"... There Were Women ..."

(Posted May8, 2025)

What is it that the female spirit contributes to our daily lives? This Sunday is one of those “Hallmark holidays” that seems to be as much about increasing commerce as it is to give thanks to the women in our lives.

However, I see it as an opportunity to show that, beneath some of the most critical moments in history, there were women, mostly behind the scenes, whose nurturing natures were the ones that actually made things happen.

Women in the Bible

Nowhere is this more true than in the Bible. Because of cultural proscriptions, men were recorded in its books and chapters, while the majority of women, if mentioned at all, remained nameless. Only a minority had both their names and thoughts recorded.

But without them, religion and history would have been drastically altered. A case in point.

Four Biblical Women Who Changed the World

In ancient Egypt, the Pharoah decided to have the country’s midwives kill every newborn Jewish baby. It was the (mostly) nameless midwife (woman No. 1) who delivered a healthy Israelite boy who decided to hide him and nurture him.

After three months when the Pharoah’s men were hunting babies, she and the baby’s mother (woman No. 2 had built a waterproof basket. She placed the boy in the basket and floated him down the Nile.

All the while the baby’s sister (woman No. 3) kept track of his safety so that when the basket floated toward the Pharoah’s daughter (woman No. 4), his safety was assured.

Pharoah’s daughter accepted him as her own, and learned from the baby’s sister that she knew of someone who could nurse him. That was, of course, his own mother.

Women’s Delightful Secrets

Without the nurturing, protective women of the Nile, history would never have had a Moses to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land and receive the Ten Commandments.

Of course, this is a well-known story. But most of the contributions women have made to God’s plan are “delightful secrets.” We’ll peer into the Biblical pages this Sunday, as well as some of the women of our own time, and meet some truly amazing women who made it all happen.