Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
#Rebekah #Rebecca #BibleStudy #Isaac #Genesis #Isaac #Bible #BrokenSearchingTrustedPowerful
Why do we do what we do?
We would like to think—because this is what our culture tells us is the most valued—that we make rational decision based on the logical analysis of data, of facts. But the truth is, we far more often make decisions that have an emotional and relational motivation, and when that decision emerges, our rational intellect has two choices: veto, or agree with explanation.
Even more fundamentally, we are spiritual beings, and the divine power of the Spirit is at work among all people. As our spirits are stirred, so our hearts are stirred. From our perspective, we are freely choosing what our hearts desire, what we will. From the divine perspective, God’s purposes are at work.
So we come to the many decisions, moral choices, and actions of Rebekah, relative of Abraham and worshipper of God most high, beginning with her courage in leaving her homeland to marry a man she never met.
Rebekah wanted God’s will. She had considerable faith, she was willing to risk all to be in God’s will, a woman of strength, stamina, grace, hospitality, courage, and singleheartedness, but she used unworthy methods in the practical matters of her life. She had a just cause, but she made no approach to God or her husband. Instead, she relied on her own considerable ingenuity and energy.
I God’s Purpose and Human Perspective, Genesis 24-25
II Twins’ Personality and Parents’ Partiality, Genesis 25, 27-28
III Duplicity’s Price and Faith’s Prize, Genesis 28:5, 49:31
Ultimately, though Rebekah paid dearly for the way she fought for fulfillment of God’s promises, she held steady as a woman of faith. Far more than Isaac, it was Rebekah who believed God and desired God’s will as well as God’s promises and covenant.
Rebekah’s prize was to be buried with the matriarchs and patriarchs, to be remembered as one of the mighty women of God.
Each video is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.
The "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" series is a companion to the book, available on Amazon, and published by Wipf and Stock.
#Rebekah #Rebecca #BibleStudy #Isaac #Genesis #Isaac #Bible #BrokenSearchingTrustedPowerful
Why do we do what we do?
We would like to think—because this is what our culture tells us is the most valued—that we make rational decision based on the logical analysis of data, of facts. But the truth is, we far more often make decisions that have an emotional and relational motivation, and when that decision emerges, our rational intellect has two choices: veto, or agree with explanation.
Even more fundamentally, we are spiritual beings, and the divine power of the Spirit is at work among all people. As our spirits are stirred, so our hearts are stirred. From our perspective, we are freely choosing what our hearts desire, what we will. From the divine perspective, God’s purposes are at work.
So we come to the many decisions, moral choices, and actions of Rebekah, relative of Abraham and worshipper of God most high, beginning with her courage in leaving her homeland to marry a man she never met.
Rebekah wanted God’s will. She had considerable faith, she was willing to risk all to be in God’s will, a woman of strength, stamina, grace, hospitality, courage, and singleheartedness, but she used unworthy methods in the practical matters of her life. She had a just cause, but she made no approach to God or her husband. Instead, she relied on her own considerable ingenuity and energy.
I God’s Purpose and Human Perspective, Genesis 24-25
II Twins’ Personality and Parents’ Partiality, Genesis 25, 27-28
III Duplicity’s Price and Faith’s Prize, Genesis 28:5, 49:31
Ultimately, though Rebekah paid dearly for the way she fought for fulfillment of God’s promises, she held steady as a woman of faith. Far more than Isaac, it was Rebekah who believed God and desired God’s will as well as God’s promises and covenant.
Rebekah’s prize was to be buried with the matriarchs and patriarchs, to be remembered as one of the mighty women of God.
Each video is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.
The "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" series is a companion to the book, available on Amazon, and published by Wipf and Stock.




![Miriam
#BibleStudy #Miriam #Prophetess #Exodus #BookofExodus #Leprosy #Moses #Aaron #Bible #BrokenSearchingTrustedPowerful
As the book of Exodus opens, life was bitter for the Hebrew people. They were treated harshly and cruelly, dreaded by the Egyptians who enslaved them. Only two sympathetic midwives stood between the Hebrew baby boys and death, and now came Pharaoh’s edict to all Egyptians – throw the Hebrew baby boys into the sacred Nile. It was a risky time, an awful time, to bring a child into the world.
Yet that is just what happened in Miriam’s family.
Our stories shape us. What we experience, and how we interpret what we experience, shapes how we see the world, see ourselves, and what we’re going to do try to survive and even thrive. And Miriam’s story shaped her as well, as
I Protector, Exodus 1:15-2:10
II Prophet, Exodus 15:19–21, Micah 6:4
III Purified, Numbers 12:1-16, 20:1
Miriam’s life can teach us that even when you and I do not see it,
the Lord is always there, working for the good of God’s beloved.
Each person has a calling from God, and matters to God.
“Counsel [motives] in a person’s heart is deep water; but a person of understanding draws it out.” Proverbs 20:5 (CSB)
I think Miriam’s story also shows us how trauma can warp us in ways we might not even realize, until God draws out what has been festering within. In God’s wisdom, Miriam experienced both the pain of exposure, and the deep and abiding joy of healing, restoration, and reconciliation.
We don’t hear much about Miriam after her bout with leprosy, but I think it is because she was now fully right with God, and her ministry now had shalom, that healthful, fruitful, wholeness that comes from God.
Each video is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.
The Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful series is a companion to the book, available on Amazon, and published by Wipf and Stock. Miriam](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EhLg48o7w9A/mqdefault.jpg)

![Season 2, Time of the Matriarchs: BONUS, The Example of Sarah, 1 Peter 3
#1Peter3 #Hupotasso #AbrahamandSarah #ChristianWives #ChristianHusbands
Peter enjoined Christian wives married to men who did not share their faith to live in a [Godfearing] pure manner of life in the same way Jesus did, using Jesus’ life as the example for their own. By doing so, their husbands—who were not believing or obeying the Word (logos) might be won over without a word.
Peter offered some practical ways to live honorably, by making their transformed life their chief “adornment” rather than their jewels, fine clothing, and costly hair styles. Now, Peter would point to Sarah, the founding matriarch of the Jewish people, as a fine example of what he was seeking to describe.
Peter then turned to Christian husbands married to unbelieving ways and told them to do all in the same way Peter had instructed Christian wives.
In researching this post, I turned to the insightful work of Bruce C. E. Fleming in his book “Familiar Leadership Heresies Uncovered.” He also provides a deep dive into these verses in workshops found on the YouTube channel Tru316 Project Genesis 3:16 and beyond.
To see the YouTube presentation, click 1 Peter 3, Example of Sarah (https://youtu.be/dTfz49UaBL8)
Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC
Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@GraceandPeaceJoanne)
Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.
Grace and Peace, Joanne Website (https://graceandpeacejoanne.com/)
Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view
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If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp... Season 2, Time of the Matriarchs: BONUS, The Example of Sarah, 1 Peter 3](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EuNZ020XLbY/mqdefault.jpg)



