Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and What He Wants to Do with You

Written by John F. MacArthur

Narrated by Maurice England

Discover how true faith can leave a lasting legacy with a poignant and personal look into the lives of some of the Bible's most faithful women.

Come and take a deeper look at women who were ordinary, common, and in some cases even ostracized and rejected by society, yet each was made extraordinary by her life-changing encounter with God.

In Twelve Extraordinary Women, bestselling author and Bible teacher John MacArthur shows you that the God to whom they were so faithful is the same God who continues to mold and guide you today.

As you meet these women in Scripture and get to know more about their lives and characters, they will challenge you, motivate you, encourage you, and inspire you with love for the God whom they trusted, served, and loved, teaching you that:

• Your personal struggles and temptations are the very same kinds of trials that all believers of all ages have confronted
• Even in the midst of your trouble, God remains eternally faithful
• Through God, anyone can become extraordinary

 

Some of the women you'll come to know include:

• Ruth (Ruth 1– 4)
• Anna (Luke 2:36–38)
• Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus (Luke 10:38–42)
• Mary Magdalene (Matthew 27:56–61)
• Sarah (Genesis 11–25)
• Hannah (1 Samuel 1–2)
• The Samaritan woman (John 4)
• Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1–2)

 

From Eve to the Samaritan Woman, these twelve women each serve as reminders of both our frailty and our potential. Together, they all point us to Christ and His grace.

A study guide and accompanying table are available in the audiobook companion PDF download.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Nov 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781400223824

John F. MacArthur

Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God's Word, John MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker. He has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. John and his wife, Patricia, have four married children and fifteen grandchildren. John's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in seven countries. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly two thousand English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, and digital recordings by John MacArthur. John is chancellor of The Master's University and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Bestselling titles include The Gospel According to Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, Slave, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient.

Reviews for Twelve Extraordinary Women

[angenlois · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

By far the best book on the women in the bible.

[amaliagavea · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The writer wrote a book to convince everyone and their mother that women are 'subordinate' to men in church and family. What does he mean? Well, it doesn't take much effort to understand that he distorts God and Jesus' teachings to communicate his misogyny. Pure trash. I didn't make it past the first chapter and I am disgusted that such libel gets the chance to be published.

Typical Protestant trash.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well-known author and pastor John MacArthur guides readers in a study of twelve Biblical women. He shows how God uses each. He shows how their attitudes led them to Biblical greatness. The women included are Eve, Sarah, Rahab, Ruth, and Hannah from the Old Testament, and Mary (mother of Jesus), Anna, the Samaritan woman, Martha, Mary (of Bethany), Mary Magdalene, and Lydia from the New Testament. He often included pieces of cultural context in his biographical narratives for each women. He corrects some often-held views which do not fit with Biblical tradition. I enjoyed this study and the things we can learn and apply to our own lives from these women.

[et.carole · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Four and a half years after receiving this book for my confirmation, I finally managed to scrape through. I suppose the message is good, but the writing style manages to be both pretentious and condescending, trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator and gorging itself on unnecessary adverbs and adjectives. Thank heavens we're done with it.

[sparkleandchico · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

John MacArthur is my favourite author and preacher and has been for quite some time. His ministry Grace to You gives away a lot of their resources free.

In this book examining the lives and characters of twelve Bible women, MacArthur focuses on Eve, Sarah, Rahab, Ruth, Hannah, Mary, Anna, The Samaritan Woman, Martha and Mary, Mary Magdalene and Lydia. He details the historical context--I'm always amazed by the level of detail which brings the stories to life in a unique way. He describes the impact of these women on their own people and in their own culture and then makes the application for our generation.

MacArthur's main conclusion is that all of these women point us to Christ. That they weren't noticed necessarily for their external appearance or acts, but for their hearts. I was interested in his assessment of Eve....

This book is useful for an in depth character study on each of these women or for a Bible study. I wouldn't advise reading it cover to cover as a story as there is a lot of detail and it might be difficult to take anything in. I read it as a chapter a day which worked quite well.

I recommend this book, not my favourite by MacArthur but definitely worth a read and you will no doubt learn some cultural and historical context that will be new.

[paula4wiseman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the chance to consider these women as human beings and not just as "Biblical characters".