Really Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs

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Product Details

More Lessons from Less-Than-Perfect Women

Eight women: the witch at Endor, Jael, the women "taken in adultery", Athaliah, Herodias, Tamar, The women with the "issue of blood", and Bathsheba.  A lot of these women aren't mentioned much in the Bible except for their one "claim to fame" act, but each women has some lessons we can learn from them.

I did enjoy the book. Liz starts out each chapter with a modern day story of the Biblical one, so of course, it isn't always true-to-life for today, but it does make it more real. However, she can get a bit graphic, so I would probably exercise some caution in letting too young of girls read the book.

But it was good to see how we can learn lessons from even the most wicked women like Athaliah and Herodias. At the end of every chapter she had a list of three or so things, along with Bible verses,  we could learn from these women and their stories. I want to share one point per chapter to give you an idea.

The Witch at Endor: Dead men tell no tales. The living God does.

Jael: Leaders do more than command--they do. Deborah went out with Barak to fight. Jael saw what needed to be done and did it. Sometimes we want to pray about a need or point fingers at someone else to have them do it, rather than going out and doing it ourselves.

The woman caught in adultery: Obedience and freedom walk hand in hand

Athaliah: Never confuse what is socially acceptable with what is right.

Bathsheba: Just say no. (I am never sure that Bathsheba was at fault in this story, but we also don't know that she tried to get out of her predicament either by trying to say no.)

Herodias: If someone gently points out your sin, don't chop her head off.

Tamar: In all things, our God reigns. (Tamar is in the ancestry of Jesus)

Woman with the issue of blood: Hope does not disappoint.

Now some of these points might make more sense if you read the whole chapter. If you're looking for a really deep in-depth study of these women told in a very serious, reverent way, this might not be the book for you, but if you're looking for a new perspective, then I'd try it. I enjoyed the book. There is a study guide at the end of the book that I think would be worth doing sometime as well.

This book was given me by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

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