Praise for "Women of the Old Testament"

Camille Fronk Olsen was the professor I took a course on "Women in the Scriptures" from at BYU. The semester I was in her class she was just starting her research for a book on women in the scriptures. She recruited us, her students, to help her do research on different women. I chose to research Deborah. It was an incredible assignment and is what really lit my passion for women in the scriptures. Without that class I probably wouldn't be writing this blog.

So imagine my excitement when I saw that her book "Women of the Old Testament" has just been published by Deseret Book! Not to mention my glee when I saw that my name is in the acknowledgments as one of the students who helped with her research. Seeing your name in print is always a bit exhilarating.

I know I am biased but I think this book is wonderful. It has in-depth insights, facts, maps and time lines for about 20 women from the Old Testament. Even though it is written by an LDS author and has some LDS perspectives I think that it would be a great book for anyone, of any religion, who wants to know more about the lives and the history of the women in the Old Testament. It would make a great companion book for personal scripture study or for use in a Sunday school class. From what I've heard I think she is planning on publishing a book on women in the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and LDS Church History, to go along with what the LDS curriculum for Sunday school is each year. Hopefully this means that more and more classes will be including examples from these incredible women.

The book also has beautiful pictures of women from the scriptures painted by Elspeth Young. I've used several of Young's paintings for women featured on this blog and I can't praise her work enough. I love it that she paints women who are rarely, if never, painted. Women like the little maid, Hannah, the daughters of Zelophehad, Huldah, Eunice, Abigail and Anna. Deseret Book is also selling a companion calender to the book that has many of the paintings from the book.

These would great Christmas gifts... hint, hint to my hubby...

And don't forget to read the chapter on Deborah, it is my favorite ;)

Noah's Wife

Genesis 6: 18
Genesis 7: 7, 13
Genesis 8: 16, 18
Moses 8:12

Background:

Only nine generations after Adam's death the world had become "corrupt before God" and it was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11). It was so wicked that the Lord "repented... that he had made man on the earth" and vowed to "...destroy... from the face of the earth; both man, and beast and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air." (Genesis 6:6-7) Amidst all this wickedness Noah remained faithful and found "grace in the eyes of the Lord." (Genesis 6: 8) God makes a covenant with him that he will save him, his wife, his sons, and his son's wives from the destruction. He provides Noah with instructions on how to build and ark that will carry him, his family and all the creations of the earth to safety (Genesis 6: 13-22).

Facts About Her:

• She was married to the prophet Noah, who was a "... just man and perfect in his generation." (Genesis 6:9);
• She was the mother of three sons: Japeth, Shem and Ham. They were also righteous men who walked with God (Moses 8:13);
• She went into the ark with her husband, sons, three daughter-in-laws, and all the animals and fowls of the earth (Genesis 7: 7, 13);
• Her granddaughters married men of the world, became wicked, and were destroyed in the flood along with everyone else (Moses 8:14-15);
  
• She and her family stayed in the ark for almost a whole year (Genesis 7:11, 8:4, 13-14) ;
• God made a covenant with her husband and her sons that He would never destroy the earth by flood again (Genesis 9:12-17);
  
• She was a "second Eve" in that all the children of the earth born after the flood came through her;
  
• It is through her son Shem's posterity that the Jews came, and eventually the Savior Jesus Christ.
  

Speculations About Her:

• In the apocryphal Book of Jasher (5:15) it says that her name was "Naamah", the daughter of Enoch.
  
• Jewish tradition also says her name was Naamah but that she was the Naamah mentioned in Genesis 4:22, the daughter of Lamech and Zilah and sister of Tubal-Cain.
  
• The Greeks called her "Doris" the wife of Nereus (Noah), the "wet one".
• She probably would have had to help take care of all the animals that were on the ark. God commanded Noah to take 7 male/female pairs of all the clean animals and fowls (14 total of each animal) and 2 (one male, one female) of the unclean animals (Genesis 7:2-3). That would have been a whole lot of animals to be cooped up with for almost a whole year!
  
• God also commanded them to take all the food they would need for the animals and themselves onto the ark (Genesis 6: 21). I read one story that claimed Noah's wife was the one to gather all the plants and preserved the ancient wisdom of the earth.
  

My Thoughts:

Even though we don't know her name, or know much about her, this woman was one of the most important and influential women in the history of the world. She, like Eve, was the mother of the human race. It is through her that all the nations of the earth after the flood were born. In fact, her and Noah's story is very similar to the story of Adam and Eve-- just a bit backward.

Here is the sequence of events in the Adam and Eve story:

1. God covered the world in water, "... there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." (Genesis 2:6);
   
2. God formed man from the dust of the earth and "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.." (Genesis 2:7);
3. The animals and fowls of the air are named (Genesis 2:19-20);
   
4. Adam and Eve were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth (Genesis 1:28);
   
5. Because of their sins Adam and Eve are removed from a pure, perfect, new world and taken to a corrupt, fallen and wicked world.

Compare this to the story of Noah and his wife.

1. Because of their righteousness they were saved from a corrupt, violent and wicked world and removed to a clean, perfect and new world;
2. They went into the ark "... two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life." (Genesis 7: 15);
3. They took with them all the animals and fowls of the earth (Genesis 7:9);
   
4. Once the flood was over they were commanded to "... be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth." (Genesis 8:17)

In a way she and Noah were a second Adam and Eve being reborn into a clean and pure world. I think there story represents the potential that all of God's creations have for rebirth and redemption. Each of us is living in a fallen, wicked and corrupt world but through our righteousness God promises us that we will be able to be "reborn" into his kingdom where we will inherit eternal glory (Moses 6:59).

The story of Noah and his wife illustrates how God will redeem his righteous people from the fall, how he will deliver them and how he will provide for them a world that is pure and clean. It is also significant to note that it isn't just the animals that go into the ark "two by two" but that the humans also go into the ark in husband and wife pairs. I think that this teaches us that God's work is done by pairs, a husband and a wife, and that it His desire that we come unto him "two by two".

Another thought I've had about this story is that the ark is representative of the temples we now have on the earth. Inside the temple a man and woman are sealed together, "two by two", and given great promises which are dependent upon their faithfulness. The temple is a place of safety and peace amidst a world that is filled with violence, wickedness and corruption. In a way the temple is our modern day ark, which carries us through this through this fallen world and gives us a glimpse of the clean and pure one we will enter one day.

Noah's wife must have been an incredible woman. Her example gives me hope and strength as I too am attempting to raise a family and be a righteous wife and woman in a wicked and violent world.

What We Can Learn From Her:

• Women can remain faithful and raise righteous families even in a world that is full of violence and wickedness;
• If we remain faithful God will always provide a means of deliverance from the wickedness that surrounds us;
• Great work can be accomplished when men and women support each other;
• God intends for all his creations to come unto him "two by two."
  

Questions to Think About:

• How did she raise righteous son's amidst all that wickedness? How did she keep them unspoiled by what was happening around them?
  
• In what ways did she help with the creation of the Ark? Did she help build it? Care for the animals?
• Was she always supportive of Noah or did she ever doubt him?

Save the WRI

Did you hear that BYU is closing the Women's Research Institute (WRI)?

This makes me want to cry.

The WRI was my haven at BYU and I owe much of the peace I feel now about being an active LDS woman and a mother to the women and experiences I had there. I wrote more of my feelings here.

BYU needs the Women's Research Institute because LDS women need it. There are many LDS women who never struggle with questions of gender inequality, but for those of us who do the WRI represents hope. Hope that there will always be an open dialogue between LDS men and women on gender. Hope that if we keep searching we will find answers to our hard Gospel questions. Hope that one day men and women will be able to live together with out violence or inequality. And hope that our daughters will inherit a world that is safer and kinder to women.

I don't want to give up that hope.

If you don't either you can join the facebook group "Save the Women's Research Institute" , join the protest at BYU (oh how I wish I was there), write a letter, and pray... a lot.

A Baby Blessing

Last Sunday we blessed our daughter.

Ever since she was born my mind and heart have been filled with worries about this little girl's future. The world is getting increasingly darker and and it scares me to send my perfect, pure and beautiful daughter out into a world that will hurt her. I know how hard it is to be a girl and what a rocky road it is towards womanhood, especially towards becoming a righteous woman. I know that because she is a girl the world will be a more dangerous place for her than it is for my son. I know there will be trials and challenges that she will have to face because of her gender; my heart breaks when I think I think about all the possible ways that she can be hurt, belittled, or mistreated just because she is a girl.

All these worries and thoughts were swirling around in my soul on Sunday when my husband took our little daughter in his arms to give her a name and a blessing. I had my eyes open during he blessing because I was rapidly trying to write down everything that was said. At one point I looked up towards the front of the chapel and saw our daughter held in her father's arms and surrounded in a circle by her grandfathers, her uncles and other men who cared deeply about her. As I looked at that circle it was as if I saw a big bubble wrapped around my little daughter, a big bubble of priesthood protection. It wasn't just that the men in that circle would protect and care for her the rest of their lives, but it was that they represented God's great love for her and the power of His protection. I knew that God loves this little girl as much as I do and that He worries about her too. She is His daughter, more than she is mine, and He did not send her into the world alone. He has sent angels to guide and protect her, has given her a loving family, and has surrounded her in the protection of His priesthood.

I've often struggled with baby blessings, feeling that it was somehow unfair that men were the ones to bless the baby and present it to the congregation, while the women who did all the work bringing the baby into the world didn't get any recognition at all. Yet each time I've watched my husband take our children in his arms and bless them I've heard the Spirit whispering to my soul that God loves each of his children equally whether male or female. God is not unjust or he would cease to be God (Morm. 9:15, 19). He provides each of his children with the same "bubble" of priesthood power and protection. It doesn't matter if you are male or female, black or white, if you hold the priesthood or if you don't hold the priesthood, His love is the same.

I know that there will be times when neither I, her father or any of those men in that circle will be able to keep this precious little girl safe and untouched by the evil of the world. Yet what peace it brings me as a mother, as a woman, to know that at those times God will watch over her, keep her safe, answer her questions, and heal her soul.

Eve's "Curse" ?

Every General Conference I pray that God will answer certain questions of my heart and this conference I was praying that He would teach me something new about women in the scriptures or about God's relationship with women. I was hoping that someone would give a whole talk based off a woman in the scriptures or that someone would use an obscure scriptural woman to exemplify a gospel principle... no such luck. The only mention of women from the scriptures was an indirect reference to the mothers of the stripping warriors. I was kind of disappointed. Yet even though there wasn't a direct talk mentioning women in the scripture God still answered my prayer.

In Elder L. Whitney Clayton's talk "That Your Burdens May Be Light" he said:

... Burdens provide opportunities to practice virtues that contribute to eventual perfection. They invite us to yield “to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and [put] off the natural man and [become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father." ... Adam was told, “Cursed shall be the ground for thy sake,” which meant for his benefit, and “by the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.” Work is a continual burden, but it is also a continual blessing “for [our] sake,” for it teaches lessons we can learn only “by the sweat of [our] face.”

It dawned on me that if Adam's curse was really a blessing, that the land was "cursed" for his benefit so that he could learn the lessons that could only be learned by working by "the sweat of his face", then perhaps the same thing was true for Eve. Perhaps what has so commonly been interpreted as Eve's "curse", bringing forth children in pain and being ruled over by her husband, were instead blessings from God that were intended to help her learn the lessons she needed in order to return to the presence of God.

Initially I had a hard time believing this; how could a loving God purposely send his daughters out into the mortal world with a "blessing" that would only result in them being hurt, controlled and demeaned by men? Yet as I read the scriptures closer I found that the only things that were cursed by God were the serpent and the ground. God tells Eve

"... I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." (Genesis 3:16)

There is absolutely no mention of a curse or even of a punishment. In fact, when I began to break down what God told Eve I saw that it was truly a great blessing, intended to liberate and empower His daughters. He is telling her that:

1. She will have many children
2. She will feel great sorrow and pain (but conversely also great joy)
   
3. She will desire to work in a partnership with her husband
   
4. With her husband she will rule after the manner of the Holy Priesthood.

That doesn't sound like much of a curse to me.

I think it worth while to take a closer look at what God was telling Eve. By breaking the scripture down into its individual parts one can get a better understanding of the great blessings God has designed for His daughters.

"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception..."

Sometimes understanding the Hebrew roots and meanings of words illuminates scriptures. This is one case where understanding the Hebrew words completely changes the interpretation of the scripture.

The Hebrew word for "multiply" is rabah (raw-bah), meaning to repeat over and over. It does not suggest greater sorrow, but rather repeated sorrow. The Hebrew word for "sorrow" in the Geneiss account (Genesis 3:16( is from atsab (aw-tsab), which means "labor" or "pain". While these words sugges that toil and suffering would be a part of Eve's life, Eve did not view the conditions that came upon her through the Fall to be a curse (see Moses 5:11). Moses 4:22 is a great revelation to women. Eve and her daughters can become co-creators with God by preparing bodies for his spirit children to occupy on earth and later in eteriny. Mothering would entail inconvenience, suffering, travail, and sorrow; these the Lord foretold as natural consequence and not as a curse." (Rasmussen, Latter-day Saint Commentary, 17)

God is just describing to Eve how her mortal condition is going to be on earth, that she will increase in size (pregnancy), that she will bear children and that she will do it multiple times. She must have been grateful later on that God gave her some heads up as to what would happen to her body. Imagine how scared she must have been the first time she got pregnant! She would have had no idea what was happening to her or what she could expect. Here God is explaining to her what will happen to her and what she has to gain from it.

We also have to remember that Eve wanted to have children, that is why she partook of the forbidden fruit. In the Garden of Eden God had commanded her and Adam to "multiply and replenish the earth" but because they had not fallen and were not mortal they were unable to fulfill God's commandment. Eve understood that by partaking of the fruit she would "fall" from the presence of God, but that in doing so she would become more like God because she would gain the ability to bear children and to comprehend good from evil. One can only imagine that she must have interpreted God's decree that she would bear children, many children, as a great blessing.

"... in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children..."

The "sorrow" here is the same "sorrow" that God pronounces upon Adam when he says, "In sorrow shalt thou eat of it [the ground] all the days of thy life." The Hebrew meaning of this word is also "travail or pain". God is telling Adam that it will take great work and pain to bring forth food from the earth, just as he is telling Eve that it is going to take great work and pain to bring forth children from her body. He's not giving them unequal responsibilities, both Adam and Eve's mortal responsibilities involve hard work and pain. What he pronounces upon one, he also pronounces upon the other.

Even the fact that having children would bring her pain must have seemed like a blessing to Eve because it meant that now she and Adam were able to feel sorrow, and if they could feel sorrow then they would also be able to feel joy. She accepted this and in Moses 5:11-12 we read that she blessed the name of God and said

"... Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient"(Moses 5:11)

The sorrow and pain of bringing forth children was no punishment for Eve because she understood that it was only by partaking of the bitter that she would be able to comprehend the sweet.

Childbirth isn't easy, just as raising food from the earth isn't easy. Yet just as a farmer feels great satisfaction, joy and rest at the end of his harvest, so does a woman after giving birth. Most women who have given birth will tell you that in the joy of holding their new child all the pain and sorrow of prengnacy and labor melted away. I believe that God designed both tasks, childbirth and raising food, to be hard so that men and women would be able to find transforming strength and power to face the challenges they would face during their mortal journey.

"... thy desire shall be to thy husband"

Eve knew that she was about to leave the safety and innocence of the Garden and enter into a fallen, corrupt and mortal world-- where she would be expected to bring forth and raise all the children of the earth. How scared and overwhelmed she must have been by this huge responsibility!

God promises Eve that she will not have to shoulder the enormous responsibility and burden of bringing children into this world by herself. Before she left the Garden God promised Eve that her "desire would be to her husband". This desire isn't just sexual desire, but it means she would desire to be with Adam and to work with him towards their joint goal of becoming like God. They would undertake their mortal journey together as partners. This is the first time that God lays out the foundation for all family relationships. His design for the family was that both men and women should desire to work together as partners and that together they would rule together over the stewardships that God gave them. He knew what challenges and trials Eve would be facing as she brought children into this world and so He organized the family structure to help protect and take care of His beloved daughter and her children.

When organized after the pattern God created, with a man and woman working together as equal partners, the family structure does not entrap or enslave women, rather it protects them, frees them, and ennobles them.

"... and he shall rule over thee."

Once again this is an instance where understanding the Hebrew terms change the whole meaning of the scripture, because "rule over" can also be translated as "rule with". In her book "Women in Eternity, Women of Zion" Valerie Hudson Cassler says:

We are convinced the "rule over" is an unfortunate translation... the Hebrew term rendered here as "rule over" can also mean "rule with". In fact, we understand that when the Hebrew word "msh'l" (usually translated as "rule") is used in conjunction with "bet" (in most cases translated as "with", "in", "by" or "at") the better translation is "rule with" rather than "rule over" (pg. 92).

Also the "rule" used in these scriptures is referring to ruling according to the Holy Priesthood of God, which we read in D&C 121: 36, 41-44 "cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness." These principles of righteousness are:

"... persuasion.. long suffering... gentleness and meekness...love unfeigned...kindness... pure knowledge... without hypocrisy... without guile... reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love..." (D&C 121:41-44)

Even if God was telling Eve that her husband would rule over her, being ruled over by someone who followed all these principles of righteousness wouldn't be all that bad. But if God is telling Eve that she will rule with her husband then it becomes her responsibility to treat all the stewardship God has given her-- the earth, the animals, her children and her body-- with love, respect and wisdom.

I don't believe that God ever intended for men to rule over women. It is just the corruption of our fallen world that has perverted His words and used them to justify inequality and control of women throughout history. I beleive that from the very begining God intended men and women to be joint stewards of God's creations and to work together as equal partners. He laid the foundations of family life, gave them a road map towards happiness, and endowed them with individual abilities and talents that would help them achive their common goal... becoming like God.

God never cursed Eve, He blessed her.

A Glimpse

Last weekend was General Conference.

It was wonderful... as usual... how could it not be considering you get to hear a prophet of God speak?

Conference always gives me a spiritual infusion and helps me re-evaluate my life and my relationship with God. I am so grateful for it. I am also grateful that this Conference I got several new insights that I am very excited to share! But first I have to share an experience I had last week at the General Relief Society Broadcast that just reinforced my testimony of God's great love for women.

Last week I wrote about Eve and her faithful daughters and I remarked that I would LOVE to get a glimpse of these women. Well, God answers the prayers of our heart because during the broadcast I got that glimpse.

Imagine this place

the Conference Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, filled to capacity with over 21,333 righteous women (and millions more in meeting houses around the world) standing and singing "How Firm a Foundation". Especially imagine them singing at the top of their lungs with tears streaming down their face (I'm sure I wasn't the only one crying) the last verse of the song,

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes:
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never - no, never, no, never forsake!

As I stood in my meeting house, more than 100 miles away from the Conference Center, and sang this hymn my mind was filled with images of women all over the world standing along side me and singing their devotion to Jesus Christ. I felt such a connection to these women and to the women on the other side of the veil whom I felt were standing with us. I realized that I was only one in the army of millions of faithful women-- past, present and future-- whose testimonies of the gospel burn strong in their hearts and who are ready and willing to do all that God asks of them. I know that even though we are so far apart we are all bound together as sisters through the gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter where or when we live or have lived we are all the daughters of Eve-- glorious, faithful and strong. I am so grateful that God answered my prayer and granted me what I wanted... a glimpse.

I wish that they posted the musical numbers from Conference online, but they don't. But I did find this clip from a previous General Conference, not a Relief Society meeting, of "How Firm a Foundation" being sung by the congregation. It is powerful and if you haven't ever heard this hymn sung before I HIGHLY recommend watching this clip.

Eve and Her Faithful Daughters

The 138th chapter of the Doctrine and Covenants documents a vision given to the Prophet Joseph F. Smith in 1918. In his vision the Prophet saw Christ's visit to the spirit world and His ministry among the faithful and noble spirits. Verses 38-49 relate some of the spirits he saw waiting for the arrival of the Savior among them, it says:

38 Among the great and mighty ones who were assembled in this vast congregation of the righteous were Father Adan, the Ancient of Days and father of all,

39 And our glorious Mother Eve, with many of her faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God.

I love the image of our glorious Mother Eve receiving the Savior as He visits the spirit world with hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of her daughters standing behind her, ready and excited to receive the fullness of the gospel. Women who, even though we don't have their names, lived lives that put them on the same standing before God as the men who were in the congregation, great and righteous men like: Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Elias, Malachi, Elijah and the prophets of the Book of Mormon (D&C 138: 40-49) .

How I would love to get a glimpse of those women, to learn their names, to know their stories and to hear their testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm sure that women like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Deborah, Huldah, Sariah, and Nephi's wife were among these noble women, as well as so many other faithful women whose names and stories we don't have. These were women who had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ before he came to earth; whose testimonies were built upon the promise of the coming of the Savior. I can only imagine their joy, after waiting hundreds of years, to finally see the Redeemer they had heard prophesied of for so long.

It brings me great joy to imagine all those great women receiving and listening to Christ preach of the restored gospel. I look forward to the time when Christ will come for the second time and Eve will once again stand before God with ALL her faithful daughters and present them to the Savior. That will be one meeting I hope I get to be a part of!

Delivered ere the midwives come

I just wanted to announce that I am now the mother of a most beautiful and precious little girl! She was born last week at home (we were planning a home birth) and came so quickly that she was born before the midwife could make it!

Delivering our own baby was an INCREDIBLE experience for my husband and I and simply put... it was beautiful. Also, in a strange coincidence of fate, one my friends from high school delivered her baby boy "ere the midwives" came unto her just the day before my little girl was born. She wasn't planning on having a home birth, but the baby came super fast and the hospital was 1/2 hour away. Luckily her mother has lots of experience delivering babies and works with several home birth midwives so she was able to help make it a good and peaceful experience.

And being the women in the scripture nerd that I am I couldn't pass up this extraordinary opportunity to make a modern day comparison to the story of Shiphrah and Puah and how they told the Pharaoh that:

"... the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them." (Exodus 1:19);

Granted, my friend didn't have to worry about hiding her little boy so that he wouldn't be killed (I would have been okay seeing I had a little girl) but it is fun to think that we now have something in common with our ancient Hebrew sisters. I guess I like thinking of myself as a robust, "lively" Hebrew woman... as compared a delicate, pampered Egyptian woman :) And who knows, I might just have some of that ancient Hebrew blood flowing through me somewhere!

Puah and Shiphrah

Exodus 1: 15-22

Background: 13 Century BC

Not long after the children of Israel settled in the land of Egypt there arose a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph of Egypt and who was concerned that the Hebrews were "...fruitful... and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them." (Exodus 1: 1-7) In fact, they were becoming more numerous and stronger than the Egyptians and this scared the Pharaoh. So in order to try to curb the population and to make sure that they wouldn't go to war against them, the Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel and put hard taskmasters over them. (Exodus 1:7-11) But even under these hard circumstances the Hebrews continued to multiply, even more than they had before. Concerned with the ever increasing numbers of Hebrews and scared of the potential threat they presented, Pharaoh commanded that all Hebrew males be killed at birth. (Exodus 1: 12-22)

Facts about them:

• They were midwives who attended the births of the Hebrew women (Exodus 1:15);
  
• They were brought before the Pharaoh who told them that when they went to deliver the baby of a Hebrew woman and saw them "upon the stools" (referring to birthing stools-- which I have more information on further down) they were to kill the baby if it was a boy but let it live if it was a girl (Exodus 1:16);
• Despite the Pharaoh's command they feared God and refused to kill the boy babies (Exodus 1:17);
• When Pharaoh found out that they were disobeying him and not killing the boy babies he called for them and asked why they were saving the boys alive (Exodus 1:18);
• They told Pharaoh that they were unable to kill the babies "...Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them." (Exodus 1:19);
• The Pharaoh believed their excuse and the people of Israel multiplied and grew stronger (Exodus 1:20);
• Because they feared God over man, God "delt well" with the midwives and blessed them with "houses" or in other words, posterity (Exodus 1:21).
• Puah means "splendid" in Hebrew and Shiphrah means "brightness".

"The Protector" by Elspeth Young

Speculations about them:

• It is unclear whether Shiphrah and Puah were Hebrew or Egyptian and if they were "Hebrew midwives" or "midwives to the Hebrews." Most likely they were Hebrew because their names are Semitic, not Egyptian. But either way, one gets the idea from the scriptures that they attended both Hebrew and Egyptian births because they were able to give the Pharaoh a comparison ( Exodus 1:19) and tell him that the "...Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them." Also, the fact that Pharaoh called for them shows that they were held in high respect (as most midwives were) among the Egyptians and the Hebrews, probably as a result of their great skill and experience.

• It is only logical, given the size of the Hebrew population, that Puah and Shiphrah were not the only midwives attending births. In fact we read in Numbers 1:46 that when the children of Israel left Egypt there were 603,550 men who were over the age of 20 years old. Many of these men were probably saved by midwives who refused to kill them as babies. The large number of men also indicates that the midwives were organized and that perhaps there was a wide scale organization that helped save and hide male babies. No matter how they did it, it is impressive that they were able to save so many babies and keep it a secret from the Pharaoh.

• Some scholars say that midwives in Israel were always barren women, who in order to find their place in a society where family was valued above all else, were given the responsibility of helping other women bring life into the world. If this is true then it makes the fact that God gave them "houses" or "posterity" as a reward for their faithfulness an even more beautiful blessing.

• They may have been the midwives who attended the birth of Moses and consequently saved his life. Moses was the one who wrote the book of Exodus and it is probable that the reason we know their names and so much about them is because he was grateful to them for sparing his life as a baby.
  

• In the Jewish Women's Archive Mayer I. Gruber wrote this about birth stools:

The Hebrew term for “birth stool” in Exod 1:16, obnayim, means literally “two stones.” It refers to the primitive form of the birth stool, which was simply two bricks (or stones) placed under each of the buttocks of the woman in labor. Such birth stools are depicted in the later forms of the hieroglyphic symbol for “birth” and are referred to in ancient Egyptian folk sayings, such as “He left me like a woman on the bricks.” Ancient Egyptian pictorial art shows that the two bricks were replaced by a chair with an opening in the middle (like a toilet seat) through which, with the help of gravity, the mother could push out her baby into the deft hands of the midwives.

The Hebrew word "obhnayim" (birth stool) is also used in Jer 18:3, and there it is translated as "potter's wheel." The word is used in both places in the dual form, which suggests that both the potter's wheel and the birth stool were made from two discs. (NetBible, 2005-2009) I found it VERY interesting to go back and read Jeremiah 18 again and read the passage with the thought that "potters wheel" might also be referring to giving birth and it really changed my whole perspective on the passage.

Here is a modern day birth stool. It is used in the second stage of labor (pushing) and helps support the woman while she squats, making pushing easier and more effective. In biblical times a woman probably would have had two other women to support her arms while she squatted and then the bricks or stones would have gone under her feet. But the general idea is still the same as this.

And just for the sake of being interesting, here is a link to some pictures of types of birthing stools women have used throughout history.

My Thoughts:

Righteous women of God have always chosen, and always will choose, to conceive, deliver, and protect life above all else. This is because righteous women understand the value of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan. They also know that each life, male and female, is sacred to God and that to bring life is one of the most noble and sacred callings God has given on this earth. Righteous women also understand that without women who are willing to bear, deliver and raise children none of God's plans could come forth. Without their courage and sacrifice there would be no hope for a future and no purpose for the present.

It may appear that it is always the men in the scriptures who always do the delivering out of bondage, the saving, and the rescuing, but the truth is that God's plans usually start with women. For example, without the courage and dedication of Puah, Shiphrah, and other midwives like them who chose to ignore the commands of the Pharaoh and do what they knew was right, Moses would not have survived to lead the children of Israel out of bondage. In fact, one could say that these women were the "first delivers" of Israel because they delivered the deliverer.

Because of these righteous women's decision to put their faith in God and to do what was right, even though they knew there would be serious consequences if the Pharaoh found out what they were doing, God was able to work a mighty miracle for all the children of Israel. True, their part in the deliverance of Israel may not appear to be as grand as what Moses did (and it has yet to be turned into a movie-- even though I think it would make a good one:) but without them God's plans would not have been able to move forward. I am sure that they understood God's will and knew that if they put their trust in God then they did not need to fear what man could do to them.

What we can learn from them:

• Righteous women of God will always choose to conceive, deliver and protect life above all else;
• When we put God above man and do what is right, regardless of the consequences, He blesses us and helps us work miracles;
• If we trust in the Lord we don't have to fear what the "world" or "man" can do to us;
  
• Women deliver the deliverers.

Questions to think about:

• Why do you think Moses mentions these two midwives by name?
  
• What modern day parallels do you see in this story?
  
• How do you or women you know take a stand to protect and deliver life?
  
• Why do the midwives choose to obey religious authority rather than political authority?
• How is being blessed with "houses" or "posterity" a great blessing?
  

Nitty Gritty "Women's Work"

I apologize for being a bit negligent in posting my weekly "Wednesday Woman" but this summer has been a little bit crazy. Those of you that don't know me in real life, or who don't follow my other blog, probably don't know that I am expecting my second baby around the first of September. I've been feeling pretty good but I broke my foot a few weeks ago and just barely got out of the walking cast (yippee!). I also have a 19 month old little boy who is a curious ball of energy and who keeps life interesting-- to say the least :). In addition BOTH of my parents are getting re-married this summer! So I offer all that up as an excuse as to why I haven't had time to do much research or studying-- I hope you'll forgive me and promise I'll try to keep up as much as I can.

I really appreciated the story by Carolynn R. Spencer entitled "Was I Living The Gospel Fully?" in the July edition of the Ensign magazine. Spencer talks about how, after a day of taking care of a house full of sick children, she felt guilty when she read the scripture in Jacob 2: 19 which talks about how to live the gospel fully we need to "... to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted." She felt overwhelmed thinking "How can I feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and help people spiritually when I can scarcely take care of my own family?" Then she had an overwhelming insight that what she was doing as a mother WAS living the gospel fully-- she had spent ALL DAY feeding her hungry, naked and sick children and she knew that God had accepted her offering.

Because my own life has been a crazy whirlwind and because I sometimes it is all I can manage to get dressed in the morning and chase around a little 19 month old, I really appreciated this insight. I think one of the things that women forget is that what we do as women, wives and as mothers is IMPORTANT work and that God recognizes and accepts the sacrifices we make. I've written before about how the women at the empty tomb were the first to get to see and touch the Resurrected Christ because they were there doing the nitty gritty women's work of taking care of Christ's body. What women are called to do in the home is just as important and necessary as the preaching and administering that men are called to do outside the home. If women don't get enough credit and recognition for their work that is our failing as a society and not because God doesn't appreciate or value their work. I know that God notices women and that He blesses them for what they do for His children.

This knowledge gives me a lot of peace right now, because in all honesty it has been hard for me to do much more than just take care of myself and my family. While I still think it is good ( and important) to find time to serve others and to respond to the prompting that God sends me, I find peace in knowing that I am

clothing the naked

feeding the hungry

liberating the captive

and administering relief to the sick

and the afflicted

and that in a BIG and IMPORTANT way I am helping to build and strengthen the Kingdom of God. I just need to give myself more credit and realize that there I am doing EXACTLY what God wants and NEEDS me to be doing right now-- even if sometimes it isn't that glamorous and probably won't get written down as scripture -- which in my opinion (which isn't much next to God's) is what should have have been written on them ;) So just remember to give yourself a little bit more credit at the end of the day, because God knows what you've been up to.

Questions to ask yourself when you come across a woman in the scriptures

On Sunday I taught a lesson on Women in the Scriptures at our church. My goal with the lesson was to help the women learn how to recognize and relate to the women that are mentioned in the scriptures. Often times all we get is a name or a brief mention of a wife or daughter and nothing else about her, but by stopping and taking time to think and reflect often times I've found that I can learn much about a what she must have experienced, what her life might have been like, and what type of woman she was. I've also found that I've been able to relate or "liken" the scriptures to my own life as a woman better when I remember that almost EVERY story has a woman in it somewhere-- whether we hear about her or not. For my lesson on Sunday I made a list of the questions that I ask myself every time I come across a new woman in the scriptures and I thought they might be helpful for others in their own personal scripture study.  

1- What is unique about this woman and her story?

2- How does she fit into the time period in which she lived?

3- What Christlike qualities does she exemplify?

4- What would I ask her if I could meet her?

5- How can I relate to her?

6- What can I (or someone else I know) learn from her experiences? 

Each woman's story will mean something different to everyone and there is such power in being able to find your own answers and discoveries in the scriptures. I hope that these can help you, and other people you know, pay more attention to the women in the scriptures and not pass over a remarkable woman just because she is only mentioned as the a daughter, a widow, a wife or a child. Happy Scripture Studying! 

Where are All the Women in the Book of Mormon?

One of the biggest complaints I hear about the women of the scriptures is that there very few women mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Some women feel frustrated or offended that in what Joseph Smith called " the most correct of any book on earth," God would have neglected to mention women. It is true that there aren't very many women mentioned by name, only three-- Sariah, Abish and Isabel (who happens to be a harlot). Yet as I've studied the Book of Mormon the last few months from the perspective of looking for women I have been AMAZED to find SO many women I didn't even know were there. In my study I found that there are over 87 references to specific women and that most of those references are to groups of women, like wives, daughters, children meaning that there are hundred and hundreds of women mentioned within in the pages of the book of Mormon! While we don't know a lot about them as individuals the scriptures give us lots of insight into what their lives may have been like and what type of women they were-- you just have to read between the lines a little bit.

It helps me to remember that the Book of Mormon is a spiritual history book and that it was written by ancient men who were concerned with preserving the significant historical and spiritual events of their people. Unfortunately much of what women did was not viewed as important enough to be engraved into the plates. In reality, this isn't too different from how our history books are today. It wouldn't surprise me if in a few hundred years another civilization gets hold of our history books and wonders "What were all the women doing?" This is why it is so important that women take the time to write down their own personal histories and spiritual experiences. No matter how "mundane" or "normal" a woman's life seems to be she has valuable experience and insights that WILL be interesting to future generations. It is all the "mundane" and "normal" things that I YEARN to know about these women from the Book of Mormon. I want to know what they thought, what they suffered, what they loved, what they feared, how they bore and raised their children, how they held it all together through years of war and famine, and how they kept their faith in Christ. Unfortunately those conversations will have to wait till heaven and right now I will have to content myself with the bits and pieces of their lives that I can piece together out of the Book or Mormon-- and you know I am SO grateful to even have that much!

I thought that I would make a list of all the women I found listed in the Book of Mormon (if you happen to know of one that I left out PLEASE let me know). I am not going to write explanations about who they are or what happened to them at this time (unless I already have and them I've made a link), but I'm sure if you keep reading my blog eventually I'll post on all of them someday! I've put them in chronological order by the books in the Book of Mormon. I hope that this helps you to start paying more attention to what is written "between the lines" and begin to put the pieces of these women's lives together.

1 Nephi

5 daughters of Ishmael 7:1,6, 19; 16: 7, 27, 35; 18:9
Wife of Ishmael 7:6, 19
Sariah 2:5; 5:1-9; 8:14; 17:55; 18:17-19
Nephi's wife 16:7; 18:19
Women who traveled with Lehi into the wilderness 17:1-2, 20; 18:6

2 Nephi

Daughters of Laman 4:3
Nephi's sisters 5:6

Jacob

Nephite wives who grieve because of the wickedness of their husbands 2:7-9, 31-33, 35
Extra wives and concubines of the wicked Nephite men
Wives of the Lamanites whose husbands love them 3:7

Mosiah
Wives and daughters who came to hear King Benjamin's speech 2:5; 4: 1-3; 5:2-5; 6:1-2
Wives of the men who went with Zeniff (the first time) 9:2 (also Omni 1:27-29)
Women of the people of Zeniff 10:5, 9
Wives and concubines of King Noah 11:2, 4, 14
Wives and concubines of King Noah's wicked priests 11:2, 4, 14; 20:3
Women of the people of Noah 19:9-15, 19-24; 20:11
Fair daughters of the people of Noah
Widows among the people of Limhi 21:9-11,13-17; 22:2,8
Great number of women afflicted in the war between Limhi and the Lamanties 21:9-11,13-17; 22:2,8
Wives of the people who followed Alma 23:28; 24:22
Wives of the guards left to occupy the land of Helam 23:38

Alma

Wives of the people of Minon 2:25
Wives of the people of Nephi 2:26; 3:1-2
Ishmaelite women 3:7
Women of Gideon 7:27
Wife of Amulek 10:11
Women in Amulek's household 10:11
Wives and children of those who believe Alma and Amulek 14:8-11, 14; 15:2
Daughters of King Lamoni 17:24; 18:43
Wife of King Lamoni 18:43; 19:2-3, 17-18, 28-30
24 daughters of the Lamanites abducted by King Noah's priests 20:1-5, 15, 18, 23; 21: 20-21; 23:33-34; 25:12
Abish 19:16-17, 28
Queen of the Lamanties (Mother of King Lamoni) 22:19-24
Widows and daughters of Nephites slain protecting the people of Ammon 28:5
Women led away by Korihor 30:18
Wives of the Zoramites who repented 35:14
Isabel 39:3-4
Wives of the Nephites 43:9, 45; 44:5; 4:12; 48:10, 24; 58:12
Lamanite queen who marries Amalakiah 47:32-35; 52:12
Maid servant of Morianton 50:30-31
Women of the City Bountiful 53:7
Women taken prisoner by the Lamanites 54:3; 55:17-24; 58:30-31; 60:17
Wives of the 10,000 Nephite soldiers at the City of Judea 56:28
Mothers of the stripling warriors 56:47-48; 57:21
Women and children carried off by the Lamanites 58: 30-31
Wives and daughters of the 5,400 Nephites who migrated northward 63: 4-10

Helaman

Women and children slaughtered by Coriantomer 1:27
Women who toiled and spun all manner of cloth 6:13
Women carried away by the Gaddianton robbers 11:33

3 Nephi

Women who united against the Gaddianton robbers 2:12-16; 3:13
Fair daughters who gathered together to be protected from the Gaddianton robbers 3:13
Mother sand fair daughters killed when the city of Moroniah was buried 8:25; 9:2
Women who heard Jesus pray and who were healed 17: 1-25; 19:1
Girls who were encircled about by fire and ministered to by angels 19:1

Mormon

Wives and children of the Nephites at the time of Mormon 2:23; 4:14-15, 21; 6:7,19

Ether

Wives of the families of Jared, Brother of Jared and their friends 1:33, 37, 41; 2:1; 6:3
Daughters of the brother of Jared 6:15, 20
Daughters of the friends of Jared and his brother 6:16-17
8 daughters of Jared 6:20
12 daughters of Orihah 7:1
Daughters of Corihor 7:4, 14
Daughters of Shule 7:12, 26
Daughters of Jared 8:1
Daughters of Omer 8:4; 9: 2-3
Wicked daughter of Jared 8:8-12, 17; 9:4
Daughters of Emer 9:21
Wife of Coriantum 9:24
Young maid Coriantum takes as his second wife 9:24
Daughters the young maid bears to Corianutm 9:24
Daughters of Com 9:25
Daughters of Shez 10:2
Many wives and concubines of Riplakish 10:5
Daughters of Kim 10:14
Daughters of Levi 10:16
Daughters of Com 10:17
Daughters of Lib 10:29
Fair daughters of Corinatumr 13:17-22
Fair daughters of Cohor 13:17-22
Fair daughters of Corihor 13:17-22
Wives of the Nephites at the time of Ether 14:2
Women and children who were slain by Shiz 14:17
Women killed in the final Jaradite battle 14:22, 31; 5:2
Women and children who take up arms for battle 15:12-25

Moroni

Nephite women from the tower of Sherrizah who were held captive by the Lamanites 9"7-8, 19
Daughters of the Lamanites held prisoner in Moriantum 9:9-10
Widows and their daughters who remained in Sherrizah 9:16, 19
Many old women who died in Sherrizah 9: 16, 19

Deborah

Judges 4-5

Background: 12 Century BC

Because of their wickedness the children of Israel had suffered continuous wars with the peoples that surrounded them and were in bondage in the land of Moab (Judges 3). The Lord sent a man named Ehud, who was left handed (Judges 3: 15), to deliver them. Ehud went before the King of Moab, Eglon, who was a very fat man and told him that he had a message for him from God. Ehud then took his dagger and thrust it into Eglon's belly, and the scriptures tell us that then "...the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out." (Judges 3:21-22) Ehud escaped and led the children of Israel in victory against the Moabites. They had peace in the land for fourscore years (Judges 3: 23-31). But after Ehud's death the children of Israel became wicked again and they get sold to Jabin king of Canaan, whose captain was named Sisera and who had nine hundred chariots of iron. They were in bondage to Jabin for twenty years (Judges 4:1-3).

Facts About Her:

• She was the fourth judge to judge Israel and did so during Israel's bondage to Jabin the King of Canann;
• She was the only woman to ever hold the position of judge over Israel;
• She was a prophetess;
• Her name means "bee" in Hebrew;
  
• She was the wife of Lapidoth (which means "torches" in Hebrew)
• She dwelt under a palm tree between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim;
• The children of Israel went to her for judgment;
• She called Barak out of refuge in the city of Kedesh-naphtali and told him that the Lord had commanded him to take an army and fight against Sisera's army at mount Tabor;
• Barak told her that he would go to battle if she went forth with him;
• She agreed to go but told him that, "...the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." (Judges 4:9)
  
• Barak and Deborah went forth with 10,000 men to mount Tabor and Sisera came to meet them. The Lord "discomfited" all of Sisera's chariots and hosts, which we later find out in Judges 5 that meant that it began to rain and the rivers overflowed (Judges 5:4, 21-22). The chariot wheels got stuck in the mud and were therefore useless, allowing allowing Barak and his men to fall upon them and slay them all. Sisera alone escaped and fled to the tent of Heber the Kenite whose wife Jael drove a nail through his head while he was sleeping, thus bringing victory to the children of Israel and freedom from bondage;
• Chapter 5 of Judges is called the "Song of Deborah" and is the oldest known Hebrew poetry in the world. It is where we get the term "mother in Israel" from and is the only time it is used in the scriptures. In verse 7 of the psalm it says, "... The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel."

View of Mount Tabor where Barak and Deborah led their army

Speculations About Her:

• There is a lot of disputations about whether Deborah was really married or not and if she had children. Some say that the phrase "the wife of Lapidoth (or torches)" meant that she had a fiery temperament. Some also think that it may have referred to the torches in the tabernacle, signifying that she worked in the tabernacle. Others find it reasonable to believe that she was probably married to a man named Lapidoth. As for children, we don't really know if she had any or not. She is called a "mother in Israel" but it is unclear if this is just referring to her role as a leader and judge over the children of Israel or if she also had physical children;
  
• The phrase "mother in Israel" is only used this one time the scriptures, but several Later-day women have had the phrase applied to them, such as Eliza R. Snow who was called a "Mother in Israel" even though she never had children of her own;
  
• Judges chapter 5 , the "Song of Deborah", may be from as early as the 8th century BC, making it older than the rest of the Old Testament which was written in about 1500 BC;
• It is highly unusual that a woman should have been chosen to lead and the judge Israel and some people say that it was evidence of the great wickedness of the Israelites at that time. Saying that it indicates that there may have been no righteous men worthy to lead and so a woman had to fill the position.
  

"I Arose a Mother in Israel" By Elspeth Young

My Thoughts:

There are so many parts of this story that I love but I think the real power in this story lies in the fact that Deborah and Barak worked together to do the Lord's will. I think that they are great examples of how the Lord wants all relationships and interactions between men and women to be-- based on respect, trust and cooperation. Barak respected and listened to Deborah and Deborah relied upon Barak's skill and judgement and together, with the Lord, they were able to be victorious and free their people from bondage. This wouldn't have happened if Barak had been unwilling to take counsel from Deborah or if Deborah hadn't had faith in Barak's ability to succeed. I think they both realized the power that comes when righteous men and women work together as partners in the Lord's work.

We don't really know why Barak wouldn't go forth to battle without Deborah, but I suspect it was because he respected her judgement and knew that if he relied upon the wisdom and guidance she gave him from the Lord then he would be safe and victorious. I think that Barak knew that he couldn't do what the Lord wanted Him to do without Deborah's help, and Deborah knew that she had a gift and a responsibility from the Lord to help Barak fulfill his task. It didn't even seem to bother Barak when Deborah told him that he would get none of the glory for the victory, but that it would all go to a woman. I assume that he probably thought she was speaking of herself, but in reality the real victory of the war was done by Jael the Kenite woman who slew Sisera and ended the battle. Even so, Barak seemed perfectly fine, right from the start, with letting a woman have the glory and the credit-- he was humble enough to accept direction from the Lord in whatever form it came.

I really believe that God's work is most successful when relationships between men and women are based on love, respect, trust, and cooperation rather than competition or control. God has given men and women divine gifts and when they are combined in righteousness God is able to work might miracles.

What We Can Learn From Her:

• God calls women to hold positions of authority and leadership (but it is important to remember that Deborah held a political/social office as a judge and not a religious or priesthood office);
• God gives women revelations and guidance to help direct and protect the people they have been given stewardship over;
• Women can, and should, be sought out for their wisdom and judgement-- even by men;
• Women can prophesy (see my post on Huldah to read more about what it means to be a "prophetess");
• The Lord can work great miracles when men and women work together and respect each other's talents and abilities.
  

Questions to Think About:

• Do you picture Deborah as young or as old? How does it change your perception of the story if she is a young woman or an old woman?
• In what ways was Deborah a prophetess?
• Why do you think that Barak wouldn't go to war with out her? What did she have to offer?
• How have you seen miracles in your own life happen when men and women work together?
  

Adam's Rib

I love the story of Adam and Eve because within it there are SO many eternal truths about the role and purpose of women and interactions between the men and women. Yet, it saddens me that this beautiful story has also been the justification for so much of history's oppression and discrimination against women. One part of the story that some people have traditionally used to justify giving women a subservient and oppressive role in society is that fact that God made Eve from Adam's rib ( Gen. 2:22; Moses 3:22; Abr. 5:16)-- saying that this shows that God intended for Eve to be lower than than Adam.

Creation of Eve by Michelangelo Buonarroti.

I have to admit that I've often been confused by this part of the story as well. It has been hard for me to understand why Eve was created from Adam's rib. Why didn't God just create her out of the dust like He did Adam? Was it because she wasn't as important as Adam? Why was she made second and not first? Was it because God intended for woman to be subservient and lower than man? No, I don't think so and neither does Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who said:

"When Eve was created—when her body was made by God—Adam exclaimed, “Bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man” (Moses 3:23).

From the rib of Adam, Eve was formed (see Gen. 2:22; Moses 3:22; Abr. 5:16). Interesting to me is the fact that animals fashioned by our Creator, such as dogs and cats, have thirteen pairs of ribs, but the human being has one less with only twelve. I presume another bone could have been used, but the rib, coming as it does from the side, seems to denote partnership. The rib signifies neither dominion nor subservience, but a lateral relationship as partners, to work and to live, side by side."

- Russell M. Nelson, “Lessons from Eve,” Ensign, Nov 1987, 86

Eve was taken from Adam's rib because she was his equal and God intended for her to stand beside him-- not below him, not behind him and not above him. Adam and Eve were literally to be "of one flesh" and to be unified in all things. It is true that God did not give them the same responsibilities, but he did make them equal partners with talents, gifts and abilities to help each other fulfill those individual responsibilities. This symbolism of Eve being taken from Adam's rib is beautiful and bears testimony of the beautiful truth that God intended from the VERY beginning for men and women to be equal partners, working side by side in all things and supporting each other in the divine work that God has for them to do. How different the world would be (how different most marriages and relationships would be) if each man and each woman understood and believed this sacred truth !

Jemima, Kezia, Keren-happuch, and Job's Other Daughters

Job 1: 2, 4-5, 13-15
Job 42:13-15

Background:

Job was a very rich and influential man living in the land of Uz, who "was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." (Job 1:1) The Lord allowed Satan to try and tempt Job above all other men (Job 1: 5-12). Job suffered many trials, including the loss of all his family, wealth and physical health (Job 1-42). Yet, despite all his trials Job remained faithful and trusted in the Lord. In the end, the Lord restored to Job all that he had lost and more than he had before (Job 42).

Facts About Them:

• Job had three daughters and seven sons who often feasted and drank together. Job feared that they were sinning and cursing God so he made burnt offerings on their behalf continually (Job 1:4-5);
• One day while all his children were eating and drinking wine at their oldest brother's house the Sabeans attacked and carried them all away as slaves and only one servant was left to tell Job (Job 1:13-15);
• After the trial of Job's faith the Lord "blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" and gave him seven more sons and three more daughters (Job 42: 12-13);
• We don't have the names of the first three daughters, but the last three daughters were named Jemima, Kezia, and Keren-happuch and "in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job" (Job 42: 15);
• Job gives his last three daughters an inheritance among their brothers (Job 42: 15).
  

Speculations About Them:

This really isn't a speculation but I thought it was interesting. The Masonic organization for young women ages 10-20 is called Job's Daughters. It was founded in 1920 by Ethel T. Wead Mick (also called "Mother Mick") in Omaha, Nebraska. The purpose of the organization is to help young women develop a greater reverence for God and the scriptures, loyalty to one's country and that country's flag, and respect for parents, guardians, and elders. Mother Mick chose the name Job's Daughters because of the 42nd chapter, 15th verse which says, "In all the land were no women found so fair as the Daughters of Job, and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren". The organization is a way for women to realize that have an inheritance of spiritual gifts, just like their brother do.

My Thoughts:

God compensates the righteous and the faithful for all their losses and sufferings on this earth.

There is nothing that man or the world can take away that God won't restore to us tenfold if we are faithful and endure to the end. In his last General Conference talk Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said:

"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude. "

Women are entitled to receive an eternal inheritance from their Heavenly Father if they live righteous lives.

I really like the last sentence about these women that "...their father gave them inheritance among their brethren". We often forget that faithful women are entitled to the EXACT same blessings and privileges as their brothers are. Job, and God, did not forget these women and rewarded them according to their faithfulness.

What We Can Learn From Them:

• Righteous and faithful daughters will be given eternal inheritances, the same as any of their brothers;
• The Lord compensates us for all the losses and suffering we go through in this life. We may not be compensated right away, but after the trial of our faith will come the blessings.
  

Questions to Think About:

• What ever happened to the first three daughters who were carried off?
• Why did God allow Satan to try and tempt Job?
• What made Job's daughters the fairest women in the land?
• Why are all the pictures of Job really really scary? Trust me, some of them are just down right twisted.

Pontius Pilate's Wife

Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man") by Antonio Ciseri

Matthew 27:19

Background:

After his betrayal by Judas Iscariot Jesus was brought before the Roman Governor of Jerusalem. Pilate questioned Jesus asking, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" to which Jesus answered,"Thou sayest." (Matt. 27: 11). Pilate marveled greatly at what Jesus told him and he told the Jews that he could find no fault with him. He offered to release Jesus to the people but instead the people chose to release the prisoner Barabbas (Matt. 27: 12-23). Pilate tells the Jews that he washes his hands of the matter, and allows them to condemn and crucify Jesus Christ (Matt. 27: 24).

Facts about her:

• While her husband was sitting on the judgment seat before Jesus, trying to decide which prisoner to release back to the Jews, she sent him a message saying, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him" (Matt. 27:19);
• After Pilate receives her message he washes his hands of the Jew decision to crucify Jesus, he tells them, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it." (Matt. 27:24);
  
• She was a Roman citizen;
• She was married to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Jerusalem.
  

Speculations about her:

• According to Christian legend her name was either, Procula or Claudia. She has been made a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and is called Saint Procula, Saint Claudia, or Saint Procula Claudia;
  

• It is commonly believed that she became a Christan after the death of Jesus Christ.
  
• Some people believe that she is the Claudia mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21 where it says, ‘Eubulus, Pudens, Linus and Claudia send their greetings, and so all the other Christians’;
• She is mentioned in the apocryphal Acts of Pilate (Gospel of Nicodemus, probably written around the middle of the 4th century);
• Some theologians argue that her dream was an attempt by Satan to stop Christ from finishing the atonement.
  

My Thoughts:

There are two things that impress me about this woman's story:

1) Her ability to believe in and defend Jesus even though she had (probably) never seen or met Him.

I imagine that she must have heard about Jesus before, as He was quite the famous figure in Jerusalem, but it is not likely that she had ever had the chance to meet Him. Her testimony of His innocence and goodness was based solely off the revelation and dream she had been given by God, and by the testimonies she must have heard from others. With only these two testimonies she had the faith to do what many of Christ's apostles and closest disciples didn't do-- to stand up for Him and to bear witness of His goodness. Most of us are in a similar position as Pilate's Wife, because we will (probably) never see or meet Jesus Christ on this earth and yet we are asked to stand as witnesses for Him and to bear testimony of Him. The only way we can know for sure that Jesus is who He says He is, is to rely on the promptings and revelations we receive from God as well as listen to the testimonies of those who have seen Him (like the prophets and the scriptures). I personally find it hard sometimes to believe in someone I have never seen, and so I like this woman's story because her faith and her courage strengthen me and help me see that it isn't necessary to "see" or "meet" Jesus Christ to have a a sure knowledge of His divine mission and purpose.

2) Her courage to send a message to Pilate when he was sitting on the judgement seat

We don't know how much her message influenced Pilate's actions. Obviously it wasn't enough to be able to stop him from having the Jews crucify Christ, but it may have been the reason he "washes his hands" of the whole affair and declares to the Jews that they are crucifying a just and innocent man. It makes me wonder what type of relationship Pilate and his wife had. Could it have been that Pilate respected and admired his wife's judgement and intuition? Did her message help him see Jesus for who He really was? Did Pilate and his wife talk about Jesus and about her dream later on? If she did become a Christian later on, how did Pilate take that? Did he support her? Did he ever regret that he allowed Jesus to be crucified? Was she upset at him because he didn't do enough to stop the Jews? These are all questions I'd like to ask these two if I ever get to meet them. It would have been very unusual for a woman to send counsel to her husband, especially when he was was sitting on the judgement seat before all the noble Romans and high ranking Jews in an important and high profile case. It was really quite brave of her to send such a message and she must have felt that what she had to say was very important and very urgent. Yet, it is even more unusual that her husband seems to have listened to her. :)

What We Can Learn From Her:

• God speaks to us through our dreams;
• We need to have the courage to speak up for people we know are wrongly accused, even if that means sending our plea to highest authority in the land;
  
• When we get promptings, thoughts, dreams or visions that we can't seem to stop thinking about or worrying about then we need to act on them;
• We are can believe in and bear witness of Jesus Christ, even if we have never seen Him.
  

Questions:

• I wonder what her dream was about and what it was that she had been suffering all day about? Could she have had a conversion experience, like that of Paul or Alma the Younger, that changed her soul?
  
• Do you think that Pilate listened to her warning?
  
• Would you have had the courage and faith to stand up for someones innocence on the basis of a dream or a prompting you had? Especially in the face of so much hostility and anger?
  

All Women are Mothers, whether they have children or not

I just wanted to take a few moments today and express some of my thoughts about Mother's Day. I personally really LOVE this day. I love it that at least once a year we get the opportunity to express our appreciation for all the women who sacrifice so much to bring children into this world and to raise them. Yet, I also know MANY women that struggle with Mother's Day because they haven't had the opportunity to become mothers themselves. I don't understand all of God's ways but I do have a testimony of His great love for women and wanted to share these thoughts with women who might be struggling with Mother's Day.

All women, no matter if they have born children on this earth or not, are mothers. Eve, the first woman, was called "the mother of all living" by God and by Adam (Genesis 3:20; Moses 4:26) before she ever bore any children on the earth. Even if she had NEVER born children, she still would have been the mother of all living, because within her eternal soul lay the divine seeds of womanhood and motherhood. All women have these seeds within them because gender is an eternal characteristic, that God did not create nor can he destroy. These seeds may not take root here on this earth, but just because they don't grow here doesn't mean that they won't in the eternal life yet to come. Sometimes we forget that this earth life is just a short part of our eternal journey and purpose and that we will continue to be women and mothers for eternity.

Also as I've studied the women in the scriptures I've realized that ALL the women who are barren-- Sarah, Rachel, Elizabeth, Hannah, the Shunamite (just to name a few)-- ALL bear children eventually. I think that these women's stories are a testimony that all faithful and righteous women will be given the opportunity to become mothers. It might be a long, hard struggle and it might not come in this life-- But I believe that the seeds of motherhood are divine and that they lie within the souls of all women. We can't always understand God's will or His ways, but if we trust in them we have the promise that the righteous desires of our heart will be fulfilled.

So it is my hope that this mother's day, EVERY WOMAN, whether she has children or not, takes the time to rejoice in the fact that she is a woman. To rejoice in the marvelous privilege it is to be here on this earth at this time and at this place, to do a work that only you can do and to have faith in God's plan for your life. I also bear testimony that God listens to the prayers of women and that he does not let them go unanswered.

Women of the City Bountiful

Alma 53:7

Background: 63 BC

Captain Moroni, Teancum and Lehi lured the Lamanites out of the city of Mulek and surround them outside the city of Bountiful (Alma 52:19-31). There was a fierce battle between them and many Lamanties and Nephites died. In the end, the Lamanites finally surrendered and many of them were taken prisoner (Alma 52:31-40). They were marched to the land of Bountiful where they were made to work building fortifications for the city (Alma 53: 1-6). After this battle Moroni rested from fighting for the rest of the year in order to increase the Nephites fortifications and to take care of their women and children (Alma 53:7).

Facts about them:

• Many of them lost husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers during the battle between the Nephites and the Lamanties that took place outside of the city of Bountiful (Alma 52:31-40);
• They were suffering from famine and affliction (Alma 53:7) ;
• Moroni commanded his men to take a break from battling with the Lamanites in order to take care of them and provide them with food (Alma 53:7). ;
  
• Their city was filled with Lamanite prisoners (Alma 53: 1-6);
  
• They were among the women included in the title of liberty raised by Captain Moroni, which said that the Nephites would take up arms, "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" (Alma 46:12).

Speculations about them:

• They were probably starving from famine because they were unable to successfully plant or harvest crops while their men were at battle;
  
• The affliction mentioned might have been some sort of disease-- or just the fact that they were starving to death;
• They probably had to help take care of the Lamanite prisoners, perhaps providing food or clothing for them.
  

My thoughts:

In the "war chapters" of Alma we don't hear a lot about the women who were left behind, or how the war affected them or their children. In all the "glamour" and "glitz" of war and battle we often forget that despite the fact that the world was falling apart around them, they still had to find a way to hold things together. Amidst all the ruin and the destruction these women had to find a way to bear and raise children, provide food, clothing and shelter for their families, and take care of the sick and aging. Their responsibilities didn't stop because of war or because their husbands were dead or gone to battle. They still had to carry on and find a way to bring hope to the next generation, despite the darkness that encompasses them.

I think it is beautiful that in Alma 53:7 we get a very little glimpse into what these women must have been suffering while their men were at war. We read that after the battle outside of Bountiful, Moroni "...did no more attempt a battle with the Lamanites in that year" but instead took the time to fortify the city and to deliver "their women and children from famine and affliction". Here we see that not only did these women loose husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers to battle but they were also starving and afflicted, perhaps even with disease of some sort. We don't know much more about them than that, but I think it was inspiration from God that made Moroni commanded his men to take a break and focus on providing and caring for their wives and children. I think it just shows that God was aware of these women and what they were going through, and He found a way to take care of them even amidst battles and bloodshed. It is just a testimony to me that even in the darkest and hardest of circumstances, God never forgets about the women.

Questions to Think About:

• It seems that women are always the one who suffer the most from war. They are the ones who are left behind, without husbands, to raise and provide for children by themselves and to find a way to continue life. They also suffer misappropriate amounts of abuse when captured or conquered in the form of rape, slavery, and exploitation. Why does this happen? Why do women suffer more when they aren't the ones who start the wars? Why does God allow it?
• How did these women manage to raise righteous children amidst so much battle and bloodshed?
  
• How are their trials similar to the spiritual battles we must face today?

Why Don't Women Hold the Priesthood?

When I was younger I really struggled with why women couldn't hold the priesthood. In fact, for a little while my testimony was really shaken because I thought God was being unfair and demeaning to women. Yet throughout the last few years, as I've really prayed and searched for understanding, God has given me little "tender mercies"-- pieces of understanding-- that bring peace to my soul and answers to my doubts. One of these tender mercies happened to me about a year ago when I was walking through my kitchen. On the wall next to the door we have a key shaped key holder on which we put all our household keys. The purpose of this holder is to keep our keys organized and in a safe spot, so that we always know where they are when we need them. When keys don't get put on this holder things get a big chaotic at our house-- resulting in frantic searches through the house for car keys, house keys, and shed keys which actually sometimes get lost for good.

As I looked at this key holder and reflected on its purpose I realized that priesthood authority is much like a key holder. In fact, we call men in the church who are authorized to administer and use priesthood keys-- priesthood holders. Men aren't the priesthood, the priesthood is the power of God, but men are the vessels that God has authorized to "hold" and watch over the keys of His priesthood so that they aren't misused or lost. God has said that His house is a house of order and He has designated men responsible for keeping the keys of the priesthood organized and safe so that when they are needed they will be available to all who seek them, both men and women.

Just because men have been given responsibility to hold the keys doesn't mean that they have more privileges, blessings, or power than women in the church or in spiritual things. The priesthood is the power of God and both men and women have equal access to the blessings and privileges associated with it. In fact, priesthood keys can be "turned" by those who have authority in the behalf of women. Joseph Smith first did this in March of 1842 when he organized the Relief Society, which as one sister recalled his saying, “I will organize the women under the priesthood after the pattern of the priesthood.” (Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, p. 51.) Just like the priesthood quorums, the Relief Society is self-governing but receives instruction and direction from priesthood leaders who hold responsibility for the priesthood keys. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught, “While the sisters have not been given the Priesthood, … that does not mean that the Lord has not given unto them authority. Authority and Priesthood are two different things. A person may have authority given to him, or a sister to her, to do certain things in the Church that are binding and absolutely necessary for our salvation, such as the work that our sisters do in the House of the Lord.” (Relief Society Magazine, Jan. 1959, p. 4.)

Women don't lose anything because they don't "hold" the keys or administer the priesthood because they are still given the authority to participate in the same priesthood ordinances and receive the exact same blessings as the men who administer the ordinances. The truth is that it just isn't women's responsibility to be key holders. God has given women other responsibilities that are in every way just as important for the eternal salvation of God's children as holding and administering priesthood keys. True, these responsibilities aren't always as clearly defined or as acknowledged as ordinations to the priesthood or the administering of ordinances are, but just because the world (or even church members) don't recognize their value and power doesn't mean that God doesn't. God is VERY aware of the important jobs women do on this earth and accepts their offerings and sacrifices.

The world tells women that if they don't have the exact same responsibilities or opportunities as men then they are being cheated and controlled. This is just another of Satan's lies. Men and women are different and God has given each different talents, gifts and responsibilities that enrich the lives of all human beings. Joseph Smith taught the early women of the Relief Society that "...Being organized under priesthood authority, they were to reject worldly concepts of power and seek the power that flows down from heaven for those functions and to those individuals who are using their time and talents in the Lord’s way." (Dallin H. Oaks, "The Relief Society and the Church", 1992) Men and women aren't here on earth to compete against each other, but rather are here to help one another return to the presence of God. When men and women learn to respect and sustain one another in their sacred responsibilities then the work of God goes forth at a brilliant pace, blessing the lives of all the human family.

I am so grateful for this tender mercy of insight that God gave me at a time when I really needed it; because now whenever I hang my keys on my key holder I am reminded that even though it is not my responsibility to be a holder of priesthood keys, doesn't mean that I have less power, privileges or blessings then men who do. It just means that God has a different purpose and mission for me, that only I can accomplish. I am grateful for that knowledge.

The Women at the Empty Tomb

I've often wondered why Christ chose to appear to women first after His resurrection. Was there something special about the women? Was there something symbolic about it? This Easter I really poured over the scriptures in the gospels talking about the resurrection and as I was reading I realized something I hadn't thought of before-- that the reason these women were privileged to be the first witnesses on this earth of Christ's resurrection was because they were some of the few disciples who didn't leave Christ during His great trial, they were with Him at the cross when some of his other disciples had betrayed or deserted Him. They never left Him, even after Christ's dead body was brought down from the cross and laid in the tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sat guard in front of the tomb for as long as they could without breaking the sabbath (Matt 27: 60-61). It was only later that the Pharisees asked to set a watch outside the tomb and seal the stone so that Christ's disciples wouldn't try to steal His body (Matt. 27: 62-66).

Not only did these women never desert their Savior but they never stopped serving Him, even in death. The scriptures tell us that on the morning after the Sabbath, as early as they could possibly come with out breaking the sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the lesser and Joses (also called "the other Mary"), Joanna, Salome the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the apostles James and John, and "other women" who followed Jesus out of Galilee, came with spices to anoint and prepare Christ's body for burial. This task of anointing the body was just another of the "woman's tasks", like cooking, cleaning, washing, and sewing, that these women were accustomed to doing, and which I imagine they had done for Jesus many times during His ministry. I think it is significant that because these women were doing a "woman's task", taking care of Jesus' s physical needs, that they got one of the greatest privileges and blessings of all of Christ's disciples-- to be the first witnesses of His resurrection. I think that this shows that Christ acknowledged the faithful and loving service that these women had given him throughout His mortal life, and realized that what women do to sustain and provide physical life is important and valued in the eyes of God. He knew that their willingness to take care of his His physical body, even after He was dead, was a sign of their great love and devotion and so he blessed and rewarded them for it.

Another significant thing about these women was that they were the first to touch the nail prints in Christ's feet and to physically know that He was indeed resurrected. In Mark 16:6-7 we read that when these women got to the tomb they found the stone rolled away and a young man, an angel sitting inside, who told them "Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him as he said unto you." (Mark 16:6-7). On hearing these words they immediately ran from the tomb to tell the disciples, and as they were going they were stopped on their way by the resurrected Jesus. They fell at His feet, and worshiped Him, knowing that He was indeed their Lord. He bade them to "Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." (Matt. 28:9-10). From that moment on, even when others (like some of the apostles) questioned their testimonies, they never doubted what they had seen and felt but bore continuous witness that they had seen the empty tomb, that they had seen an angel and they had touched and seen the Resurrected Savior. I believe this is why these women were among the most privileged of all Christ's disciples, because they never deserted the Savior, their testimonies of Him never faltered, and they never stopped bearing witness of His divinity.