21 Places Women Emerge Front and Center in Scripture’s Storyline

The growing call for the church to protect vulnerable women is not a new phenomenon. As Karen Swallow Prior has noted, this call is as old as the church itself. Stephen was appointed to serve the neglected women of the congregation, and he eventually became church history’s first martyr.

The content of Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7, which became the catalyst for his martyrdom, is notable. He began with Abraham, who was called by God as a sojourner and never possessed what God promised. He then highlighted how God worked through the abuse of Joseph to preserve Israel, and then freed his enslaved people through Moses’s exile. The persecution of the prophets throughout history, he said, culminated in the betrayal and crucifixion of the righteous one, Jesus Christ.

Inspired by Stephen’s sermon, I began to freshly reflect on the role women play throughout the Bible. Though the list could be much longer, here are 21 events—from Genesis to Revelation—in which women play key roles in redemptive history.... Read More