God is the God of the forgotten. When He continually told Israel to care for the poor, the orphaned, the widow, and the stranger, He was targeting marginalized groups. It is, therefore, not surprising that God would care for unloved women, marginalized by their husbands or by society. The Bible gives us several examples of such women. Some were unloved wives, one was abused and used by her masters, another was in a sinful situation, and one was marginalized due to her health condition. All their stories are heartbreaking, but God’s love for each of them is undeniable.
Let’s explore each woman’s story in turn.
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1) Hagar: The Outcast Servant
Abraham and Sarah are known as heroes of the faith, but like all people, they were wholly imperfect. In their efforts to “help” God with His promise to give them an heir, Abraham and Sarah used and abused a young girl for their own purposes. Abraham, at Sarah’s bidding, slept with Hagar so they could have a child of their own, and she became pregnant with Ishmael. As an Egyptian servant, Hagar had no say in the plan and became a pawn in the marital conflict between her master and his wife. Even though it was culturally normal for the time, forcefully impregnating a servant girl was never God-designed nor sanctioned.
Ishmael’s conception socially elevated Hagar, leading her to look at Sarah with contempt. In response, Sarah began mistreating Hagar. The abuse must have become unbearable, so Hagar fled. There were no social safeguards back then, and fleeing without the help of family was practically a death sentence. But someone went looking for her and “found her by a spring of water.” It wasn’t Abraham or his servants; it was God. Through His angel, He encouraged her and asked her to return. Because of His tender care for her, Hagar called Him, “El-Roi, the God Who Sees Me.”
That would not be the end of Hagar’s troubles. After Sarah had her own biological son, she no longer wanted Hagar and her son around. This time, God allowed Abraham to send Hagar away, but He did not abandon her. He found her once again in the wilderness, desperate for the life of her son. God reassured her that He would watch over him and that he had quite the future ahead of him. People, even Bible heroes, might have forgotten Hagar, but God never did.
Read the full story in Genesis 16:1-16 and Genesis 21:8-21
2) Leah: The Unloved Wife
Imagine having to share your husband with your sister and knowing he favored her over you? Such was the life of Leah. Before there was even a wedding, everyone must have known how much Jacob loved Rachel, Leah’s younger sister. He was willing to work for seven years for her hand in marriage after all. But Leah’s father had other plans. He gave Leah to Jacob instead on their wedding day, tricking Jacob. He was not satisfied with Leah; he wanted Rachel. Laban agreed to give him the younger daughter if Jacob was willing to work for him another seven years. Jacob agreed, and Rachel became his wife as well.
“So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.” Genesis 29:30
Leah was unseen by Jacob; he only had eyes for Rachel. But she was not unseen by God. The scripture tells us that because Jacob did not love Leah, God opened up her womb. Leah would bear six sons and one daughter for Jacob. While she always hoped that by giving Jacob sons, he would eventually love her, that never came to pass. But God would reward Leah in ways even she could not have foreseen. From her seed would come the royal line of King David and ultimately to the King of kings, Jesus. God’s son would be born from the line of the unloved wife.
Read the full story in Genesis 29:1-35 through Genesis 33:30
3) Tamar: The Bold Daughter-in-Law
A cursory reading of Tamar’s story might lead us to miss God’s hand in her story. The author doesn’t tell us directly how God felt about her actions or predicament, but context sheds light on the matter.
Her painful story begins with Tamar’s first husband, Er, who was evil, so God killed him. Tamar remarried her dead husband’s brother per common law (that would later become part of the law of Moses). He was no better than the first husband. To avoid fulfilling his duty, he would spill his semen during intercourse and intentionally kept Tamar from bearing any children. Why? So as not to produce an heir that would carry his brother’s name. God killed him, too.
There was one more son Tamar could marry, but he was not yet of age. Judah, the family patriarch and the father of Tamar’s husbands, promised her this third son once he was old enough. But Judah had no intention of following through. He sent Tamar back to her home with false promises, relegating her to a life of poverty and keeping her from what was rightfully hers.
But the story does not end there. In a crazy twist, Tamar exposes Judah most unusually. When he was returning from a sheep-shearing celebration, and likely drunk, he found Tamar by the side of the road. Except he didn’t recognize his daughter-in-law, who had strategically veiled herself. He thought she was a prostitute and solicited her to sleep with him. She agreed in exchange for his signet, a cord, and his staff—items that would identify him as the owner.
A few months later, Judah gets word that his daughter-in-law is pregnant. In a blaze of righteous indignation, he orders her brought to him to burn her alive. But Tamar came prepared. She brought Judah’s belongings, identifying him as the man who had slept with her. Judah had no choice but to recognize his own moral failings.
In the story, God is silent about Tamar, but His silence is actually very telling. In this same story, God was clearly dissatisfied with her two husbands, and He killed them, but He is silent about her methods of exposing Judah. In addition, Tamar is only one of five women named in Jesus’ genealogy. Genealogies at that time and culture usually included only the male line. But in the book of Matthew, the God-inspired author names four ladies. Tamar appears alongside these Bible heroes: Rahab, Ruth, and Mary. (Note the line “the wife of Uriah” is also mentioned, but her name, Bathsheba, is not given. I will relate my theory on why that is in another article).
God appears to have elevated Tamar to this very distinct honor. She was a woman married to two awful men who was then denied what was rightfully hers from the family patriarch. She was dismissed by the men who were meant to protect her. But she was not dismissed by God. We will remember her name for eternity.
4) The Woman at the Well
If you were Jesus, and you were going to pick the first female evangelist of the Gospel, who would you choose? I don’t think most Christians would pick the woman at the well. And yet that is exactly who Jesus chose.
We find out early in the story that Jesus had to go through Samaria on His way through Galilee. That is a weird statement because pious Jews usually didn’t travel through Samaria; the common route was to take the long route around. So, the reason Jesus had to go that way was probably that He had a divine appointment with a certain individual.
Upon reaching the town of Sychar, He and His disciples stopped at a well. The disciples leave to get some grub, and Jesus chooses to stay behind. In the middle of the day, when the sun is blazing down, a woman approaches the well alone. Most “good” Jewish men would see all the signs. A woman coming to the well without company in the middle of the day was a woman of ill repute. Women would generally get water in the morning with other women. Hence, if this woman approached alone, it was because no one wanted to be associated with her. Unless, of course, you are the King of kings.
In the exchange between Jesus and the woman, we learn that she did indeed have a history—a history that included several husbands. Jesus doesn’t sweep her sin under the rug, but He does proceed to do something other rabbis would not have done. He engages her in a discussion about theology and then reveals to her that He is the messiah.
Her response? She leaves everything and runs to tell the town her testimony, enticing others to go meet this peculiar rabbi who claimed to be the Messiah. They were not disappointed.
While the townspeople wanted nothing to do with her, Jesus chose her for a special mission. He didn’t discard her like used goods. He brought her into His fold.
For a deeper dive into her story, read my article, “Jesus Empowered the Woman at the Well.” For an even deeper dive, download my Bible study on the woman at the well.
Read her full story in John 4:1-45
5) The Woman with the Issue of Blood
The woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8 is another story where many miss its full significance. It is easy to miss because it does require a bit of Old Testament knowledge.
In this story, the Bible relates how a woman who had an ongoing health issue for twelve years approached Jesus and touched the hem of His garment. Believing that she could be healed by just touching a piece of his clothing, she pushed her way through the throng that was surrounding him. Jesus turns and asks who touched Him. Peter, as confused as I would have been in that situation, thinks, “What do you mean who touched me?” and says, “You are surrounded by people pressing against you!”
But Jesus wasn’t talking about just anyone. He was talking about the woman who was healed the moment her hand touched his garment. In that instant, He could feel the power leaving His body.
There is more to this story.
At this point in history, the Jewish people were still bound by Old Testament law, and the woman with the issue of blood had to abide by all of God’s commandments. That included the very specific laws of what women were to do during menstruation. Women and anyone with bodily discharges (which could include men) were considered ceremonially unclean until the discharge cleared and then a few days afterward. They couldn’t worship in the Temple, and they couldn’t touch anyone else, lest they would make them unclean.
What does that mean for the woman? It means she was denied physical touch and affection for the duration of her illness. Her family and society would have marginalized her, lest she contaminate them as well. Furthermore, when she went into that crowd, she was deliberately disobeying God’s laws.
But what is Jesus’ response? Does He condemn her? Does He chide her? On the contrary, He praises her faith. His response tells us that He understood her desperate circumstances. In her loneliness, in her desperation, Jesus saw her.
For a deeper dive into her story, read my article, “Jesus Honors the Woman with the Issue of Blood.” For an even deeper dive, download my Bible study on the Woman with the Issue of Blood.
Read her full story in Luke 8:40-56.
The God for Marginalized Women
These stories are a reminder of how the God of the Bible doesn’t forget those who have been marginalized and forgotten. Women often live at the mercy of men, and more often than not, they are not given the care and protection that they are due. But that is because we live in a sinful world; it is not God’s desire. On the contrary, these five women teach us that God sees women, especially those who have been forgotten and cast aside. And He understands that sometimes they are forced into sinful situations (like in the case of Tamar), out of desperation when men failed them.
So if you feel like one of these women, if one of their stories resonates with you, seek the God who protected these women. Seek the God of the Bible and the King of kings who says, “Come to me, for I am the fountain of living water.”
If you like this content, you might also enjoy my 12-week Bible Study available on Amazon and Etsy (paperback. ebook, and PDF).
