How can one sentence give a man his life back? That’s what we find happening in the story of Captain Naaman and his wife’s servant girl. She is nameless but not unknown. We meet her as the servant of Mrs. Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Her husband is the commander-in-chief for the king of Aram (present-day Syria). But he has a problem. He has contracted leprosy. Was it really the disfiguring, life-threatening, flesh-eating disease we connect with leprosy? Does it matter if that’s

Abraham was nearing the end of his life. Sarah had already died. Miracle son Isaac was 37 years old at her death and still unmarried. Abraham needed to arrange a marriage for Isaac, but he was unable to travel. He didn’t want Isaac to marry a local Canaanite woman because the marriage must protect the family bloodline. Eliezer was Abraham’s oldest and most trusted servant. The only other background detail we know is that he was from Damascus. (see Genesis 15:2) Many specul

Lydia is the first businesswoman mentioned in the New Testament. Her story never names a husband, so perhaps she was a widow who inherited the business. However it happened, she was a respected woman who sold purple textiles to those who could afford it. Lydia’s purple dye business was probably one of the guilds in Thyatira where she originated. A guild was an organization of artisans, something like a labor union. While her dye business was in Thyatira (in modern-day Tur

Mordecai was the kind of guy you’d like to have for a neighbor. Mordecai was someone you could depend on no matter what happened. He was always available, no matter the job. After his Jewish parents were exiled to Persia (present-day Iran) under King Nebuchadnezzar, Mordecai called Persia home. When his uncle and aunt died, leaving their daughter, Esther, orphaned, Mordecai became her guardian and father figure. Somehow, Mordecai had risen through the ranks to land a governm