STARTING THIS AUGUST
Origin of the Podcast:
This podcast was born through encountering a felt need for reading and understanding the overarching story of Scripture and exploring the intersection of Christian faith with our personal and collective experiences as sojourners in this world. Sometimes the content of the Bible may seem disconnected from our lives and even confusing or outdated at times. By taking the time to rethink how we approach the Bible and about God’s work in our lives through the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I think that we will discover together that God’s story and our story converge in a greater way than we could ever imagine. My husband and I have served in the contexts of missions and the local church and sense that we are called to serve the Lord and his church, both locally and globally through Biblical and theological education, discipleship, pastoral care, and the development and multiplication of servant leaders. It is my hope that this podcast will serve the church to that end.
FIRST SERIES
The Equal Significance and Brokenness of Women in God’s Redemptive Plan
What our society has heard within the framework of the Bible narrative is about the creation of man, the raising up of the Patriarchs that give birth to the 12 tribes that eventually form the foundation of Israel. We hear the stories of Moses leading Israel out of bondage and Joshua leading the conquest of the land and all the male judges who delivered Israel in the dark days of disobedience before the kingship of Saul, David, and Solomon. Many of us think of the nation of Israel in its united and divided form in the context of its male leaders. The prophets who were God’s spokesman and His warning voice to Israel through the exile and their return. What is void in the many retellings of Israel’s history and God’s plan of redemption culminating in the coming of Christ, is the women.
We often forget about Adam’s counterpart of Eve who God uses the description of helpmate a word that is used to describe God himself when interacting with Israel. We forget about the mother’s of the Patriarch’s Sarah, Rebeccah, Leah and Rachel. What about the equivalent to Moses in leadership, Miriam and Aaron. The story of Rahab whose faith became the gateway to the conquest and in many ways is seen as Joshua’s counterpart in the conquest narrative. Or the judgeship of Deborah and the heroics of Jael as they were apart of God’s narrative of deliverance. Don’t forget about Ruth a Moabite women who is the great grandmother of David and plays a central role in the validity of David’s kingship. Or the wives of David who were integral in his story. The label “prophetess” or “woman prophet” (něbī’āh) is attributed to five women in the Old Testament: Miriam (Exod. 15:20), Deborah (Judg. 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chron. 34:22), Noadiah (Neh. 6:14), and “the prophetess” (Isa. 8:3). God spoke through women as well to bring them back to his law. Often Esther and her role in the saving of God’s people is forgotten among Israel’s history.
These women’s stories are equal in their brokenness partaking in God’s grace in mercy as he moves humanity towards the culminating reality of his redemption through Christ. Yet in their brokenness that is equal to Israel’s men we see a faith that saves and moves this nation towards God’s promises.