Nuggets of Scripture that help me think about women in ministry

By Dean Collins

It doesn’t happen every day, but it happens more than it used to.

Older readers might think I must be referring to failing body parts like knees that give out or eyes that get blurry, but I’m not talking about experiences that increase with age. And younger readers might think I’m talking about those rare nights when they wake up and realize the kids didn’t call for them in the dark, and they actually got a full night of sleep. But that’s not it, either.

I’m referring to something that happens when we continue to read Scripture. I’m not even suggesting studying Scripture, although that has value. Just the practice of daily reading the Bible will support continued spiritual growth and the wonderful experience of discovering something there you’ve never seen before.

Just the practice of daily reading the Bible
will support spiritual growth and lead to delightful, new discoveries.

Now let me make a confession. Not just once but several times when I get to long lists of names or seemingly endless details about Old Testament laws or worship, I have skimmed or even skipped some verses! But sometimes when I plowed or plodded through these passages I discovered something I’d never seen. Here’s an example. (Maybe this is one of your memory verses, but I doubt it.)

“He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting” (Exodus 38:8).

This verse appears a couple of chapters after Moses first told everyone to bring their donations of gold, bronze, and silver so that Bezalel the craftsman could design and build the tabernacle including its interior features. And as you recall, the children of Israel brought so much that Moses had to tell them to stop. And then in chapter 38 we get an interesting nugget. Some women are mentioned as having donated their bronze mirrors to the cause. And we also learn they were involved in ministry at the entrance of the tabernacle.

Who? What? Why?

We don’t know their names. And we don’t know the exact nature of their ministry, but since Moses called out their service and their sacrifice, it’s worth taking a moment to understand. But, as is the case with many aspects of Scripture, we don’t know what we don’t know. In this case, most scholars do agree this verse indicates both sacrificial giving and that, even as far back as the wandering in the wilderness, women were involved in God’s work.

While glass mirrors weren’t invented until many centuries later, some clever person figured out that bronze could be polished enough to allow seeing a reflection. I will point out that, in my personal observation, women are often good with details and also better than most men I know in managing them. So it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a woman who first discovered the use of a mirror. And giving away something both valuable and useful was a sacrifice.

And what about the ministry at the entrance of the tabernacle? We can’t be sure, but the speculation is that while craftsmen were at work, some women were tending to the disputes that still needed managed; these matters were often settled at the entrance of the tabernacle. Others suggest the women may have been offering water and food to weary travelers who had walked to the tabernacle with their gifts or to find help. No one knows for sure, but we know Moses highlighted their service.

Where? How? Today?

Some Christians over the centuries have had trouble accepting many ways and examples of women being involved in ministry. Our biases and, unfortunately, our laziness in considering the whole counsel of God often keep us from seeing what God has revealed. In regard to women playing important and even prominent roles in the Kingdom of God, we can look back at these ministering women, consider judges like Deborah, leaders like Esther, and many more God used to advance his work.

Just today, as I finished Romans chapter 16, I noted Paul called out at least 10 women in his list of important workers in the church in Rome or who were with him. He even used a woman named Phoebe as the one to deliver this important letter to the church in Rome. There was honor and significance for Phoebe to be chosen as Paul’s emissary.

I am thankful for the nuggets of truth and insight we sometimes find buried in the Scriptures. But taking time to mine the treasures of Scripture will always bring new insights and understanding that shape us and round out our understanding of the Kingdom of God.

I’m also thankful for the women of faith God used early and often to do his work. And I’m especially thankful for the women God has used in my life and in the ministry I’ve been a part of over the years. I bet you have noticed women who have made a Kingdom difference around you as well. Maybe today is a good day to thank God for these servant leaders. And you might tell the women as well!

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭38:8;‬ ‭Romans 16:1-16 ESV‬‬

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Photos by Sincerely Media and Noah Blaine Clark on Unsplash