Book Review: "Twelve Extraordinary Women"

Women’s role and treatment in the Bible is often a controversial topic. The feminist movement has created women who reject the Biblical role, consider it “less than,” and encourage women to step away from or completely reject the role God has created them for. Feminism is a movement masked in freedom for women, while criticizing the women who freely choose to live a Biblical life. In a world like this, so many women are unaware of the women of the Bible that God used and blessed in Extraordinary ways.

In John MacArthur’s book, Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You, MacArthur takes the reader through the lives of 12 influential women in both the Old Testament and New Testament, revealing aspects most don’t consider or see at first glance, and explaining how God used them for His glory as part of the heart of his plan.

He starts by diving into Eve’s life, followed by Sarah, Rahab, Ruth, and Hannah. From there, he jumped to the New Testament by writing about Mary (the mother of Jesus), Anna, the Samaritan Woman, Martha and Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Lydia.

This entire book was filled with epiphanies and realizations for me, and each week as I read through the chapters, I was filled with awe at God’s great plan for each of the women the chapter focused on.

Eve and Sarai didn’t trust their husband’s leadership and caused strife for themselves and others, Rahab and Ruth went against their culture, rejecting pagan Gods, and instead trusting in the one true God, Hannah and Mary had such strong faith in God and knew His Word so deeply in their hearts that He showered them with Blessings (Hannah with the son she so desired and more children after that, and Mary with the honor of being the mother of Jesus), Anna and the Samaritan Woman were able to witness Jesus as the Messianic fulfillment first, Martha and Mary learned directly from Jesus, and Mary Magdalene and Lydia became some of the first Christians.

This books goes much deeper than the surface level descriptions I give, but give you a glimpse into what you might see when reading this yourself. For me, I want to specifically touch on the chapters on Anna and how her story is an encouragement down the path I have been on for the last few years.

Anna was spiritually focused. She lived in the temple, and committed God’s Word not only to her heart, but to her life. She was considered a prophetess, which MacArthur explains does not specifically mean that she predicted the future, but instead that she spoke the Word of God. He explains that a “prophet” is any preacher who faithfully proclaims the Word of the God, so a prophetess is a “woman uniquely devoted to declaring the Word of God (p. 132).”

Because she knew the Bible, she knew the promises of a Messiah, and because she lived in the temple, she was aware that Simeon expected to see the Messiah before he died. So when she saw him blessing a baby, she knew that she witnessed the blessing on the Messiah himself.

Her persistence and faithfulness to God’s Word allowed her to witness something amazing. As a woman of God today, I desire to know God’s Word like Anna. I may never see Jesus’s return (or maybe I will, who knows!), but if I know God’s Word faithfully, I will see His fingerprints on my life and on the lives of those around me.

Anna’s faithfulness inspired me to continue learning God’s Word, immersing myself in it and in prayer. I want to commit His Word to my heart. I want to understand what His message is. I want to dive deep and learn everything I can about him. And, I want to share it with others.

I will never have as large of an impact as Anna has on any reader of scripture that has eyes to see and ears to hear, but I can impact my family, my friends, and my community. I can teach my daughters the importance of knowing scripture and theology. I can be an example of faith to my husband who has yet to fully commit his own life to Christ. I can encourage and shepherd women in my community who I spend time with.

I may never have seen the impact of Anna–or many of the other women listed in this book had I not picked this one up. I’m grateful that this was a book chosen for me in my Bible study, and that I have been able to experience it.

I would recommend this to any woman who seeks to find Biblical examples of how to live for God in our feminist-dominated culture. Despite popular opinion, it is 100% ok to reject society’s claims that we need not submit, that we can make anything a god, and that we only need to know a surface-level knowledge of the Bible to live a good life. This book and the accompanying study remind us of how God works through the ordinary for His extraordinary mission, important for any believer in a world such as ours.

Get your copy here.*

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