Who is Sheerah?

“His daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth Horon as well as Uzzen Sheerah.”
1 Chronicles 7:24 (NIV)

Arise and shine, dear one! God is with you!

Holy Spirit, speak to me through Your Word.

I said my usual prayer before opening my Bible to that day's reading plan portion. It was one of those sections of Scripture we easily gloss over: a list of names, tracing the descendants of each tribe of Israel. I wondered to myself, what could God possibly have to show me today in this passage?

Then I got to verse 24, and something caught my attention.

Sheerah? Who is Sheerah? A woman built a city?

I'd never heard of her before. I've read through the Bible several times, and her name had never caught my attention until that day.

Earlier that morning, I had spent time preparing for what I'll be teaching at our Deeply Rooted Fall Retreat for Arise. I had been studying the stories of women in the Bible whose names may not be as well known, women like Jael, Huldah, and Phoebe. I was seeing how their lives demonstrated radical faith, rooted in truth. And here, in the pages of a list of names, I found another woman mentioned: Sheerah.

In my curiosity, I had to dig a little further to see what I could learn about Sheerah and the cities she built. This is the only mention of her name in the Bible, but there is another mention of Beth Horon in Joshua 10, where the location plays a significant role when the Lord hurled hailstones down on the Amorites, giving them over to Israel.

That day, the Lord reminded me that there are still treasures to be found in His Word, even tucked within a list of names. His Word is alive, and the Holy Spirit is ready and available to bring it to life and illuminate exactly what our hearts need.

As you open your Bible today, dear one, ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through the pages in front of you. You may not find a Sheerah in your reading today, but that doesn't mean the treasure isn't there. Even in a passage that feels all too familiar, ask what new thing God may reveal to you, something that provides exactly what your heart needs today. You might just be surprised at what you find.