I just finished reading John MacArthur’s latest book, Twelve Extraordinary Women. This is a fascinating account of the lives of some of the more prominent women in Scripture. Unfolding the verses that tell their stories, MacArthur does a phenomenal job illuminating what is most interesting and inspiring about these women. The twelve he chose include: Eve, Sarah, Rahab, Ruth, Hannah, Mary (the mother of Jesus), Anna, the Samaritan woman, Martha and Mary (sisters of Lazarus), Mary Magdalene, and Lydia. I used to think that back in Bible times women were degraded and reduced to a lower status than men. But MacArthur explains well that Scripture never puts women on a secondary level, discounts their importance or gifts, but speaks of them in honor and commends the faithfulness of them who follow the Lord.

Each chapter of this book is dedicated to one of the twelve women. MacArthur briefly but deeply reveals what was extraordinary about their lives. What set these women apart was not anything they did or accomplished, but resoundingly God’s saving work in their lives. These women are all characterized by a deep love for God, their faithfulness to follow Him, and the hope they had either for the Savior to come, or in the saving work He accomplished for them on the cross.

Not knowing many details about them, I was fascinated by the chapters about Eve and Anna. I had a lot of preconceived conclusions about women like Ruth, Hannah and Rahab and this book really helped me see how God shaped their lives for His purpose. I was also interested to learn that so many of the women can be found in the genealogy of Jesus!

My favorite of the twelve was chapter eight, “The Samaritan Woman: Finding the Water of Life”. I am very familiar with this story, but never thought there was anything particularly remarkable about it. An outcast woman who meets Jesus at the well, He tells her facts about her life that convict her, and she tells others to come meet Him. In this chapter MacArthur unfolds details and background that I never knew before. The Jews considered the Samaritans to be unclean and had nothing to do with them. It was outrageous that Jesus would travel through their land let alone drink water from a strange woman. His encounter with this woman was intentional and had a marvelous impact. For some reason, Jesus chose to reveal to her His identity as the Messiah.

I find the conversation between Jesus and this woman to be very extraordinary. He approached her with tender truthfulness and she was never the same. He confronts her sin of adultery and in doing so her deep need for a Savior. She could not hide anything from Him, but her heart and life were exposed to Him. She is intrigued when Jesus tells her of the living water that He has to offer: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The Holy Spirit was obviously working in her heart because by the end of this amazing conversation she had run back to her town to tell the people what Jesus had said. MacArthur says, “Her response was typical of new believers, one of the evidences of authentic faith. The person who has just had the burden of sin and guilt lifted always wants to share the good news with others.” This is a refreshing and inspiring story of the exuberance of faith, impact of freedom from sin and amazing revival that can be spurred on by proclamation of the Truth.

This is just a glimpse of one of twelve incredible women who were changed by the Holy Spirit from the inside out and dynamically used by God. These women were nothing special in and of themselves. Ultimately their lives bear testimony to the glorious work of salvation and of God “the truly extraordinary one…” In his introduction MacArthur prayerfully urges that as you read this book you will “share their faith, imitate their faithfulness, and learn to love the Savior…” By His grace we can be used extraordinarily too!