Holy Women of the Old Testament 	August 16
Holiness, in the sense of being set apart for the purposes of God, means that most of the women of the Old Testament should be regarded as holy. Although often overshadowed in what is clearly a patriarchal narrative of a patriarchal society, there are nevertheless glimpses of the lives of some outstanding women, who made significant contributions to the development of Israel’s life. 
It begins with Eve, formed by God to be Adam’s partner (Genesis 1:27; 2:18), though disobedience leads to the subjugation of women in a patriarchal society (Genesis 3:16). In the Abraham saga, Sarah has a part as important as Abraham’s for “she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (Genesis 17:16). Later, Rebecca ensures that her favourite, Jacob, becomes the heir to God’s promises (Genesis 27:5-17). The survival of the baby Moses was entirely due to the clever tactics of a number of women (Exodus 2:1-10). 
The story includes a great deal of pain and suffering. There was Jephthah’s virgin daughter, who died because her father had vowed to offer to the Lord the first creature to meet him on his return home (Judges 11:30-40). There was also the concubine who died after being gang-raped to save her master from sexual abuse (Judges 19:22-30). The lives of women were often marked by tragedy, and some were notably unsuccessful in a patriarchal society. The prophet Huldah was consulted on behalf of King Josiah over the book of the Law found in the Temple. While recognising that the king himself would be spared because of his faithfulness, she correctly saw the coming judgment on Jerusalem (2 Kings 22:14-20).
Some of the finest songs or hymns in the Old Testament are attributed to women. There are the songs of the widow Judith (Judith 16), of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10), which inspired the Magnificat, of the prophet Deborah (Judges 5), who was herself one of the judges or governors of Israel, and also of the prophet Miriam (Exodus 15:21), one of the leaders of the exodus from Egypt. Miriam and Aaron had the courage to insist that God’s revelation came through them as well as through Moses (Numbers 12:2).
There are also some important stories of women in the period after the exile and right down to the roles of Elizabeth and Mary as the mothers of John the Baptist and Jesus. The period of oppression under Antiochus Epiphanes (160s BCE) produced several stories in which women play a prominent role. The story of Esther may be set in Persian times, but it probably belongs to the second century BCE, as Queen Esther by her skill and charm averts an anti-Jewish pogrom. Susanna is another story, probably from the same period, illustrating the triumph of virtue. In the stories of the Maccabees there is included the martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother, who “was especially admirable and worthy of honourable memory” (2 Maccabees 7:20).
Beyond these known women, there are many who are mentioned but never named, and others again who have been given no record of their part in the story.
For Liturgical Use
The holy women of the Old Testament were examples of many things. Some were victims, like Jephthah’s daughter. Some were leaders and prophets, like Huldah, the consultant to King Josiah, Deborah among the judges, and Miriam in the Exodus. In Egypt, Moses and the whole Hebrew people were preserved through the independent actions of women. Women figure also in the period after the exile. In the patriarchal literature of a patriarchal society, however, there are many others whose parts in God’s purposes are not recorded.
Sentence
You O Lord have robed yourself, and put on the girdle of strength; holiness adorns your house for ever.		Psalm 93:1,5
Collects
God of the past and present,
your glory has been revealed in Scripture
in the lives of holy women;
may we, following the example of Deborah and Hannah
and all holy women who sought to obey your call,
strive to serve you truly all our lives;
for the sake of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
God, you watched over the Hebrew women
from Sarah to Elizabeth,
and also to Mary who brought Jesus into the world;
help us to build on the good things they have left us.
Psalms	37:1-9	40
Readings
1 Samuel 2:1-10		Hannah’s song
Acts 16:11-15		Conversion of Lydia
Mark 3:31-35		The family of the Lord
Post Communion Sentence
You chose us, O God, in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before you in love.		Ephesians 1:4 (adapted)