So it was not Hebrew manhood that saved the daughters of Israel from the suicidal injustice practiced among the heathens, but the sure Word of God. Under its wise provisions and recognized equality they became prophetesses, leaders of armies, and judges. And they taught a pure morality, trained their children according to principles of justice and righteousness, and lived in expectation and hope of the coming of the Messiah in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.
And above all, Christ was the true Friend of womanhood. No teacher in any age of the world or in any land ever taught woman as He did, when He came that glorious morning to Jacob’s well, or in the house of Simon the Pharisee, when the sin-stained woman of the street, who had unobserved entered the banquet hall, and taken up her position at the feet of Jesus, and there poured out the great sorrow of her heart in a paroxysm of humble and grateful love, and bathed His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, anointing them also with ointment, when He personally addressed her and said, “Thy sins are forgiven.” How beautiful is all this, and how grandly these women showed their gratitude and appreciation by following Him and ministering unto “Him of their substance.” They were last at the cross and first at the tomb, and first to publish the Saviour’s resurrection.
From that day to this, women owe their spiritual elevation and their opportunities of usefulness to the recognition Christ gave them in His ministry. In all places untouched by Christian light they are not sure that they have souls. Where the light shines clearly they have equal rights with the men by whose side they are privileged to labor for God’s glory. This being so, how ought they to love God, and in every way possible, spread the light of Christianity through all the earth. We would say to every woman who loves her Lord, the field is wide enough, and opportunities present themselves in every passing hour, therefore, if you have a message which will help and bless some struggling soul heavenward, tell it.
With these brief, introductory words, we come to our subject proper. And should you, dear woman, whom we seek to glorify in the following pages, be blessed and comforted in the unfolding of God’s love towards womanhood, and your own faith take a firmer hold upon the Father’s thought of you, do not, after reading this book, put it away in your book-case, but place it in the hands of some tempted, discouraged, struggling soul, and thereby let others become sharers of the same helpful words, and, possibly, in so doing, you may not only save precious souls, but add many stars to your own crown of life.
As ever, respectfully,
THE AUTHOR.
Albany, N. Y.
WOMEN IN WHITE RAIMENT.
CHAPTER I.
The Paradise Home in Eden.
Man’s First Home a Garden—Eve the Isha—The Scene of the Temptation—Hiding from God—Refusing to Confess, Judgment is Pronounced—The Sad Results of Sin—Eve Believed the Promise.