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Dingling Zhong
Professor Ellen Haskell
REL 202-01
October 16, 2014
Women of Faith
In the previous studies, the Hebrew Bible showed us God's list of the faithful, male heroic figures such as Noah, Abraham and Moses. They all were chosen by God and demonstrated their strong faith to him. Noah, for instance, a righteous man was chosen by God to take a momentous mission of rescue in the Book of Genesis. Women, on the other hand, instead of participating in leadership or civil authority, they are usually as daughters, wives or mothers of the male characters. Even though there are not many scriptures talk about females, they paly an important role in the development of the text. While I was reading through the Book of Joshua and Judges, I noticed that these books contain stories of many female characters, and they appear at several strategic points in the narrative.
Their stories lead me to further discover the role and status of women in ancient Israel. As the text depicts, these female characters are portrayed as courageous heroines, military leaders and worshipers. Their faith in God is just as loyal as the faithful men's, strong and abiding.
To begin, let's look at a remarkable woman named Rahab who appeared in Book of Joshua. In the beginning of the story, Joshua was leading the Israelites out of the desert into the Promised Land and he sent two men into Jericho to spy out the city. When soldiers were searching for these two spies, Rahab hid them and saved their lives. Rahab had heard about the miracles God had performed on Israelites. "I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country...