Over the next few weeks we are going to be bring you activities around Women in the Bible. This is in partnership with our Young @ Heart Ladies, so let’s join them on this journey through the Bible.
There will be colouring pages each week too.
WOMEN IN THE BIBLE
Many people who do not regularly read the Bible have suggested that the Bible minimises or discounts women. It is true there are women who were not named (such as the wife of Noah) but equally that applies to men (the Good Samaritan, for one).
Actually, women in the Old Testament are not only given a prominent place, their stories stand out against the patriarchal times in which they lived. We could mention Sarah (who followed her husband into the Promised Land and had a baby at the ripe old age of 100 which, the Bible points out, is old for that sort of thing!) and Miriam (the sister of Moses and herself a prophetess) and Abigail, one of the eight wives of King David. More emphasis is placed on the so-called bad girls of the Bible, including Queen Jezebel (a murderous pagan woman who pushed her husband around, and he was a pretty rough character).
In the New Testament, the Bible says that there were women among the disciples of Jesus. Two prominent women are Mary (a friend of Jesus, not his mother or Mary of Magdala) and Martha. When this Mary decided one day to sit among the men and listen to Jesus teach rather than work in the kitchen with her sister Martha, Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better part. This was revolutionary in that era-women were rarely educated at all, much less among a group of men.Women in the Bible range from the mysterious Queen of Sheba to the plain-spoken Leah the neglected first wife of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. The Bible includes a warrior woman: Deborah who led troops into battle and working women Ruth and the Proverbs 31 woman, who is nameless: powerful women: Esther, Queen of Persia and Miriam, sister of Moses, and simple women: the widow who befriended Elijah or the prophetess Anna who lived at the Temple in Jerusalem).
The Bible presents a diversity of women throughout history who have been involved in politics, war, religion, and greater and lesser causes. The fact that not every woman in the Bible is depicted as godly and honourable lends authenticity to the many women who appear in its pages. Just like today, the women of the Bible come in all shapes, colours, sizes, and with a wide variety of abilities and intentions.
This week unfortunately we don’t have a colouring in page but we found this cross that you can use.
Now, we know you will want to share your pictures, drawings, crafts and even puzzles with us. If you do please take a photo of them and post them on the Raploch Connected Facebook Group.
