Twelve Extraordinary Women

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

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.

Honorable Read

Women as women with God’s grace. Not ashamed to be women. And definitely not men trying to be women.

Super read!

Really informative and enjoyable. I would highly recommend for digging into the story’s of the extraordinary women of the Bible.

Outstanding Book!

I loved how he brought these women to life while showing us their faults and forgiveness through their service.

12 extraordinary women of the Bible

Easy listening, and very entertaining. I learned a lot. It was a great way to learn about scripture and parts of the Bible.

Anti Catholic & divisive rhetoric

Still have 3 hours left to listen of the book but don’t care to hear any more so I marked it as finished. The author is CLEARLY uneducated in Catholic dogma and tradition - he falsely claims that Mary is considered by Catholics to be omnipotent (not true!) and that the devotion to Mary is not biblically based… I’m not a Bible expert but I know that Mary’s position is to be revered and one doesn’t need a theology degree to see it. Eve led Adam to sin - it was by her direction of Adam to eat the Apple (commit sin) that all her offspring were all marked with the stain of original sin. Eve was identified as “the woman” in Genesis… Jesus identifies his mother Mary’s biblical connection to Eve at the wedding in Cana. Mary told Jesus that they had run out of wine and Jesus said “Woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come.” - Jesus wasn’t being impatient with his mother by calling her “woman” he identified her position/role… Our redemption is basically a “do over” from our old/original way of saying “no” to God to now being obedient to his call - as Mary was, this is the new “woman” whose actions give glory to God as she chose to follow his will for her life and this away from darkness and sin to the light - literally the light of the world, her son, Jesus Christ. (Eve’s actions led to sin- Mary’s actions lead to Jesus and our redemption) Jesus’ response to his mother’s notification about the guests lacking an essential part of any wedding celebration was to perform his first public miracle. *This is key as to why Catholics are devoted to Mary, we ask her to plead our case (to pray for/with) to her son (not that we don’t ALSO ask Jesus directly) but as the Bible shows - Jesus won’t refuse his mother anything that is in accordance with God’s will.
Mary’s yes to God when the angel told her what God’s plan was and her continued love and obedience, working for the good of the church (that’s us/wedding guests/those invited to the feast) that is how she worked with God in his redemptive plan for us (as we are all called to do!).
And again, Mary is referred to in the book of revelations 12:1 “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” - showing her Queenship in heaven (back in the times of Jesus and before - the Queen was always the mother of the king - not his wife… this allowed for only one Queen in a kingdom and no confusion of the queen’s position should the king decide he needed a new wife).
Mind you, I’m ok if someone doesn’t understand something and states it’s different than what he believes/understands - but it’s very different when this author unequivocally states that what Catholics believe is not biblically based and then tries to smear them further with ridiculous mentions of Marian visions on toast or salt stains (none of which were ever sanctioned by the Catholic Church as having any merit). This man needs to reread his Bible about giving false and/or slanderous testament. I can forgive him because he literally doesn’t know what he’s doing but I won’t listen to any more of his foolishness… However, I will say a rosary for him and I know Mary will discuss my concerns for this author with Jesus and, if it’s God’s will that John MacArther should have eyes that see while he still walks this earth, then maybe he will write another book, one that’s more enlightened. I’ll be praying for that!