Thank you so much.

I feel very honored to be here.

This is the first experience for me. I have known Blake Boatright and Vance Theodore down at BYU, and they gave me my introduction to the chaplaincy program in many ways.

But I feel at somewhat of a disadvantage that I can't understand and appreciate totally all the sacrifices you make, and the incredible service you render.

I just found out about this conference and think what an incredible opportunity I would think, to come together and share stories and bolster each other.

As I heard the end of Brother Wilcox's presentation, I thought oh, he knows a lot about this military world.

But just one thought came to me as he telling some of his stories.

When I've done tours in the Holy Land, I've often used a tour guide who was a retired Brigadier General of the Israeli Army.

He is just quite a fascinating character, now close to 80 years old.

But tells stories of protecting the land where the Jerusalem Center is now located. He said, "I didn't know it at the time, but I know I was doing it for you." And after he snuck into our sacrament meeting, which we told him, no, sorry, you cannot go. But he comes in, and with all the white shirts of the men in sacrament meeting, there is Avi with his deep, bright blue shirt. And I go, "At least you could've worn a white shirt to kind of not stand out so much." But he said after that, and after several of these tours he said, "If I weren't so old," and I go, "what does have to do with it?" "But

if I weren't so old, I would be a Christian, I would be a follower of Jesus Christ." He said, "Jesus is the only world religion leader that promotes peace, that promotes love and tolerance for others."

I thought of that a lot, and I thought of it again as Brad spoke.

I'm also very grateful to be able to talk to all of you about women in the Bible, Old and New Testaments.

I have to tell you, this is something that I came upon a little bit before I came to BYU, but especially after I came to BYU I realized I was the only woman in the department, and I needed to carve out something that the men hadn't already done.

But I also realized there were different insights when you look at scripture from the perspective of the women.

Different things that come out. And then I was just so thrilled to learn just as I came in today, that your fearless leader, Frank Clawson, is the one who has opened the doors so that women can be part of the LDS chaplaincy.

I hope this presentation will do honor to him, and his trust in women as well.

And the fact that when we as men and women together join our strengths

and our insights, I truly do believe we will come closer to understanding the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I remember it was the fall of 1992 at the beginning of the school year at BYU when then Elder Henry B.

Eyring spoke to faculty. And he told a story when he was much younger, and living back East, that his father, the eminent scientist, Henry Eyring, had come to speak at a conference back there. And he could attend that conference, and listen and watch his father in his elements, speaking to all these other great scientists.

At the conclusion of Dr.

Eyring's presentation, at the question and answer period, a man in the audience

stood up and was pretty frustrated as he posed his question saying, "I've heard you speak on this subject before.

And the last time you came to very different kinds of conclusions, and took it from a very different angle.

What are you playing here?

What do you really believe?" And kind of attacked this eminent scientist.

Young Hal, son Hal, in the audience, seemed to be mortified for his father and him being embarrassed in this way.

And then he watched his father just very relaxed, start to chuckle.

And he said to the man, "You're right, I've looked at it from that angle

and concluded that, and I've looked at it from this angle, and this angle, and this angle. And I will continue to look at this subject from every angle I can

imagine, until I finally understand this subject." When I heard that story, I immediately attached it to a scripture, and thinking every different kind of angle that I can consider scripture in, will teach me something different, until I can finally come closer to understanding what God wants me to understand from scripture.

Scripture has been my lifeline in life.

When my life didn't seem to go in the direction that I thought it

would, and a lot of times church lessons and talks didn't seem germane to where

I was in life, I found scripture spoke to me.

I truly do believe what Elder Hale said, that when we want to talk to God, we very often use prayer.

But when He talks to us, He very often uses the scriptures.

I remind you just how timeless scripture is, and that includes the Bible, to every people, to every culture, to every time.

I believe that is the case with stories in the scripture.

And so today, I would like to look at women in the Bible, just a very few.

But I chose, thinking of you specifically, women that were somehow involved in conflict stories, and how they showed discipleship and great courage and faith in challenging times.

Some of these women you may be familiar with, I invite you to consider them from a different angle, looking at the stories specifically from their perspectives.

Elder M. Russell Ballard, a few years ago in a women's conference at BYU said, "As we look for and find women in our scriptures and in our history, we will see far better the power and influence women have in our family, community, the Church, and in the world."

I believe that.

Now, let me set this up with a story of conflict where women are not in the story.

It's the battle of Amalek with the Israelites, right after Moses led the children of Israel through the Red Sea.

Amalek led his men to attack the Israelites, and Moses sent his men out to defendant them.

He found that whenever he, Moses, could raise his hands

up, the Israelites prevailed.

But when he tired and brought his hands down, the enemy prevailed.

It's in this context then that we see this verse in Exodus chapter 17: "But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone," these two men, "and put it under him, that he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur," those two men, "stayed up his hands, the one on one side, and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." I've loved that imagery.

I've loved that reminder.

Very few of us, if any, and very few of those that we work with, if any, will have a position like Moses did in the story.

But I think every single one of us, including every one that we work with, have multiple opportunities to be like Aaron and Hur, and hold up

the leader's arms, that the Lord's will can prevail.

I've seen many women in the Bible that fulfill that role, and as a result, sometimes they aren't known.

Sometimes they even seem to be marginalized.

The Lord knows them and their stories are there.

One day Elder Maxwell said, "We will get to meet them, and learn more about them."

I look forward to that time.

Let me start with Deborah.

Oh, wow, I like Deborah.

She has two chapters in the Bible.

All of Judges chapter 4, and all of Judges chapter 5.

Chapter 5 is more her song that she sings with Barak, the military captain.

In fact, there are those that suggest that Deborah's song in Judges chapter 5

would be among the earliest Biblical record, words, preservation of

the Biblical record of any part of scripture.

Because music, the words of song were remembered and recited.

And where some other stories would've been written long afterwards, they would've recited this song.

Chapter 4 is the same story in prose.

But in those two chapters Deborah...

she lives at the time of the judges, she is one of the judges.

So this would be after they've come into the Promised Land, maybe around 1100, 1200 BCE, if you want to do the BCE to being kind and thoughtful to

people of all different religions.

She's a judge, one of the 12 judges mentioned in that chapter, the only woman judge.

She's also called a prophetess.

And we see a number of women called prophetess in the Old Testament, and the beginning of the New Testament.

May I just say briefly on that, I've heard some people say, "Oh, a woman that's called a prophetess is that because she's married to a prophet."

Oh, can I just tell you, I do not...

I'm not going there!

And especially because you look at the stories, and very often there's not a husband even involved in the story or one that we don’t really know what to do with. I mean there’s nothing specifically about him.

I love Revelation 19:10 that says, "a testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." "Or the spirit of prophecy is a testimony of Jesus."

When we profess Jesus, we are prophets, and that fits the definition in Old Testament times when Moses said, "Oh, if all of our sons and our daughters could be prophets." And Joel, the Prophet Joel later said, "Oh, that our sons and our daughters will one day prophesy."

Deborah knew the Lord.

She trusted the Lord.

And she knew that what the Lord desired, if we will do our part, it will come to pass.

There is a Hebrew tense that sometimes is called "the prophetic perfect." It allows you to say something in the present tense that hasn't happened yet.

Something in the future, you can say it in the present tense. So for example, in the Book of Mormon, Lehi says, when Sariah is having a difficult time when the sons are back in Jerusalem, and Lehi says,

"I have obtained a land of promise." And you go, um, actually, no, you've got eight years before you get there.

But he is so sure they will, he says it in present tense.

It's Hebrews 11:1, the definition of faith.

In King James it says, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, when the evidence is unseen." But Joseph Smith Translation, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, even when there is no evidence to even give a hint that it could come to pass." I love that.

I think Deborah had that kind of faith.

She's also called "a mother in Israel." There is no mention,

potentially, of her husband.

In the King James version it says, "she is the wife of Lapidoth." Now if Lapidoth doesn't just bring up all kind of memories, that would be that we don't know anything more about him. In fact, in Hebrew the word "woman" and "wife" are the same word.

So it could be “she is the woman of Lapidoth.” Maybe a place where she came from.

But then Lapidoth means "lamp" or "torch." She could be a woman of light.

Some have said maybe a lamp light or a torchbearer.

We don't know.

But there are no mention of children.

When she is called "a mother in Israel,"

Deborah is such because she mothers Israel.

She looks after Israel. And here is the story.

Background: For 20 years the Israelites have been oppressed by the Canaanites.

And after 20 years, she goes to the military captain named Barak, and she says to him, calls to him, and says to him, "Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee 10,000 men of the children of Naphtali, and the children of Zebulon?

And I will draw unto thee, to the river Kishon Sisera, I will draw

Sisera, who is the captain of Jabin's army," that's the Canaanite army, "I will draw him to the river Kishon, and his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him unto thine hand." Deborah believes that.

She's a prophetess, and she tells the military captain, "didn't God say this, what are we going to do?" She believes it.

There is Mount Tibor, up by Galilee in the Holy Land.

And in front of it, there would be the Jezreel Valley, where the Kishon River comes through.

Okay, so Barak says to Deborah, I love this verse (chuckles), excuse me.

"If thou wilt go with me," Barak said, "then I will go." I mean come on! When do you see a military captain going to this woman.

She's not a fighter.

"If thou wilt go with me, I will go, but if thou wilt not no with me, then I will not go." And she said, "I will surely go with thee.

Notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine

honor, for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.

And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh." You think sometimes Deborah's going to be the one.

But this is one of those stories, I know, it's astounding, but there's another woman in the story.

And you probably remember this one. Remember, after the battle and Sisera runs away, and escapes, he ends up at

Hebrew the Kenites tent and goes in to get refuge there.

And Jael, Hebrew's wife, invites him in, gives him milk in a Lordly dish, he falls asleep.

Oh, my goodness. And then takes one of the tent pegs, remember this one?

And hammers his head through the temple, right? I mean people that say all women are just these innately spiritual and just sweet and kind, don’t know the stories of women in - there’s all kinds, and Jael gets the one.

She's the one that gets the credit for taking down Sisera.

But let's go back to this part of the story.

"Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even 900 chariots of iron." The Israelites had no chariots.

"And all the people that were with him, unto the river of Kishon.

And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which

the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand; is not the Lord gone out before thee?” Now think about it, Barak’s army is up on top of Mount Tabor, they’re pretty safe there. They've got the high ground.

And those chariots, those 900 chariots and some accompanying foot soldiers, generally two horses in front of those chariots were flooding that

field in front of them.

As long as they stayed up on Mount Tabor, you could feel safe.

But Deborah is saying, "No, no, no, this is not what the Lord called us to. Up. Go down."

"So Barak went from Mount Tabor, and 10,000 men with him.

And the Lord discomfited Sisera and all his hosts..." You have to go to Deborah's song to get a little more detail.

But it appears the Lord sent a major storm.

And what happens to that field, it becomes, the river overflows,

the tributaries overflow.

It becomes muddy, and the chariots are stuck, and very easily the Israelites are victorious.

What I love here is to recognize that after this, you read in the last verse of

Judges 5 that there was 40 years of peace that followed after this battle.

Deborah had an eye to the Lord, and she feared not.

She knew the Lord would come through, and He did.

Okay, here is another prophetess, her name is Huldah.

She's about 620-ish BC.

Think about Jerusalem in about 620.

I sometimes think about Lehi and Sariah.

That might have been there at the same time.

But here is the background.

The king of Judah is Josiah, he became king at age eight.

His father and his grandfather were very wicked kings, and had turned the temple in Jerusalem into a temple to worship the gods of Babylon.

His great-grandfather was Hezekiah, who had cleared up everything and miracles are happened.

But when the Assyrians came in, they were destroying and capturing all the area roundabout.

But when they came to Jerusalem, the way Isaiah says it, "Sennacherib and his Assyrian army woke up dead corpses." That for some reason, they all fell over dead, 186,000 of them.

I love Isaiah's way of saying it though.

"Woke up dead corpses." But

it was miraculous. And so people think, Jerusalem will never be taken.

Josiah's now the king, he wants to clean up the temple. He hires men to go in to refurbish the temple and make it again a temple for Yahweh, to worship Jehovah.

And when they're there, cleaning up the temple, the men find a scroll.

They look at it, it seems to be quoting the Lord, and prophecies of the Lord.

Okay, here is then from, it's both in 2nd Kings 22, and 2nd Chronicles 34.

King Josiah said to his wise men, "Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of the this

book or scroll that is found." Go find out if this is true.

Go find out if this is from the Lord.

"Now, Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam, and Akbor, and Shaphan in

the scribe.

And Asaiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess." I don't have any ellipsis there, that is straight the way it is.

It just simply said, "They those to go to Huldah the prophetess." A lot of people have asked why not Jeremiah?

Latter-day Saints have said, why not Lehi?

Other prophets that were around. Why did they go to her?

There's no explanation.

I just think it's interesting, these men trusted Huldah for some reason.

They knew.

They go to her. Here is the rest of that verse."...

to Huldah the prophetess.

She's called the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of

Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe." See, that's what I'm saying, there is nothing there.

"Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college," that's the way the King James translated it.

This Hebrew word is only seen this one time.

The Hebrew word is "Mishneh," and what we think,

can you say "Mishneh" on that little map?

It's right there, not far from the temple.

The northern boundary of it is the Broad Wall that Hezekiah had built on the north side of the city.

A lot of people, a lot of scholars think this might be it, it was an addition to Jerusalem, to the city of Jerusalem, to allow for all the tribes

that wanted to come down, the people from the other tribes from Israel, when the Assyrians were coming in, that they would move down to Jerusalem, and it was that neighborhood.

Again, I think of Lehi who was Manasseh.

I wondered if that's where he lived. See, do you see? If I were Dan Brown, I could come up with a good story of how I could have Huldah and Sariah being ministering sisters together, right up there in the missionary.

But that's where we think, that close by, not far from where the palace would've been.

But again, and a second thing, they don’t command her to come to them, they go to her.

And they communed with her. Now I don't have everything, I think there's four or five verses that actually have her words.

But this is how it begins. "She said to the them, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, tell the man that sent you to me," that would be the king, you tell the king, "thus saith the Lord." What is she saying?

This record is from God.

It assumes that Huldah can read as well, apparently.

Unless the scribe is reading this to her.

And what is interesting in those next verses, 16-20, three more times she says, "Thus saith the Lord." We think this is the Book of Deuteronomy or part of the Book of Deuteronomy that gave all the consequences if the Israelites turned against the Lord.

She recognized it as the Lord's voice, and says, "Thus, saith the Lord."

In it, she also tells Josiah, in essence saying, Jerusalem's going to be destroyed.

We know 600, 586 it is, by the Babylonians.

It will not escape like it did under Hezekiah.

“Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself the Lord... I will gather thee unto thy fathers," Josiah, "and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place." Basically saying, yup, Jerusalem's going to be destroyed, but because of your goodness, Josiah, the Lord will take you before then.

But, that's going to be a few years down the road before Josiah dies.

Maybe about 610.

But

this is what he did in the meantime. Right after he got word from Huldah, we read in 2nd Kings 23, that he brought all the people together at that temple. This is like the rededication of the temple.

"And he went to the house of the Lord, and all the people, both small and great, and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant

which was found in the house of the Lord." He wants them to hear this.

"And then the king made a covenant unto the Lord to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart, and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this scroll.

And all the people stood to the covenant." It's incredible.

Did King Josiah trust Huldah's testimony?

You bet he did.

They came together, and for a few years, there was righteousness there in Jerusalem.

That he dies, and his son, and then that son’s brother, and then the next son turned him around again. And we know the rest of that story.

I think about Huldah, how courageous.

She did not mince words, she told truth and bore strong witness, and led for a time, this people, to keep quite a remarkable covenant.

It reminds me a lot of King Benjamin and his people in the Book of Mosiah.

Okay, let's change a little bit, and how about Rahab the Harlot?

Back in Joshua, chapters 2 and 6.

She is a harlot.

I mean a lot of times people want to change her and to make her an

innkeeper, we want to just kind of sanitize sometimes.

She's a harlot, and she's called it twice in the New Testament too. In fact, she's brought up as an incredible example. In that Hebrews 11, the assurance of things, what is faith, but the assurance of things hoped for even though evidence is unseen.

She is in that long list of all the great faithful ones that show that kind of faith, as a great example of faith.

By faith

Rahab hid the spies that were sent by Joshua, to spy out the land of Jericho.

And in James 2,

James makes a difference, has faith as a belief, and so he says you have to have works with it.

And he gives examples.

Abraham had that kind. He didn't just have faith, he also showed it by works.

And the other one he gives, he only gives two examples: Abraham and Rahab the Harlot.

So let's go back.

Do you know that she hid, you know, the spies, Joshua sent them in to spy out the land. She lives in Jericho.

She lives on the wall of the city of Jericho.

And she most likely, it was therefore a double wall, right on the wall, and sometimes it would not be that wide.

And you'd just put debris, rocks and stuff to add more fortification.

But times when they could make it bigger, they would make it

bigger, and then you could just do divisions this way, and people would live there.

She lived on the wall and she had an inn there.

She took care of her family. I don't know, her parents, I don't know who else would be her family.

I've been accused sometimes of being so nice on harlots. And I go back to Christ. Do you remember He says, "oh, the publicans and harlots will get there before you." I think there's something about people that have put in very challenging circumstances that we don't know how or why, they're some of the most humble and open to the message of Jesus Christ.

Well, the consequences?

We don't know specifically

what it would've been for the Canaanites there.

But here is very close, and these Hammurabi Law code, people have long seen parallels, that this kind of law code seemed to permeate a lot of the ancient

near east.

Hammurabi's Law code, coming out of Babylon gave this: "If outlaws have congregated in the establishment of a woman wine seller." I think Rahab and her little inn might qualify, "and she has not arrested those outlaws and did not take them to the palace, that wine seller shall be put

to death." I think that was very - her life was on the line when she decided to hide those two Israelite spies.

Once she gets rid of those that have come after her, to try to find them, "Where are they?" "I don't know, they were so fast, they must have run away."

Oh, I love some of the wit of the women in the Old Testament. They have to be because sometimes that's the only thing they have as far as weapon.

But then she turns to the two spies and these are her

words preserved in scripture:

"I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.”

I want to just pause. How does she know that?

She also said, "For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt." They heard the story, in Jericho, far away.

"And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you, for the Lord your God, he is the God of heaven above, and in earth beneath."

Let me suggest one way she could've known this.

I get this from the Book of Mormon.

In First Nephi 17, Nephi is comparing the children of Israel to the Nephites, to Lehi's family there.

And he says,

"Would the Canaanites have been destroyed, if they

had been more righteous

than we were, than the Israelites?" And then he said this, "The Canaanites were destroyed because, they had rejected every word of God and they were ripe in iniquity." What is does it suggest if someone rejects the word of God?

What has to happen before?

You have to hear it.

When did they hear it?

Again, I don't know, but do you remember when Caleb and Joshua, and ten others of the tribe went earlier under Moses to spy out the land?

I don't know how you can send out good, faithful disciples of Jehovah and just spy out the land and not want to preach the gospel along the way.

I don't know, I think it could've happened.

But here is just one another to go along with that. This is Second Nephi 25.

"Never hath any of the Israelites been destroyed save it were foretold them by the prophets of the Lord." If that rule applies here, surely none of those peoples that were destroyed in the Old Testament, by the Israelites, would've been destroyed without first having been taught.

I think there's more to the story that we don't have in the Bible.

Rahab does it, she protects them when they come back, she gets them out, remember, lets them out on that...

it must have been a rope, not a thread. But yes, out the window.

And when they came back the Israelites remembered her and her household.

And what is fascinating, they joined the Israelites.

And if you haven't noticed this, Rahab the Harlot is named in Matthew 1, as an ancestress of Jesus Christ.

She is in the Savior's genealogy.

Oh, I love it!

Again, showing incredible courage and faith in very difficult times.

Okay, let me take you, oh, I am about down to the wire aren't I?

I've got to stop in 45 seconds. Okay. (Chuckles) I’ve got the little maid here.

You know, we heard this story at conference, but without the little maid.

She is from Israel, and she's been taken captive when the Syrians came down, and in their campaign, won some of those battles. And they took booty back, including people, including her.

And Naaman, the Syrian captain gave this little maid to his wife to take care of his wife.

And that's where she learns that Naaman has leprosy.

And she says to Naaman's wife, this little maid. "Little" is diminutive. We can't tell exactly, but it most likely is, she is young, she is small.

She said to her mistress, these are her enemies, she's been captured,

"Would God, my lord were with the prophet that is in Samariah, for he would recover him of his leprosy.

And one went in and told his lord saying, thus and thus said the little maid, that is of the land of Israel." She bears a testimony, if he could just go down to Samariah, which is the capital on the northern kingdom.

There's a prophet there, Elijah.

He can heal him.

And other servants must have gone over and said, da, da, da, da, the little maid's been saying this. Naaman hears, and you know the rest of the story.

But she is the catalyst.

Well, there are more, we didn't even get to the New Testament one. But I just hope...

these women, you just look at the ones we've seen: Deborah, Rahab,

Huldah, the Little Maid whose name we don't even know...

these are each so very, very different, and yet they had such

incredible, profound influence on the people around them because they were disciples.

I think of this little maid, talk about being a witness for God at all

times, and in all things, and in all places.

That she is.

To love our enemies, to do good to those that despitefully use you and persecute you.

I am so in awe

of the power of that message of Jesus Christ.

He is the light that we hold up.

I've been so touched in recent visits to the Statue of Liberty, as a woman holds up light.

And the Colossus poem that talks about the

strength of the Greek empire, where they had a Colossus with one great soldier, with one foot on one piece of land, and one foot on the other piece of land, and the ships would sail right between.

And you come here to this land, and it's a woman

with a torch.

"Give me your tired, your poor."

I like to think that is the light of Christ.

She beckons, she welcomes, and she teaches us

to love, and nurture,

and care about all those who come within her shores.

I pray we may be like these great women of faith, disciples of Jesus Christ in whatsoever circumstances we will find ourselves in.

May you reflect that love with all those that you meet, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Male:

Dr. Olson, thank you so much for sharing these great examples of faith and leadership. At our family we so love Deborah, that if we had another daughter, that was going to be her name.

But we would like to present you with this small token of our appreciation.

Thank you so very much for this.

(Applause)