If you were asked to name the 10 most important characters in the Bible, what would your list look like? If most people were asked this question, they would start in the Old Testament and talk about men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. David, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Gideon, and Sampson would also probably make the cut.
When you get into the New Testament, you find more examples of male heroes. Obviously, Christ is the central figure in Scripture, but there are more men in the New Testament who shaped the modern Church. Peter, James, John, Paul, Silas, Barnabas, and Timothy are all heavily featured in the New Testament.
Did you notice what’s missing from that list? Women! It’s important to understand that while there are lots of male characters in the Bible who play vital roles, God also regularly used females to help establish His purpose for humanity.
Today, we’re going to look at four women who serve as heroes of the faith. Some of them will be familiar names while others may be names that you’ve never heard before. If you’re looking to add to your list of Biblical heroes, be sure to add these Godly women to your list!
Miriam
Exodus 15:19-20 (ESV)
For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dacing.
While Miriam is named as the first prophetess in Scripture, her status as a Biblical hero goes back approximately 80 years! While her name doesn’t appear in Scripture until Exodus 15:20, Miriam did something in Exodus 2 that would shape the future of the Jewish people, and in turn, the modern Church.
Exodus 2:7-8 (ESV)
Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.
Even though the Jews were slaves to the Egyptians, they were growing in number and Pharaoh was scared of them becoming too powerful. With that in mind, he issued an order that all infant Hebrew boys were to be murdered. Moses’ mother gave birth to him, and in an effort to preserve his life, put him in a basket and set him in the river. Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby and felt sorry for him. It was Miriam who saw the discovery and set the entire plan into motion. When she offered to go find someone to nurse the baby for Pharaoh’s daughter, she chose her own mother who had just given birth to Moses!
Without Miriam’s intervention, Moses may have never spent his first 40 years living in the palace as Pharaoh’s grandson. This would have completely changed the course of Jewish history. God had Miriam in the right place at the right time to set up the future of His people.
Deborah
Judges 4:4-6 (ESV)
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgement. She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, command you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun.’”
The Book of Judges is a book of patterns. Every couple chapters, we read about how Israel was drawn away by their own idolatry, and God allowed them to be taken into captivity. However, every time God allowed them to be taken into bondage, He raised up a leader to deliver them out through His power. In most cases, the divinely appointed judges were men. That was, until we meet Deborah.
Much like Miriam, Deborah is labeled as a prophetess. However, her obedience to God resulted in something incredible happening. She is the first woman who issued a divine command to Israel’s army. While she did not actively go out to battle, God used her to tell the captain of the army what He wanted them to do. In the face of troubling captivity, take a look at what God did through Deborah’s command:
Judges 4:24 (ESV)
And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
Israel overthrew the king who was holding them captive because Deborah issued a Godly decree to Barak. Her obedience to God set her at the head of Israel during one of their most difficult times.
Esther
Esther 2:16-17 (ESV)
And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
The story of Esther also takes place during a period of Israelite captivity. Queen Ahasuerus had removed Queen Vashti from power due to her disobedience, and he was looking for a replacement. Esther, who was Jewish, hid that fact from the king and worked her way into favor with him. After becoming Queen, Esther’s uncle, Mordecai learned about an evil plot that would see the death of every Jewish person in the kingdom.
Esther used her influence with the king to save her people. The rest of the book that bears her name tells the story of how Esther rescued her people from annihilation. In the face of an angry king who wouldn’t tolerate disobedience, Esther used her favor with him that was a result of her favor with God to serve as one of the greatest heroes in the Bible.
Mary
Luke 1:35 (ESV)
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it me to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Finally, no list of female Biblical heroes would be complete without a conversation about Mary. When we meet Mary, she was a teenage girl who was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. Her status as an engaged woman was contingent on her being a virgin. Can you imagine the shock that Mary endured when an angel appeared to her and told her that she was going to give birth?!
Mary was faced with a choice. Obviously, she had questions for the angel. “How can I give birth, seeing that I am a virgin?” However, Mary’s questions aren’t why she is a hero. She could have declined the offer. God would not have forced Mary to give birth to His Son. However, she responded to the angel by declaring that she was a servant of the Lord and embraced her role.
Without Mary’s obedience, who knows what the plan of salvation would have looked like? Yes, God would have still made a way for us to come to Him, but Mary’s willingness to take on a seemingly impossible task cements her as a hero in Scripture.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the examples of Godly women in the Bible. Help me to have the strength, courage, and boldness that these women exhibited so I can fulfill Your plan for my life. In Christ’s name, Amen.