{"id":280567,"date":"2023-04-18T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T13:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/unexpected-saviors-nana-dolce\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T14:39:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T18:39:32","slug":"unexpected-saviors-nana-dolce","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/unexpected-saviors-nana-dolce\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Saviors: Nana Dolce"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Throughout the Bible, God employs unexpected saviors. Author Nana Dolce peers into the lives of Old Testament women who intervened for His people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Throughout the Bible, God employs unexpected saviors. Author Nana Dolce peers into the lives of Old Testament women who intervened for His people. Show Notes and Resources Learn more about Nana Dolce on her website, nanadolce.org And grab her book, Seed o&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47000,"featured_media":280866,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/traffic.omny.fm\/d\/clips\/cbd16f10-ac60-4f09-b4df-b15400ce35aa\/33aaac7e-3581-4e21-a3df-b154011ba58c\/192a4e50-c46a-46b9-beb2-b154011f40f9\/audio.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:25:17","filesize":"23.18M","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"2023-04-18 09:15:00","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2349],"podcast_series":[8622],"cwp_profile":[9843],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-280567","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-women-in-the-bible","podcast_series-the-seed-of-the-woman-nana-dolce","cwp_profile-nana-dolce","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/04\/image-scaled.jpg?w=1024","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/280567\/unexpected-saviors-nana-dolce","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/280567\/unexpected-saviors-nana-dolce","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"wZku2IOlhC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/unexpected-saviors-nana-dolce\/\">Unexpected Saviors: Nana Dolce<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/unexpected-saviors-nana-dolce\/embed\/#?secret=wZku2IOlhC\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Unexpected Saviors: Nana Dolce&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"wZku2IOlhC\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/04\/image-scaled.jpg",1024,1024,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Margaret","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/margaret-coylefamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Throughout the Bible, God employs unexpected saviors. Author Nana Dolce peers into the lives of Old Testament women who intervened for His people. Show Notes and Resources Learn more about Nana Dolce on her website, nanadolce.org And grab her book, Seed o...","meta_box":{"show_notes":"<ul>\n<li>Learn more about Nana Dolce on her website, <a href=\"https:\/\/nanadolce.org\/\">nanadolce.org<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Find resources from this podcast at <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product-category\/radio-resources\/?orderby=date\">shop.familylife.com<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Find more content and resources on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/app\/\">FamilyLife's app<\/a>!<\/li>\n<li>Help others find FamilyLife. Leave a review on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303\">Apple Podcast<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm?si=d6dfa8d2415f4750\">Spotify<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Check out all the FamilyLife podcasts on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/familylife-podcast-network\/\">FamilyLife Podcast Network<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","transcript_url":"","transcript_content":"<p>FamilyLife Today\u00ae National Radio Version (time edited) Transcript<br \/>\nReferences to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete.<\/p>\n<p>Unexpected Saviors<\/p>\n<p>Guest: Nana Dolce<br \/>\nFrom the series: The Seed of the Woman (Day 2 of 2)<br \/>\nAir date: April 18, 2023<\/p>\n<p>Ann: When I was a new follower of Jesus and I started reading the Bible, I was surprised by the lineage of Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: In what way?<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I just felt so disqualified. I felt like Christians were the good people. They had it all together and they didn\u2019t have the past that I had. So then I start reading the Bible, and I\u2019m like, \u201cWait. Some of these people are messed up.\u201d And then when I started reading the lineage of the women, \u201cWait! God can use them?\u201d And it made me question, \u201cGod, can you use me with all of my junk?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave: And He is.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: He really is, this very second. Pretty incredible.<\/p>\n<p>Shelby: Welcome to FamilyLife Today, where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most. I\u2019m Shelby Abbott, and your hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson. You can find us at FamilyLifeToday.com or on the FamilyLife\u00ae app.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: This is FamilyLife<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Today!<\/p>\n<p>We have Nana Dolce back with us today. Welcome back, Nana.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Obviously, you\u2019re smiling because you wrote a whole book on several, thirty different women that God has used. It\u2019s called The Seed of the Woman: Thirty Narratives that Point to Jesus. I just love\u2014Thirty Narratives\u2014that wasn\u2019t the end. Thirty Narratives that Point to Jesus. We\u2019ve already talked about a couple of these women.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: And we\u2019ve talked about how often you don\u2019t think of the Old Testament as already pointing to Jesus. We talked yesterday of how in the very beginning of Genesis, Genesis talks about Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: When you were talking about Eve and the promise God gave even before the curse, whenever I would preach that the promise of God started in chapter three of Genesis, people would come up to me every time and go, \u201cI\u2019ve never heard that.\u201d Even that He covered them by shedding of blood was a\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Ann: The first sacrifice.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: \u2014a foreshadowing of how this is going to come to be thousands of years later. And you just illuminated Eve\u2019s role in that. So who do we want to talk about today? Yesterday we talked about Eve, we talked about Rachel and Leah, so where do you want to go? You talked quite a bit about the women in Exodus.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes. One of the things I wanted to do in this book was to talk about thirty individual women, but at the end of it I wanted you to look back and see the big story of the Old Testament. So we walk through Genesis to Exodus, and we go to the time of the Judges, the time of the Kings to the exile, and talk about women within the different time periods of Israel\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>Some of them you\u2019ll be familiar with; some of them you won\u2019t be as familiar with, but I want you to see this grand story unfold, and to see the faithful God Who keeps His promise, and Who uses unexpected saviors.<\/p>\n<p>When Exodus begins\u2014you know Exodus is this story that Moses is telling. He tells Genesis as well. He tells the first five books of the Bible. I love how it\u2019s like Moses can\u2019t even get to himself until he talks about these six women first. All of them are actually women that are used to save him. The one who will be used to be the mediator of the exodus is himself saved by six women.<\/p>\n<p>[Laughter]<\/p>\n<p>Ann: You\u2019re right. I had never thought of that, because it\u2019s Moses telling the story, but he highlights them.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: He does, yes, in a beautiful way. He starts with these two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who look like small fish in this big sea of the story, the story of this big nation that\u2019s multiplying and the Pharoah who sees them as a threat and is trying to subdue them. Then comes these two little women.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: They\u2019re nobodies.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: They\u2019re nobodies, and yet the Pharoah wants to use these nobodies as really his hands at the birthstool to smother the children and to kill them. This Pharoah actually reminds me of the serpent in many ways. So actually, culturally, he wore a crown that had a cobra on it.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: You\u2019re right!<\/p>\n<p>Nana: So he\u2019s this\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I only know that through watching Moses, the movie.<\/p>\n<p>[Laughter]<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Even the cartoons.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes. But it must be true. You\u2019re saying it is true.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes, it is true. So he very much represents the\u2014if there is the seed of the woman, there is also the seed of the serpent, because that\u2019s part of the promise in Genesis 3:15, that the seed of the woman would crush the offspring of the serpent. So this Pharoah represents that in many ways.<\/p>\n<p>He comes to these two women and really gives them, these women that are nobodies\u2014it\u2019s almost like a chance to be somebody, right? You are Pharoah\u2019s\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Instrument?<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Henchmen.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: \u2014instrument. You are literally his hands at the birthstool. What a chance for them to be the most feared women in that community, and yet it said that they didn\u2019t fear Pharoah but they feared God, and they let the children live.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Probably thinking that they would be murdered as a result, possibly.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Sure. How do you say \u201cno\u201d to Pharoah?<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Right.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: And yet these women did, because they feared God. So the end of their story doesn\u2019t end with less children, but actually with more, because God gives them families, and they add to the number because they fear God. So that\u2019s Shiphrah and Puah.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Let me ask you this.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: As a woman, how do you copy that? How do you carry that spirit forward as a woman, knowing what they did? As you said, critical.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: They don\u2019t do that? All of history is different.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes, yes. Their stories actually remind me of Corrie ten Boom and how they, because of their fear of a greater authority, they actually don\u2019t listen to the authorities of their day, and they hide the Jews. We can even look at people who hid slaves on the Underground Railroad, right? Who subverted the authorities that were calling them to do something evil because of their fear of a greater authority.<\/p>\n<p>How many, in smaller ways\u2014those are dramatic stories\u2014but it makes me wonder how many ways does God call me to fear Him over the things that call my attention to fear, just within the regular, everyday life of being a woman. Where am I tempted to fear and give my allegiance to something other than God, as opposed to fearing Him and trusting Him?<\/p>\n<p>It can be in small ways, or it can be in big ways, but I think we always have a chance to obey God and fear Him over other forces that call for our fear and that call for our obedience.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, and even to see the value of a human.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Oh that\u2019s so true.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Those women were like, \u201cOh, this is a baby boy. He\u2019s valuable. I\u2019m not going to do something that would be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Sure.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: \u201cI\u2019m going to do the right thing.\u201d I thought of Rosa Parks when you said that. She\u2019s like, \u201cThis is wrong. I could just obey, or I could say, \u2018I need to be a voice.\u2019\u201d Again, I\u2019m not saying they\u2019re the same, but you think of school teachers, you think of all these sort of unseen moments where a woman can step forward and say, \u201cI\u2019m going to obey God, even though I\u2019m told not to,\u201d and suffer the consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: The ministry that we can have in those places of being in the medical field\u2014there are so many\u2014teachers\u2014there are just so many places where we can bring Jesus and the gospel into those, especially in our culture where it\u2019s very much frowned upon and we can lose our job. I love that: \u201cBut they feared God more than man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: We can do it, even in sharing the gospel where we\u2019re embarrassed to talk about Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I was thinking that the other day when we were at a restaurant. I was like, \u201cOh, I should have talked to her about Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I think you say that about every single person we meet.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: But I remember getting in the car thinking, \u201cLord, I don\u2019t want to miss those moments of being afraid of what they\u2019ll think of me. What are they going to think of me if I do? And who cares? I have the answers of eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I ended up one time in college\u2014I came to Christ my junior year, and I was pretty much a wild kid until that moment. Not that I became perfect outright, but copying my dad, drinking, womanizing. I come to Christ. I start sharing Christ on the football team at my university, but there was a guy on the team that was just a wild man, and he scared me.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not kidding, one night I\u2019m at a dorm across campus and there\u2019s a party going on. Somehow there\u2019s a bunch of people pushing down the hallway, and I get pushed into this room by myself. I sit down. I\u2019m in somebody\u2019s dorm room, and that guy, my teammate, walks in. It was his dorm, and as soon as he came in I\u2019m like, \u201cMan, this guy\u2019s the biggest partier on the team. He\u2019s just a bad dude,\u201d and I felt like God was saying, \u201cShare me with him.\u201d Long story short, I did; He came to Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Wow.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I\u2019ll never forget. I was scared of him, and I felt like God said, \u201cYou fear Me, or do you fear some man?\u201d I shared Christ, and he came to Christ, and his whole life was different. Again, these women are just unseen and yet they make a decision to overcome fear.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: And Dave, sometimes they are the people under our roof. It\u2019s our husband or wife that don\u2019t know Jesus, or our step kids or our wayward kids. It\u2019s a way of loving them, in a winsome way, not a condemnation, judgmental kind of way.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Alright, we have to go back to Exodus.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Okay.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes. We don\u2019t have time to go through all these women, but there\u2019s Shiphrah, there\u2019s Puah, there\u2019s Jochebed, who is Moses\u2019 mother, who hides him for three months and then makes this basket. The word for basket is the same as \u2018ark,\u2019 so she makes a little ark and puts him in. If you remember Noah\u2019s story, it was the ark that became the safety in the judgment of the waters, right? The waters of death. So Moses, who writes Noah\u2019s story, is saying, \u201cMy mama made me this little ark that kept me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I never knew it was the same word.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: It\u2019s the same word. It\u2019s the same Hebrew word, and it keeps him from those waters of death. His sister, Miriam, is watching and intercedes, so that Moses goes back to his Hebrew home and then this Egyptian woman\u2014she was Pharoah\u2019s daughter. She should have been the first to obey her father, but she doesn\u2019t act the part, and she adopts him and then eventually his wife, Zipporah, who will intercede when the Angel of Death is coming to kill Moses because he doesn\u2019t circumcise his son.<\/p>\n<p>She acts quickly and circumcises her son and applies blood and the angel passes over. So Moses doesn\u2019t get to himself until he has mentioned these six women.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Wow.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: All of them will save him and preserve him to become the mediator of the Exodus, delivering God\u2019s people from enslavement into that Promised Land. So women are everywhere in the Bible, and God uses unexpected saviors to do His work.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: That\u2019s really\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It\u2019s neat to think, I know God inspired Moses to write what he wrote, but Moses chose to highlight women in front of himself.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: What it reminds me of again is that often in the story of Scripture, God uses the unexpected person. We know that with David and Goliath, for instance. We talk about that all the time.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, David\u2019s out in the sheep, taking care of the sheep.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes, kind of the outcast, the little boy. You don\u2019t expect him to be the savior. But we see it so many times throughout Scripture with other characters, including women. And then ultimately, even the Lord Jesus Himself comes in this unexpected way. He\u2019s born in a manger, He\u2019s poor. He doesn\u2019t look the part in many ways, and He\u2019s rejected. And then He dies on a cross, and that\u2019s not what we were expecting.<\/p>\n<p>We wanted this conquering, military\u2014a cross? A sign of weakness? But it\u2019s through that that God redeems sinners, through the cross and the resurrection. So God does things to point ultimately to His power, His glory, and uses unexpected saviors. It makes me think of the people that maybe we look down upon, that we disregard because they don\u2019t look like what we would think, but yet God often honors the people that we may not choose in our human wisdom to honor.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I remember thinking that. There were times that Dave and I would be speaking, and when you\u2019re on the stage and the spotlights on you, people can think, \u201cOh, that\u2019s so amazing. God loves them so much.\u201d I\u2019m thinking even of our church. We have these prayer teams of warriors that are just in the back room, praying and praying and praying for every person that came. Women that come so early, praying over every single seat as the people come into the auditorium and the sanctuary.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m thinking of the people that are parking. I\u2019m thinking of the women that are coming really early to bring food. Nobody knows who brought the food. It just ends up being there every time. But they\u2019re so faithful, and I think it\u2019s such a good reminder that God doesn\u2019t see the people that are on their social media accounts that are just killing it. He sees the person that has nothing but they\u2019re faithful and they love Him, and every prayer is heard by God.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes. I think that what encourages me is, be faithful with whatever God has given you to do.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Sometimes it is the platform, and sometimes it\u2019s just the quiet, older mama who\u2019s in her closet praying faithfully on her knees. Just be faithful with what God has given you, and He is pleased to use whatever He\u2019s given our hands to do to fulfill His purposes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: And it all matters to God.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: And it\u2019s important to God.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: I would just say as a man\u2014Nana, when you were talking it just hit me that the greatest people that have impacted my life the most are women. My mom, single mom, amazing woman. Who shaped my life, my dad or my mom? My mom. Dad wasn\u2019t there. Not that he didn\u2019t shape my life, but my mom\u2014.<\/p>\n<p>And this woman right here, Ann. Man, oh man, I am not even sitting here without her in my life, and all these amazing truths and hard truths that she\u2019s spoken into my life. As men we often can overlook that, and only celebrate men. They\u2019re important as well.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Sure.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: But even as you\u2019re walking through these sort of unseen women that we\u2019ve barely even recognized in the story, I would just say to the men, to the husbands, to the dads, \u201cTurn to your wife, turn to your mom, turn to your sister, turn to your daughter and say \u2018Thank you,\u2019 because I guarantee you, if you\u2019re like me, they have shaped you probably as much as anybody else in your life. Don\u2019t miss that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Okay. That\u2019s my little sermonette. Do you want to go to the women of the conquest? We have a few more minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: I want to hit Rahab.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Alright.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Let\u2019s talk about her just a little bit. Give our listeners just her background.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Absolutely. Oh I do love the story of Rahab. When we get to Rahab, Moses has come through the wilderness, but that first generation with Moses, all of them have died. Now there is Joshua and a younger group of Israel going into the land. The first thing Joshua says is, \u201cLet\u2019s go spy this land and see what we\u2019re about to get into.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So he sends these two men, and they go to the house of Rahab. The Scriptures say that she was a prostitute. She had this home, so they go there. Unfortunately for these spies, they must not have been very good because the king knows exactly where they are by verse two of the first passage of the first chapter. So you\u2019re like, \u201cOh no. Rahab is going to turn them in.\u201d She is a Canaanite, and she does a surprising thing, unexpected.<\/p>\n<p>She hides them on her roof and tells her own government, her own king, \u201cOh, they\u2019re not here,\u201d sends them on a wild goose chase while she hides these men. So you\u2019re asking yourself, if you\u2019ve never read the Bible before, you open it and you\u2019re reading it like, \u201cWhy is she doing this?\u201d So she goes to them, and she explains.<\/p>\n<p>She said, \u201cI have heard about your God.\u201d She literally retells God\u2019s works in the Exodus, and says, \u201cI heard about these things, and our hearts are melting with fear because your God is the God of heaven and earth.\u201d I love the story of Rahab because all the way in Exodus, when God is talking to Pharaoh, God says, \u201cI am doing these acts of judgment really to reveal Myself to all the nations of the earth.\u201d Now just imagine this prostitute woman all the way in Jericho. God was thinking of Rahab, even in His acts.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: As He parted the sea.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: As He brought the plagues.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes. He said, \u201cI did this to make Myself known to all the nations.\u201d And somewhere all the way in Jericho, Rahab hears the story, and she believes and renounces her own idols and says, \u201cThis is the God of heaven and earth,\u201d and literally seals herself with Israel. They save her. She puts this red cord; they know exactly where she is.<\/p>\n<p>They save her and her family when they come into the land, and it doesn\u2019t end there. She marries a man named Salmon, and will give birth eventually to someone named Boaz, and from Boaz will come Jesse, and from Jesse will come King David.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Boaz was married to Ruth. Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: To Ruth, exactly, another non-Israelite, a Moabite. All the way to the Lord Jesus, so Rahab is actually in the ancestral line of Jesus, of Jesus Himself. I love her story because it doesn\u2019t seem like she has much to offer.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: In the sense that she\u2019s a prostitute. She lies, right? What does she have to offer? But in Rahab we see that God saves us, not because of our works. He saves us really because of saving faith, so she has saving faith, and that\u2019s how everyone comes to Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: It doesn\u2019t matter who you are, where you\u2019ve been, what you\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Doesn\u2019t matter. Yes. I came with my good grades and all of that, and God said, \u201cNone of those is\u2014\u201d The saving grace that He by His Spirit enables you to have is what brings you to Himself, so no one can boast before Him. Rahab shows us that.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Yes, and it also shows us out of your coming to faith, an entire legacy is changed\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: \u2014all the way, obviously, to Jesus. You sort of think, \u201cI\u2019ve messed up my life. I gave my life to Jesus. It ends there.\u201d No, it begins there, because you\u2019re going to impact generations to come. What a name in the lineage of Jesus. What a story.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: It\u2019s so hopeful. It\u2019s so hopeful.<\/p>\n<p>So Nana, as we finish up this day, and even as we hit these important women. What do you want women to walk away with? You\u2019re a mom. You have two daughters and a son. I\u2019m listening to you and I\u2019m thinking, \u201cAaahhh, as a woman and especially with daughters, I would want my daughters to know God can use you.\u201d What do you feel like as we end? What do you hope women will feel?<\/p>\n<p>Nana: One of my daughters asked this question. I have two very different daughters. One is introverted. The other one is very extroverted, and she asks good questions. She has asked, \u201cHow come the Bible seems to be so much about men?\u201d This is my nine-year-old. She\u2019s asked me that question.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Nine-year-old. Wow.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes. And that\u2019s unfortunate, because I think there are people who think that, that the Bible is mostly just about men. We do a disservice when we only, especially in the Old Testament, teach the narratives just on the men. We can learn a lot from those. They are in the Bible. They are important for us to learn.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Sure.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: But I think we need to dig and see this is the Word and the story God has given us, and if it includes women, what are we missing from that story when we don\u2019t teach the narratives of women? And what are we telling the church and even our children when we don\u2019t teach the narratives of women? So the story that God is telling includes women. It includes Shiphrah and Puah and Leah and Rahab. What do we miss about God when we miss the story of Rahab?<\/p>\n<p>Dave: Is that what you told your daughter?<\/p>\n<p>Nana: Yes. Well, I wrote this book, too.<\/p>\n<p>Dave: It isn\u2019t just a story.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: I wrote this book for her.<\/p>\n<p>Ann: You can tell that Nana is a professor. You\u2019re a great teacher. If you were to summarize your life, if years from now someone took a look at your life, what would you hope they would find and say about you?<\/p>\n<p>Shelby: We\u2019re going to hear Nana\u2019s answer in just a minute. I\u2019m Shelby Abbott and you\u2019ve been listening to an incredible conversation with Dave and Ann Wilson and Nana Dolce on FamilyLife Today.<\/p>\n<p>The narratives about women are there; God wants to teach us through the stories of women, yes of course in the New Testament, but also in the Old Testament. I personally want to unpack those stories with my 11- and 9-year-old daughters, and honestly, I\u2019m going to get this book for my girls. Maybe I\u2019ll go through it with them and maybe they\u2019ll read it on their own.<\/p>\n<p>Nana Dolce has written a book called The Seed of the Woman: Thirty Narratives that Point to Jesus. This book traces the Gospel storyline through the narratives of women, from the Garden of Eden all the way up to the birth of Christ. It\u2019s a thoroughly biblical and encouraging book that opens up the women\u2019s lives and uncovers deep truths that shape our daily life and our faith.<\/p>\n<p>We want to give you a copy of this book when you partner financially with us today to help more families hear more conversations like the one you just heard. It\u2019s our thanks to you when you partner online at FamilyLifeToday.com, or you can give us a call at 800-358-6329. Now that gift can be a one-time gift, or it can be a recurring monthly gift.<\/p>\n<p>Again, you can go to FamilyLifeToday.com, or you can give us a call at 800 - \u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word \u201cTODAY.\u201d And feel free to snail mail us. You can drop us a line at FamilyLife, 100 Lake Hart Drive, Orlando, FL 32832.<\/p>\n<p>Alright, let\u2019s find out what Nana hopes someone would say about her years from now in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Nana: I hope that I\u2019m a woman whose story is pointing to Jesus. We have thirty women here, but the story doesn\u2019t end with Mary. It continues into the New Testament, and all those women Jesus interacted with. It goes into the First Century Church. And all those amazing women, even when you read church history, Perpetua. There are all of these amazing women, all the way down to church history. We mentioned Rosa Parks, we mentioned Harriet Tubman. All of these are women of faith.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes down to Nana Dolce in 2023, I hope that I\u2019m living my life in a way that is pointing others to Jesus, that I am a woman who believes that God is faithful, keeps His Word, so I can live today trusting that His promises come true, and that my everyday life reflects that truth.<\/p>\n<p>Shelby: Tomorrow on FamilyLife Today Dave and Ann Wilson are joined by Laurel Slade-Waggoner. She\u2019s going to talk about something that maybe we don\u2019t talk about very much in the church, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s like to be married or be influenced or controlled by a narcissistic person. That\u2019s a touchy subject, but we\u2019re going to dive into it tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>On behalf of Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m Shelby Abbott. We will see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.<\/p>\n<p>FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife\u00ae, a Cru\u00ae Ministry.<br \/>\nHelping you pursue the relationships that matter most.<\/p>\n<p>We are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2023 FamilyLife\u00ae. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p>www.FamilyLife<\/p>\n","theme_header_position":"Sticky","post_header_is_sticky":"default","is_header_overlay":"0"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/280567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47000"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280567"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=280567"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=280567"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=280567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}