Captivating

Arousing Adam
The Holy, Scandalous Women of the Bible

There are 5 women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. Now that might not strike you as a big deal, until you understand that women are never mentioned in those genealogies. It's always men. "The father of so-and-so, the son of so-and-so." They read like baseball cards. When Matthew adds a few women to the cast, it is a major and notable exception. These women are so important to God that He has the writer break all cultural norms and even open himself to criticism and dismissal in order to make a point: "Look here - these are really good women."

Of course, Mary the mother of Jesus is mentioned. There is also the Bible-study favorite, Ruth. And two others - Rahab and Tamar. What distinguishes these women? Different situation, different acts of obedience. Yet the common theme is this: Courage, Cunning and Stunning Vulnerability. Mary is an amazing young woman. Maybe fifteen or so. She accepts the mission God brings to her even though it will cost her dearly. Really now - a young girl known to be seeing an older man turns up pregnant, claiming she is impregnated by God? She is virtuous, but her choice will be seen by others as scandalous all her life. She makes herself vulnerable - staggering vulnerable (she could be stoned for this; certainly she will be abandoned and ostracized) - in order to follow God.

Tamar's story is difficult and beautiful, one we haven't time for here. But one worth wrestling with. (You can find it in Genesis 38.) She uses cunning in the face of men who are failing her badly in order to expose their sin and invite (not demand) them to come through. Rahab is another scandalous story. She's the woman who committed treason in order to walk with God and save her family. (She hid spies of Israel when they came to her city, Jericho, on a preinvasion reconnaissance mission - in open defiance of her government.) We haven't heard any Bible studies on that one, either. "When Treason Becomes Essential for a Woman." And there is Ruth. This is how I explained her story in Wild at Heart.

Ruth, as you remember, is the daughter-in-law of a Jewish woman named Naomi. Both woman have lost their husbands and are in a pretty bad way; they have no man looking out for them, their financial stauts is below the poverty line, and they are vulnerable in many other ways as well. Things begin to look up when Ruth catches the eye of a wealthy single man named Boaz. Boaz is a good man, this we know. He offers her some protection and some food. But Boaz is not giving Ruth what she really needs - a ring.

So what does Ruth do? She seduces him. Here's the scene: The men have been working dawn till dark to bring in the barley harvest; they just finished and now it's party time. Ruth takes a bubble bath and puts on a knockout dressl then she waits for the right moment. That moment happens to be late in the evening after Boaz has had a little too much to drink: "When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits..." (Ruth 3:7). "Good spirits" is in there for the more conservative readers. The man is drunk, which is evident from what he does next: pass out. "...he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile." (3:7) What happens next is simply scandalous, the verse continues,"Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down."

There is no possible reading of this passage that is "soft" or "nice." This is seduction pure and simple - and God holds it up for all women to follow when He not only gives Ruth her own book in the Bible but also names her in the genealogy. Yes, there are folks that'll try to tell you that it's perfectly common for a beautiful single woman "in that culture" to approach a single man (who's had too much to drink) in the middle of the night with no one else around (the far side of the grain pile) and tuck herself under the covers. They're the same folks who'll tell you that the Song of Solomon is nothing mroe than a "theological metaphor referring to Christ and his bride." Ask them what they do with passages like "Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. I said 'I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit' " (Song 7:7-8) That's a Bible Study, right?

No, I do not think Ruth and Boaz had sex that night; I do not think anything inappropriate happened at all. But this is no fellowship potluck, either. I'm telling you that the church has really crippled women when it tells them that their beauty if vain, and they are at their feminine best when they are "serving others." A woman is at her best when she is being a woman. Boaz needs a little help getting going and Ruth has some options. She can badger him: All you do is work work work. Why won't you stand up and be a man? She can whine about it: Boaz please hurry up and marry me. She can emasculate him: I thought you were a real man; I guess I was wrong Or she can use all she is as a woman to get him to use all he's got as a man. She can arouse, inspire, energize... seduce him. Ask your man what he'd prefer.

Now, am I suggesting that a single woman spend the night at her boyfriend's apartment in order to arouse him to marry her? No. Am I saying that a married woman ought to offer herself sexually to her husband even though he's been abusive to her? No. No more than the sotry of Peter walking on the water tells us all to get a boat, go out on a lake, and give it a try. The principle of the story is what matters here. Ruth takes a risk - a risk every woman knows - when she makes herself vulnerable and alluring to Boaz. She arouses him to play the man. She awakens his desire to be the Hero. That's the point.