such as Darth Vader being redeemed. His character is saved—brought back to the light if you will—after a history of doing bad things. It can also mean a thing regaining or gaining value. You could argue Darth Vader regained his value when he came to the light, but a coupon definitely gains value when you actually use it. Before that it’s just a piece of paper.
• In Ruth and Naomi’s case, redemption would mean they would be saved from their destitute lives as childless widows.
• In these ancient times, a A kinsman-redeemer was a relative who could redeem a poor person’s inheritance (Leviticus 25:25). In certain circumstances, where there was no heir, a near relative could act as kinsman-redeemer by marrying the relative’s widow to redeem the inheritance. A relative was not obligated to act as kinsman-redeemer, however. If no relative chose to help, the widow would probably live in poverty.
• Lev 25;2525 “ ‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relativee is to come and redeemf what they have sold.
• So what Naomi is hoping for Ruth is that Boaz will “redeem” them by marrying Ruth. And even though Boaz isn’t Naomi’s son, Ruth’s first child would be as Ruth’s first husband’s child—for the sake of inheritance laws, meaning legally that child would basically be Naomi’s grandchild. Both women would be rescued out of their poverty and obscurity by this plan.

Ruth 3:1-5

• Naomi then suggests a crazy plan, of Ruth basically sneaking into Boaz’s bed that night. I mean that’s not literally what happens but it’s basically what the plan is. Lie down at his feet while he sleeps and see what happens when he wakes up, is what Naomi says.

Ruth 3:6-9

• Naomi had told Ruth to wait and see what Boaz would do. Instead Ruth says something once Boaz sees her “I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.” Right here, Ruth is basically proposing to Boaz. I know it doesn’t read that way to us with our modern eyes but the whole “spread our cloak over me cuz you’re my next of kin” is basically Ruth asking him to marry her and redeem her as her kinsman-redeemer.
• “Spread your cloak over your servant, for you are my redeemer.” That also sounds like something people today might say when praying to God, which we’re going to get to that. Save that in your minds. 😊

Ruth 3:10-13

• Boaz basically agrees with her proposal but he is like “I’m actually not your nearest relative, so we’ve got to check with this other dude first and then if he takes you in, you’re covered. If not, I’ll cover you.”
• Boaz praises Ruth for her loyalty and diligence and also for choosing him over the young men which is a little egotistical. But what I think he’s getting at is that she was smart enough to realize he was her next of kin instead of trying to track down some younger man. This also implies that Boaz is not in fact, a young spring chicken.

Ruth 3:14

• I want to pause on this verse for a minute, because when we read a story of a woman of the Bible doing something like sleeping at a man’s feet, sometimes our first reaction is “that’s so scandalous!” quickly followed by “Well it can’t be that scandalous if a virtuous woman of the Bible did it.” But I want to stop on this verse because no, indeed it is *that* scandalous. Ruth is taking her reputation, Boaz reputation’s, everyone in hand by basically sneaking into his bed at night. However, nothing they did was actually a sin or wrong. She just went into his room and slept at his feet.
• There is this idea in most societies of something called “propriety” which means basically “conforming to conditionally accepted standards of behaviors and morals.” Sometimes we confuse societal standards with sins or things that are wrong in God’s eyes. But…sometimes societal standards are just that…societal standards. And to follow God’s plan for our lives, sometimes we have to break them. Jesus did this when he hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors. Those were the types of people good Jewish people didn’t hang out with. But Jesus did it, because he knew these were the people who needed him. In Ruth’s society, sneaking into a man’s bedroom in the middle of the night would be seen as basically an act of prostitution, even though we the reader know she didn’t “sleep” with Boaz in a sexual since.
• I’m not saying sneak into people’s beds or hang out with people you shouldn’t. What I’m saying is that sometimes following Jesus requires us to do things we know to be right but society views as wrong. The ultimate authority we follow is not society’s view of politeness but rather God’s views. This is also why we shouldn’t be so quick to judge people when they seem to be going outside of what we think is appropriate for society. You don’t always know what’s really going on. Just like an outside observer would have mistaken what was going on with Ruth and Boaz.

Ruth 3:16-18

• Ruth goes back to Naomi.

Ruth 4:1-6

• Boaz gets down to business and meets with the other people of the city and sees what is to be done with Ruth.

Ruth 4:7-12

• Boaz pledges to marry Ruth and his decision I sblessed.

Ruth 4:13-17

• Boaz and Ruth get married and have a baby named Obed. Naomi is basically the grandmother of this baby.
• Remember how at the beginning Naomi was bitter against God for everything had been taken away from her? Here her family has been restored. She didn’t give birth to Obed, but he is as her grandson would be, if Boaz was her son. God has completely restored Naomi. In another word….her life has been redeemed. It has regained the value it had at the end.
• This also directly sets us up for King David.

Conclusion:

• What’s so important about Ruth? Why is there an entire book of the Bible dedicated to her?
• Well she directly sets up for King David, who is basically the Biblical King Arthur which is kind of important.
• Her story also directly reflects how the laws to protect and redeem the poor are used to do just that, an example of faithful men and women following God’s laws and their faith being rewarded.
• Perhaps the biggest thing from a Christian sense, is that Christians often view this story as a metaphor for our relationship with Jesus. Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer, he is the person who redeems us:
  • Dr. Leggett goes on to explain: “As Boaz had the right of redemption and yet clearly was under no obligation to intervene on Ruth’s behalf, so it is with Christ. As Boaz, seeing the plight of the poor widows, came to their rescue because his life was governed by Yahweh and his laws, so also of the Messiah it is prophesied that his life would be governed by the law of God and that he would deal justly and equitably with the poor and with those who were oppressed (Ps. 72:2, 4, 12, 13; Isa. 11:4)” (The Levirate and Goel Institutions in the Old Testament With Special Attention to the Book of Ruth,Mack Publishing, 1974, p. 298). https://www.gci.org/bible/hist/ruth3
• And that’s it! For the summer this is the end of our people of the Bible. Next Sunday we’re going to do a lesson to help prepare you guys for school and the Sunday after that is the party, if you guys have memorized the books of the Bible. Then the eighth graders will go to confirmation and the rest of us will continue with one of the biggest characters of the old Testament. King David.

Deborah and Jael

Recap of where we are in the Bible: the Israelites are now in the Promised Land. They have settled there and are no longer wandering, they are home. Does Israel have a king? No. What is the leader of the Israelites called at this point? [Let them answer.]

A prophet. I know it can be confusing because it modern speech “prophet” usually means someone who like sees the future, but remember that’s not what it means in the Bible. A Prophet is just someone who talks to God. And during this time period in Israel’s history, because the prophet talks to God, the prophet is usually the leader of the people. The Israelites have no king, God is there king, and the prophet is the person who tells them what God wants them to do.

Moses was the first prophet of Israel, then Joshua. But then Joshua dies and someone becomes prophet after him and then another person becomes prophet after him, etc. This goes on for a long time! And the book of Judges is the story of Israel during this time when many different prophets led them. So for the next three weeks we’re going to look at a few specific prophets. Some of my favorite Bible stories come from this section of the Bible, and today is one of them.

Today we are going to talk about Deborah. So please open your Bibles. Can someone read Judges 4:1-3?

4 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. 3 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years.

These verses set up what’s going on. Ehud was the last prophet of Israel. Basically he dies and the Israelites start to stray from God. So to teach them a lesson, God allows this king called Jabin to conquer them. Jabin has a huge army and oppressed the Israelites for 20 years, so the Israelites are pretty miserable.

Alright can someone read Judges 4:4-5?

4 At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.

So the new prophet is a woman named Deborah. The Israelites may be oppressed but they still have a leader, and it’s Deborah. The text says she sits under a tree and people come to her for her judgements. Why hasn’t she gone out and conquered these invaders, like Joshua or Moses might have? Well remember, it’s God who has allowed Jabin to oppress the Israelites. Deborah is a prophet of the Lord and she’s not going to go against God’s will. But when God tells her it’s time to be free, she’s also not going to go against that either! Which is what we’re about to see. Can someone read Judges 4:6-9?

 6 She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. 7 I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Deborah summons to her a guy named Barak. I bet that name sounds familiar to you, doesn’t it? Yep it’s Barak just like Barak Obama. So anyway, Deborah calls this guy Barak to her and basically says, “God says it’s time for us to be free! you’re going to take out the army of Jabin and be free! And you, Barak, are going to be the general who does this.”

But Barak is basically like “I don’t to go alone, please come with me.” Is he scared to go alone? Maybe. Or maybe he knows all the stories about prophets in the past leading Israel to freedom, and he knows he’s no prophet. He’s just a general. But Moses with his hands could cause an army to rise or fall. And God has Deborah’s back just like God had Moses’s back. Or maybe he’s thinking having a prophet there will cause the people to remember those stories and for them to fight harder. Regardless, it does show that Barak doesn’t have complete faith in the instructions that Deborah has gotten from God, that he doesn’t have complete faith in God’s plan. Barak wants to add onto it.

And Deborah responds that she will obviously go if that’s what he wants, but because he asked and didn’t fully trust in God’s plan, he won’t be the one remembered for defeating the bad guys. That this bad general, Sisera, will be delivered to the hand of a woman.

Remember, back then, women were not considered the equal to men. Deborah gets a pass because God chose her, and not even men with stupid ideas about oppressing women are going to go against what God has said. But to most dudes of the time, saying that a woman would get the glory instead of you was like horribly insulting. Because they basically didn’t consider women as real, full people. So what should be Barak’s glory going to a woman is a little bit of a punishment.

Of course it’s also possible that Barak is a good general who doesn’t care about glory. He only cares about the victory and getting his people free. So in that case, he may not care if it’s Deborah or some random woman who gets the glory as long as it’s for God’s glory and God’s people are freed. We don’t really know. All we really know about Barak is that he clearly trusted Deborah and was willing to follow her lead.

Let’s read Judges 4:10-13.

 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,[a] that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon.

So Barak does as he’s told and it doesn’t go unnoticed. This Kenite called Heber sees it. The Kenites were allies of the Israelites, claiming they were descended from Moses’s in-laws. But for some reason this guy Heber sides with the other team in this fight. So when he sees Barak gather all these men, he basically goes and tattles on him to the enemy general, Sisera. So the enemy general is like “heck no, I’m not letting an insurrection happen on my watch!” And he gathers his massive army to fight them.

Can someone read Judges 4:14-17?

14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. 15 And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic[a] before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, 16 while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.

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.

Deborah tells Barak that today is the day he’s gotta fight Sisera, so Barak goes out with his ten thousand men. Sisera’s men panic and basically Barak’s army tears them through like a hot knife through butter. I think we can safely say the Israelites are successfully defeating their enemies. But Sisera is trying to get away. He gets out of his chariot and flees on foot, all the way to Heber’s camp, and Heber’s actual tent. Heber’s probably not even in this fight, this is just a not so far away campsite most likely. Heber is allied with Sisera, but there’s a difference between allies who will spy for you and allies who will die for you. Heber’s not the die for you kind. But Heber is certainly the kind of ally that would try to shelter Sisera. So Sisera runs to his tent and ends up at the tent of Heber’s wife, Jael.

Someone read Judges 4:18-20

18 Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 

So Jael comes out and meets and is like “you can come in here we will keep you safe and hide you.” He believes her because he has no reason not to. Heber—her husband—is allied with him. So he comes him and she hide shim by covering him with a rug. And then he’s like “I’m thirsty.” So she gives him milk. And because he’s still very demanding, he’s like “Can you stand at the entrance of the tent and if anybody asks you anything just cover for me.”

She agrees.

He falls asleep.

Now can someone read Judges 4:21

21 But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died.

Jael straight up kills this dude. He falls asleep in her tent, where she offered him shelter, and gave him stuff to drink and pretended like she was going to hide him. And when he falls asleep does she protect him. No. Instead she drives a tent peg through his head.

Jael’s not playing around.

But why does she kill him? Her husband is his ally.

Well, let’s not forget that husbands and wives aren’t always on the same page about things. People would have taken it fore granted back then that a wife must do what a husband says. So if a husband allies with someone, the wife is obviously allied with him to, because a wife was generally so subjugated by her husband she couldn’t go against him without major repercussions. Men could beat their wives without getting in trouble back then, so a woman was taking her own life into her hands by defying her husband. But Jael obviously was still loyal to the Israelites, as most Kenites were. Or maybe she saw what Jabin was doing to the Israelites and disagreed. Or maybe she loved and trusted God and knew this was what God wanted her to do. We don’t know why she did it. We just know she made a decision—independent of her husband’s will—and did what she thought was right.

Can someone read Judges 4:22-24?

22 Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

23 So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan.

Barak pursues Sisera and Jael comes out to meet him like “I’ve got him for you.” She takes him to the tent and shoes him Sisera dead.

And so between Barak’s army and Jael’s swift action, the Israelites win that day. Jabin is overthrown and the Israelites are freed.

This victory is rarely talked about as Barak’s victory, even though he was the general who led the troops. Deborah’s words have come true. This victory is tied tightly to two women: Deborah and Jael. It was Deborah’s leadership and Jael’s quick thinking that led to the victory.

This story is important for a number of reasons. But mainly because this is a story that focuses on women, and women in rolls that aren’t normally attributed in society.

For thousands of years women have been kept out of leadership roles, told that it’s simply something women are not capable of, something we’re not built for. For thousands of years women have been told they are not capable of being soldiers, of making tough decisions that need to be made. Women have been told to behave and be a certain way, and if a woman existed outside of those bounds she was not treated well. In this story we have two women who do what God requires of them, and it goes directly in the face of what society requires of them as women. Because those are not the same thing. What God requires of us and what society requires of us do not always align.

God required Deborah to lead. It didn’t matter that the Israelites had a patriarchal culture. God is not. And he called Deborah to lead just as he had called Ehud, Joshua, and Moses before her.

God required Jael to be a soldier, even though women were not allowed to be soldiers back then and women certainly were not allowed to go against their husbands. But Jael did both, because it was what God required of her.

We answer to God first, always.

There are many denominations still today of Christianity that tell women they are not equal to men. That women are only supposed to do and behave certain ways. But we see clearly in this story that that is not God’s rule. Deborah and Jael are far from the only women in the Bible to make decisions for God and to lead and to do things that society may not view as appropriate for women. We already talked about Rahab, who hid Hebrew spies from her people. We will talk about Ruth, Naomi, Esther, Anna, Dorcas, Junia. There are so many women who are for more than the boxes that society has tried to place them in.

Can someone flip to the New Testament, Galatians 3:28. Remember Galatians was a letter written by Paul to the Church at Galatia.

28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

What Paul is saying here is that it doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or a boy, a Jew or not, poor or rich, oppressed or privileged, before God in Jesus we’re all the same. God can and does use us all for his glory and purpose. We are all here to serve God. We are all held to the same standard and we all serve the same God.

And this is why I think the story of Deborah and Jael is so important. It’s one of the few Biblical examples we get of women, doing exactly as God wants them to do, living the life God wants them to, and that includes traditionally non-feminine activities.

Male or female, you are not beholden to societies views of gender roles. You are beholden to God. The most important role in your life is being a follower of Christ.

Pharaoh, His Daughter, and Jochebed (Moses Part 1)

Note: During the time of Lent I will be making an effort to tie all the stories forward to Jesus and something he said or did. So at the end of this lesson we talk about Matthew 5:43-47, and tie it into this story.

When we last left off, Jacob and his entire household—all of his sons and their families, all of his servants and their families, and all of their animals—had moved to Egypt. Who remembers why they moved to Egypt? [Let them answer.]

That’s right there was a famine and there was no food, and going to be no food for many years. But Egypt had food and Joseph was already in Egypt. Joseph was second to none but pharaoh and he basically said, “come live here, be safe, and you can live in this area of land.”

Alright let’s talk a minute about this group of people who just moved to Egypt. They are not Egyptians. They are from Canaan. They are all descended from Jacob and before him Isaac, and before him Abraham. Who remembers what Jacob’s name was changed to? [Let them answer.]

Israel. That’s right. From basically this point on everyone descended from Jacob is going to be referred to as one of two words: either Hebrew or Israelites. (Write the words on the board so they can see them.) So when the Bible says either Hebrews or Israelites it means all the people descended from Jacob and his twelve sons.

Now the twelve sons of Jacob were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, and Joseph. [Write the names on the board]. You will often hear people refer to the twelve tribes of Israel. These are—more or less—the twelve tribes of Israel. Each of Jacob’s sons is the father of his own tribe. So every Israelite would know which son they descended from. They would consider other descendants from that son their tribe. Which is basically sort of like “We’re all sons of Israel but I am specifically a son of Judah.”

Basically, you now have all these people living in Egypt who don’t identify as Egyptians. They identify themselves first and foremost as Israelites. They are God’s people, and they would consider themselves set apart from the Egyptians. They might intermarry with Egyptians—Joseph for example did. His wife was an Egyptians. But even after generations, they considered themselves Israelites. And as we’re going to see, this worried the new leader of Egypt, the new pharaoh.

So today, for the first time, we’re in the book of Exodus, which is the second book of the Bible. It basically picks up right where Genesis left off, recapping that all of Israel has moved to Egypt and then fast forwarding a bit, to a time when all the sons of Jacob were dead and it’s their descendants who still live in Egypt.

Can someone read Exodus 1:6-14?

6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation. 7 But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

So Pharaoh is afraid that since the Israelites don’t view themselves as Egyptians, basically they might ally with one of Egypt’s enemies and help overthrow Egypt from the inside. It’s not a crazy fear. There are historical examples of this sort of thing happening: where land is shared by basically two distinct people groups and one of those people groups helps overthrow the other. A possible way to solve this would be for the Pharaoh to say “I’m going to work harder at showing the Israelites that they are our friends. I’ll make it clear they are an integral part of this nation and that we love and respect them. Then they’ll never want to ally against us, because they’ll be like ‘NO way! The Egyptians are our best friends!’” But does Pharaoh say that?

No. Instead he says “I’m going to make their lives a living hell.”

I think what Pharaoh is going for here is that he think they’re multiplying too fast, and he thinks if he makes their lives miserable, they’ll slow down all this kid having business. And also maybe they’ll just all die. And they’ll be too beaten down to even think about allying with any other power. This is what we call “oppression” and it’s not cool.

And it doesn’t work for Pharaoh, does it? The Israelites keep multiplying. In response Pharaoh works them harder. But it doesn’t stop them. Why do you guys think that is?

[Let them answer.]

Well I think most importantly it’s because God is with them. Even if Pharaoh takes everything from them they know they have God and God has their back. God is not just going to let them all die in Egypt.

So Pharaoh’s brilliant plan is not working. Let’s see what he does in response to this. Can someone read Exodus 1:15-16?

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.”

Pharaoh’s response is basically to pull aside the Hebrew’s midwives and be like “Could you make sure all the boy babies happen to die in childbirth? We’re cool with girls though.”

This is a diabolical plan because it wouldn’t have pointed back to Pharaoh. A lot of babies and women died in childbirth back then. Like you were lucky to survive. So he was basically asking these midwives to skew those numbers so boys just happened to have higher rates of death. Which would be weird but probably not that suspicious.

However, in order for this plan to work, the midwives have to go along with it.  Let’s see if they do. Can someone read Exodus 1:17-21?

17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

Basically the midwives don’t do what Pharaoh asks them to do. Pharaoh gets upset and when he summons them back to ask why, they lie. Instead of being like “It’s because we’re not crazy murdering people and we love God” they say it’s because the Israelite women give birth before they can get there. Because remember back then there were no cell phones or even phones. So if a woman went into labor, someone would have to go run and get a midwife and bring her back. That trip could take some time. So it’s not completely unbelievable they could be having babies before the midwives arrive. However, I think it’s heavily implied here that the midwives are lying. They are still helping, they’re just not willing to kill babies or go against God.

God sees these midwives and what they’re doing and he blesses them because of it.

But do you think Pharaoh is going to be happy with this answer? [Let them answer.

Alright someone read Exodus 1:22.

22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

Pharaoh is basically throughs subterfuge out the window at this point. He’s just like “Every baby boy is ordered to be dead.” And he sends out his people to make sure it happens. From this point forward, every baby boy born is to be murdered.

Do you guys think the Israelites were happy about this? [Let them answer.]

Yeah me either. And back then a woman wouldn’t know before she was giving birth if she was having a boy or a girl. She wouldn’t know if her baby would get to live or die, if once she gave birth, soldiers would arrive at her door. So I imagine every woman lived in fear that her baby would be murdered, because they didn’t know if it was a boy or not.

Alright let’s see what happens. Can someone read Exodus 2:1-4?

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3 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. 4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

Remember the House of Levi just means they were descended from Levite, Jacob’s son. A Levite woman had a baby who was a boy. By pharaoh’s command that should mean he must die. But she hides him. Maybe she did this by telling people her child died in childbirth? Maybe she did it by telling everyone he was a girl. Who knows. We don’t. We just know that after three months she couldn’t hide him any longer. But she didn’t want him to die. So she made a desperate attempt to save his life. She puts him in a basket and puts him in the Nile River.

Now it says she plastered it with bitumen and pitch because that’s how she’d make the basket water tight and float, so it just doesn’t immediately flood and the baby drown and die. And she put him in the reeds on the bank, but that area is not safe.

The Nile River is full of life. Crocodiles might seem that basket and think it’s a tasty snack. Hippos lived in that river, and while they don’t eat humans, if they saw something like a basket and they weren’t sure what it was, they might attack it just to make sure it wasn’t dangerous. Hippos are actually one of the most dangerous creatures out there because they are so big and strong. Both crocodiles and Hippos would probably be found around the banks of the river, where she put the basket.

More towards the center of the river, the basket would have to worry about actual human traffic like ships. Because the Nile was basically Egypt’s highway. It was the easiest way to travel through the kingdom.

Yet all of this danger of putting her baby in a basket was safer than the reality that the soldiers would come for him and murder him. By putting him in the river she was at least giving him a chance. A slim chance, but a chance.

To help that chance, the baby’s sister watched him to see what would happen. If he would be eaten, drown, or miraculously saved.

Let’s see what happens.

Can someone read Exodus 2:5-10?

5 The daughter of 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. 6 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. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Pharaoh’s daughter is bathing in the river and she sees the basket. She asks her maid to get it, and when she pulls the baby out he’s crying. It’s very clear here that Pharaoh’s daughter immediately recognizes this as an Israelite baby, and she would know the decry her father the Pharaoh had set down. But does she through him the river and let him die, upholding her father’s command?

No. She chooses to raise him as her own son.

Now the baby’s sister who is watching all of this is a smart cookie. She basically reveals herself and asks, “Do you want a wet nurse?” Basically do you want me to find a slave to nurse this baby for you. Because women can only nurse babies when they have recently had babies. It has to do with hormones and biology. So if Pharaoh’s daughter hadn’t recently had a baby—which probably not—she wouldn’t even be able to feed the baby. Not to mention it’s always been fairly common for noble ladies to hire maids or acquire slaves to nurse babies for them so they wouldn’t have to do so.

When Pharaoh’s daughter agrees that she needs a wet nurse, the sister actually goes and gets the baby’s biological mother. Pharaoh’s daughter actually pays the baby’s biological mother to help her raise this baby.

Now up to this point none of these characters have been named, but here Pharaoh’s daughter names the baby Moses. Also we later learn that Moses’s mother is named Jochebed and his sister was named Miriam. Pharaoh’s daughter is never given a name, so we will continue to refer to her as thus.

Here at the beginning of Moses story, we have three incredibly courageous women.

Jochebed hides her baby from Pharaoh’s men and then when she can hide him no longer, she trusts him to God. It was a dangerous and incredibly brave thing to do. If she had tried to continue hiding him, he probably would’ve been found. It would have taken an act of incredible faith to place her baby, who she didn’t want to die, in that water. But also considerable bravery not to try to immediately take him back from Pharaoh’s daughter, but to retain her composure and realize that Moses being raised as a prince of Egypt would be in his best interest.

Jochebed has the bravery of a mother who realizes she can not raise her own son, so she gives him up for adoption. Sometimes that is the bravest thing a person can do, realizing that they cannot provide for their child. Holding on to Moses for herself would have led to his death.

Miriam was also incredibly brave. She is basically a slave child who walks straight up to Pharaoh’s daughter and suggest a plan of action. Not just any plan of action, but one as audacious as “I’m going to bring the birth mother here to nurse the child.” At best, Pharaoh’s daughter might have only ignored her. At worst, Pharaoh’s daughter might have had her punished for daring to talk to someone as high and mighty as her. But Miriam still steps forward and suggests her plan.

But Pharaoh’s daughter was also brave and held an important place in God’s plan. She took this baby out of the water and realized it was one of the baby’s her own father would have demanded the death of. She was risking Pharaoh’s ire by taking that baby in, and Pharaoh would have been completely in his rights to have her punished for defying him. But she decides to risk it anyway. Because when faced with the reality of a crying baby, she can’t go alone with Pharaoh’s plan.

But I also think there is another lesson to be learned from Pharaoh’s daughter. She obviously knew before this moment that the Hebrew’s babies were in danger. That’s why she immediately identified the baby in the basket as a Hebrew.

Sometimes we hear about horrible things, like Hebrew baby’s being killed by Pharaoh, or men women and children being murdered in other countries, but it doesn’t seem real and we don’t do anything about it. We don’t know these people and we don’t stand up for them. It’s not until we see a baby crying in its basket or a Syrian who finally made it to America, that we realize these people are people to. This disinterest in others is called “apathy” which means we just don’t care. And to a certain extent, that’s our minds protecting us from ourselves. It takes a lot of effort to care about everyone.

However, God calls us to care about everyone. Jesus tells us we are to love our neighbor as ourself, but he goes further than that too. Let’s flip to the new testament. Flip to Matthew which is the first book of the New Testament. We’re looking for Matthew 5:43-47.

Before we read it, keep in mind this is Jesus speaking. This is from a sermon he gave called the Sermon on the Mount, which is very long and this is just a part of it. Can someone read it?

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Jesus says we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us! If someone bullies you, pray for them. Not just pray for them, we are to love them. He says it’s easy to love people you are close to, everyone does that, it’s hard to love those we are the enemies of and yet we are called by Jesus to this.

The kid who bullies you, you should pray for them and love them. The kid who annoys the crap out of you, pray for them and love them. The person who is the opposite political party of you? Pray and love them.

Pray and love.

This is not easy. This is in fact incredibly hard. It is so much easier to hate, and even easier to just in general be apathic. Because caring is hard. It exerts a lot of effort.

And when you honestly care, your actions will reflect that. You’ll find you just can’t stand by when people talk bad about other people—even when it’s entire people groups you don’t even know.

If you hear that Pharaoh is murdering Hebrew babies, you shouldn’t just sit there and think, “I’m Egyptian, that doesn’t affect me so I don’t care about it.” You should be thinking “These poor women. These poor babies. I can’t even imagine the hurt and pain.” Those thoughts of sympathy? That’s loving. You should then pray for them, and then you should go to Pharaoh and say “What the heck do you think you are doing?” Our love and prayers will often directly lead to this sort of action, because when we really care about someone or something, we have to do something about it. We have to stand up to Pharaoh.

Now the truth is most of us are like Pharaoh’s daughter. And that’s not all bad. We don’t know all that’s going on in the world or with people, so you may not realize there is even someone you should care about until you meet that Hebrew baby in a basket. Pharaoh’s daughter may not have ever given a thought to Hebrews before. Sometimes that’s just the reality of being human, and that’s okay. You can’t be all knowing.

But you should be brave enough to pick up that baby and risk Pharaoh’s ire to support it—even though it was born as the enemy. When these issues of suffering and pain come to your attention, we are supposed to care.

Even if they’re our enemies.

Love God. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. Love. This is what it means to be a Christian.

Rachel and Leah

Last week we talked about Jacob. Jacob had a twin brother named Esau that he basically tricked out of his inheritance and blessing, and Esau got so mad that everyone was worried Esau might murder Jacob. So Jacob was sent away to his uncle Laban.

Remember if you look at our family tree, Laban is Jacob's mother's brother. But if you remember our lesson on Rebekah, she left her brother and never went back, to marry Isaac. So Jacob was leaving his family and the only place he'd ever known to go live with an uncle he'd never met. But he thought he might die if he stayed so he had to go.

Today we're going to talk about this time period that Jacob spent with Laban--which we skipped last week--because today we will be talking about Jacob's wives, who are Laban's daughters. Please go get your Bibles.

So Jacob makes it all the way to Haran and finally sees a bunch of people. They are shepherds with flocks of sheep. But he notices that they're just kind of all milling about this well, which has a big stone over it, basically to keep it closed and protect it. Probably to keep stuff from falling into the well when they're not using it. But the effort of moving the stone is so great that basically they wait for all the flocks to arrive before they remove it. Because they would need a couple of strong people to do it and they don't want to have to do it more than once.

Jacob approaches these guys and asks them if they know his uncle Laban. And basically they're like "Yes, and his daughter is coming here with her sheep!"

Can someone now read Genesis 29:9-14

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she kept them. 10 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. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, 14 and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

So when Jacob sees Rachel, he removes the stone blocking the water, even though it wasn't his job. Why do you think he did that? [Let them answer.]

He could have been trying to impress her. He could have been trying to do something nice for her to show he was a nice guy. We don't know. All we know is that he does that first and then he goes to greet her. And he greets her with a kiss. Now when Jacob is described as kissing Rachel here, don't think of it as a romantic kiss. Think of it more like a customary greeting, like how the French greet each other. Basically he sees her and is so happy to meet a family member and finally be at his destination that he cries.

So he tells her they're related and she runs home to her dad, Laban. And Laban is very happy to see him. Remember, he probably hasn't heard anything of his sister since she left all those long year ago, and now here is her son! It would probably be a reassurance to him that he didn't make the wrong decision sending his sister off, and Jacob's existence was proof she was still alive. So Laban invites Jacob into his home to stay.

Now can someone read verses 15-20

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

Basically Jacob is staying with Laban and helping out around the family business. And Laban thinks it's unfair not to pay him. So after that first month, when it's now clear that Jacob isn't going back home, Laban asks Jacob what a fair wage is. And Jacob offers to work seven years in order to marry Rachel.

Why Rachel? Because she's beautiful. It's interesting your versions of the Bible say her eyes are lovely, but every other version of the Bible I've read says it's "weak eyes" which is not meant as a compliment. So I checked my commentary and it seems the words used in the original language can go either way. However, most interpreters use the previous sentence that contrast the sister's age to say that this whole section is comparing and contrasting this sisters. If so, then this would be a contrast. Rachel was beautiful, and Leah was not [1].

However, even if we take it positively, that Leah really does have beautiful eyes, it's clear that for Jacob Rachel's overall grace and beauty out balanced Leah's eyes. After all, he loves Rachel not Leah.

Laban agrees to give Rachel to Jacob--you'll notice they don't ask Rachel her feelings at all on this matter. But Jacob has to work the seven years agreed. And in that last verse it says that the seven years only seemed a few days to Jacob because he's so in love. Have you guys ever experienced something like that? Where a long period of time seems short? [Let them answer.]

Generally when I'm looking forward to something, the time seems to take even longer for me! But clearly I'm not as patient as Jacob.

Alright, now let's see what happens after these seven years, if Laban holds true to his promise. Can someone read Genesis 29:21-27?

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) 25 When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”

So does Laban hold up his end of the bargain? [Let them answer] No! Instead of marrying Jacob to Rachel, he marries him to Leah!!!!!

Now how did he pull that off? Well you guys know what wedding veils are, right? Now days those veils are pretty lacy and you can see right through them. But back then, that wouldn't have been the case! The veils they wore were heavy and would have masked her entire face!

Also there would have been a lot of drinking during the wedding feast, so by the time Jacob and his new wife got back to their room and it would be time to lift the veil, Jacob might have been so drunk he wouldn't have known the difference anyway.

Needless to say Jacob is really upset, but how do you guys think Leah felt? Were not told what she agreed to or if Laban just did it. But I imagine it would be rather demoralizing for your new husband to wake up the next morning and be devastated to see you instead of your sister.

The Bible doesn't tell us how Leah felt, unfortunately. But for Jacob, it was just not acceptable. So he went to Laban and yelled at him. It's too late for them to do anything about it, once Jacob was married to and slept with Leah, there was no going back. There wasn't really divorce back then, and if Jacob did decide to leave her over this--to not continue the marriage--no one else would want to marry her. And for women in these ancient times, you couldn't really make a living on your own. But fortunately, it doesn't seem like Jacob even considered that. Instead he was just mad because he wanted to marry Rachel, and fortunately for him--I guess--he could have a second wife.

So Laban says he can marry Rachel, and even lets her marry her within the week! But he has to work another seven years. Does that seem very fair? [Let them answer]

Alright let's see what happens next, can someone read Genesis 29:28-31.

28 Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife. 29 (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He served Laban for another seven years.

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

So Jacob gets to marry Rachel, and now he has two wives. And he loves Rachel more and favors her, which doesn't seem very fair to Leah, does it? As far as we know she didn't do anything wrong, just did what her father told her to. And God sees that. So he lets Leah have children and doesn't let Rachel. Why do you think he did that? [Let them answer]

Yeah because he saw it was unfair for Jacob to treat Leah like this, and knew that he gave her children Jacob would at least give her some attention. Whereas Rachel was going to get attention whether she had children or not.

But remember as we spoke talked about with Sarah, for women back then, a lot of their self worth was tied up in their ability to have children. So do you think Rachel was very happy about this situation? [Let them answer.]

Well let's see what the Bible says. Can someone read Genesis 30:1-5?

30 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2 Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.” 4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

Even though Rachel is the wife that is loved, she is jealous of her sister. And she gets angry at Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!" This might seem like an over-reaction to you, but remember back then a woman who couldn't give birth was a shameful thing. The world was not at all as it is today. Now we know women are equal to men, and women are allowed to do all the same things men are. I don't have kids, and I'm not ashamed or sad, or thinking I would rather die! But for Rachel, having a baby would have been her only job. And she's failing at it and her sister is succeeding. It wouldn't even matter that Jacob loved her. His love isn't enough in the face of what seems to her to be this huge failure.

So Rachel does the same thing Sarah did. She gives Jacob her maid. Because remember, the child of her maid could basically be considered her child.

Rachel's maid, as we can see on our family tree, actually has two children. You would think that would be the end of this, yes? That Leah at this point already has four sons, and now Rachel has these two sons by her maid, that everyone would be happy, right?

Well let's see what happens.

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

Leah has four sons. But she doesn't seem to be having any others. So does she say "Well four is enough! Let's stop here!" No! Instead she gives her maid to Jacob, so that her maid's kids can be counted towards her. It's like Rachel and Leah are having this Cold War arms race of babies, but Leah is clearly winning. Why would Leah want to continue to have more kids, do you think? [Let them answer.]

The Bible doesn't tell us what Leah was thinking, but I think for Leah it was about having Jacob's attention. Without her children, without having more, Jacob would just hang out with Rachel all the time. After all, he loves Rachel not Leah. So if she stopped having more kids, would Jacob want to spend time with her? He could just spend time with his sons and not her. But mothers have a lot of control over babies, and for Jacob to hang out with a baby he has to hang out with it's mother.

It's all about who gets Jacob's attention and we'll see this in the next passage. Can someone read Genesis 30:14-17?

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

Alright so what is happening here? Reuben is one of Leah's sons. He finds a plant called a mandrake. Now back in the day, mandrakes were believed to have some special properties that could help a woman get pregnant. I don't think this is true--like I don't think anyone today believes that--but back then women might use the plant to help them. When Rachel sees it then, of course she wants it! She still wants a baby! But Reuben takes it to his mother, Leah. So Rachel has to go to her sister and ask for it.

Leah responds rudely, though perhaps understandably. She says Rachel has stolen her husband, which is true when you consider Jacob technically married Jacob first. But Jacob loves Rachel, and therefore probably spends more time with her. So to Leah it seems that Rachel is taking everything away from her, though of course Rachel would feel the other way. That Leah has stolen Rachel's husband, since Jacob had worked those original seven years for Rachel, not Leah.

But Rachel is desperate so she barters. She offers Jacob. Basically when you had multiple wives like this back in the day, a husband would alternate which nights he was with which wife. So that night he was probably supposed to be with Rachel. But Rachel gives the night to Leah.

In the end, Leah gets pregnant, and Rachel is still not pregnant. So this deal doesn't really work to Rachel's benefit. But it does show how competitive these sisters are, and how even when it seems that everything should be okay, because they each have kids associated with them, it's not.

So Leah actually has two more sons and then a daughter. And Rachel still has no children. Until finally, can someone read Genesis 30:22-24

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach”; 24 and she named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

Finally Rachel has a son. And when Joseph is finally born, when she finally has a child of her own, is she like "Thank you, God! I'll stop asking now because you gave me this one precious child and that's all I need?"

No. She's not. Instead she says "May the Lord add to me another son." She just had a kid and she's already worrying about whether she'll have a next one!

We'll study much later, stories in the Bible where there are women who God only gives one child and they are extremely grateful, but remember Rachel is in a child bearing Cold War. She needs to catch up with Leah, and right now she's like six behind.

But I'll give you a spoiler, Rachel is never going to catch up. Rachel only has one other son and it's not for many years later, after she thinks Joseph is dead. But we'll study that next week.

Perhaps if Rachel had been more grateful God would have given her more children? We may never know. But she does at least have this one son, Joseph, and we'll study next week what happens to him.

So all this time Jacob is still in Haran, with Laban and his family. But eventually we know, as we studied last week, he returns to Canaan, right? Can someone read Genesis 31:1-3.

31 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; he has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him as favorably as he did before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

Jacob has been in Haran for a long time, and he's gained a lot of wealth in that time. But now it's time to go back. But Jacob is also married to both of Laban's daughters. Do you think he's going to be happy to see his daughters and all his grandchildren go away? [Let them answer.]

Yeah, I don't think so either. Can someone read Genesis 31:17-21?

17 So Jacob arose, and set his children and his wives on camels; 18 and he drove away all his livestock, all the property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. 20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. 21 So he fled with all that he had; starting out he crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

This section basically says that Jacob leaves without telling Laban, because he's afraid of what Laban will do if Jacob tries to leave. Laban may never let him go back to his father's family, back to his homeland, back to the land God has promised him. So Jacob leaves sneakily in the night. And everything would have been fine except what does verse 19 say? "Rachel stole her father's household gods."

So remember, back in this day no one followed God--our God--except Abraham and his descendents. Most people believed in many gods and spirits, and it was fairly common to have these household idols that you would worship as representations of these gods. This sort of practice even existed all the way to the Roman times. And people took these idols very seriously, because worshiping them was their only connection to their gods. So stealing them would be tantamount to grand larsony, stealing the most priceless and sentimental things people had.

Why does Rachel do it? Why would she steal her father's gods? Why do you guys think she did it? [Let them answer.]

I don't know and the Bible doesn't say. There are many theories. Perhaps they were made of gold, and Rachel wanted to sell them for money. Jacob seems to have a lot of money, but maybe she was worried something might happen on this long journey to a strange place. Maybe she didn't really believe in God--after all she had never seen them--and these idols held special meaning to her? Or maybe she was just really angry at her dad. Remember this is the man who made Leah marry Jacob instead of letting Rachel do it. Maybe she was so angry, she wanted to steal the most precious thing he had.

We don't know Rachel's motivation, we can only guess. What we do know is that Jacob didn't know she stole them, and Laban was furious when he found out. Can someone read Genesis 31:25-32?

25 Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsfolk camped in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword. 27 Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre. 28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? What you have done is foolish. 29 It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ 30 Even though you had to go because you longed greatly for your father’s house, why did you steal my gods?” 31 Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsfolk, point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.

So he chases after Jacob, and when he finally catches up to him, he's like "You didn't even let me kiss my kid's goodbye!!!! And on top of that, you stole my gods!" And Jacob owns up to the running away like a thief in the night because he was afraid of what Laban would do, but he's adamant he didn't steal the idols. Because he doesn't know Rachel did it. So he says that if someone did, it's the death penalty for that person! Uh-oh. Jacob just signed a death penalty for his favorite wife, without even knowing it. Anyone think this is going to end well?

Well let's see. Can someone read Genesis 31:33-35?

33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt all about in the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched, but did not find the household gods.

Laban searches the tens and finds nothing in Jacob, Leah, or the maid's tents. Finally he ends up at Rachel's. But she hides the gods in a camel saddle and sits on it. And when Laban enters, she should rise to greet him but she says to him, "I can't because I'm on my period."

Back then they didn't have all the feminime products we have. A woman basically used rags and stayed away from everyone else during her period. And anything she touched would be considered unclean. So Laban wouldn't even want to touch the camel saddle, basically thinking it would be covered in her blood.

So he doesn't find them and Rachel doesn't have to die.

And that's basically the story of Rachel and Leah. We'll talk more about their sons next week, and how Jacob's favoritism trickles down through his children and causes ramifications he couldn't imagine. But for Rachel and Leah, there is only this competition for their husbands affection.

There really isn't some sort of pat morale. Though I will say, thank goodness in modern American society a woman's worth is not tied to her ability to bear children and no one has more than one wife. Because it sure seems that both of those things just led to a whole ton of drama!