In thinking about Lydia’s story, five divisions seemed to emerge.
Lydia’s destiny,
Lydia’s career as a dye merchant
Lydia’s desire to establish her own household
The dream God gave Paul to evangelize in Macedonia
And the dignity God settled on women in first century Palestine, and on Lydia, and the dignity the Apostle Paul also conferred on women and on Lydia

I Destiny, Acts 16:14
II Dye Merchant, Acts 16:14
III Desire, Acts 16:14
IV Dream, Acts 16:6-12
V Dignity, Acts 16:13-15

And through Lydia we learn that mature faith accepts God's crossing up of conventions--I first heard that taught in a BSF class, years ago, and I was struck with the simple wisdom in that statement.

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Tabitha’s story begins in Joppa, an ancient seaport along the Mediterranean. This is harbor city as the place Jonah fled to when he heard God’s call to Nineveh. Joppa’s international anchorage so well represented, Jonah knew he could board a ship to the farthest reaches of the west—in the opposite direction of Assyria—as soon as he arrived. Further back in its history, Joppa represented the territory allotted to the tribe of Dan in the book of Joshua.

Centuries afterward, when Solomon built his palace and the temple, the massive cedar logs he conscripted had to come through Joppa’s port, the only natural harbor between Egypt to the south and Akko to the north. Again, a thousand years later at the rebuilding of the temple, the lumber needed to come through Joppa.

Imagine a bustling metropolis, with thriving import-export trade, merchant families living in impressive homes, the sounds of creaking ships, gulls, languages from around the world, temples and houses of worship representing dozens of religions, wine bars and inns with an overflowing clientele of travelers and seafarers, an easy place to get lost in, to start over, to begin an adventure. Joppa also represented the meeting of many cultures, for though it was one Palestine’s most important port cities, and certainly Jerusalem’s most important, Joppa also bordered Samaria and occupied the Phoenician region.

Which brings us to the unique and intriguing story of a woman with dual citizenship, as it were, a woman known for her good deeds, the only woman who was actually called disciple in the entire Christian Testament, whose death rocked her Christian community to its core, and her deliverance by being raised back to life generated widespread belief in the Lord.

I Tabitha the Disciple, Acts 9:36
The Kingdom of God about the goodness of God that brings life to all who believe.

II Tabitha’s Death, Acts 9:37-39
The Kingdom of God is about hope in the kindness, goodness, and power of God.

III Tabitha’s Deliverance, Acts 9:40-42
The Kingdom of God is for all people.

To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Tabitha (Dorcas)"

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Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube
Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.

Grace and Peace, Joanne Website
Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view

Books by Joanne
"Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful"
"Love Feast"

Forty Freebies
If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Martha, Lazarus, and Mary were all disciples of Jesus, people who loved and followed Jesus, opened their home to Him, shared their table with Jesus in fellowship and enjoyed Jesus’ friendship as well as lived by Jesus’ teaching. Each had their own unique relationship with the Lord, yet together, as a family, they displayed all the aspects of a church.

Especially the sisters, Martha and Mary, teach you and me about blessing God as a whole body of believers.

Studying the Bible, learning the doctrines of the Christian faith, do not make a person wise, or strong in the faith. In fact, wisdom is not about knowing. Wisdom is about using what you know. In spiritual terms, the wise person is the one who lives out the truths they know, not necessarily the Bible scholar and theologian.

We might say Martha brought in the importance of right doing in her service to the Lord, and in right thinking as Jesus’ developed her faith in knowing the truth about His divinity.

Now enter Mary, who said few words, but whose passion and practice made a deep and lasting impact on Jesus’ heart and our understanding of discipleship.

We see her first sitting at the feet of Jesus, then kneeling at His feet, and finally anointing his feet.

I Sitting at Jesus’ Feet, Luke 10:38–42

II Kneeling at Jesus’ Feet, John 11:1–46

III Anointing Jesus’ Feet, Matthew 26:6–13, Mark 14:3–9, John 12:1-8

To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Mary of Bethany"

Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC

Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube
Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.

Grace and Peace, Joanne Website
Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view

Books by Joanne
"Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful"
"Love Feast"

Forty Freebies
If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...