Why do you think God preserved bad girl life stories in the Bible? Perhaps to illustrate “…so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). From the Garden, God gave instructions, consequences, and allowed his creations to make his decisions: faith in Him or eternity with the devil.
How could the beauty of all these bad girls be damned in the eyes of God? Why? For Jesus and the changed hearts of him. What encouraging words for us, that rich and wicked harlots, murderers, liars and queens are enumerated in the Word of God! Who wants to say that there is hope for you and me? Absolutely. You have a choice. Your past does not dictate your future or your eternity.
1.-TAMAR
One of Jacob’s 12 sons, Judah, married a Canaanite woman who had two sons. According to custom, Judah obtained Tamar as a wife for his eldest son, Er. But God called this boy evil and took his life. According to the law, Judah told his next son, Onan, to fulfill his duty as Tamar’s brother-in-law, to raise children for his brother. He refused, wasted his seed, and God took his life. Judah had a third son, but he told Tamar to go back to his father’s house and wait. This was ignoring Jewish law. But do you think God had a plan?
Tamar took off her widow’s clothes, covered her face, and dressed as a harlot. And when Judah saw her standing by the road, her flesh took care of her. Being a clever lady, she Tamar requested her seal and personal cord from her as payment. Three months later, Judah was informed that her daughter-in-law had become a harlot and she was pregnant. Judah yelled, “Pull her out and let them burn!”
Tamar sent the seal, the cord and the staff to Judah and he was man enough to admit: “It is fairer than me, since I did not give it to my son Shelah.” Read Genesis 38:6-30, Psalm 78:68-71, and Matthew 1:1-4 to discover why and where Tamar fits into God’s plan.
“And let your house be like the house of Pharez, the one Tamar gave birth to Judah, for the descendants that the Lord gives you from that young woman”, Ruth 4:12.
2.-THE LYING WIFE OF POTIPHAR
Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son. We know the story of his many-colored robe, his jealous brothers, the well, and Joseph’s inadvertent journey to Egypt. But through the warfare of Israel’s days, God protected the lineage of this nation.
Potiphar’s wife became a willing tool in the hands of the devil. The Bible tells us that Joseph was handsome and caught the sensual eye of Joseph’s master’s wife. God does not tell us her name, only the story of his endless seductions of this young woman. But Jose refused.
Then she set him up one day when they were home alone. When he refused, she threw a tantrum and lied. Her husband threw José in prison for years. But the Bible tells us, “But the Lord was with Joseph…and whatever he did, the Lord made him prosper,” Genesis 39. God raised Joseph up by putting him second in command of Egypt. Genesis 39-50 records how God used this faithful man, brought together and blessed this family of his own choosing.
3.-RAHAB
God’s chosen people crossed the Jordan into the promised land. Joshua was their leader and God commanded him to send two men as spies to see this land, “…especially Jericho.”
The spies stayed in the house of Rahab the harlot. But the king of Jericho was informed and sent men to arrest them. Rahab hid the two under flax stalks on her roof and lied to the king, telling him that the spies had left before the city gates were closed. Before the two men went to sleep, Rahab returned and professed his faith in the Lord God of heaven and earth. She asked if they would treat her and her father’s house kindly.
The spies ordered Rahab to hang a scarlet cord in her window and gather her entire family. Rahab and his family were saved when the walls of Jericho collapsed. The faith of Rahab, the harlot, is confirmed in Hebrews 11:31. Y Matthew 1: 5 confirms that this woman with a past figure in the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ through her marriage to Salmon and the birth of their son Boaz. Read Joshua 2 for the beginning of Rahab’s encounter with God and Israel.
«… But Joshua saved the life of Rahab the harlot, and her father’s house, and all that she had; and she dwelt among the Israelites to this day, because she hid the messengers that Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho », Joshua 6:25.
4.-JAEL
Fast forward to the times of the judges of Israel. A time when the children of Israel continually chose evil in the sight of the Lord. God sold his people into the hands of a Canaanite king whose commander was Sisera, a leader with 900 iron chariots who oppressed the children of Israel for 20 years.
Israel’s commander Barak, less than a mighty warrior, joked with Judge Deborah’s instructions from God to him… I will go to battle if you come with me. Deborah said, “I will go… but the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.”
God defeated Sisera’s army and this enemy commander fled to Jael’s tent. Her husband was at peace with the Canaanite king, but Jael invited this wicked fleeing commander into her tent, reassured him with kind words, fed him, and wooed him to sleep on the rug in his living room. She grabbed a hammer, drove a stake through his temple, and he died. The Bible blesses Jael forever in Judges 5:24-27. Read the story of Jael in Judges 4 and 5. Could God count on you being so bad when he calls you to serve him?
“Blessed be Jael among women, wife of Heber the Kenite; over women blessed be she in the tent », Judges 5:24.
5.-DALILA
The tale of Israel’s most colorful judge, Samson, features another really bad girl, Delilah. The Bible reveals that Samson was a Nazirite from the womb, but Samson had a great weakness. foreign women. And the Bible says that he loved Delilah. But Delilah also had a weakness…money.
She must have been a beauty in a persuasive way fueled by a desire for gold. She pleaded with Samson to tell her the secret of her great strength. But he pestered her with false stories, and time and time again she came back for more. Even though each time she enlisted the Philistines to take him captive.
The Bible tells us that his soul was upset to death and finally told him all that was on his heart. And this money-minded bad girl went straight to the Philistines, she collected the blood money from her and set the trap. Judges 13-15 give us the full story of Samson’s life…and Delilah, cold at heart, knew what the Philistines were planning, but she lulled Samson to sleep and rendered him helpless for the cash.
6.-JEZEBEL
Even today, the name of Jezebel paints an unattractive picture. Not many mothers name their daughters Jezebel. A foreign woman, daughter of Et-baal king of the Sidonians. Her father’s name defines the god that this cruel, pagan woman and her Jewish husband, King Ahab, worshiped.
His list of crimes included murdering the prophets of God. Bringing Baal worship to Israel. She killed a neighbor because her weak-minded husband wanted the man’s vineyard. And she issued a death sentence for the prophet of God, Elijah. If ever there was a bad girl who belonged to Satan, Jezebel was really his daughter.
But God counts our days… even the days of this bad girl. God anointed Jehu as king over Israel for the sole purpose of erasing the family line of Ahab and Jezebel. God even said, “And the dogs will eat Jezebel, and no one will bury her.” 1 Kings 16:29-43 sets the stage for this wicked queen. And 2 Kings 9 illustrates how God deals with those who continually choose evil.
7.-ATHALIA
Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah, followed in her mother’s footsteps: a devout worshiper of Baal. Married to Joram, king of Judah, her son Ahaziah inherited David’s throne when Joram died. But if ever there was a mother’s son, King Ahaziah filled the account. His mother advised him in all evil things. He reigned one year before Jehu, commanded by God, killed him.
Scripture tells us, “When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring,” 2 Kings 11:1. But one of Ahaziah’s sisters hid Ahaziah’s little son, Joash. This little girl and her nurse hid in the house of the Lord for six years while this dishonest woman usurped King David’s throne.
Joash was seven years old when the high priest gave the soldiers of Judah King David’s spears and placed the crown on his head. Queen Athaliah heard the cheers, saw the child, and yelled “Betrayal!” But her soldiers took her when she broke into the entrance of the king’s house. They killed her on the spot. If you think your mother-in-law is horrible… remember Athaliah. Details about this horrible period in Judah’s history can be found in 2 Kings 10 and 11.
8.-HERODIAS
In this day of no-fault divorce, John the Baptist’s condemnation of Herod Antipas and Herodias may cause some discomfort. Nevertheless, God is clear. He says, “I hate divorce.” Those of us who have lived long enough to see and experience the pain and consequences of divorce understand this. God instituted marriage at the beginning, a three-way covenant between God, a man and a woman, until death.
But Herod wanted his brother’s wife and she obviously agreed to the plan. John the Baptist ruined their illicit relationship when he rebuked Herod. And Herodias was furious enough to retaliate. She goaded Herod into throwing him into prison. And John sat in the dungeon while Herod and his friends celebrated the tetrarch’s birthday.
Herodias’s daughter danced before all these humble men and the Bible says that they liked her so much that Herod promised her whatever she wanted. And the mother asked her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a plate. Although she saddened Herod, the Bible says that he was too proud to reject her and immediately ordered John’s execution.
9.-THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
Traveling from Judah to Galilee, Jesus passed through Samaria at midday. Being tired, he sat down at Jacob’s well. There was a time when the right women came to fill their water jugs and that was in the cool of the morning, but the questionable ones came in the heat of the day to avoid accusing looks. The Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus asked her for a drink and she was amazed that this Hebrew even spoke to her.
Jesus told her that He was the Living Water and asked her, “Go call your husband.” She replied, “I don’t have a husband.” Jesus answered: «You have said it well… because you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband…». And Jesus revealed himself to her as the expected Messiah. She was so excited…