Tag: Biblical Characters

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Biblical People: Jochebed

Jochebed

The Egyptians fear the mushrooming population of the enslaved Israelites and command all the Israelite baby boys be thrown into the Nile River. However, one mother sees something special in her baby and hides him for several months.

When she can conceal him no longer, she does indeed put him in the Nile River but not before protecting him in a watertight basket. Then she strategically places the basket where a compassionate person might find him.

The woman’s daughter hides nearby to see what happens to her baby brother.

When the pharaoh’s daughter comes to the river to bathe, she discovers the baby and wants to keep him as her own. The baby’s sister steps out of hiding and offers to find a woman to nurse him. She gets her mother.

Although the boy should die, the pharaoh’s daughter saves him and even pays his biological mother to feed and care for him.

When the baby is weaned, his mother gives him back to the pharaoh’s daughter—who names him Moses.

This mother’s name is Jochebed and she has two other children, Aaron and Miriam.

Jochebed, like many moms, sees promise in her son and takes extraordinary measures to protect him so he can reach his potential.

Who has seen promise in us and made a difference in our lives? Who can we help reach their potential?

[Discover more about Jochebed in Exodus 2:1–10, Exodus 6:20, and Numbers 26:59.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: The Daughter of Pharaoh (1)

The Daughter of Pharoah

Pharaoh is not a name but a title for the king in Egypt. Therefore, there are many Pharaohs in the Bible and many daughters of Pharaoh. The first daughter of Pharaoh we encounter adopts baby Moses.

She finds him floating in the Nile River. Though she realizes he is a Hebrew baby and should be killed, she doesn’t turn him over. Instead, she keeps him as her own child.

She unwittingly pays his biological mother to nurse him, and when he is weaned she receives him back. She names him Moses, which means that she pulled him from the water.

We don’t know if she is a good mom or not, though when Moses is older, he doesn’t want to be called the son of the pharaoh’s daughter. What we do know about her, however, is she is compassionate.

Her actions save Moses and give the Hebrew people a leader to rescue them.

Do we live lives marked with compassion?

[Discover more about Pharaoh’s daughter in Exodus 2:5–10, Acts 7:21, and Hebrews 11:24.] 

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Miriam

Miriam

Miriam is the older sister of Moses. She’s also the sister of Aaron. At the time when Moses is born, there’s a decree to kill all baby boys. His mom hides him as long as she can. Then she puts him in a basket and places him in the Nile River. 

Miriam watches at a distance to see what happens. When the pharaoh’s daughter finds him, Miriam pops up and offers to find a woman to nurse him. She picks her mom.

Later, as an adult, Miriam is a prophet and worship leader. She directs the Israelite women in song and dance to celebrate God’s rescue after they cross the sea to escape the pursuing Egyptian army.

Unfortunately, what we know best about Miriam as an adult is when she and Aaron oppose Moses out of jealousy, criticizing his choice for a wife. God’s judgment is quick, instantly afflicting her with leprosy, a contagious skin disease, which is untreatable at the time.

Though Aaron is also at fault, he is not so stricken, suggesting that Miriam led their tiny rebellion. When Aaron sees what happened to his sister, he immediately admits his bad attitude and begs Moses to intervene. Moses does, and God heals her. 

A few years later Miriam dies. There’s no mention of the people mourning her death, a sad end to a once-promising life. Though Miriam starts well as a brave and obedient daughter and later as a prophet and worship leader, she lets jealousy define her later life. God is not pleased.

What can we do to finish strong?

[Discover more about Miriam in Exodus 1–2, Exodus 15:20–21, Numbers 20:1, and Numbers 26:59.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Kozbi

Kozbi

The nation of Israel has a problem. Many of their men are involved with women from Moab, indulging themselves sexually with these foreigners, something the Law of Moses prohibits.

Then these women entice the men to go to church with them, where they offer sacrifices to Baal and worship him. Instead of God, the Israelites align themselves with Baal. God is not pleased. Moses orders the execution of each man who has strayed.

During all this, another man brings a Midianite woman into camp and into his tent. Her name is Kozbi. We don’t know if he thinks this is okay because she is a Midianite and not a Moabite. Perhaps he wants to make a point or maybe he isn’t thinking at all.

We also don’t know if Kozbi is aware of the situation or not. What we do know is that this man flaunts his sexual relationship with a foreign woman, a liaison God forbids and for which many other men have just died.

Phinehas, the priest, takes judgment into his hands in the form of a spear. He goes into the tent and drives the shaft all the way through the man and into Kozbi. This appeases God’s wrath. 

While Kozbi may have instigated this, it’s more likely she is merely a naïve girl who ends up in the wrong situation. She pays for her ignorance with her life.

Being unaware is no excuse for doing wrong. There will still be consequences for our actions.

How willing are we to do what God says to do?

[Discover more about Kozbi in Numbers 25:1–18.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: The Daughters of Zelophehad

The Daughters of Zelophehad

Zelophehad has five daughters but no sons. His girls are Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah (2), and Tirzah. Zelophehad dies in the desert before he can receive his allotment of property in the Promised Land. Since he has no sons to receive his inheritance in his stead, the girls will get nothing.

They boldly go before Moses and ask for their father’s share, contrary to convention. God tells Moses to include them in the land assignments, which Joshua later carries out.

With a population of millions, there are surely other daughters in this same predicament. But only these sisters come forward, and only these women receive land.

Are we willing to speak up to receive what is due us? Will we trust God with the outcome? 

[Discover more about Zelophehad’s five daughters in Numbers 26:33, Numbers 27:1–7, Numbers 36:1–11, Joshua 17:3–7, and 1 Chronicle 7:15.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Rahab

Rahab

Rahab is a prostitute two spies stay with when they scope out Jericho. We don’t know if they seek her for her services or merely for a place to hide from public view. 

Hearing of their presence, the king of Jericho commands Rahab to turn over the two men. Instead, in an act of treason, she hides them and lies to the king, saying they already left, but she doesn’t know where they went.

Rahab knows God favors Israel and will give the city to them. In exchange for protecting the spies, she asks for her family’s safety. As she lists who’s included, she mentions parents and siblings, but no husband or children. 

Joshua confirms that Rahab and her family will be spared when the city is conquered. After the people of Jericho are all killed, Rahab lives with the Israelites.

In the New Testament, Matthew reveals that Rahab is one of Jesus’s direct ancestors and the great-great-grandmother of King David. She’s honored as only one of four women mentioned in Jesus’s family tree.

Further, she’s affirmed as a person of faith, one of only two women included in the Hebrews 11 “hall of fame.” Finally, James confirms Rahab is righteous because of her courageous actions in protecting the two spies.

While our reaction may be to judge Rahab for her profession, God sees her differently, as a righteous woman of faith, and he rewards her accordingly.

How can we avoid judging others and instead see people as God sees them?

[Discover more about Rahab in Joshua 2, Joshua 6, Matthew 1:5, Hebrews 11:31, and James 2:25.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Aksah

aksah

Caleb is one of the twelve spies sent to scope out the land the nation of Israel plans to conquer, but he is only one of two men who bring back a positive report.

For his ability to look beyond the strength of the peoples they need to overcome and for his confidence in God’s ability to provide, he is assured a reward when the people take the land.

When they arrive, Caleb pledges to give his daughter Aksah in marriage to whoever captures the city of Kiriath Sepher. Othniel, who is also Caleb’s nephew, is up to the challenge, and he succeeds.

As promised, Caleb awards Aksah to Othniel, and the pair marry. Aksah and Othniel are first cousins.

Although we may be dismayed that Caleb offers his daughter as a prize, we can also see Aksah as a cherished woman, both by her father and the man who strives to win her. Sometimes things are a matter of perspective. 

What we might see as bad can also be good. Do we see things in a positive light or a negative one?

[Discover more about Aksah in Joshua 15:16–17, Judges 1:12–13, and 1 Chronicles 2:49.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Deborah (2)

deborah 2

Though called a judge, Deborah is primarily a prophetess, a person who hears from God and proclaims his words to others. She is the only female judge in the Bible.

Deborah receives a prophetic message for Barak. 

Through her, God commands him to raise an army and attack their enemy. God even promises that Barak will prevail, but he balks. He won’t do it unless Deborah goes with him. She consents.

However, she prophesies that because of his reluctance, the honor of killing the enemy’s leader, Sisera, will go to a woman. While we may assume this woman is Deborah, it’s another woman, Jael. Even so, Deborah receives more credit than Barak for the victory. 

Deborah lives in a male-dominated society. Yet, when a man doesn’t do what he is supposed to, she steps forward and acts. We commend her for her faith and her bravery.

Are we willing to step in when others are afraid to?

[Discover more about Judge Deborah in Judges 4–5.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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Biblical People: Jael

Jael

When Barak and the Israelite army rout Sisera’s army, Sisera escapes and takes refuge with Jael because her family has a connection with his country. Pretending to protect him, Jael takes him in and cares for him.

Once he falls asleep, she impales him with a tent peg through his temple. Though gruesome, it’s likely the only means she has to kill him. She is brave enough to act and strong enough to pierce his skull.

This fulfills the prophecy of Judge Deborah who, after Barak’s reluctance to obey God, foretells that credit for Sisera’s death will go to a woman instead of Barak. As a tribute to her valor, Deborah immortalizes Jael’s actions in song.

Will the things we do be worth singing about and told to future generations?

[Discover more about Jael in Judges 4:15–22 and Judges 5:24–27.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: The Daughters-In-Law of Noah

The Daughters-In-Law of Noah (1)

Like Noah’s wife, we know little of the three daughters-in-law of Noah of Noah and can only speculate from their story in the Bible. Like their mother-in-law, Noah’s wife, we can reasonably assume they each stand by their men, supporting them in their questionable ark-constructing business and helping them to build the gigantic boat.

They, too, endure hardship, ridicule, and isolation as the people around mock and shun them.

When the flood comes, they get on the boat and live. Everyone else dies. All that’s left in the world are eight people, only four couples. Just like Eve and her husband, God tells these three women and their husbands to be fruitful and multiply. It’s a do-over for humanity, Creation 2.0.

From these three women come all future generations. The human race is saved. Nations form.

Though nameless, these three women give birth to the future of civilization. We are here today because of them.

Even if we remain nameless, what are we giving birth to? What are we making today for the generations of tomorrow? 

[Discover more about the daughters-in-law of Noah in Genesis 5–9, specifically Genesis 9:1, 7, 19, along with Genesis 1:22, 28.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.