Inspiring Biblical Women
About this Episode
Episode Summary
Which women in the Bible stand out to you? Who is your favorite? Who do you most relate to? Amy Seiffert was surprised when she decided to dig into God’s Word to explore the role of women in Scripture. She found fascinating examples of leadership, courage, and strength from women who are often overlooked in our Bible lessons. Join hosts Vivian Mabuni and Eryn Eddy Adkins with guest Amy Seiffert as they explore inspirational women of the Bible during this God Hears Her conversation.
Episode Transcript
God Hears Her Podcast
Episode 206 – Inspiring Biblical Women With Amy Seiffert
Eryn Adkins & Vivian Mabuni with Amy Seiffert
[music]
Amy: Luke really seems to highlight the women in the Bible. I think he…he’s got a heart for the marginalized, the oppressed, and shines lights on what God is doing…what Jesus is doing all through that Scripture. But I would say, read Luke and ask, how does Jesus treat women? What is He doing? And if Hebrews 1 says that Jesus is the exact representation of God, the radiance of His glory, whatever Jesus is doing, this is God. This is how God sees women and how He treats them. And we get a front row seat with all the ways Jesus is flipping all kinds of scripts in the Gospels.
[music]
Elisa: You are listening to God Hears Her, a podcast for women where we explore the stunning truth that God hears you. Join our community of encouraging one another and learning to lean on God through Scripture, story, and conversation at godhearsher.org. God hears her, seek, and she will find.
Eryn: Hey friends, before we get started, we have an exciting announcement! We now have a study guide to go along with our podcast episodes that you can download or print to fill out when you listen. Make sure you get yours on our website to follow along with the episode. Now, let’s dive into this conversation.
Vivian: Okay, Eryn, we are in for a treat. We have some of the most amazing women on the planet as our guests, and today’s guest is just that. She’s amazing, and she’s a friend. I am thrilled to introduce to you Amy Seiffert. She is a pastor and an author, and a speaker and a teacher. She is a writer. She is passionate about Jesus, and she’s passionate about women. She’s passionate about the Word of God. I mean, she’s just the best combination of everything. She’s a mom of three, and she has walked through challenges., a Crohn’s disease diagnosis, an adult ADHD diagnosis, which I can relate to with my whole family of ADHD people. Um.
Eryn: Yes.
Vivian: But I also know Amy in person, um, just through Denver Seminary as she’s pursuing her Master’s degree in Biblical Theological Studies. I love Amy because she’s the real deal, and she’s honest and smart and fun. Welcome, Amy, to the God Hears Her podcast.
Eryn: Yeah.
Amy: What an intro. You guys are sweet. Thanks for having me…too kind. You should see my bathroom right now. Just the…just the mess of life is everywhere on top of that lovely intro, so.
[laughter]
Eryn: Oh.
Vivian: Well, we are thrilled you’re here. And we would love for our God Hears Her audience to know more of you and your backstory. So would you just jump in and share with us your spiritual journey story?
Amy: Absolutely. Um, yeah, so I grew up with a background in the Catholic faith where my family started. And my grandma was a great just spiritual, uh, leader in my life; but I didn’t understand. I remember being in church and seeing Jesus on the cross and not understanding why He was on the cross. Like, why did He have to die? What was going on? Just didn’t grasp the basics of the gospel. And it wasn’t until I was 16 when a friend, uh, had been praying for me for a long time and didn’t know it and invited me to Young Life Camp in Saranac, New York, that the gospel was laid out for me in really beautiful way. And it was the first time I was like, oh, I am a sinner, and I’m separated from God. And Jesus died for me to know Him. And it just…it was quite…it was quite a week. Started walking with God and then got involved with, CRU, an organization which, Viv, we are kindred spirits, in my undergrad at BGSU and really took off. I…yeah. So yeah, that’s kind of…that’s my story and all the ups and downs in between. But in coming to faith as…as a teenager was really…it just shifted my whole world really.
Eryn: Hmm.
Vivian: I think it’s such a great reminder for us that we can be praying for people. And our invitation to people, whether it’s to youth group or church or Young Life, God has prepared people. And it’s just always a reminder for me like, these prayers don’t go unheard, and God is at work. Now as a Bible teacher and a student and one who’s always loved the Bible, there are some really disturbing portrayals of women in the Bible. And I would just love for you to talk about that. Like how do you navigate some of the horrific things that we read about? If we really take seriously the Bible that God has revealed who He is through this amazing compilation of different types of literatures and over the span of thousands of years, like, talk to us about that.
Amy: Well there…yeah, there’s a lot of places we could go with…with that.
Eryn: Yeah.
Amy: The idea um, but it’s a great question, Viv. I…I think something that really helped me was…was Scott McKnight, the way he talked about often we’re seeing descriptions of what is happening in the Bible, not prescriptions of how we ought to live. And so when you see the mistreatment of women, the abuse or the rape, a variety of things happening to women, this was describing what was happening. This was not God’s will and way. Um, and so it’s helpful to see like, oh, this is history. And these aren’t heroes. These are people in need of a hero. Um, and to really back that up with that lens of God is coming to bring redemption in the middle of such mess and the mistreatment of women as part of the redemption. Um, which is why I became passionate to…to see like, okay, there’s not a lot of women, but where are they and what are they doing? And…
Vivian: Mm-hmm.
Amy: …um, how does God see them?
Vivian: Yeah.
Amy: Uh, cause when I first started to open my Bible at 16, I was like, this is full of dudes, like what’s going on here?.
Vivian: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm.
Eryn: I was just about to ask you like why did you have a curiosity about that? And it was at 16, you said reading and being like, what is going on?
Amy: Yeah, well, at the same time that I became a believer when I was 16, I then started to go to a youth group after…after I came back from camp. And I was floored by my youth leader. He ended up marrying my husband and I. He was a huge mentor, he and his wife. And when I saw him teaching the Scriptures I was like, I want to do that. Like I want to teach God’s…I don’t…I didn’t even know it, but I knew that I wanted to know it and then teach it. Um, and I remember asking him, can…can women do what you’re doing? Like, cause I wasn’t seeing any female pastors at the time. And he was like, yeah, yep and just kind of like chatting about it. And so then when I got involved with CRU, and I saw men and women leading together, men…and men and women equally sharing the mic and sharing Scriptures, I was so drawn to a place where women were using the same gifts that I saw men had, you know, at the same time. So it came from a place of the Holy Spirit prompting inside my soul. You have this gift of teach and looking like, but where…where is the place for that? Like…
Eryn: Yeah.
Amy: …does my gender preclude me from using this like, pretty much off the bat and trying to find spaces and places and really having a hunger for what were women doing in the Bible.
Vivian: Yeah.
Amy: What are they doing now? What are the barriers? What’s the disconnect? What’s the theology that’s blocking us from having some women really live out their gifts?
Vivian: That’s so good. So in your study of the Bible, you know, there are un unsung heroes that are women. Which ones really captured you? Like unpack for us some of the women that are your favorites.
Amy: How long do we have, Viv?
[laughter]
Amy: Oh my gosh, yes. Oh, there’re so many favorites. Okay, a recent favorite, right, favorite for me is Huldah. I knew nothing about…I had never even heard of her name until truly a few years ago. And I’m like, wait a minute. She was phenomenal. She was necessary. Um, this is in 2 Kings 22. You also see it in Chronicles, the story of King Josiah when he’s around 20, he’s clearing out the temple. He’s clearing out the idols, and the Book of the Law is discovered. And as he’s reading it, he’s like, oh my gosh, we have not even come close to obeying this law. And he tears his clothes in grief and humility, and he’s like, God, what…what do I do? Some of his advisors come in and he’s like, I need to know, is this God’s law? And he sends five men to the prophetess Huldah, which keep in mind she’s a contemporary at this point of Jeremiah. Jeremiah…he could have gone to Jeremiah to say like, is this the law? Will you authenticate this? But he went to Huldah. And Huldah…I mean, I just think she’s is in her kitchen. She…who knows, you know, maybe she’s helping her husband. Her husband was the keeper of the king’s wardrobe, which that could be a variety of things. But can you imagine five men knocking on your door from like, say the oval office that have come, the king’s palace coming to you. And I also think it’s so beautiful that she wasn’t summoned humbly. He brought his men to her, and they knock on the door.
Vivian: That’s good.
Amy: Yeah, and she opens it. And she gives a word about, yeah, God is angry that you have not…like Israel has like forsaken His…His ways. And Josiah from there repents and…and like the word goes back to him. And man, he calls the people back to Him. And it is a huge revival. There’s a huge celebration. But she is, I mean, you could skip over her. But she is…she is an integral part. And I felt seen in that, not that I’m a prophet, but that she spoke with boldness and conviction in a space where it was just her as the female in that moment at her house.
Eryn: Five men that are coming.
Amy: Five men.
Vivian: From the Kingdom.
Amy: Yes!
Vivian: Yeah.
Amy: Wild. So, I…I’m impressed by her. I’m like, man, she had an assignment; and she went for it and she spoke boldly.
Eryn: What do you think we can learn from that and apply to our life by that story?
Amy: Yeah, I actually, um, I think of her a lot when I have to be brave. I’m on staff at my church. And if I am in a meeting and I know that in this meeting I probably need to speak up and say something hard or point a truth out, I really do draw strength from the women before me like Huldah. I’m like, okay. She did a hard thing in the presence of mostly men, and I can too. And um, yeah, we can be bold and confident because the Lord is our confidence, right? Like that is…is who He is. And I can rest in the job and the position that He’s put me in for this time.
Vivian: Yeah, to be able to see these women in the Scriptures, I feel like we kind of all, as women, we hold our heads a little higher. Like there’s some pretty exceptional women.
Amy: Yes.
Vivian: And sometimes we don’t realize that. Like…
Amy: Right.
Vivian: …women funded Jesus’s ministry in Luke 8. Like women were at the tomb, the first to see the risen Christ. And they didn’t scatter. You know, they stayed and so there’s a…there’s a lot to be said about women in the Scriptures.
Amy: If 10% of the names that’s…that’s about what you see, 10% of the names are women. But that to me is like, well then every time a woman shows up, I’m like paying attention. I’m leaning in. I’m like, what is she wearing? What is she eating? What is she doing? What is she saying? You know? Cause there’s…she’s…she’s shining brightly now because there’s less of them, there’s few. So yeah, I take a lot of strength from these stories, which I wanted to go on a quest and unearth the unsung women and to see like, oh, they’re there. Like, let’s not…let’s not sleep on the ladies that are in the story.
Vivian: Yeah. Okay, pick one more for us [crosstalk].
Eryn: Yeah, I was about to say what? Give us another one. Let’s go. Let’s go.
Amy: Okay. is, yeah, gosh, okay, I’m gonna go with Martha. So I did an Old Testament Huldah, and I’m gonna go with Martha in the New Testament, and this is why. I think Martha has gotten a bad rap in our…in our Christian circles. The story, it’s Luke 10, where…where Mary and Martha are, uh, they…they’ve received the disciples into their house. And it seems like Mary and Martha were probably in the kitchen together prepping food. But Mary…Mary, she just hears the Teacher teaching, and she finds herself wandering through the house and sitting down with the rest of the disciples. Like she sat down at His feet to learn as one of the disciples, which was a huge cultural boundary she was crossing.
Eryn: Hmm.
Amy: Martha is like, and it’s in the text, it’s like she’s overwhelmed, she’s anxious, and she goes to Jesus. Now, here’s the thing. Martha could have been overwhelmed and anxious by the fact that…that her sister just crossed this cultural boundary and is sitting with the men to learn as to become like a rabbi like they were. You know, there could…there’s a lot of layers that could have been going on there. So Martha goes to Jesus, and she’s like, tell my sister to help me. And He says, “Martha, Martha.” And whenever a name is said twice in the Bible, it is usually a very defining moment. You see “Moses, Moses” on the mountain. You see Abraham. You see this double call. And He’s like, you’re worried, you’re overwhelmed. But Mary has chosen the better thing. She’s chosen a really good thing to sit here with Me. And so you’ve got that. So, but often because of this, Martha can be painted as this like anxious, overwhelmed, busybody worried about like domestic affairs. And Mary is like concerned about the Lord’s feet, and she loves her quiet time, right? So there’s this…
[laughter]
Amy: …and you’re like, oh, I’m more of a Martha. Like, I’m just so busy and I’m worried, you know, like, and we can have this. However, I think I was…I was so overcome by the relationship with Mary and Martha, and Jesus. You see this in John 11 When Mary, Martha and Lazarus, they were a sibling group. They seem to have Jesus over quite a bit. When Lazarus dies, Mary stays put. But it is Martha who gets up, goes to Jesus, and she’s like, Hey, if “You would’ve been here, my brother wouldn’t have died,” which is such a bold statement. And why would she have said that? She…she knew about who God was. She was a theologian. She had learned, she was listening in the kitchen I think.
Eryn: Yeah.
Amy: Like there’s a lot going on. And then she has the same statement as Peter’s confession later. I’m like, why aren’t we titling this chapter, Martha’s Confession? She’s like, I know that You are the Messiah. You’re the Christ. You’re the Lord. Like I know that that’s You. And it’s the truth of them having this conversation where He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?” this one-on-one moment. However, Jesus saying, I am the resurrection and the life. Like we quote that a lot, but we forget the context. It’s this this one-on-one moment with Martha, who is a theologian and a thinker. And she’s…she’s like working her brain right here.
Eryn: He challenged her.
Amy: Yes, so she’s not, I…I think we’ve just painted her flat with this one-sided…
Vivian: Yeah.
Amy: …anxious woman. And you’re like, oh no, she has deep waters just like us. And so I…I…I draw a great strength from Martha because yes, I can be anxious. Hello? Look at our world right now. But I can also be a thinker and a theologian and say, God, let’s talk about this. Like, I know who You are, so why is my brother…what happened?
Vivian: Yeah.
Amy: And these intimate moments. So I…I kind of love Martha cause all the facets we get.
Eryn: I love that.
Vivian: Oh, that’s so good and relatable too. I think there are so many women that are smart and resourceful, quick on their feet. I think of Abigail. I think…I mean there’s just like, we could name them off, like one by one. Sometimes I think, history has shown that because of art, we see de…depictions of, for example, Mary Magdalene. And she’s portrayed in art as a prostitute.
Eryn: Hmm
Vivian: And there’s nowhere in the Scriptures that says that she was ever a prostitute.
Amy: Right.
Vivian: But those kinds of images really stick with us, and they color how we view certain characters in the Bible, including Martha. Are there any other people that you found…like your perspective shifted as you began your deep dive?
Amy: Yes. Okay, let’s slide on over to…I’m just going chronologically, Phoebe, then in…in Romans. I was, I’m fast.
Eryn: Oh, let’s talk about Phoebe.
Vivian: Hmm, I love Phoebe.
Eryn: I know her.
Amy: Oh man. So at the end, Roman 16, the last chapter…fascinating. Paul gives what I used to see as just sort of this like laundry list. Like, hey, and by the way, you know, when you’re going to the store, look for the ripe tomatoes. Like it’s just like the end of this letter. He’s thanking everybody, and he’s going through. Um, and one third of the people he thanks are women, first of all. And it’s a variety of women–mothers sisters. And he said, they’ve suffered with me for the gospel in prison. Um, but he names, Phoebe. And she is, what a lot of scholars would say, not only, uh, she was a businesswoman. But Paul entrusted the letter of Romans to Phoebe to take, and not only take like as a…a letter carrier, but if you took one of the letters, you probably explained them. You were the first commentator, if you will. Um, which is fascinating to me that…that Paul was like, who can carry this like amazing work that he has for the churches in Rome?
Vivian: His magnus opus like, yeah.
Amy: Oh, a hundred percent. And he chooses a woman to go and deliver and probably answer all the questions. I was very fascinated. And she’s not, paired with a man either. Um, she could have been a single businesswoman for…from what we can piece together. Which is another fun thing, cause I’m like okay. Everywhere we see women in the Bible, they are out in the world doing things. Most often they’re not sequestered in their homes. If we see them, they’re partaking in the spread of the gospel, and they’re doing things because God has them on a holy errand, you know? So I’m always encouraged by that. They are out in society, shaping it for the Kingdom, and Phoebe’s doing that.
Eryn: That’s good.
Vivian: I love that so…so very much. I think we can tend to take our flannel boards from Sunday school and just kind of assume certain things about Bible stories, um, without really taking time to understand the culture and how profound it is and how we might have just gotten it wrong. When I think about Paul in particular, I don’t think he had an issue with women. Like when I look at the whole of all of his writings…
Amy: Yes.
Vivian: …and the…the kinds of partnerships he had with Lydia and the Philippian church, and I mean, just on and on; Paul, like Jesus honored women, linked arms with women.
Amy: Yes.
Vivian: I always say it takes a secure man to not be threatened by the strength of a woman.
Amy: Come on, yeah.
Show Notes
- “Research the culture and the context of what you’re reading and go to Jesus and see how He’s treating women.” —Amy Seiffert
- “When you see the mistreatment of women—the abuse or the rape, a variety of things happening to women—this was describing what was happening. This was not God’s will or His way.” —Amy Seiffert
- “God is coming to bring redemption in the middle of such mess.” —Amy Seiffert
- “Ten percent of the names [in the Bible] are women, so every time a woman shows up I am paying attention.” —Amy Seiffert
- “Whatever you have, whatever you’ve gone through, you have a gift to give to the world, to the church, to your neighborhood, to your community.” —Amy Seiffert
- “Go forward in confidence. You are the daughter of the Most High King.” —Amy Seiffert
Links Mentioned
- Bible Study
- Amy’s Website: https://www.amyseiffert.com/about
- Watch the episode on the God Hears Her YouTube channel
- Discovery Series booklet: https://www.odbm.org/en/discovery-series/more-than-a-mother/lessons-from-the-life-of-the-first-disciple
- Unshakable Moxie BOGO Deal
- Share Your Story
- God Hears Her email sign-up
- Subscribe on iTunes!
- Elisa’s Instagram: elisamorganauthor
- Eryn’s Instagram: eryneddy
- Vivians Instagram: vivmabuni
- Our Daily Bread Ministries Website
Bible Verses:
Related Episodes:
- GHH Ep 123 – Knowing Women of the Bible with Anna Haggard
- GHH Ep 159 – A Deeper Look at Rahab with Shadia Hrichi
About the Guest(s)
Amy Seiffert
Amy is an author, speaker, pastor, wife, and co-ringmaster to her circus of three kids. Through the many face–plants and mudslides in her life, God opened doors for her to write books and to travel and speak, inviting others to discover grace in their daily lives. She is also one of the pastors at Soma City Church in Toledo, OH. As she and her family keep walking on whatever path God has for them, her hope is to use humor and storytelling to anchor people in the truth that God is with us, for us, in us, and working through us.
Comments
More Episodes
Get Connected
Sign up to get early access to new book releases, podcasts, blog updates, and more!
One Response
This is an excellent episode as there is are so many difficult passages in the Bible that can really turn away new believers from engaging with the Bible. As a new believer, I need that “real talk” about the Bible, and a deeper understanding of the many contexts. Do you have recommended resources to help with research when trying to understand how to apply and lean in to biblical guidance without making it prescriptive?