Twelve Women of the Bible Study Guide: Life-Changing Stories for Women Today

by Lysa TerKeurst, Elisa Morgan, Jonalyn Grace Fincher

Unearth fresh insights for your life from women who lived thousands of years ago. In this 12-session DVD study, learn how God moved in the lives of 6 women in the Old Testament and six women in the New Testament whose struggles to live with faith and courage are not unlike your own.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Faith, Christianity, Womens, Spirituality, Self Help

161 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 7, 2012

About the author

Lysa TerKeurst is President and Chief Visionary Officer of Proverbs 31 Ministries. She is also an 8x New York Times’ bestselling author of I Want to Trust You, but I Don't, Good Boundaries and Goodbyes, Forgiving What You Can’t Forget, It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way, Uninvited and more. Her devotional Embraced won the ECPA book of the year for 2019. Lysa was also recently awarded the Champions of Faith Author Award and has appeared on the Today Show many times as one of the leading voices in the Christian community.

Each year, Lysa is a featured keynote presenter at events all across North America and online, including the Global Leadership Network. She also tours state-to-state regularly with TPR. She has a passion for equipping women to share their stories for God’s glory through Proverbs 31 Ministries’ annual She Speaks Conference and her writer training program called COMPEL Pro. Connect with Lysa on social media @lysaterkeurst or at lysaterkeurst.com.

Reviews

[Cindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without the video, this study guide would not be complete.

While I enjoyed learning a bit more about these women in the bible, I didn't necessarily have the same interpretation as the ladies in the videos. I felt that they used some of the verses from the bible to fit the story that they wanted them to relate to, in current situations, that were addressed on the DVD.

If you are looking for a rather light bible study, you will enjoy this. However, if you want something deeper, you may be disappointed.

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this bible study. There were a lot of nontraditional vantage points offered in this study. I absolutely loved the DVD personal videos of real life women. This has been a great experience. I do wish they had some opening prayer notes included. I am definitely going to be looking for individual items from some of the presenters because their outlooks & personalities were easily relate-able.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 3 star rating is generous! Sadly, this Bible study with accompanying video teaching is so uneven. Some of the teachers offer fresh perspectives on familiar stories with strong life application. Others do not. There are some really terrific nuggets throughout but I can only recommend this one with caution.

[Clara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lord help me, but this book is crap. They seem to make stuff up to fit what they want to say. For example, despite the Catholic Church's 1969 retraction of its position that Mary of Magdala was a prostitute (because how else would religiously fervent men of old explain an independently wealthy, unmarried woman?!), these presenters perpetuate the falsity. They imply that the "demons" cast out were "the sins" of prostitution (you'd think women would empathize with others in patriarchal systems trying to provide for themselves [insert eyeball roll] & to say nothing of the use of "seven" as a frequent Biblical symbol of completion), when it was likely a medical condition explainable at the time (seizures, migraines, panic attacks, tremors or the like). Also, they identify Mary (Lazarus' & Martha's sister) as the woman who poured myrrh on Jesus (based upon a single reference to a "Mary" in the gospel of John and we won't even discuss John's probably age-related senility when that gospel was dictated and how parts weren't even written by John), when even a modicum of research shows that it was likely Mary of Magdala, but could have been any of the Marys (there were several) in the extended association that made up the group of Jesus' followers). And then there's Gomer, and Rachel,... I could go on. By the 4th section, I was spending more time fact-checking and researching than studying. If you're going to write a women's study that doesn't require any deep-level thinking, at least do some research & get the information right first. When will Christian publishers start demanding a higher level of substantive quality?!

[CarolynB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Katy Kauffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rating is based on the content of the book only, not the videos. I didn't realize this book was a part of a video-driven series. Even so, it was interesting to read and to see what slant of application the six Bible teachers took on these twelve characters of the Bible. The format is inviting with an intro to each character, group discussion questions before and after the video, and guidance for praying about the lesson.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you haven't studied women of the Bible, this is a good introductory to many of them. However, it is not the most in depth look and one of the authors (TerKeurst is the main contributor not the author of the entire study) confused her Marys and makes a false statement about Mary of Bethany. I also felt the questions were rather obvious and wasn't really the generator of conversation among our study group.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably closer to 3.5 stars. I loved the video lessons that accompany this book, but I found the questions in the book somewhat shallow and not very challenging compared to other Bible studies I’ve done.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book study that I did with a wonderful group of women.

[Melissa Fairel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Bible study, examining women's interaction with God through Biblical accounts. Video and book study.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent but make sure to combine with the videos

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great info about women that I didn't know much about from the Bible and stories about them.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my Bible Study book this semester. It was a good study. If you can name twelve women of the Bible, then you don't need to read this book. If you can't name twelve women of the Bible, then you are like most of the women in my group who read this book. If you know who Gomer was (and I mean in the Bible, not from television) then you should advance to the next level, and/or write your own Bible Study program.

Women in the Bible get so overlooked. You seldom, if ever hear, a sermon preached about a female of the Bible. Why is that? How many more Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John stories am I gonna have to sit through? The preacher who preaches about Gomer is probably looking to retire soon, but it would definitely be an eye opener. Churches have divided over lesser stuff.

I recommend this book, even if you have never read the Bible. These stories would be enough to get your dander up.

[Thabitta · Rating 5 out of 5]

The introductions to each person are very detailed, bringing out aspects of their lives that are not very obvious. For example, an extract from the chapter about Eve reads:
"Eve’s life was a series of “firsts” in the history of the world. She was the first woman, the first wife, the first mother, the first (and only) sinless woman, and the first to be tempted by Satan. Sadly, Eve was the first (along with her husband Adam) to fall into sin and see the cataclysmic consequences of disobedience to God.
Her very name meant, “mother of all who have life,” but her story was a tapestry woven with joy and pain, celebration and sorrow, life and death. Eve feasted on the glory of intimacy with God beyond what any other woman would know on the earth. But she also felt her teeth put on edge by the bitter poison of sin and rebellion.
Never has another woman lived with such highs and lows."

[Melissa Hevenor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twelve Women of The Bible bible study is an incredibly inspiring and educational book to help apply wonderful lessons in the Bible through the examples of these women. The book also helps explain and dissect certain passages in the Bible that I wasn’t 100% understanding. This book is for anyone looking to find ways to apply the teachings of the Bible to their life now and to help you feel empowered love and protected as a modern woman today as detailed in the bible. There were moments when reading this book that I was brought to tears because I felt like the particular teaching or message but speaking directly to some thing I’m currently going through in life I highly recommend it to anyone looking for deeper spiritual connection to God and the Bible.

[Melissa Scruggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good Bible study, don’t let my 3 star review fool you, I just prefer depth to breadth. During our almost two hour bible it was near impossible to attempt to scratch the surface of the lesson and stay on track. While some groups may have been able to dive deeper with their members and time allotments, I felt like it wasn’t the best fit for our group. This study causes you to look at yourself a lot for reflection, and that’s a good thing, but with the wrong group this study can easily become a girls gossip session instead of glorifying God with our time.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this study. I did it with my neighborhood ladies bible study so it worked well as we have ladies from several different faith backgrounds and places in their faith walk. It was great that several different presenters were used with different styles and insights. Not an extremely deep study but it worked well with our group.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great study I did with a group of women. You must have the video that goes along with this study. 12 week session with various famous, inspirational, women leading. Accompanied with real life stories thrown in.

[Desiray Schultz hayner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good study. Definitely heavy on the homework but so worth it, I really was able to dive deep and not only read more of the bible but also evaluate myself and what the women in the bible how to teach me as a woman in Christ. Loved the vedios too, don't skip those

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful reflections, each about 15-20 minutes (perfect for my commute). Each session includes a personal testimony, a couple of which were traumatic, which was the only feature of this audio study I didn’t enjoy.

[Mischa Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Bible study...I loved the perspective of each speaker and the real stories from people walking through some hard things but with the grace of God's help made it on the other side. When working through this study, you need to do the videos along with it.😁😁

[Cruse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each woman in the study is written about by a different author so some authors do a better job than others.

[patricia herzog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book.

[Emily Smallwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this study. It opened my eyes to so many special things about the Women God used to tell his story.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our Bible study group read this and it was all great learning and applicable to our lives today.

[Cherryl Northcutt Valdez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspirational and enlightening.

[Maranda Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did a bible study group with 4 friends and it was amazing! We’ll be doing the second version BUT some of the questions can be confusing and not related to the lesson

[Kathleen Darst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing that Jesus is beside you in your darkest hours is the most comforting thing to know. This is truly a remarkable study of 12 amazing women in the Bible

[Teddi Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well done with the sections and thoughtful questions.

[Erica Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great devotional