The Incredible, Powerful, Inspiring, & Engaging Story of Women in the Bible

By Jumoke Akinniranye

You will be inspired, challenged and encouraged to arise and journey with the Lord as women of the Bible did!

Join Jumoke Akinniranye in exploring the incredible, inspiring lives of many of the women in the Bible. In a time when women are searching for their true identity in God, this book will give you a good insight and understanding of the strength, gifting and weaknesses of these extraordinary women, allowing you to grasp the truth that they were ordinary woman, just like you, who chose to walk in the fullness of God's purpose for their lives.

This book will give you the confidence and assurance you need to boldly journey with the Lord as these women did – despite the challenges they had to confront and overcome. It will also show you how each of them was able to anchor their abilities and gifts to the Lord.

I believe that through this book you will receive a greater revelation of the Father's heart for women, which will help you in your journey with the Lord as you read it.

JUMOKE AKINNIRANYE is an accountant by profession. She was born in the UK and raised in Nigeria, the third child of Christian parents. She had a major encounter with the Lord in April 2009, spanning a continuous nine months, during which she received an unprecedented presence of God and was called into the offices of Apostle and Prophet. Jumoke resides in Hertfordshire, England with her two sons Ore and Seun.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jumoke Akinniranye
• Release date: Dec 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9780995575622

Book preview

Introduction

A revelation from the Lord on any subject completely changes our perspective, and I believe you will receive a greater revelation of the heart of God for women as you read this book. Before exploring the lives of these inspiring and incredible women, I want to share with you the heart of the Father for women, to enable you to lay a proper foundation in your heart. From the beginning, we see that the Lord created male and female in His image and after His likeness. Even though the Bible is clear that the woman was drawn out of the man as a suitable helper, it is evident from how all the other creatures originated, that the female species was not an afterthought. The Father commanded the land to produce all manner of living creatures (both male and female) according to their kind. Therefore, the Father purposely left the woman to last, as she wasn’t to be formed out of the ground like Adam and all the other living creatures. As a unique and extraordinary race, the Lord had purposed to draw her out of the man – the only creature formed in that manner.

In drawing the woman out of Adam, the Lord ensured that she was created in His image. The Father then went on to bless this woman, as He did Adam, to rule and have dominion over all living creatures; giving the woman authority and dominion over the work of His hand. The Father has such confidence in this woman that He also blessed her, sending her forth to go and be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth – something that would never have been possible without this unique race! Like all great inventors who seek to fill a need, the Lord needed a vehicle to not only help in ruling and having dominion over the earth, but would also be critical in the Lord’s purpose to fill the earth with the human race. Therefore the woman was a significant part of the original plan!

In creating this woman, the Father did not make her a little lower than Adam, but equal to Adam, both physically and spiritually, with the ability to have a personal relationship with God as well as with the man. Therefore, as women, we need a clear understanding of the Father’s heart from the onset and choose to live our lives from that platform. We have to understand that we were not created as second class citizens, but created in the image of the Father, graced with gifts and abilities that are capable of moving Heaven and Earth. As women, it is also important to know that we were created to complement man and not to compete with man – since we both reflect the image of the Father – which mean that there are qualities in the woman that reflect the image of the Father, that are not found in man and vice versa; while we know that Christ alone is the perfect reflection of the Father.

As you read this book, I implore you to see women as the Lord intended and created them to be – not some complex creatures that cannot be understood, but rather a reflection of part of the image of the Father that must be embraced and appreciated.

In the New Testament, we see the heart of the Father unfold as our Lord Jesus Christ enters His ministry on earth and intentionally extends a heart of compassion to the women He encounters. The Lord had an uncanny ability to connect with women wherever He went, confidently dialoguing with them, and gently but intentionally unveiling the person they were in the spirit, bringing it to the surface for all to see. He was not only comfortable at healing, delivering and making them whole as their King and Redeemer, the Lord was also comfortable for His ministry to be supported financially by a group of women. On many occasion He purposely shared specific spiritual revelation with women He met along the way, many of whom had colourful and challenging pasts, without allowing their history to dictate the way He related to them. The Lord had a unique way of drawing them from their past and present circumstances into their God-ordained purposes.

While I believe the culture of the day might have dictated the fact that all His twelve disciples were men, throughout Jesus’ ministry we see women being called into their purpose, like the Samaritan woman at the well in the Town of Sychar who became an evangelist to the whole region of Samaria; or Mary Magdalene who became one of the women who supported His ministry in many ways following her deliverance by the Lord. All the women Jesus encountered, he took on a journey of overcoming and becoming all that they were called to be in the Lord. None was left the same.

At creation, the Father gave the woman the unique role of bringing forth, be it physically or spiritually, calling the woman the Mother of all living. The Father had entrusted the woman with so much, but the effect of the Fall and the curse that followed has not helped the plight of women everywhere. The Lord Jesus, in recognition of this, sought during His ministry to commence the process of restoring women to God’s original mandate to rule and have dominion, instead of being ruled according to the curse. While we have to respect and honour the culture of our day, we are never to allow that culture to dictate who we are in God.

In this book, as we explore the lives of these women and seek to learn from their journeys with the Lord, it is impossible not to draw a parallel to our own lives, realising that they were ordinary women who were called out by the Lord in their daily living to live extraordinary lives. There are many biblical female characters explored in this book, and I encourage you to prayerfully identify one or more of these women that you identify with, or maybe admire the grace and abilities in their lives, praying that the Lord fill you with the same grace. As you pray, understand that most of these women had a long walk with the Lord to anchor that grace and those abilities. Therefore, be encouraged and patient during this process as the Lord does His great work in you as He did for these women in the Bible.

My prayer is that in our generation and the generations to come, that the Father will continue His great work of restoring women to His original mandate.

Eve

From Disobedience To Abandonment To The Lord

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man and he brought her to the man.

(Genesis 2:22)

Having created all things in His image, the Lord left the best thing till last. Eve was not an afterthought, as most have imagined, but was carefully planned by the Father. After all His work of creating the heavens and the earth, and setting in place the Garden of Eden, the Father, noticing the lack of a companion for Adam, promised him a suitable helper to ensure that Adam was no longer alone. This suitable helper was created in the image of the Father, just like Adam. This beautiful companion was also to share in having authority and dominion over all of God’s creation. In other words, this helper would not only be Adam’s companion in having rulership over God’s creation, but also help Adam to work the ground of the Garden of Eden.

This helper was formed and fashioned by the hand of the Lord God Almighty Himself. Like Adam, at the time there was nothing to compare the helper to – the Lord had never done anything like it before. In creating this helper, the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam and reached into Adam, drawing one of his ribs in order to form this helper. When the Lord presented her to Adam, he exclaimed this is the bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called a woman. Adam immediately loved this lady, who completed the work of creation!

Notice Adam’s response as God presents the woman. For the first time we see man’s inbuilt ability to speak out of his spirit. Adam was immediately aware that the woman was drawn from him. That single piece of knowledge might have enabled Adam to trust this woman completely. He had an inner knowing that she was flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. This woman was a complete part of Adam. The very truth that she was the bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, in itself, commanded his trust. If men would enter into that true revelation, the world would be a better place!

This first woman never knew the joy of childhood, but was created a grown woman. Neither did she ever experience the freedom of singleness, but rather was created a suitable helper and companion – she was created to fill a need it seemed! This woman was called a wife, created in the image of the Father. She was to share responsibility with Adam in looking after the garden, enjoying close fellowship with the Father and having dominion over all of God’s creation. This woman was created with an inbuilt confidence to engage, not only with her husband, but also with the Father, as well as all the creatures in the Garden of Eden. Perhaps to Adam, in agreement with God’s word to him, Eve was simply a suitable helper, but to the Father she was not only a suitable helper for Adam – God had purposed her to be the Mother of all generations to come.

We are not told how long this woman was in the Garden of Eden before having her conversation with the serpent, but we discover that she was not intimidated to engage with the snake. Through her conversation with the serpent, it is clear that Adam had shared with this wife all that the Lord had spoken to him about: it was Adam that the Lord instructed not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, well before God created the woman. Adam must have been walking his wife through the garden, sharing all that the Lord had said to him. Therefore, this woman was well informed enough to have an intelligent conversation with the serpent on the issue of eating the fruit of this tree. The convincing argument from the serpent that the fruit of this tree was not only pleasing to the eyes, but also desirable for gaining wisdom, somehow convinced Eve that she and Adam could only gain from eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, what Eve didn’t realise was that both the good and the evil of this tree carried the ability to kill them spiritually.

Her confidence to engage with the serpent in Adam’s presence was enough to convince her husband to eat of the forbidden fruit, disobeying God’s instruction to him. This woman was created with the ability to reason, engage and convince others – enough to lead Adam astray, not that he needed much convincing. As the Bible says, This woman also gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her, and he ate it When I read this passage of Scripture, I realised that the Lord Himself had placed those abilities in this extraordinary woman. They were qualities and strengths that she needed in her life, otherwise the Lord wouldn’t have given her those abilities. But at the time, those strengths were not fully anchored in the Lord God Almighty, therefore the serpent was able to persuade her to misuse her power. Had her abilities been anchored in the Lord, they could have been better used and the woman would have been able to put the serpent in his rightful place, thereby retaining their home in the garden. This is one of the greatest lessons we can learn from the life of this extraordinary woman: we don’t only have to identify our God-given strength and abilities, but we must also