The Faithful: Heroes from the Old Testament

by Priscilla Shirer, Kelly Minter, Beth Moore

Borrowing from best-selling studies by Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Lisa Harper, Kelly Minter, and Jennifer Rothschild, this 5-session study explores crucial moments in the lives of five Old Testament figures—Esther, Gideon, Malachi, Nehemiah, and Hosea. Through their stories, discover how God uses the lives of ordinary people for His glory and the good of His people. Strengthen your faith as you walk alongside these larger-than-life figures who all chose to obey God no matter the circumstances.

Features:
Leader helps to guide questions and discussions within small groups
Personal study segments to complete between 5 weeks of group sessions
Five interactive teaching videos, approximately 25-70 minutes per session, available for purchase or rent

Benefits:
Preview full-length studies from best-selling LifeWay Women authors.
Engage in Bible study during busy seasons with these stand-alone sessions.
Dive deep into Old Testament character studies.
Find encouragement to live a bold, faithful life in obedience to God.
Motivate yourself to further study stories from the Old Testament.

Genres: Christian, Faith

176 pages, Paperback

Published September 4, 2018

About the author

Priscilla Shirer is a wife and a mom first. But put a Bible in her hand and a message in her heart and you’ll see why thousands flock to her conferences and dive into her Bible study series’ and books each year.

A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, Priscilla holds a Master’s degree in Biblical Studies and considers it a privilege to serve believers from every denomination and culture by helping them to know the truths of Scripture intellectually and encouraging them to experience these truths practically by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In addition to Priscilla’s participation in many church and para-church conferences across the globe each year, Going Beyond Ministries hosts AWAKEN – an outreach event in their hometown designed to encourage and mobilize women locally. This free gathering brings together thousands of women from different denominations and backgrounds several times a year in an effort to stir revival.

Going Beyond Ministries also equips believers through books and Bible study resources. Priscilla has authored over a dozen video driven studies for women and teens on a myriad of Biblical characters and topics including Jonah, Gideon, the Exodus, discerning God’s voice, The Armor of God.

Her books include Discerning the Voice of God, God is Able, and two New York Times Bestsellers – The Resolution for Women and Fervent: A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer, which was named the 2016 Christian Book of the Year. Her latest offering is a 365-day devotional called Awaken: 90 Days with the God Who Speaks. In 2016, Priscilla ventured into the world of children’s publishing with The Prince Warriors, a fiction 4-book series and accompanying 365-day devotional (Unseen) designed to equip tween boys and girls for victory in spiritual warfare.

Priscilla has been married to Jerry for 20 years. Between studying and writing, she spends most of her time cleaning up after (and trying to satisfy the appetites of) their three growing boys – Jackson, Jerry Jr. and Jude.

Reviews

[Kendra Choy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh boy, I really don't want to write a negative review of a Bible study, but this one was not my favorite. We picked it because I was excited at the thought of doing a study with so many amazing women teacher (Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, etc) in one book. However, what we didn't realize until getting into the study was that they simply took old Bible Studies and threw them into one book. There were a few things I didn't like about this. One, I had already done over half the studies in the book, so it had me pretty disengaged after realizing that. Two, often times, you would start the weekly study, but they would pick up a few weeks into the original study, so you had no idea what was going on or what some of the points were supposed to be. And Three, they didn't make any effort to merge the stories together to make a complete study. It was very separated week to week and story to story. There was no effort in trying to make it into one whole study.
If you are a beginner or new Christian, this would be a nice way to start studying stories from the Old Testament, which can be a challenge, however, if you are anything other than a beginner, I would pass on this one.

[Katie Bowman · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst “bible” studies I’ve ever done. Character studies were cherry picked and lacked continuity and breadth. Seemed very scattered and not a ton of actual Bible reading. Would not recommend.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a different type of devotional than I've done before. It's a 5 week study and each week is from a different person, on a different topic. There is also a video for each week. Each session comes from a more detailed Bible study and sometimes it felt like this was put together just to sell more books. However, there were some really great sessions and lessons that I really needed to hear. Jennifer Rothschild on Hosea and Beth Moore on Esther were my favorites and I will definitely be looking into more from them.

[Coralie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a mashup of devotionals, featuring one group session and five followup individual sessions of study by five different authors. The study was drawn from full studies done by each of the authors, kind of like a sampling meshed into a medley.

I liked seeing the different authors and getting a taste for their style and work, but naturally, there were sessions I found more engaging and meaningful, personally, than others. I am considering looking into the full study of Gideon by Priscilla Shirer as well as the full study of Hosea by Jennifer Rothschild. Not to say the others weren't well-done sessions and studies with great presenters and insightful devotionals to followup on, but I connected the most with these two.

Beth Moore is classic. Her session and study on Esther were really good. I might one day look into that one, too, but I'm intrigued by the above mentioned studies at the moment. She is actually the only presenter who wasn't new to me in this study. I really liked Lisa Harper's live session a lot. I liked how she related to things. She was funny, but sincere. She hosted the entire study, introducing each session and then closed everything up with her video at the end. Her followup study was probably the least engaging for me of all five, but I think that's because we jumped around everywhere in the Bible but Malachi! I pulled out some gems and spent time with my God, which is what matters in the end, and I'm not saying using other parts of the Bible in a study on one book is wrong or not useful; I just didn't really see how we were studying Malachi and I had a hard time pulling out a theme or following her line of thought.

All in all, I thought it was a worthwhile study and I would probably recommend it. I liked the format, the writing, the mixture of presenters, and the study itself. I thought it was a great experience.

[Merenwen Inglorion · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Reasons for rounding up:
-Can be self paced or done in a group
-Eclectic collection of Bible studies
-The humor; each author had great style and application
-Further resources and questions if you want to go a little deeper than the initial study
-There weren't nearly as many fluff questions as I thought there were going to be
-Scripture wasn't taken out of context as much as I had feared (one author did do the whole "apply verses personally by putting yourself in there; change he to she, or put your name in place of ---" but that was it, it wasn't until the end of her section, and the leaders of the group didn't really dwell on it)
-The study book is cute <3

Things I didn't like so much:
-The fluff questions that were present were annoying as heck ("Come up with newspaper headlines if Ancient Israel had a newspaper")
-I just didn't get much out of this study

Not a bad study; I don't regret the time spent, even though I didn't get much out of it. Other ladies in the study got way more out of it than I did (seeing connections I didn't, able to apply things more personally than I was able to). Make of that what you will.
In my eyes, Francine Rivers Heroes of the Bible series (Sons of Encouragement, Lineage of Grace) were better hero studies, with a far greater collection of hard hitting questions that help you dig deeper into your relationship with God.

[Mmtimes4 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borrowing from best-selling studies by Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Lisa Harper, Kelly Minter, and Jennifer Rothschild, this 5-session study explores crucial moments in the lives of five Old Testament figures—Esther, Gideon, Malachi, Nehemiah, and Hosea. Through their stories, discover how God uses the lives of ordinary people for His glory and the good of His people. Strengthen your faith as you walk alongside these larger-than-life figures who all chose to obey God no matter the circumstances.

Features:
Leader helps to guide questions and discussions within small groups
Personal study segments to complete between 5 weeks of group sessions
Five interactive teaching videos, approximately 25-70 minutes per session, available for purchase or rent

Benefits:
Preview full-length studies from best-selling LifeWay Women authors.
Engage in Bible study during busy seasons with these stand-alone sessions.
Dive deep into Old Testament character studies.
Find encouragement to live a bold, faithful life in obedience to God.
Motivate yourself to further study stories from the Old Testament. GR description

Did this study in order to sample three authors I hadn't studied before. It is definitely a mash up of one study out of a series of studies by each author. Looking forward to doing the whole study of Nehemiah and Hosea.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will say that I enjoyed this study. Looking individually at a few of the Old Testament heroes really opens ones eyes to different time periods within the Bible and to different perspectives of some of the same stories.

What I did not like from this "NEW" study is that the 5 studies in this one were plucked out of other longer studies, three of which I had already gone through. Now it's not so bad going through a study twice, so don't get me wrong here. By pulling one week out of a 5-10 week study, made you feel like you were missing something from the sessions before, especially Moore's part, as she kept referring to the previous week. This whole study book came across as an "advertisement" for the other longer and older studies. Studies that may not be moving off the shelf any longer, and the abbreviated one week look at each Hero left me wanting more, yes, but left me feeling like they were trying to hook me into the other studies. Not Cool LifeWay.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a weird little sampler study, with lessons from five different studies of Old Testament figures, given by five different teachers, so there isn't really a big overarching theme that ties all the weeks together like in a normal Bible study.

The teachers are Priscilla Shirer on Gideon, Kelly Minter on Nehemiah, Beth Moore on Esther, Jennifer Rothschild on Ezra, and Lisa Harper on Malachi

This seems like a good choice for a group that's stuck in a rut and wants to sample a bunch of studies. It also worked well for my group to do over the summer when we meet less frequently, since there isn't the same flow between weeks to get interrupted. Also, my group had done most of these studies in the past, so it was a nice review for most, although for me, all but one was new and I still felt like I got a lot out of it.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty disappointed with this series. I bought it when LifeWay was offering the free videos during the COVID time. So I bought the book to go along with the series. There was not enough depth to the lessons. The best thing I can say about this study is that it exposed me to five different teaching styles of five different women's Bible Study writers. I already knew I liked Priscilla Shirer. I did discover one other teacher in this series I liked well enough I might try one of her full studies down the road. However, the lessons did not give a deep enough Bible perspective. I learned more about the writers of the studies than I did about the men in the Bible. I gave this three stars because again, it was good to get a sampling of different Bible Study writers and their style. Now I know which ones I don't like.

[Bekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

We did this study with our women’s Bible study and overall we really enjoyed it! I gave it four stars because Kelly Minter and Lisa Harper were a struggle to get through. Both their videos didn’t cover or explain Nehemiah or Malachi AT ALL. They like read a verse and then talked about other things that had nothing to do with the book or the passage 😳 Lisa was more keen on telling stories that when we did the video discussion questions we didn’t even know how to answer the questions cause she didn’t cover any of it in the video. And then her weekly study questions were all over the place. Kelly’s weekly study questions were actually good—just not the video.

Everyone else though was fantastic! Our group especially liked Jennifer Rothschild portion and will maybe do her study in the fall.

Overall I would recommend this study!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more but here's the breakdown:

There are 5 different studies in this book.

Each study is one week (5 days), each written by a different author, in Judges (on Gideon) written by Priscilla Shirer, Nehemiah by Kelly Minter, Esther by Beth Moore, Hosea by Jennifer Rothschild, and Malachi by Lisa Harper.

Each study is NOT connected to the others,
and, each study is NOT a complete standalone study. They are ALL a single week pulled from their OWN books, and collected into this series.
I.e., I believe the Gideon excerpt and video are from Week 2 of the actual full study on Gideon.

Consider it a sample, or a flight of Bible study excerpts.

That said, some are just a whole lot better than others. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Laura-Jane Barber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it would be better to have homework followed by the teaching over the homework as a preview for each study rather than teaching over homework we didn’t do, followed by homework we never got teaching over. I also think that someone unfamiliar with or new to the Bible would struggle with this study. It’s hard to jump in mid-story about someone you don’t know well or at all. I love all the Bible teachers in this study and can see how each of the studies would be great on their own. I will say I wasn’t sure how the video from the Malachi study went with Malachi, but I still love Lisa Harper nonetheless.

[Beth Burdine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good way to see different author’s Bible study styles. I really enjoyed the Priscilla Shirer Gideon section and Beth Moore Esther session but I already knew I loved those authors. I also enjoyed the Jennifer Rothschild section on Gomer and was unfamiliar with that author. Altogether it was a good way for try out different authors but each section was such a condensed version of the full-length Bible studies that sometimes it felt lacking because it referred back to previous days of weeks from the full-length study.

[Lexie · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the study consisting of selections from five other studies, it doesn’t have firm continuity. It’s more like a Whitman’s sampler for studies you might be interested in perusing for further study. Each writer has her own gifts, and this book gives you a taste of each. But it’s almost like eating only half a chocolate. It just feels incomplete. However, I would like to pick up the full studies of some of these as they did spark my interest and I do enjoy the author’s ways of breaking down the information as well as their connectivity and grace.

[Christine Polli · Rating 2 out of 5]

We read this book for our Bible study class. I love Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore. They tell you up front that this book/study is a collection of one lesson from each of the authors' complete studies. That was fine but so much was mentioned that referred to other lessons that it seemed we were missing something. Some of the lessons left me wondering why there wasn't more about the Hero for each week. It wasn't one of my favorite studies.

[Chandra Boulden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really like the presentation of 5 different authors of people who are in the Faithful Chapter in Hebrews. However the 2 good presenters I have done before (Beth, and Priscilla) while 2 others were eh.

[Sharriette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate good lessons from the Bible. The book included lessons from five Bible teachers. I really got the most out of the lessons from Priscilla Shirer. I will look into doing more of her studies. I like her perspective.

[Jody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this one needs to be viewed as a guide and must be used with the videos. The videos and my class made this a useful tool. The book could use so much more detail but that detail was found in the video and group discussion.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed getting to know the different styles of popular women bible study leaders, none of these weeks were intended to be studied alone from the series. This led to confusion and a lack of depth in the teachings since they were just excerpts from longer, cohesive studies.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love how this book gives you a sample of 5 different Bible studies. If you’re looking to find a study, this is a great way to sample some and then pick one to go deeper in. It makes me want to do all 5!!

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed getting a taste of 5 different teachers.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far from a favorite Bible study for me. Although, this did give me an idea of what teachers and style I like and respond best to. One of the 5 I did not enjoy nearly as much, and I found her homework section to leave a lot to be desired for me. So this helped going forward which authors I might not pick up. I loved the Esther section by Beth Moore and would definitely do that full study just based on the one video segment and homework.

This Bible study would probably work best for a quick Bible study session where you won't be able to meet as many times. Because it is 5 separate people/stories from the Old Testament, it flows perfectly okay if you miss a week.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Bible study. A lesson from each of the big Lifeway leaders.

[Carrie Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good study to preview a variety of women's Bible study teachers and studies to know if you'd like to pursue any of them further.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I liked this study and each of the authors, I did not enjoy the breaking up of separate studies and combining them into one. I felt there was too much missing.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Bible Study

[Brianna Atherton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great way to learn from several different teachers.

[Danielle Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love everyone who wrote parts of this study. It did feel a little disconnected though. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had done each of their studies separately!

[Jessica Longerbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I did find this a good Bible Study book, it only has about one week of each of the five main characters. Which could be a good way to see if you like that particular author.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an easy Bible study. Was disjointed, various writers tried to be "folksy" and it came off goofy.