twelve-extraordinary-womenI do book reviews over at http://ehartbooks.wordpress.com but I’m reading this book at the same time as a friend and she thought about blogging about it. Then I had several things from it hit me as I read through the first chapter so I thought I would blog about it whether she did or not.

So, here are my thoughts on the Preface and Introductions of Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur.

First of all, one of the first books of his I ever read was Twelve Ordinary Men. I was really impressed by the book and all the insights into those twelve men that he found from just the brief passages in the Bible so it was almost without thought that I would buy and read this book.

MacArthur cites the subtle change in title from Ordinary to Extraordinary. He says that the reason for the change was that all of the people in both books are ordinary people. The women are ordinary just like the men were. Only Eve had anything extraordinary happen to her early on–her creation.

However, all of them were made extraordinary in the work of Jesus in their lives. This is the thought that MacArthur leaves us with at the end of the Preface–our lives can be extraordinary as well–in Jesus and His wonderful grace.

One other thing that really impressed me from the Preface was the thought that Hannah’s (the mother of Samuel) words of praise for the coming savior are echoed by Mary (the mother of Jesus) in her Magnificat. It’s amazing how the Bible echoes itself many times over the course of the thousands of years. Now, I suppose it is possible that Mary was merely recalling Hannah’s words but still–they fit so well that I don’t think we can discount the fact that both of them knew they were mothers to very special sons.

In the introduction, MacArthur notes that of all the literature and historical documents of the ancient world, The Bible seems to go out of its way to exalt women. For most of history, and not just in the Middle East, women have been nothing. But in the Bible, we have examples of how women are the helpers. In Proverbs 31, we have verses showing how a husband’s worth is almost all his wife’s doing. He is exalted because he has a wife worth much. And only in the Bible are children taught to honor both father and mother.

And despite what some churches will teach, women are not just honored in the Bible but set aside for special work in the nurturing of the family home. They are also exalted to be loved by their husbands. Regardless of their natural worth to their husbands, they are to be loved. They are not to be loved because they can produce sons or because they can balance a budget or because they can cook–they are to be loved simply because they are the wives.

Each man is to love his wife SACRIFICIALLY. He is to protect her above all else because it is commanded by God. I’m reading another book called Facing Terror in which some missionaries are gunned down. The sole survivor is a wife treated in such a manner by her husband. He called for help, told her he was fine, saw her to a hospital of safety where she had the best chance of survival and then died while his own wounds that he denied he had were being taken care of. He loved his wife and gave his life seeing she be given the best care. That’s true husband love.

In the Introduction, MacArthur makes a point I had missed in all my readings of scripture. The first time Jesus says that He is the messiah, it is to the Samaritan Woman at the Well. So, we have Jesus exalting women to the status of witness. We also find that Jesus first appeared to women after his resurection and that the first witnesses of the empty tomb were women. Women were disciples just like men, providing for the church with money as well as time. John’s second epistle is written to a woman.

Everywhere Christianity moved in the world, women were accorded more respect and honor. They were removed from being chattal and allowed to own property and marriage was increasingly seen as a partnership and not a one-sided dictatorship.

MacArthur notes that secularism is actually harmful to women in that the more the “feminists” wanted, the more the traditional role of women has become scorned and women are made to be men rather than revered for being a woman with a different role and different gifts to bring to society.

On the other end of the spectrum, we find modern “fundamentalist” churches going the other way and putting women back in bondage as mere chattal and denying them the honor, full partnership and respect that is accorded them in the Bible. I have personally heard sermons saying that husbands automatically have all the decision making power in the home and that the home is a dictatorship under the kingship of the husband. I have heard of other women who have gone to their pastors for counseling and been told to submit no matter what. Nothing is ever said to the husband about Love. This is a sad statement about our churches who claim to be proclaiming the Word to the Nations.

Come along and meet Twelve Extraordinary Women along with a friend and I and discover what the scriptures have to say about who these women were and what they accomplished that furthered the cause of our salvation.

It’ll be an interesting journey.