1. FIVE GREAT BIBLE WOMEN

By Pastor Peter Tan



This morning we have a special message for women and mothers. From time to time, we hear heartwarming stories of mothers who make heroic sacrifices to save their loved ones. Many years ago in a Mexican earthquake where thousands of people were killed, there was a mother buried under the rubbles with her child. The mother was immobilized but still alive. She could still move slightly. Her little child of about one or two years old was protected and could move. While the rescuers were still clearing the debris to find survivors, the child was crying for water. There was no water around. The mother bit her own hand until her blood flowed out and let the child suck the blood. By the time rescuers reached the child and the mother, the mother had already died but the child survived. This kind of natural love is present even in many mothers today.

In the bible, we see women who have reached high points in God. We know in Galatians 3:28 that God said there is neither male nor female in His sight. But there are certain characteristics that cause a woman to rise and soar to great heights. We want to consider some of these great women in the bible. We look at five great women in the bible and the virtues they espoused. Of course, we are not saying that that was the only virtue each one espoused. But that particular virtue is the prominent point that brings each one to rise head and shoulder above many people. Sometimes even nations have been changed and moved because of some of these great women. These five women are not the only great women in the Bible but we are just picking out these five. Many women in the bible have risen to great heights because of certain virtues they hold strongly in their lives.

Deborah

First of all we look in the book of Judges and we want to see why some women rise head and shoulder above many other men and women.

Judges 4:1 When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth...

Notice that Deborah, a prophetess, was the wife of somebody. A woman called to be a prophet or apostle or evangelist or a pastor or teacher need not be single. Some Christian groups do not recognize the ministry of women. I think they should read Gal. 3:28 all over again. I believe that God can anoint either a man or a woman for the ministry. Some other groups think that when God anoints a woman for a ministry, she must remain single all her life. They reason that if God anoints a woman and does not anoint her husband, then she will hog the limelight while her husband plays second fiddle and is hidden in the shadows. But that’s not necessarily true. Deborah was married but she was still successful.

In verse 4, Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim.

Ladies can be very creative. Deborah set up her ministry under a palm tree. Even Elijah and Elisha did not operate that way. Deborah’s office was under the palm tree. Sometimes, women can come up with pragmatic and creative ideas. You can tell whether a particular office is occupied by a woman or by a man. Sometimes an office does not look the way it should be. You put a woman there and suddenly the office has a homely atmosphere. Every time you find when a place is done up nicely you ask around there are always women involved. They have that special touch to do up a place nicely.

In verse 6, Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor, take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun: and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon and I will deliver him into your hand.

Barak was one of the mighty men in Israel in those days. Deborah who was a prophetess called Barak and said, “Go out. God told you to go out and conquer.” Look at Barak’s reply in verse 8 If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go. Now that is a smart reply.

If somebody prophesizes that you are to go and evangelize the Eskimos in the Artic Circle, tell him or her, “If you go with me, I will go to the Artic Circle as you prophesized.” Bring that prophet along so that when you reached there and saw nothing but seals and penguins, you can turn around and ask, “Well, prophet, what’s next?”

I remember reading the story of a would-be missionary who received a word of prophecy in his church that he was supposed to go to an island in the Caribbean to evangelize the people there. He was even given the name of the island. He looked it up in a map and sure enough, he found it. He became very excited and lost no time preparing to go there. He then raised up a missionary fund, told the church of his plans to be obedient to the prophecy, found a ship that was willing to take him there and finally was on the high seas with his wife and children to go to that island. On the way, the captain of the ship spoke to him about that island and finally asked him, “Anyway, why are you going there? There is no one living on that island.” That missionary’s jaws dropped. Some people are led on a spiritual wild goose chase because of some prophecies given in the flesh. Lives and years have been wasted because of some wrong prophecies dished out to undiscerning individuals.

That is quite a smart move of Barak. He said, “Well, since this is a prophecy, would you go with me too?” That is a test of whether the prophecy is true or not. Sometimes people prophesy but they do not want to be involved in that prophecy. It is just like someone prophesying to you, “Go ahead and walk through that valley because God will be with you.” You reply, “Since you prophesy that I would be delivered, would you like to accompany me?” “No, no way.” “But I thought you say that I will be saved?”

Barak was requesting help from Deborah. Finally, all of Israel depended on Deborah to give the encouragement although Deborah was not a woman of war. She did not lift up a sword. She did not fight in the army. Yet, she was there in the background as a kind of spiritual leader during those dark days of Israel.

What is her high point? Her high point is that she excelled in the anointing of God on her life. That set her apart. She espoused that virtue. Women, when God has called you and anointed you, you do not have to push your way around. You do not have to try to promote yourself by fleshly means. When God anoints you, let the anointing and the gift make room for you. Whether you are a man or a woman, when you are anointed your gift makes room for you. Of course, sometimes an anointed woman has twice the battle to face because of the prejudice of people. Yet, the principle remains the same - the anointing and the gift will establish your life. As for Deborah, she gave her entire life to fulfill that anointing upon her life. God promoted her until the anointing was recognized in her life. That’s one of her virtues.

Ruth

Ruth is another great woman of God. What qualities can we find in Ruth that brought her to greatness? Ruth was no prophet. Ruth was not especially noted for the gift of the Holy Spirit like Deborah. But there is something about Ruth that stands out in her life.

Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said, “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die. And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if nothing but death parts you and me.”

Ruth shows a marvelous quality of the ability to yield. In modern terms, we call it submission. Yes, it is true that due to her ability to submit, yield, and flow with the flow, she rises to greatness. Ruth had a servant’s heart. Not everybody who rises to greatness need to be the kind of outspoken, domineering, highly talented, highly gifted, personality. Ruth rose to greatness through her ability of learning to serve. Each step of the way in her promotion or greatness came as she served.

In chapter 2:2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” When Ruth went out that day, she was only seeking to serve. She wanted to glean from the harvest, as was the custom of the poor people. They would go into the field that has already been harvested to pick up the left over grains lying all over the place. God commanded it to be left there for the poor. The poor would pick them up and use them for food. Ruth’s intention was not looking for a husband. Her intention was to serve. In her serving and lowering herself, it can be said that Ruth can do other things beside that. As a widow and a foreigner, she could abandon her in-laws and return to her homeland. But Ruth was not the type to take her mother-in-law as a burden.

Some adults consider their aged parents as a burden. Now I understand that there are different circumstances. Some old folks may have an attitude problem. Sometimes, allowing your parents into your homes may cause tension in your family. However, there could be other arrangements like financial support and taking care of them in some other ways. I am surprised with young people who only think of their own careers, pursuits, interests, and find their parents a burden. They feel that they should take care of themselves first and have enough problems of their own, let alone take care of another burden, even if it were their own parents. That is the most selfish attitude you could ever have. On the other hand, some parents raise their children to pursue worldly and materialistic goals without giving due attention to nurturing godly faith, wisdom, love and wholesome relationships in their children. Having instilled a materialistic attitude and having suppressed the spiritual side of their children, it should come as no surprise that the grown up children now consider their aged parents an economic and family burden. The children have been taught to love and value money above all things. The parents have planted self-destructive seeds in their children, which only served to boomerang on them in their twilight years when they needed their children most.

But Ruth did not have that kind of selfish attitude towards her old mother-in-law. Ruth sought to serve. Her attitude of serving others must be well known for Boaz to make this statement of her. In verse 11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before. Look, she could have gone back to her father and her mother. But something within her rose up to have that compassion and love for Naomi. How can Naomi take care of herself? Naomi in fact in chapter one commanded Ruth and Orpah to leave her alone so that she could go back to Bethlehem in Israel all by herself. But Ruth could not do that. Ruth knew that Naomi was too old to take care of herself. There is no one to take care of Naomi if she went back to her homeland. How could she just leave Naomi in that manner? Ruth was willing to leave her own people. If she returned to her homeland, her own father and mother would probably receive her back into their home. She followed Naomi to a land not knowing the future. That was her fame.

Look at her fame. She was famous not for her prophecy. She was famous for taking care of her mother-in-law. In today’s society where there are constant conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, this is even more praiseworthy. Boaz said in verse 11, It has been fully reported to me. That was the first time she met Boaz. So there must have been words going around. “I have heard about you. I didn’t hear about your talents, I didn’t hear about your gifts. I didn’t hear about your prophecies. But I have heard that you took care of your mother-in-law and how you have sacrificed in order to follow her.” “I have heard,” Boaz said, “about you.” Ruth is famous for her ability to serve and submit. The road to greatness for some is in that manner. She served faithfully all those years.

In Ruth 3:1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you?” Ruth never even thought about herself. Naomi had to think for Ruth. She harvested a reciprocal care. And look at how obedient she was when her mother says in verse 3 Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go in uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.”

That is a long list of instructions. Ask her to bathe, ask her to put her garment, and ask her to wait till he lies down and all these other things. Not all women would have respond the way Ruth responded. In verse 5 she says All that you say to me I will do. Now that is the kind of character she had. She was a very submissive woman. She makes a good wife. All that you say to me I will do.

Sometimes a person has a problem submitting to others whether in an organization or in a marriage. Either the husband is abusive or the wife is domineering. There is a problem of submission. Usually that problem can be traced back to their relationships with their parents. Because they do not know how to relate to their own parents, they cannot relate to one another. An unsubmissive wife may have a problem with her parents. We realize that some parents may be unreasonable and difficult but that does not mean you become rebellious. You realize that your parents may not be perfect but that does not mean that you have to be imperfect. The bible says, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

In counseling, I have spoken to families that are having problems. Sometimes, the problem is on the husband’s side and sometimes the problem is on the wife’s side. But in those cases where there is a problem of the wife learning to yield and submit, the problem ties back to the wife’s relationship with her own parents. The inability to relate properly to her husband starts from her relationship with her parents. When that streak of rebellion to authority manifest in a woman’s behavior, she will not be able to say like Ruth, “All that you say to me I will do.” Ruth was following the plain instructions to the t and putting herself at risk of great embarrassment. If the whole thing does not work out, if the whole thing fails, Naomi is not the one to get the embarrassment. Ruth is the one who is going to get the embarrassment. But her virtue is the ability to submit.

In verse 8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”

Look, she takes a humble approach. “I am your maidservant, your servant.” See her approach was in a submissive way. Do you know that submission can be powerful? Her submission influenced Boaz to do things that are beyond what Boaz would normally have done. Boaz said in verse 10 Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. Ruth’s entire life was serving. She served her mother-in-law. Now she wants to serve her relationship with Boaz and he says in verse 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. She was well known for her virtue, well known for her submission and all she had done for Naomi.

Verse 13 Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of close relative for you – good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the Lord lives! Lie down until morning. Ruth was putting her entire life at stake. Such was her submissive attitude. And of course, there arose greatness from that kind of relationship.

In Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel. And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”

Ruth was no ordinary daughter-in-law. That one daughter-in-law is equivalent to ten sons. Ruth’s virtue stood up. She already was famous even before David was born. Ruth begot Obed, Obed begot Jesse, Jesse begot David. So Ruth would have been the great grand mother of David. She has that tremendous fame. This story of Ruth was apparently recorded in a time of David. By the time this was recorded in chapter four, it mentioned David’s birth. So it was recorded during that time. That means that when David became famous, Ruth became famous and an entire book was written about David’s great grandmother.

It is somewhat like today where many of us may look forward to Robert Liardon’s coming to town. But every time I recall Robert Liardon, I think about his grand mother. When Robert Liardon became famous, his grand mother becomes famous too. I saw in some of his seminars, when he teaches, his grandmother was there. Some women not only excel through their gifting like Deborah. Women can excel through the virtue of being a woman and an ability to submit and serve. It looks like a small little thing. Remember greatness and fame are only tools and instruments that God gave in this life. Some times God predetermine that a person be unknown virtually by the world but be obedient to Him. It depends more on the call and the gifting of God. What is important is that if God so determine that you espouse a virtue in your life then bring it forth to the best of your ability.

Ruth was not thinking of being famous. Ruth was only thinking of serving, submitting and giving her entire life. It would have been at most ordinary life. But she became famous for forsaking her own home and taking care of Naomi. The entire town knew her during her time. In David’s time, the book of Ruth was well circulated and well known. People knew about the ancestry of David. I think about Kenneth E. Hagin and his mother. His mother had a visitation from the Lord when her son Kenneth Hagin was born. The predestination of God is amazing.

I remember my mother when she came to know the Lord. I know that God had a call on my life and God had a call on my sister’s life too. My mother had a very strange dream. In that dream, after she came to know the Lord she saw my sister and me. In that dream, I was holding a piece of red cloth and so was my sister. My red cloth was opened but my sister’s cloth was not opened yet. That was before my sister went full time into the ministry. During those days, she wanted to go into the ministry but my parents opposed her. I am amazed as I looked back that God should choose and predestined things even before we know Him. At the predestination of God, my mother had a vision or a dream of heaven. When she was there, she saw part of heaven and the trees of heaven. She said in that dream she remembered that I, her son had gone by there before her. When she got out of her dream, I told her the reason for that. I told her, “It is because I was the first one in the family to come to know the Lord. Subsequently you also came to know the Lord and now the whole family has come to know the Lord.” All these are part of the predestination of God. God was working in the life of my mother. That assures me and gives me some sense of destiny. Even before I was born again, God was already there working in my life and the life of my family members.

From the example of Ruth, we realize that sometimes a woman can rise up to greatness without demonstrating any special gift. She just has to exercise the normal gift of being a woman and an ability to submit and to serve. Any factory manager will tell you that the best workers, who could do routine work and detailed work, are the women. You look into these factories and see that a vast majority those doing routine work of putting the computer circuits all together are women. Ladies have a certain knack for tremendous hard work. They could do it repeatedly and yet they would not be tired. Think about the homemakers cooking everyday and doing all those household chores. I realize that some men are quite good at that too. Some husbands are actually househusbands. Then you have the opposite. Some women are actually professionals but they cannot cook a decent meal for their families. Well, each one got to discover their place in life. But the majority of women have a knack for housework. Ruth especially excelled in her ability to submit, to yield, to just be a maidservant. She kept to her humble calling but she rose to greatness. The entire book of Ruth is dedicated to her.

Abigail

We go to the third great woman called Abigail whose story is found in the book of I Samuel chapter 25. Abigail was also married but Abigail has a different virtue. She has the same quality to serve and to submit as Ruth but the main thing that stands out in her life is her tremendous sense of righteousness, common sense, and conscience. Even though Abigail’s husband refused to help David and his men, she saw the perilous situation her husband put them in and quickly intervened to diffuse the tension. What stood out in her life is her quick grasp of situations and her knowing the right thing to do at the critical moment. She has the ability to quickly make up for her husband’s ill manners. She was as astute as her husband was obtuse.

The situation was that David has been guarding Nabal’s sheep. During the time of festivity in 1 Samuel 25:5 When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, David sent ten young men; and David said the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.” So when David’s men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited. Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.

David was coming to kill Nabal. But right at that time there was a woman who stood in the gap and saved a potential conflagration between David’s and Nabal’s men from exploding. Seeing how wisely she conducted herself in this critical situation, David fell in love with her. She stood out in a very difficult situation. Her husband did not want to help David but she stepped in and won over David and his men with words and gifts. She knew her husband was wrong. So there had to be something stronger in her to cause her to do what she did. What was it? It was her sense of righteousness, of knowing what is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing to avoid.

See God has bestowed upon many women the sense of being able to know what is the right thing to do even before the full understanding can come. They sort of sense potential danger; they have a strong common sense. As we realize sometimes common sense is not so common. What would a lesser woman do? She would sit just in the house and say, “I cannot do anything about it,” and just go and hide in a corner while David comes and slaughter everyone. She could have been one of those timid little women but she was not. Abigail had a sense of submission but there was also a strong sense of righteousness in her. She stood firmly in the matter of righteousness, even in the face of her husband’s wrongdoing. That can be very difficult for a woman. I can tell you some of you men think that women just want to go against their husbands, no. But a woman often finds herself in a difficult situation when she has to choose between doing what is right and submitting to her husband when she knows her husband is in the wrong. Christian women find themselves in this dilemma since the bible talks about submission. When the husband is wrong, the Christian wife may have a personal crisis on hand. However, that sense of righteousness in Abigail prevailed and she secretly prepared all the gifts for David and his men without Nabal’s knowledge.

In verse 18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. And she said to her servants, “Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But verse 19 look at the last phrase But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

Was she wrong? Well, it is a matter of situational ethics. She knows that if she told her husband, her husband would say no. In the end, her husband would die, she would die and all their servants would also perish. Where it is a matter of life and death, the principles of situational ethics come into the picture. It is the principle of choosing the lesser evil. In verse 20 So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming toward her and she met them.

David was determined in verse 21 and 22 to kill Nabal. Life and death was at stake. Verse 23 Now when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. So she fell at his feet and said, “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. Look, she also has the quality of Ruth a submissive ability. Verse 25 Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men my lord whom you sent. The word nabal means fool.

Many women are constantly caught in that kind of situation. Some husbands are rather anti-Christ in their thinking and action. A Christian woman may send her children to Sunday school under the pretext of sending them for ballet or piano classes or some other excuses. She knows that if her husband finds out the truth, she would be beaten up. However, she persistently does it because she has a common sense of what is the right thing to do. In our day and age if a child grows up without some form of moral education they have a higher chance of going astray. Many godly women do not have godly husbands. They sneak their children to Sunday school and come home late. The husband asks, “How come your church service ended so late? A normal church service ends at twelve noon. Where did you go after that?” She bears all the scolding, serves her husband, and cooks him a very nice meal. One day God touches the husband through the little children who have been growing in the Lord. The husband comes to know God. We all rejoice. We all praise God. The husband comes to church, becomes active in church, and serves God. However, let us not forget one thing. This came about because of the persistence of a dear little wife, bullied by her big bully of her husband, constantly going against the direct commands of the husband and seemingly contradicted God’s Word on the matter of submission in order to see that her children grow in the Lord. Finally, everybody say, “How wonderful is this family.” But they forgot the person who did all the work, who took all the bruises and all was not in vain. The bruises and hurt heal with time. Let us not forget the bravery of many women who have made tremendous sacrifices to win their entire family to the Lord. All this came about through the prayers of one faithful woman. That is where the heroine is.

Here is Abigail. Her sense of righteousness was so strong that it would not have permitted her to be idle. She had to do something and she knew that appeasing David and his men with gifts and provisions was the right thing to do. Look at her argument. All her arguments are based on principles. This is why I say that even though Confucius may teach that a family is everything but the Bible teaches that the Word of God is everything. So whenever a situation arises that pits a family against God’s Word, God’s Word should take precedence. You could be married to a thief. According to Confucius’ teachings, it means that you have to be loyal to that thief. But the Word of God tells you otherwise. You have to be loyal to godly principles. That is where the difference is. Christians may emphasize on the solidness of a family relationship but it must be based on principles. My relationship with my wife is based on principles. I will tell her very frankly if something I believe is right, I will support it fully. If there are things, which I cannot fully agree, I will pray with her but I will not give my support just because I am her husband.

I want you to act the same way with me. If I go astray from God’s ways, I do not expect you to follow me and go astray from the Lord too. If you see me going off from the Lord, you must tell me. If I jump into the pit, you do not jump into the pit as well. We have to base our family life on the Word of God. Otherwise, no one will be saved. I know that runs against traditions. Some cultural traditions emphasize family loyalty onto death but God does not want that kind of death. In India, there was a custom where when a man dies and is burned in a funeral pyre, his wife was expected to jump onto the pyre to be burnt and join him in the other world.

In order for someone to be saved, somebody else must have the sense of righteousness. In the same way, I love my mother. I love my parents. When I came to know the Lord my family went against me. Some of my friends said, “You are not loyal to your family religion.” I sat down, prayed and in the end, I came to this conclusion. I have asked my mother, “Why are we worshiping these idols and receiving no answer? I am searching for the true and living God. If for the past thousand years, my ancestors have been worshiping the wrong god and if I just follow blindly, I am not really helping my parents. I may be loyal to them but I am not helping them. However, if really I have come to know the truth, the real way I can show my love is to follow what I discovered first and then tell them what I have discovered. Is this the real way to show love? People said, “You don’t love your parents if you don’t follow their religion.” No, the real way you show love is through truth. Love minus truth is not love. And so I came to my parents and said, “I am a Christian not because I just follow some people. It is because I see there is sense in what the Word of God is saying. If I were to just follow and worship all these idols, it does not make sense to me. It does not answer the call of my heart. Mum, if I really love you and if I find the truth, I should follow the truth and tell you about it. If I follow you blindly, it doesn’t mean that I really love you.” In the end, my mum came to know the Lord.

Many of us are caught in this situation like Abigail where she had to choose between doing what it is right and obeying her husband who is in the wrong. Sometimes the husband is right and sometimes the wife is right. The other spouse will have to decide accordingly. What are you going to do? You are already associated by your marriage. But you can disassociate from your spouse’s action if you do not agree with him or her. If your husband tells you to smoke, if your husband tells you to deal in drugs, are you going to do it just because you are his wife? Of course not. If your wife goes the wrong way, are you going to just follow along? Not all women are like that but some women may have wicked ways like Jezebel. A lot of what king Ahab did was due to Jezebel.

A lot of strong husbands have enough sense of righteousness not to put up with nonsense in their homes and in their lives. However, some husbands are like king Ahab. When Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard and he refused to give it to Ahab, he sulked, cried, and became depressed (1 Kings 21: 1-4). His wife, Jezebel, said, “Why are you crying? You are the king.” She then took the husband’s ring, wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed it with the husband’s ring. Everybody thought the husband has authorized the letter but actually it was entirely the wife’s doing. That relationship was not correct. Right is right wrong is wrong. Remember after you die, if your husband dragged you to hell, you cannot tell God, “Lord, I am here because of my husband.” In the same way, husbands, you cannot stand in the sight of God and when God asks you for an account of your life, you cannot say, “Lord, I cannot fulfill your ministry because of my wife.” You cannot blame God even for your life partner. In heaven, there is no more marriage. We are all answerable for our personal life. On earth, there is marriage and God regard husband and wife as one. However, we should not abuse that oneness.

Sometimes the husband is guilty of wrongdoing. His wife is aware of her husband’s wrongdoing. If only the wife would stand up on her own two feet of righteousness, she would have turned the husband back to God. Wives, listen carefully - the only person who can win your husband is you. The only person the husband will listen to in his state of wrongdoing is you. You are the last resort that God gives for your husband to turn to. And if you don’t allow yourself to be the mouthpiece of God, not only your husband will be destroyed but your family and you will be destroyed. The sense of righteousness must be there. I know it is difficult for some ladies. Learn from Ruth, learn from Abigail how to submit and speak correctly.

This is where Abigail makes a virtue of righteousness. She puts the right principle above her family. She went against her husband’s wishes and said in verse 26 Now therefore, my lord, She has a way of talking. Remember this point No. 3 must be matched with point No. 2 the ability to submit. You can be right using the wrong way. Some people are right but they try to prove their rightness the wrong way. They end up domineering and hurting people. You have to be right and then you have to have the right spirit about being right. You can win an argument and lose a friend. That means you got the truth but not the spirit of truth. The spirit of truth is the spirit of love, a spirit of humility, a spirit of gentleness.

Here is Abigail and she said in a very humble, submissive but powerful way. Verse 26 Since the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand. Verse 27 And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. Verse 29 Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God. Then her argument in verse 30 and 31 she said, “And it shall come to pass one day the Lord will fulfill what He spoke to you about your being king and appoint you to rule over Israel.” Then verse 31, “One day when you are king and you look back at this time you will regret because you avenge your own hand.”

You see, she herself was walking on righteous principles and she is asking David to walk on righteous principles too. She told him, “What you are doing now you must not do rashly. But one day when you are king you look back at this incident and you will regret that you have done what you did in destroying and having bloodshed and avenging yourself by your own hand.” Killing innocent people is something David normally does not do. However, he almost did so in this case.

Her entire argument was a woman with common sense. Abigail is a woman with a strong sense of righteousness. Right is right wrong is wrong. She will not compromise on her righteous principles, even if it means disobeying her husband. What a fantastic woman. And in verse 37 Being a good wife she had to tell her husband even though her husband disagree with she had done. Even though she knew that will affect her relationship with her husband, she still went ahead and told him. In verse 37 when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him.

I don’t know what she said but possibly this is what she said. “Dear, you know you sent those young people away. David came with a group of soldiers to kill all of us. However, I have gone ahead and I have sent all these presents and prevented David from carrying out the slaughter. The husband never realizes how close he was to death. He must have a heart attack, collapsed, and then ten days later he died. How on earth Abigail ever got involved with Nabal, we do not know. Nabal may have been a good person in his earlier days but turned into a bad person when he grew rich. We do not know. Men and women can change because of wealth, fame, and power. Either they change for good or they change for bad. In the Lord, they can change for good.

Remember if you are single and found a life partner who does not know the Lord nor follow His ways, your spouse can turn out to be a crook. I wonder what Adolph Hitler’s wife thinks of him. I am sure when she first fell in love with that fellow she never dreamt that he could turn out to be a despot and a megalomaniac. However, people may gradually change over a period. In this case, Hitler’s wife may have accommodated his changes and even change along with him. Gradually, unrighteousness and iniquity seep into their life in increasing measures. Before marriage, they were a clean young couple. Twenty years later, they have changed into cunning, conniving crooks. You never know.

Therefore, we are not sure how Abigail got into a relationship with Nabal. When Nabal changed in his character for the worse, she never consented and she never flowed along with Nabal when he went astray. You do not realize how precious this Abigail is. However, I know that it is easier for Abigail to become like Nabal than Nabal to become like Abigail. For her to preserve her purity, integrity and righteousness through so many years with Nabal is marvelous. Usually if an innocent person marry a crook before long you have two crooks. It is very rare for an innocent person to marry a crook and they turn out to be two innocent persons. Bad influence is very insidious and people tend to have a herd mentality, following the crowd blindly. Couples are always siding for each other, not based on righteous principles but based on carnal relationship. Of course, we need mutual respect between husband and wife. We learn how to disagree without being disagreeable. It is important to base marriage on righteous principles and not on carnal and unrighteous principles.

Abigail was strong on righteous principles and that is why David fell in love with her. After the husband died and the days of mourning passed, David asked for her hand in marriage. David knew that she would be a tremendous asset to him. She could build greatness into him. Here was a woman who could counsel him in difficult times. Here was a woman who would base her marriage on godly and righteous principles.

Now David was not turned off by Abigail’s seemingly insubordination to her husband, Nabal. He could have thought of her negatively and say, “If Abigail doesn’t obey her husband Nabal all the time and if I marry her, she would do the same to me.” David did not think of her negatively but rather thought positively of her sense of righteousness. There is something beautiful about Abigail and her sense of righteousness. He knew that marrying Abigail might mean receiving rebukes from her whenever he strays from righteousness. Nevertheless, he would not mind since he was someone who wanted to excel in righteousness. He was someone who does not mind being told that he is wrong. He is someone who wanted to base his marriage on principles. For all these, he was willing to take Abigail as his wife. She stands out as one of the great women in the bible. The story is not recorded here but possibly, Abigail must have been a tremendous influence on David’s life during his formative years before he was enthroned as king. Abigail must have been a positive influence for righteousness in David’s life.

Esther

Another great woman is Esther. Esther was a very beautiful woman but her virtue was not only her beauty. Her virtue was sacrifice. I touch on keys that are very strong for women like submission and common sense. Women can develop these qualities in their lives into greatness. Esther’s greatness is based on her willingness to sacrifice. Just like the story of a mother who gave her blood to the child to drink, Esther was willing to put everything she ever had including her life as stake for a higher cause. She says if she dies, she dies. At that time in Babylon, the Jews were threatened by a death sentence.

Esther in chapter four was told by Mordecai to help. And this is Esther’s statement in chapter four verse 15 to 17. Here is where Esther shines bright as a star. When she was beautiful, she already shone bright. But now she shines brighter still because her character has come forth. Verse 15-16 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

Here was a woman occupying the highest position in her country available to women. She was willing to risk her position, put her entire career, her entire future all for one cause to save her people. She was willing to sacrifice herself for her Jewish nation. Even Mordecai says, “Do not think you can get away while you are up there.” Most probably, she would have been able to get away. She may die in some other way possibly because of the judgment of God if she did not obey. Nevertheless, she would have been preserved to a certain extend and not killed by the commandment for the king loved Esther very much. Somehow, she was willing to put her entire life for one cause.

This is a virtue that many women have. Their ability to sacrifice as many times go beyond what many men could have achieved. The sacrifices that women go through involve their entire life. This is quite hard for many women especially if you are professionals. Supposing that you get married and the children are born. Deep in their heart of hearts, women want to bring up their own children. But for some women to resign their jobs and become a full time homemaker is a great sacrifice. They end up looking like nobody in their own eyes and in the eyes of the world where mothers are not appreciated. Perhaps they may even earn five or six figures salaries. They could be directors in their own companies. Then for them to resign to give their life to three or four children is something that only God can work in the life of the mother. Yet, there are mothers who have done that. They have given up fame and fortune just to bring about godly children.

One of the famous women in church history was John Wesley’s mother, Suzanna Wesley. She wrote an entire book about how to bring up children. John Wesley’s wife sadly was not that kind of wife who befits such a man of God. It is said that John Wesley’s wife was always complaining and running down her husband’s ministry. On hindsight, we see that John Wesley’s wife was not a helpmate to him although he was a successful minister. However, John Wesley’s mother was a tremendous influence in his life. She had a book on bringing up children. In one of her books, she mentioned that one of the first goals for bringing up children is to learn to break the will of the child without breaking the spirit. What a powerful statement. Why did she say that? It is because all human beings have a selfish freewill. One of the things a child has to learn is how to submit. But many people instill submission in a child by breaking the child’s spirit until the child has no more initiative. You see children sitting very quietly and passively in a classroom. I am sure they are passive in everything they do. They have no more spirit of achievement, no more adventurous and pioneering spirit. So there is a skill she talks about in learning to break a child’s will so that the child learns to submit and learns authority without breaking the pioneering and creative spirit in them.

Many women who are caught up in the business and professional world tend to make home making secondary in their lives. They place their careers first or in keeping up with the Joneses or in making more money. They want to have more income. They do not take pride in being a mother. They do not take pride in learning the principles and the skills through the Holy Ghost. You can be a modern day Suzanna Wesley to influence Christian mothers to raise their children in a godly environment. You could be imparting godly wisdom to Christian mothers in today’s context and challenges of raising up children. You could write about principles like John Wesley’s mother did in bringing up children. Learn from all that is there. In the same way in my ministry you will notice that what I teach I get from God. But I learn all I can. I read all I can. Every prophet, evangelist, pastor, apostle, and teacher any book I could lay hand I learn. What we need is our own unique revelation from God. In the same way, mothers need to rise up since today’s culture and situation is different from our ancestors. We do not pick up a treatise written by Tertullian or Origen in the third century to preach to today’s mothers on how to raise children. We face a different situation where if the Christian mother does not raise her children in the fear of the Lord, then Hollywood will take over her children. The Internet will take over. The Supreme Court will take over. The New Agers will take over. Every other ideology of every stripe and shadow will take over your children because you were not careful to impart a Christian upbringing to your children.

It is a call to be a mother. Something that you could take joy in just like a person is called to be a prophet, apostle, evangelist, pastor, teacher. There is a call to be a mother and you take delight in that role. That call entails the fourth virtue of sacrifice. A mother’s sacrifice is unknown to the world and to the eyes of men. Unknown are the sacrifice of your tears and your prayers. Many times when your children have gone astray, you prayed them back in. Many times your husband is not successful you prayed him back into success. You are behind the scene all the time. One day you receive your crown from heaven. For all those things that you have done, not a single person have known what you have done. It’s a career to be a mother. The only difference is that your husband has not paid you a five-figure salary yet you gave him the best of your sacrifice. Husbands, some of you are too stingy with your wife. The only time you give anything to your wife is on her birthday. The only time you give allowance to your wife is for the marketing. All the salary you earned is yours and all your wife has is what she saved from her marketing. It also partly the fault of husbands who do not realize that it’s a career to be a mother. It is an entire career in itself to bring up children and we need to take joy in it. There is great sacrifice in being a mother and the sacrifice can be quite difficult.

Look at it this way. In business, you do make sacrifices. Nobody succeed without some sacrifice. There is sacrifice involved in any achievement. However, the difference is after you achieved success, you do get recognition for your sacrifices, either in financial remuneration or in recognition in some way for your effort. But let me ask you if a mother makes sacrifices for her family, will she get her recognition on this earth? She may slog for years before her children grow up strong and successful. Finally, her children may enter her in some Mother’s Day contest and she finally wins an award for her motherly sacrifices. Even then, for every mother who gets some recognition, thousand other deserving mothers are bypassed. During the years she is raising up her children, very seldom will she get any recognition, especially if her husband is blind and unappreciative to her sacrifices.

Here is Esther who says, “If I perish, I perish.” That’s the greatest virtue. What else is she famous for? Her beauty. She is also famous for her willingness to put her life and limb in danger for the sake of others. That sacrificial nature rises up in her life.

Mary

Finally in the book of Luke is the fifth great women in the bible. We have Mary in Lk. 1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, ”Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this is. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. After some long commands and long blessings, then verse 34 Then Mary said to the angel, ”How can this be, since I do not know a man?” Then verse 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Now she has a submissive quality in her life. But the other thing about her life we must take note is a great spirituality and devotion. There are many devoted women. In many homes, there is a woman who is a spiritual lighthouse although it should be the man. More often than not, the man is busy earning the living and busy about the career. The woman is praying for the children when they are sick. It is the woman who is encouraging bible reading in the house. The woman has been developing spirituality in the household. But this is the fifth quality a spiritual devotional woman. Mary espoused this virtue, even to the extent that when she yielded to God to be the vessel in which the Messiah could be born, it was at the expense of losing her betrothed. You remember the story in the book of Matthew how Joseph was thinking of putting Mary away. Think about Mary coming to Joseph wanting to obey the Lord at the expense of her relationship with Joseph. But Mary was a very devoted woman. She is constantly pondering over spiritual things. She is one of those rare breed of spiritual women. Today we have a lot of career women. We need a lot of devotional women.

In the book of Acts 1 among those people who gathered in prayer in verse 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. Look at the Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers. I would think that the mother had a tremendous influence of all the other half brothers of Jesus. Every time you see them together in a group although not all of them came to know the Lord in the early days of the Lord’s ministry. But Mary had such a tremendous spiritual influence of the whole family. Don’t ask me about Joseph. I don’t know what he was doing all this time. He may have passed away by this time. The bible did mentioned about his dreams in Mathew. After that, there is very little mention of Joseph. But it seems that the pillar of strength in the family was Mary. She was the spiritual type. I believe that in many families, if you remove the spirituality of the wife, the spiritual light shining in the family will grow dark. Most men are not doing their role. The wife is constantly praying. You can examine it now. When your children are sick who does the praying? If it is the husband – good - praise the Lord you are taking the right place. But if the answer is the wife something is wrong. The husbands are not doing their role.

Many times the wife is praying. She is the devotional type of person like Cornelius who is always very devout, always very spiritual. The husband can be the worldly type, career type and going after money and position. The wife is praying all the time. All she wants is a simple roof on her head. The husband is thinking of a bigger house, bigger car, and bigger career. Then the wife is usually the devoted person praying. Now not all women are like that. Some women are worldly. But it is a virtue in the bible that Mary excels in her spirituality. Her interest is spiritual things. Her interest is in the things of God. In many churches, the vast majority of believers that attend churches are the women. In a lot of Christian meetings you look at the congregation and you say three quarter are women. Where are all the young men gone? They are out there in the world making money. But the responsibility lies on the women. A lot of them are devoted and are praying to God for their husbands, praying to God for their loved ones to come into the kingdom of God.

So there are five virtues that ladies may espouse to could rise up to greatness. These virtues can bring them up to greatness. Not that an angel will appear to you in your devotional time but you never know what may happen. No. 1 build on your anointing. People will not just recognize you because you are a woman. But they can recognize you when you build on your anointing that God have on your life.

No. 2 you can build on the quality of submission. This is something that a man is not fully capable of because for a man to be feminine, he becomes a lesser man. Men need to espouse leadership quality with gentleness. Men need to espouse bravery with the ability to take risks, to protect, to forge ahead and yet be gentle about it. But for women, their supreme quality is their feminine quality and the quality of the power of submission. Submissive wife becomes a jewel onto the Lord.

No. 3 as we have seen Deborah, Ruth, Abigail’s life for women you have a special intuition that God gives to you. Time Magazine once carried an article on the scientific analysis of the brain cells and the electric wave to see the left side and right side of brain functioning. It has been scientifically validated that women do things differently from men. For the women when they say a word it goes to both their left-brain and their right-brain. For most men when they speak it always goes through their left-brain. The right brain is the area of emotion and feeling. So when a woman speaks a word her feelings are involved. When a man speaks, sometimes his feeling is involved and sometimes it is not. It is because it is just their analytical part of their being coming out. There is one thing we realize that God does give ladies a common sense of righteousness of what’s the right thing to do like Abigail. You ask any family, the wife would have the instinct to say, “I don’t think this is the right thing to do. I think we should do it this way more gently.” Or, “I think this is the proper way to do it.” Afterwards as we tune ourselves properly, we realize that, that is the right way to go about it. However, if a woman is hurt like Sarah, she can be a bit rough in treating Hagar. But there is that sense of righteousness in women that they could develop in order to be a helpmate to their husbands.

The fourth is also a feminine virtue. It is the virtue to sacrifice. When women make sacrifices, they do earn their reward but they do not earn the recognition. It takes even greater sacrifice to be willing to do that but you have your heavenly reward.

The fifth quality strongly espoused in the Word of God is the spiritual and devotional quality. I know because I used to go for morning walk. The first thing I found out when I go for morning walks is that most of the early risers are old people. I do not know what happened to all the young people. There are a few young people but most of them are old people. The other thing I found is most of them are ladies. There is a field and most of the people seem to be sitting down. Few people are sitting and meditating whether they know God or not I am not sure. I know one of them use to read the bible out there. Most of them out there doing their devotional time are women. The next time you go to a church camp, wake up early and you see who does their devotional life. The consistent ones are the women. What happened to the men? Some of them play badminton, table tennis, swimming and they passed out the next morning. They have no more energy for spiritual matters. But the women tend to have the spiritual qualities and the steadfastness to build them into tremendous qualities in God.

Source : www.eaglevision.com.my
Email : spiritword@bigpond.com