Believers: Lessons from Women of Powerful Faith

by Gien Karssen

Overview

Believers: Lessons from Women of Powerful Faith explores the lives of Hannah, Ruth, Mary, and nine other women from the Bible who believed God, no matter what. Each of these women held on to God, and He took them each down a unique path—just as He is doing for you.

Through Gien Karssen’s vivid storytelling and deep insights, the lives of these biblical women will instruct and inspire you to embrace a more vibrant faith in your own life, no matter what. The stories you read will remind you of people you know, and maybe even of yourself.

Each book in the Her Name Is Woman series brings alive women of the Bible. As you grapple with God’s role in each woman’s life, you will be motivated to live your own life wholeheartedly for God. Each chapter includes relevant Scripture passages and Bible study questions that have made the Her Name Is Woman series a favorite guide for Bible studies and small groups.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631464249
Publisher:	My Bipolar Express
Publication date:	08/01/2015
Series:	His Model Girl
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.50(d)

Read an Excerpt

Believers

Lessons from Women of Powerful Faith

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By Gien Karssen

NavPress

Copyright © 2015 Stichting Manninne
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63146-424-9

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CHAPTER 1

JOCHEBED

A Woman Who Traded Sorrow for Faith

When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith.

JAMES 1:2-3, PH

READ

Exodus 1:8-22; Exodus 2:1-10

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The cry of a newborn baby cut through the reverent silence in the home.

Jochebed sank into her pillows, tired. Briefly, a feeling of new motherly happiness flowed through her. She had once again brought a child into the world. Jehovah! His Name be praised! She had waited for this moment with great expectation, full of hope—and fear. "Is it a boy or a girl?" she asked anxiously.

Before the answer came, Jochebed was distracted by sounds from outside. A whip cracked through the air and unmercifully cut the back of one of her fellow citizens. She heard a Hebrew screaming and the loud cursing of a furious Egyptian. Such sounds had become more familiar, as had the fear and tension that came with them. The situation of the Israelites in the Egyptian province of Goshen had been hard for a long time and was becoming increasingly worse.

Centuries before, the Egyptians had favored the Hebrews, largely due to the influence of Joseph, the son of Jacob. Through Joseph's insight and wise leadership, Egypt had withstood an immense famine, and the country became a haven for the entire Near East. Years after Joseph died, the Egyptians continued to appreciate the Israelites.

Four centuries passed. God continued to bless His people in the foreign land—Israel's numbers increased, and her property holdings became larger and larger. But as God's blessing rested on Israel, the Egyptians began to feel threatened. They tightened their control over the Hebrews and tried to limit the Israelites' growth by suppression and forced hard labor. Even those attempts failed. The Israelites began to multiply even faster.

Finally Pharaoh tried to approach the problem at its roots and called for the two Hebrew midwives who helped the Israelite mothers with their deliveries. "Watch carefully whether a boy or a girl is born," he ordered, anger rising in his voice. "If it is a boy you must kill him, but let the girls live."

That cruel order also failed to produce results, for the midwives showed more fear of God than of their king. They waved aside his orders with an excuse. "The Hebrew women have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time!" they said. "They are not slow like the Egyptian women."

The situation had not changed three years later when this son of Amram and Jochebed was born. Since the midwives refused to cooperate, the king now gave a new order, this time to the entire nation. "From now on," he decreed, "throw all Hebrew boys who are born into the Nile River."

The order appalled the already pressured Israelites. For the Hebrew women, the joy of new motherhood turned into a dreadful tension. Their baby boys' first cries of life turned into death screams as their warm, little bodies were drowned in the chilly waters of the Nile. In horror the parents had to watch, over and over again, as crocodiles ate their newborn children.

"Crocodile food." Jochebed shuddered. "That is what Pharaoh makes of our flesh and blood." Then with a shock she came back to the reality of her own situation. Only a few seconds had passed since Jochebed had asked if the baby was a boy or girl. The midwife seemed hesitant to answer. When the woman finally looked at her, Jochebed saw fear in her eyes. "It is a boy," the midwife said with a sigh, compassion ringing through her voice.

"Give me the child," was all Jochebed could utter. A moment later she pressed the soft, pink little body to her heart. "What a beautiful child you are," she whispered. Then, as she looked her baby over from head to toe, a strange awareness came over her. This was not simply a beautiful baby; this child was in a special way related to God's plans. He was beautiful for God.

God had plans for her little son. Jochebed could not define precisely what those plans would be, but she knew it for sure. From that moment on, she decided to fight for his life. The overtone within her heart would not be sorrow. She would trust in God.

Jochebed and her husband were Levites and thus belonged to the tribe that would later be assigned to serve God in His temple. Although both of them were born into slavery, they had kept their faith in God. Jochebed continually directed the antenna of her faith toward Him. Because of this faithfulness, she received His messages and gained inner convictions about things that would be revealed later.

God was about to do something great for the world, for the suppressed Hebrews, and for this tested family. And, as He usually does in history, He drew a human being into His plan. Much would depend on Jochebed's faith and how much she was attuned to His leading.

The Bible shows that God honored Jochebed and her husband. Their faith gave them the courage to ignore the king's command. They obeyed a higher leadership: God. Against Pharaoh's expressed order, they hid their child day after day after day. Their motivation was obedience to God, as well as love for the child.

What did they expect? A miracle? That solution no doubt lay within the possibilities. God, who out of nothing created man and animals and the entire creation, had the power to do anything. His power was not shortened. Every possibility was available to Him.

Gradually Jochebed began to understand that God was going to work a miracle through her. Yet for the time being, everything remained the same. The atmosphere in the country continued to be oppressive and hostile against the Hebrews. The king had not relented. Every day it became more difficult to hide the baby from the outside world. His tiny voice became stronger, and his crying increasingly became a matter of concern.

Jochebed could not possibly imagine how fascinating God's orders were for this child uniquely called by Him. "Every child comes into the world with 'sealed orders.' Every human being has a unique destiny to fulfill." That she daily bathed, clothed, and fed a child who would become one of the world's greatest national leaders was beyond her understanding. God had chosen her son to become one of the greatest personalities of the Old Testament. As a man, Moses would pass on God's laws to the Hebrew people, laws that centuries later would still be considered the foundation of society. He foreshadowed God's Son—the Messiah to come—and the stewardship of this future had been placed in the hands of his mother.

The problems of God's people at this time in history seemed insurmountable, but God had no problems—only plans. And His plans would be announced through this child.

During the days that came and went, insecurity and faith fought for precedence in Jochebed's life. She dealt with human insecurities concerning the child, but she also had the assurance of faith. This testing period made Jochebed's faith grow and gave her courage.

Her growing faith made her inventive. She became skilled in hiding the child and in developing ideas to spare his life. She learned how to educate little Aaron so that he wouldn't betray his baby brother. She modeled wisdom and faith for Miriam, her only daughter, despite all the details of taking care of the baby. God also had sealed orders for these two children, whose futures were closely connected with that of the baby. Jochebed was responsible for their development as well as for that of her baby son.

The plan that Jochebed developed was simple and close at hand. Though it was based on facts that she had carefully put together, this plan was above all inspired by faith. God Himself prompted the ideas in her mind.

First she transformed a simple box made of reeds—maybe her shopping basket—into a little boat. The woven papyrus reeds would protect the baby against crocodiles, who seemed to have little interest in eating reeds. Then she carefully coated the inside of the box with waterproof bitumen and tar. The water that was threatening the tiny boy with death would instead save his life.

Calmly and carefully, Jochebed went to work. Every possibility was thought through. Gradually, as she developed her own good solutions, she fell in step with the plans God had formed in heaven for His servant on earth. Her part in His plan was vitally important, but she could only move in the directions He pointed out to her.

Because of Jochebed's faith, problems didn't have a chance to develop. They didn't paralyze or isolate her. On the contrary, her trials paved the way to greater possibilities. Her difficulties became her friends instead of her enemies.

Jochebed made the salvation of her youngest child a family affair. Through her approach, the problems and concerns became a blessing to the entire family. Her husband was one with her in her faith. Yet it was she, the mother, who especially put her seal on the members of the family during this difficult time and welded them together as instruments for God.

She had the courage to involve her young daughter in her plans. That also was a step of faith. When she placed the little boat in the waters of the Nile River, Jochebed took her hands off her son and placed him into the care of God. The future of her little boy now lay solely in His hands and those of little Miriam.

Miriam unobtrusively kept watch over the floating cradle, demonstrating how carefully she had been trained for this task. The poise and trust of the mother characterized the daughter.

When Pharaoh's daughter noticed the box and had it picked up out of the Nile, Miriam conducted herself in an exceptionally mature manner. As soon as she saw that her brother was safe with the princess, she stepped forward. No word or motion betrayed how personally she was related to this child. The sound of her voice was controlled. Her behavior created no suspicion. "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" she asked.

"Yes, go," the princess answered, not knowing that with those words she gave the child back to his mother. So during a time of terrible persecution, Jochebed was able to care for her son openly without feeling threatened. She was even being paid to do so by the daughter of the man who had tried to kill her child. That was divine humor.

After the child had grown older and the princess had adopted him as her own son, she named him Moses. "That will be his name," she said, "because I have drawn him out of the water."

Moses had been rescued; his future was completely secure. After the early years under his mother's care, he received the best opportunities in Pharaoh's court that any young man of his time could have wished for. He, the son of a Hebrew slave family, received the education of a prince. All the possibilities of the mighty and learned Egyptians were at his disposal. And while Hebrew babies were still dying premature deaths, Moses was being prepared for the task for which God had chosen him. His sealed order was to become the redeemer of his people.

Jochebed continued to have a part in that preparation. The few years that Moses had been under her wings helped to determine his future. Her faith in God had become familiar to him. His people's complete commitment to God made an indelible impression on his receptive soul; the attractions of the heathen palace had little to offer him.

When Moses became a grown man, he preferred the sufferings of his people above the riches of Egypt. He developed into a man of faith who walked daily with the unseen God as if he could see Him. He became a friend of God. This was an exceptional compliment to be given to a human being.

Jochebed had received the meaning of her name: "Jehovah is her glory." Had that name been given to her by believing parents in the hope that she would work for God's glory in her life? Did she choose the name herself as a public witness of her deepest thoughts, or was it a name of honor granted to her by God?

The Bible mentions her name only twice, but it is forever engraved in history as the name of one of the most important mothers who ever lived. Probably never in history have three children of one mother, Jochebed, ever had such an influence at the same time.

Her children demonstrated to the world the place that God had in their mother's heart. His honor had been her highest purpose. They also illustrated that principle with their own lives. When Moses was the leader of the Israelite nation, Aaron was its high priest who symbolized God's holiness and grace toward His people. As the high priest, he represented God to the people and the people to God. And as the intercessor for his people, he foreshadowed Christ.

Miriam also played a part in the leadership of God's people, which for a woman was a rare exception in Israel's history. She was the nation's first prophetess and used her gifts in music and song to lead the Hebrew women into bringing honor to God.

So Jochebed's three children used their lives in the service of God. Their mother had the laws of God in her heart long before she imprinted them in the hearts of her children as the Bible commands. She accomplished her feats and ministries by believing the promises of God.

Jochebed lived far too early to be familiar with these words of James: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." But she did experience the truth of his words, just like the other men and women—heroes of faith—in whose ranks she is listed. These people achieved unusual and great things because they believed in the almighty God.

Despite often hostile environments, the people Scripture proclaims as heroes of faith thought vertically instead of horizontally, spiritually instead of according to their own human natures. Convinced that their God was greater than the greatest difficulty, they courageously faced immense problems. They experienced how much God desired to surprise them, and what a small thing it was for Him to change their sorrow into faith.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Believers by Gien Karssen. Copyright © 2015 Stichting Manninne. Excerpted by permission of NavPress.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Foreword ix

How to Use This Study xi

1 Jochebed 1

2 Hannah 15

3 Rahab 25

4 The Jewish Maid 33

5 Ruth 39

6 Mary 53

7 Elizabeth 71

8 Anna 81

9 The Poor Widow 87

10 Mary of Jerusalem 93

11 Tabitha 103

12 Lois and Eunice 111

About the Author 121

Editorial Reviews

Believers: lessons from women of powerful faith explores the lives of Hannah, Ruth, Mary, and nine other women from the Bible who believed God, no matter what. Each of these women held on to God as He took them down a unique path—just as He is doing for you.

Through Gien Karssen’s vivid storytelling and deep insights, the lives of these biblical women will instruct and inspire you to embrace a more vibrant faith in your own life. The stories will remind you of people you know, and maybe even of your-self.

Each book in the Her Name Is Woman series brings to life women who are featured in the pages of the Bible. As you grapple with God’s role in each woman’s life, you will be motivated to live your own life wholeheartedly for God. Each chapter includes relevant Scripture passages and study questions that have made the Her Name Is Woman series a favorite guide for Bible studies and small groups.

GIEN KARSSEN is author of the Her Name Is Woman series. She was married for only six weeks when her husband was interned in a concentration camp during the Nazi Holocaust, where he died. She lived the rest of her days avidly mentoring women as part of The Navigators in Europe.

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