Hannah was a godly woman who wanted nothing more than to have children. The Bible says that God had shut up her womb, but that she went to the temple and prayed about it. She promised God that her first-born son would be loaned to God, and she indeed had a son, Samuel, that she loaned to God, and then she had more children afterwards that she raised herself. I could probably spend a lot of time talking about Hannah, but, for now, suffice it to say that God laid something on her heart, and, even though it was hard for her, she did it, and she got rewarded for her faithfulness. Some of you may be saying to yourselves that I shouldn’t be telling you that having children is a reward. Maybe for you it isn’t, but for her it was.
Ruth was an important woman in the Bible; she has her own book. She was not Jewish by birth, but somewhere along the line she accepted the Jewish faith. Naomi was a Jewish woman that went, with her husband and two sons, to the land of Moab when they fell upon hard times in Israel. The two sons married Ruth and Orpah (presumably these women accepted the Jewish faith before the wedding—it doesn’t really say). Something happened to the men in the family, and then these three women were all widows. Jewish tradition (and perhaps Moabite tradition as well) dictated that if a married man dies childless, then his nearest male relative was to take the widow as his own wife, but then her children would be the heirs of the deceased. Naomi had a problem, though, she didn’t have any male relatives in Moab, they had all died. She was going to go back to Israel, but she suggested that Ruth and Orpah go back to their own families in Moab. Orpah did, Ruth, however, insisted that Naomi was her family, and that Naomi’s God was her God, and Ruth went to Israel with Naomi. Once there, she met a relative of her late husband named Boaz. They got married and lived happily ever after; they had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David…
King David’s first wife was Michal, and for the most part she was a good woman—she saved David’s life, but she did criticize David once, and she never had any more children after that (was that punishment or reward? I assume that it was punishment).
David’s wife Abigail was a real prize, although she was married to someone else when David first met her. Nabal had angered David greatly, and David was on his way to kill him, when Abigail interceded for her husband. Later Nabal died anyway, and David married Nabal’s widow.
Bathsheba was, evidently, a very attractive woman. One night, David was up on the roof, and found a vantage point where he could observe Bathsheba taking a bath. It turns out that her husband was one of the mighty men in David’s army, and was off defending Israel. David sent for her, and she came to him, and became pregnant. The Bible doesn’t really say how much of an argument she put up; what do you say in an era when women were treated pretty much as property, and your husband is away, and the king sends for you and wants to have you? I’m sure she argued the best she could; the sin was David’s, not hers.
There was woman of Tekoah that had some significance during David’s reign, whom the Bible doesn’t even name. There had been a situation where David had banished one of his own sons from the kingdom. David was miserable about it, and, quite frankly, it didn’t make a lot of sense. One of the men close to David, named Joab, sent this woman to David with a situation that closely mirrored David’s own situation. Once she got David to look at the situation objectively (that is, looking at it from the perspective that it was someone else’s problem, instead of his own), he realized that he could deal with the situation better, and he brought his son home. As it turns out, he might have been better off if he had left the situation as it was, but that wasn’t her fault.
Ruth was an important woman in the Bible; she has her own book. She was not Jewish by birth, but somewhere along the line she accepted the Jewish faith. Naomi was a Jewish woman that went, with her husband and two sons, to the land of Moab when they fell upon hard times in Israel. The two sons married Ruth and Orpah (presumably these women accepted the Jewish faith before the wedding—it doesn’t really say). Something happened to the men in the family, and then these three women were all widows. Jewish tradition (and perhaps Moabite tradition as well) dictated that if a married man dies childless, then his nearest male relative was to take the widow as his own wife, but then her children would be the heirs of the deceased. Naomi had a problem, though, she didn’t have any male relatives in Moab, they had all died. She was going to go back to Israel, but she suggested that Ruth and Orpah go back to their own families in Moab. Orpah did, Ruth, however, insisted that Naomi was her family, and that Naomi’s God was her God, and Ruth went to Israel with Naomi. Once there, she met a relative of her late husband named Boaz. They got married and lived happily ever after; they had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David…
King David’s first wife was Michal, and for the most part she was a good woman—she saved David’s life, but she did criticize David once, and she never had any more children after that (was that punishment or reward? I assume that it was punishment).
David’s wife Abigail was a real prize, although she was married to someone else when David first met her. Nabal had angered David greatly, and David was on his way to kill him, when Abigail interceded for her husband. Later Nabal died anyway, and David married Nabal’s widow.
Bathsheba was, evidently, a very attractive woman. One night, David was up on the roof, and found a vantage point where he could observe Bathsheba taking a bath. It turns out that her husband was one of the mighty men in David’s army, and was off defending Israel. David sent for her, and she came to him, and became pregnant. The Bible doesn’t really say how much of an argument she put up; what do you say in an era when women were treated pretty much as property, and your husband is away, and the king sends for you and wants to have you? I’m sure she argued the best she could; the sin was David’s, not hers.
There was woman of Tekoah that had some significance during David’s reign, whom the Bible doesn’t even name. There had been a situation where David had banished one of his own sons from the kingdom. David was miserable about it, and, quite frankly, it didn’t make a lot of sense. One of the men close to David, named Joab, sent this woman to David with a situation that closely mirrored David’s own situation. Once she got David to look at the situation objectively (that is, looking at it from the perspective that it was someone else’s problem, instead of his own), he realized that he could deal with the situation better, and he brought his son home. As it turns out, he might have been better off if he had left the situation as it was, but that wasn’t her fault.
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