Girls of the book

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The bible is one of the most sacred books in the world, telling the most interesting stories of humankind. In this blog, I focus on the tales of some of the girls that graced the papers of the bible. 

Disclaimer: Not 100% biblically correct  

Eve’s Opps (mother of humankind)  

                                                             Source unknown

The is no Adam without Eve and no Eve without Adam. Eve is recorded as the first woman to be created in the bible, which is why she is called the mother of creation, but another reason she is known thoroughly was the forbidden fruit she ate and shared with her husband, in a nutshell, the reason why the world is where it is. Eve is the most preached about the woman in the world and all for the wrong reasons, but some credit can be given to her for just merely been the first woman, seriously uMama (mother) Eve is one tale that will live on forever. In today's world, the evidence of Eve lives through what is called the “eve gene” a gene that is believed to have birthed humankind and is apparently in black women. Reading on this tale brings to life how the first two people lived on earth. To me, eve is that girl who tried to hard, what was her interest to be all-knowing and all understanding, except that the woman in her was already planning to fight the unborn “other woman” perhaps not for those reasons but whatever the case, she sought for knowledge that was deadly and so she died.

Adam and Eve remain a story I look at with awe and see first hand the consequences of disobedience and the destroying power of knowledge.   

Love(Rachel) is blind (Leah) 

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Jacob was the last honest man in the bible, and karma came for him with no mercy in sight, Jacob found himself working twice for the love of his life. 

Jacob was a young man who just ran away from his birthplace after he and his mother Rebecca stole his elder brother’s birthright and blessings (Esau), he found refuge in his uncle’s dwelling place, where he fell in love with the beautiful Rachel, he was told to work 7 years as bride price, so he did, but as tradition requires the first child had to be married first, in this case, it was Leah Rachel’s not so attractive elder sister, Leah had a crooked eye and so not many could ask for her hand in marriage, her caring daddy could only trick someone into marrying her and it had to be the trickster himself, Jacob! But love got Jacob working another 7 years until he married his lover Rachel. 

Rachel knew Jacob loved her and she loved knowing this, she never did mistreat her sister regardless of this revelation but every now and then she showed Leah “who’s boss” and Jacob watched with no interference.  I do not blame Rachel for having hard feelings towards her sister, although it was not Leah’s fault either she was not pleased with how things turned out. Rachel had a bad heart she was not kind, and Leah felt it. In the end, Jacob knew what true love was and where it was, it was with Leah whom he found it, don't get confused, Jacob loved Rachel she was beautiful, he was pretty much obsessed with her, but her unkind ways were all she was left with when the youthful beauty faded, Jacob too got old and bored with that way of life, especially when he became Israel, so his perspective on life changed and his old heart loved or maybe just appreciated Leah, who did not have a pretty face but a pretty kind heart, classic tale. 

So when Jacob died his last will was to be buried next to Leah. Both sisters won, each had a share of Jacob, one at the beginning and the other at the end. Two sisters one man! 

Get your man Ruth 

Sister Ruth taught us the truth about getting your man, of course, she did it so effortlessly and flawlessly.  

   

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A young widow left with nothing but her caring mother in law and sister in law, the three women stood at a crossroad leaving everything they knew and loved behind, each one returning to her own people, Ruth and Opal (sister in law) loved their mother in law Naomi deeply, the thought of permanent separation was just as painful as losing their husbands, they stood close to each other for a moment before their mother in law told them she had nothing to offer them, even if she bore a son today, who would wait, Opal knew the was indeed no hope and even though it was sad and hard, she said her goodbyes, tears rolled down her cheeks and to her people, she returned. Ruth, on the other hand, refused to leave her aged mother-in-law, she vowed to follow her and make Naomi's people her people, Ruth loved her mother-in-law and she was not looking for anything more than a life with her. 

Prince charming and a peasant girl kind of story, Ruth is now working in one of the most successful fields run by a bachelor who we don't know if he was ever married or not, but by the look of things this man did not know how to approach women, so he may have been the 40-year-old virgin. Ruth was a hard worker who had only been married for a very short time with no children. Her mother in law and the eligible bachelor Boaz were cousins, her hard work did not go unnoticed by Boaz, soon he made her work easy and it's clear he liked her, but his that type of guy you have to propose to and literally drag to the alter (make sure you know he likes you) The two had occasional diners and awkwardly enough he called her daughter.

Ruth always knew what she wanted and this time, she wanted to move from the cottage to the main house, so one cold night she sneaked into Boaz’s bedroom and lay at the feet of his bed, when the shy 40-year-old virgin came from riding a Carmel, he was gutted to find the beautiful lady he had his eyes on, at the feet of his bed, as tradition, Ruth had to be redeemed by a relative of her husband, redeemed meant to be married. Boaz was glad she did not opt for the young men but instead, she chose him, a noble 40-year-old virgin with a successful field and the town’s eligible bachelor, of course, she chooses you, Boaz.




Queening like Esther  

Source Unknown 

Imagine being a new queen in a foreign land and bearing the burden of your people. Esther found yourself in a dilemma between your queenship or her people! Let's take it back 

The king threw his wife out of his life and the palace for her dishonest ways, seems like this king had a thing for dishonest people because his new queen Esther lied about her identity her name, and her nationality (a girl’ gotta do what a girl gotta do) she was nothing he thought of her to be, her real name was Hadassah which was a pure Jewish name, screaming out “hey am jew” name. Esther pretty much cheated her way to the throne by having a head start ahead of the other virgins, she knew what the king liked and how the king loved to be loved. 

She was a beautiful kind queen loved by her new people, this love she received from new people found in this land, made her sideline her people. 
The king’s adviser told the king about how the jews were multiplying and becoming a threat to the kingdom.  

The jews had to be killed, and the Queen,  Esther was herself a jew.  

But who can really stand in the way of a queen that stands with God, sis Esther did what jews do, she fasted for three days no water no food no clothes (hey am talking about royal clothes) nothing but her soul crying for help to the lord, and God did come through for this queen, she had the courage to face the king without an invitation and spoke her truth and her king heard her. God did not come through for sis queen when her enemy, who begged for his life and whilst down on his knees crying for his life, he fell on the queen (imagine Queen Elizebeth falling off and someone on top of her) and when the king returned (he was out thinking of what to do) he found the two of them in a compromising state, anyways the king was mad, the enemy begged for his life again because now on his list was added rape, sis queen refused to speak the truth, the guy didn't rape you, Esther, he just fell on you. 

The main lesson, don't play with a Queen!   

Gold got Beer-Sheba 

Getting a king and making one, this is a story of one woman who had her soldier husband killed and her 100th child in line take the throne, I know she's a lot. Back story! 

Queen Beer-Sheba was a beautiful young woman who got everything she wanted all her life, no one ever said no to her, and even when they did she had them killed. Queen Beer-Sheba was married to the kingdom's Solider, he had no real power in the arm, one of those "keep at the back" guys who could easily get killed, her husband was no one important, and Beer-Sheba disliked being linked to unimportant people, so she sought out a plan to get the attention of the most important man in the land, the king. 

King David like most royals was very predictable, everyone knew when he'd wake up sleep, and eat, Beer-Sheba had her family change houses from the 4th street away from the palace to the same street as the palace, she walked around the palace to observe what will soon become her new home. Anyways the soon to be queen strategically (acting very innocent) took baths at the exact time, the king (who loved women) stepped out on the balcony to have his tea, overlook the whole city and just think, his eyes led him to a beautiful young woman, who was taking her bath, she took her bath so gracefully and ensured to showcase all her best parts. 

This beautiful young woman took her bath at the same time, and the king (who loved women) took a liking to her, one day he asked his right-hand man who she was, who her husband was, when king David learned, that her husband was a soldier, he was glad and called for the commander, "put that solider that will easily die in front, you know that one with the really pretty wife" the commander did as commanded and the poor man died for having a really pretty wife. Sheba heard the news and she was not moved, she had a heart of Gold. A few weeks later, Sheba becomes queen, she got married to King David. In his last days, King David became a father to a little baby boy called Solomon. 

Soon King David was about to die, as tradition states, his first son was to inherit the throne, but like I said Queen Beer-Sheba gets everything she wants, she blackmailed king David threatening to tell the story of how he (King David) had her husband killed, the king was determined to go out with a noble name, so he made his last son Solomon King of Israeli. Queen Beer-Sheba Got it all, all the time!    

These girls and women of the bible remain such an inspiration to me, as a young Christian woman, that though we all have faults, our strengths and courage overshadows the faults, and faults are part of our stories.