Day 126

Judges 4:1-5:31, John 4:43-5:15, Psalm 57:1-6

There must be plenty of jokes about pegs, but they would hide something much more important. Today is one in the eye for the men.

You may have already noted, and you certainly will over the rest of the year, that the Bible is very male dominated. For some this is a significant problem and for some it is merely contextual, biblical times were male dominated. If you hadn’t already noticed, Deborah was a woman, and (v4) “she was leading Israel at that time”. Margaret Thatcher may have been our first (and only) female prime minister but check Deborah out, she led the entire nation of Israel for at least 40 years, and she did it well.

And then, because he was being such an idiot, Barak does not get victory over Sisera, another woman does. Today really is one for the girls. Having had female queens, prime minister and business leaders, we may not find this hugely significant but it shows us that, whatever the context of the time, masculine or not, God does not have the divisions that people had (or still do have). Women could lead just as well as men and so God used them and blessed them with the spiritual gifts for the role to which He called them.

We could perhaps find the contrasts in the Gospel stories. A boy and a man are healed and yet let us remember the stories that we have already heard. The women with the bleeding who touched his cloak, Jairus’ daughter and others. Christ healed male and female alike, he had no distinction. Just look at the last two days and the long conversation with the Samaritan woman, John thought it was significant but for Jesus it was a chat with a beloved child of God.

Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. When we talk about equality, it is sometimes felt that it is putting men down a bit and we miss the fact that it is all about EQUALity. Like I said: Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. If you are male, you are a precious child of God. If you are female, you are a precious child of God. Be loved today.