Unknown, unnamed, and unsung heroines in the Bible – these are the kind of women we should be. Today, as I write this, we’re living in a time that’ll be remembered forever. It’s a time where women like us need to do what God asks, not caring about man’s applause. For the next several weeks I’m going to be writing about women in the Bible and today we’re starting with Scriptures 7 unknown heroines.
As you read their stories, ask God what He wants you to learn.
These 7 women didn’t know how much their obedience would impact, they just obeyed.
Friend, will you be the next unsung female hero? Will you be obedient to God no matter what He asks?
Everything the 7 women in today’s post did, had an eternal impact and played a significant role in God’s story.
Will you step out, willing to be an unsung hero?
Unsung Old Testament Heroines
Shiphrah and Puah, The Unknown Heroines Who Saved Israel
These women played a huge role in Israels freedom story. Why?
Because these women feared God more than their wicked Egyptian ruler who said to them in Numbers 1:16:
“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”
Can you imagine being told something like that?
We’re to obey our rulers except when they instruct us to violate God’s commands. What these two unsung heroes of the Bible did was bold.
Their response in Exodus 1:19-21 reads:
“The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.’ So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.”
These two unsung Bible heroines were bold and without knowing it, saved the baby who’d lead Israel to the Promised Land.
Their trust in God led these unknown female heroes to do what was right, despite what it may have cost them.
Devotional Question
Print a PDF with the 7 Unsung Bible Heroines devotion questions here.
- Have you ever had someone tell you to do something that wasn’t right?
- How’d you respond?
- Do you feel bold enough to stand up for what God says is right, even if it may cost you your life, job, or something you value?
Friend, just as God cared for these women, God will care for you.
Jehosheba, The Brave & Unknown Heroine
We meet Jehosheba right after we meet a wicked woman named Athaliah (she was Jezebel’s daughter). Athaliah had killed all the males in Judah’s royal family except for one little baby.
This little boy, Joash, was saved by Jehosheba.
Both 2 Kings 11:3 and 2 Chronicles 22:1 tell us that Jehosheba saved the life of the last heir to Judah’s throne.
What’s important about this?
This unknown Bible heroine saved the life of David’s great-grandson (with 6 greats added on).
This is significant because God promised that He would establish the “throne of his kingdom forever.” 2 Samuel 7:12-16
Jesus fulfilled this promise and this wouldn’t have happened if Jehosheba hadn’t saved Joash.
This unsung female Bible heroine played a very important role in God’s promise to David and us.
Remember, fanfare, recognition, & the applause of many aren’t necessary for a single good act to have ripple effects that touch millions
Devotional Question
- Has someone done a good deed for you that’s impacted more than just you?
- What about you, do you look for opportunities to do good and do them just because it’s the right thing to do?
- Why or why not?
Did you remember to print the 7 Unsung Bible Heroines devotion questions? Get it here.
Deborah, An Unsung Female Leader
Deborah was an amazing unsung female leader in the Bible and she’s the only female leader that I’m aware of. She became Israel’s judge (aka leader) while Jabin, king of Canaan, had Israel in captivity.
Living in captivity wasn’t a new thing for Israel. They went through cycles of turning from God, going into captivity, crying out for God’s help, being delivered, and then following God again.
It’s one of these bouts of captivity where Deborah’s introduced.
The Canaanite king had been oppressing Israel for 20 years when we’re told: “then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help…” Judges 4:3
It’s in the next verse where Deborah’s introduced. It reads: “Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.” Judges 4:4-24
Deborah called for a man named Barak and reminded him that God had instructed him to deliver Israel. This man was called of God to deliver Israel but God used a woman to lead him into battle and to support him in the battle.
In Judges 5, Deborah and Barak break into song praising God for again freeing Israel. Throughout this song, Deborah is mentioned as Israel’s mother who led them to victory and caused them to wake up.
What can we learn from this unknown heroine in the Bible?
Deborah’s story shows us that God’s okay with women leaders and that He’ll use them to do whatever’s needed.
Godly women can become leaders of countries, call men into action, and be a support to men who’re doing the work God’s called them to. This unknown heroine of the Bible shows us that women lead, support, call to action, and ignite praise to God.
Devotional Question
Maybe you feel invisible and unknown right now. If so, know that God sees you and your work. No matter what work God has called you to, it can be used mightily by God.
Now, take a minute and read Judges 4 & 5 and then answer these questions:
- What do you see Deborah doing in these two chapters?
- How has God called you to similar tasks?
- Of the things you do that feel unnoticed, how could they be used by God?
Spend some time praying and asking God to show you how you can be used by Him. If you’re uncertain of how to pray, try one of the ways to pray Scripture in this post.
Jael, Unknown Heroine Who Brought Freedom
After I’d compiled the list of underrated heroes in the Bible, I realized that two of the women were part of the same story. Yup, Deborah and Jael were both unknown Bible heroines in the same story.
Deborah was the unknown heroine who started the battle to free Israel from bondage and Jael was the unknown female who ended the battle.
As the battle between Israel and Canaan was in full force Sisera, the leader of the Canaanite army, asks to hide in Jael’s tent (her husband was Sisera’s friend). What does this unknown heroine do?
Judges 4:21 says:
“But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.”
Umm, what?!
This unknown woman in the Bible was used by God to unconventionally end Israel’s battle for freedom.
The next place you hear of Jael is in Judges 5:24-27 where Deborah is singing praise to God and says:
“Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed.”
Jael was a wife, sitting quietly at home, waiting for her husband, and likely tending to her household. What does God do?
He sends an army leader into her home and tells Jael to kill him. We barely know anything about Jael except that she was used by God.
Dear friend, know that God can use you, He wants to use you. No matter what you spend your days tending to, you can be used by God.
Devotional Question
Read Judges 4:17-22 and 5:24-28.
- What do you learn about Jael from these verses?
Next,
- Write a prayer to God expressing your thankfulness and willingness to be used by Him.
It’s okay to ask God to use you and to express some ways you’d like to be used. Remember, oftentimes being used by God involves doing great things that largely go unnoticed.
Rejoice in those things and know that they’re part of God’s grand story. Friend, you don’t have to know what happens in the next chapter of God’s story, just allow God to use you in it.
Unknown Female Heroines in the New Testament
Anna, An Unsung Heroine Who Shared Hope
The Bible tells us Anna was a prophetess who, after her husband died, spent her entire life in the temple worshipping, praying, and fasting.
Then one day, the Holy Spirit led this unknown Bible heroine to where baby Jesus and His parents were in the temple. It’s what happened when Anna got there, that makes her so special. Luke 2:38 says:
“And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
After seeing Jesus this old lady began to share the hope of Jesus with everyone. Here, Jesus was barely a week old and Anna was telling everyone “your Redeemer has come.”
She’s an unsung Bible heroine we all should strive to emulate.
Devotional Question
- Who do you know who’s not saved?
Make a list and ask the Holy Spirit who He wants you to share Jesus with. Then, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you pursue growing your relationship with this person. While you’re pursuing a relationship with them, continually ask the Holy Spirit to show you when and how to share Jesus with them.
The opportunity to share Jesus comes when we lovingly pursue others as God pursued us.
Lydia, The Unknown Heroine Who Chose Christ
This unknown female heroine is easy to miss because she’s only mentioned in three verses and her heroic acts aren’t “front and center.”
So, what makes Lydia a heroine?
Let’s look at Acts 16:14-15
“One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us.”
First, she was a successful businesswoman who was running what would have been a very profitable business, selling purple goods. Things of this color were so costly that only royalty and the wealthy could afford it.
But Lydia set her business aside and focused on something more valuable than purple goods.
She focused on Jesus.
This focus led her and her household to be baptized. She deemed faith in God important enough to share it with her entire household. Scripture doesn’t tell us who was in Lydia’s household.
It only tells us Lydia was bold enough to set her work aside to spend time learning about Jesus and she was heroic enough to carry this message to her entire household.
She may go unnoticed by many but this unknown heroine led countless members of her household to the Lord.
There’s nothing more heroic than setting work aside to help the lost find their way to Christ.
Devotional Question
- Do you set your work aside in order to grow your relationship with Christ?
- If so, what’s this look like?
- If not, why not?
- What’s more valuable than your relationship with Christ?
- Who in your family doesn’t know Jesus?
- What might happen if you were purposeful about carrying the hope of Jesus to them?
Conclusion
Seven unknown heroine’s of the Bible, all women who played a significant yet different role. These women were leaders, helpers, business owners, home-makers, and more. Their lives were different and the ways God used each of them were also different. But dear friend, these women are also you and me.
Today our roles look a lot different than they did when these women were alive but the work God has for us is the same.
Every single day we have the opportunity to be an unknown heroine who’s following God’s lead and doing whatever He asks of us.
For some of you, this might involve leading your family to Christ and for others, it might involve the way you lead employees at a large Fortune 500 company.
- No matter what your day holds, will you ask God to use you?
Remember, it’s okay to do things that appear to go unnoticed. Because God, my friend, notices everything you do and His reward for a job well done far surpasses man’s applause.
Until next time remember what it says in Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Are you ready to be an unknown heroine like the 7 unknown heroine’s in the Bible?
Place yourself in God’s hands and allow Him to guide and direct you.
There’s nothing better than being an unknown heroine who lives her life in step with God.
If you’d like a PDF with the devotion questions in today’s unknown heroines post, you can download it here.
