Reading Diary A: Bible Women

I have always been really interested in Old Testament stories, so reading stories about various iconic Biblical Women caught my attention.

Two of my favorite stories in the first part of the Bible Women unit is the story of Sarah as well as Hagar. I think it is fascinating that Sarah did not believe the Lord, so her first instinct was to suggest Abraham to sleep with another woman and bare a child, all to ensure that Abraham is able to father a son. Reading both stories together helped me grasp how both children were conceived, and how each son was used for a different purpose. Another thing I was really intrigued by in the story of Sarah was how old not only she was, but also Abraham. Sarah was able to trust in the Lord and know that He would bare her a child, regardless of either of their ages. A quote from this portion of the unit that grabbed my attention was "At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." The Lord speaks this upon Sarah not once, but twice during the story. This show significant evidence that Sarah should trust in the Lord and believe that she will bare a son.

Another one of my favorite stories from the first portion of Bible Women is the story of Delilah. I have heard her story countless times, but it is still rather intriguing. Delilah (and Samson)'s story is a testament to the statement "Love/lust can make you do crazy things." Although Samson lied to her 3 times over, the force of love (or lust) that Samson was overcome with could not keep him from spilling the truth to Delilah. My favorite quote from the story is "Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart." To me, this is the turning point in their situation. Delilah has realized that she has finally been able to seduce him into giving her the real secret to his strength because Samson has revealed his soul to her. He is vulnerable and has fallen directly for Delilah's trickery.

 (Delilah and Samson, by Lucas Cranach)