When people ask me where the Bible shows women leading, I do not start with an argument. I start with names.
Here are five women Scripture places in positions of real authority. Look each one up and read the chapter around her, not only the verse.
1. Deborah, who led a nation
Read: Judges 4 and 5
Deborah was a prophet and a judge over Israel. People came to her to have their disputes decided. When it was time for battle, the commander Barak refused to go unless she went with him.
The text gives no apology for her and no explanation. She leads, and the land has peace for forty years.
2. Huldah, who spoke for God to a king
Read: 2 Kings 22:8-20
When the lost Book of the Law was found in the temple, King Josiah sent his highest officials to ask what it meant. They went to Huldah.
Her answer set the course for one of the great reforms in Israel’s history. Jeremiah was alive at the time. They still went to her.
3. Priscilla, who taught a preacher
Read: Acts 18:24-28 and Romans 16:3-5
Apollos was a gifted, educated speaker who had part of the story wrong. Priscilla and her husband Aquila took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately.
Paul calls her his co-worker, and a church met in her home. In most places the two are mentioned, her name comes first.
4. Phoebe, a deacon Paul trusted
Read: Romans 16:1-2
Paul introduces Phoebe as a deacon of the church in Cenchreae and a benefactor to many, himself included. He tells the Roman believers to receive her and give her whatever help she needs.
Many scholars believe she carried the letter to Rome. If so, the first person to deliver Romans to its readers was a woman.
5. Junia, counted among the apostles
Read: Romans 16:7
Paul greets Andronicus and Junia as fellow believers who were in prison with him and who followed Christ before he did. He describes them as outstanding among the apostles.
This verse is debated. Some translations read it as “well known to the apostles,” and for centuries many translations gave her name in a man’s form, Junias. It is worth reading in more than one translation and asking why.
And one more
On the first Easter morning, the risen Jesus gave the news to Mary Magdalene and told her to go and tell the others (John 20:11-18). The first person sent to announce the resurrection was a woman, sent by Jesus himself.
What about the hard verses?
They are real, and I am not asking anyone to skip them. Read 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14 in full. Then hold them beside these six women and ask how the same Bible holds both.
Christians who love Scripture land in different places on that question. I only ask that we read all of it, in context, before we decide.
Which of these women had you never heard preached? Tell me in the comments.
See you Sunday.