MY OPINION
Women in the Bible and Church
Women in the Bible and Church
IApril, 2008, the FBI raided an isolated Mormon village in Eldorado Texas,
and took over 400 children into state custody.
The charges being investigated concerned the practice of polygamy, Polygamy
was a main practice of the Mormon religion from its very founding. But when Utah
desired to become a State, the United States government insisted if you want to belong
to the United States you must give up the practice of polygamy. The desire for Statehood
caused the church to officially give up the practice, and Utah entered the union.
But over the decades, polygamy has survived unofficially, and been practiced here and
there in small out of the way places.
The controversy over this Mormon situation has again opened up the discussion of
how religions in general treat women.
And although the Mormon religion is not and never has been a true
Christian denomination, the discussion of the subject always throws an unpleasant light
on the treatment of women through the ages by the true Christian church.
For hundreds of years Hindu widows in India practiced a savage thing called Suttee.
The American missionaries and the British Crown forced an end to it.
But while it lasted, Suttee was the requirement, that when a man died,
his widow was required to throw herself into his funeral pyre and burn herself to death.
For a thousand years, little girls in China were required to tie their feet
up with strips of cloth, so tightly that their feet could not grow properly,
and would become grossly disfigured. Even today in Muslim countries,
women and pubescent girls are forced to undergo the savage mutilation
of the genitals called female circumcision.
Among western civilizations, the oppression of women has been more civilized
but it has still existed. And a very large portion of it has come out of the Christian
churches. In these countries and cultures, it has not taken the form of mutilation,
foot binding, or burning alive. It has taken the form of political and social oppression.
And always with the claim, this is what the Lord commands.
In the Christian church, which is supposed to be the place of comfort and refuge,
healing and redemption of souls, women have had to put up with the constant preaching
of "submit, submit, , obey, obey,, until the very speaking of the words becomes as painful
and demoralizing as a punch in the face.
And when the women rebel and refuse, the men sulk and pout and carry on, and complain,
the Bible says so. Are you going to fight God's Word?
The Reformation, which lasted 500 years, saw the birth of many Christian
denominations and movements. Among these groups there grew two basically different
views of how a Christian should order his life in proper obedience to the Lord.
One of these views put great importance on outward rules and ceremonies and strict
obedience to the local church government, whatever form it may be in that particular
denomination.
The other view of things was formed by certain Anabaptists, Brethren, Moravians, and finally,
the Wesleyan revivals. The people in this movement put great emphasis on personal
experience of knowing sins forgiven by the power and name of Jesus, and following
His Biblical teachings by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I n the Calvinist movements, great importance was put on scholarship and
college degrees, as a sign of God's choosing for the world of the ministry.
Women were not allowed in any places of influence in society, and the idea of a
woman in the ministry of the Gospel was just scandalous.
In Elizabethan England,Shakespeare's plays were performed with young men
performing the female parts on stage. The idea of a woman actually getting up on a
stage and saying lines, while men were actually looking at her,, was just to scandalous
to be tolerated. In that kind of a society, it was not surprising that the idea of a female
preacher was certainly hard to take.
And of course, Adam, as represented by every man, was still under the the
impression that God's words, "he shall rule over you", were a command,
and not the diagnosis of a heart that was damaged by sin.
In the Anabaptist, Moravian, Brethren tradition, and underlined by the experience of the
Wesleyan revivals, Christians recognized the anointing of the Holy Spirit on women
just as well as men.
In these movements, the power of the Holy Spirit anointing a certain person,
and the fruit of his or her life, were the credentials that told the congregation
that this person was chosen and ordained of the Lord.
That is why in groups like the Amish, Old Order Mennonite, and Brethren,
the ladies wear their white caps all the time. The head covering is the symbol
of their authority to minister. And as one Mennonite gentleman explained to me,
the women have much power and anointing with the Lord, and are expected to be praying
all the time.
So, women have ministered the Gospel ever since the New Testament days,
but in certain levels of society, their contribution has been largely unknown and ignored.
Even though things have changed considerably in the recent years, there is still the attitude
out there that it is God who has commanded that women be kept in second class position,
somehow, not worthy of the high calling of God just because they are female.
This attitude actually charges Almighty God with having an unjust and unmerciful
attitude toward women,, and it is slander against God to call Him unjust.
I do not like to hear my Savior being slandered.
We will take a look at God's Word. We will find out what God really says about the place and
function of women.
The trouble first started in Eden, when the Lord had His emergency conference with Adam,
Eve, and the serpent. I know you don't believe that Adam and Eve existed, but I'm
going to tell you what they did anyway. Because what they did is effecting what you are
doing down to this very day.
Genesis 3. The Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done?
And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me. And the Lord said to the serpent,
because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, upon your belly
shall you go, and dust thou shalt eat. Your punishment in this matter, you are going
to crawl on your belly and eat dirt.
And to Adam, Mr. Excitement, He said, you are going to have to work for a living.
In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread.
And to Eve, He said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and conception. In sorrow you shall bring forth children--
The very important thing that you were made to do, giving birth, is going to
become burdensome and painful.
These pronouncements were the direct punishment for the disobedience. But then, He adds something.
He says to Eve, your desire shall be towards your husband, and He shall rule over you.
A careful reading of this sentence, and a careful looking at the relationship between
men and women throughout history, shows us exactly what the Lord meant.
There was punishment for disobedience. The sweat of the face, the pain of childbirth.
But there was also collateral damage to deal with. Imagine the Lord lecturing Adam and Eve.
You two were created to be in the image of God. But your disobedience has broken that image.
You are no longer in the perfect image of God. In verse 15, He promises the Deliverer.
I will use your seed to bring forth the Messiah, and He will crush the serpent's head,
destroy sin, and restore that broken image of God.
But until that is accomplished, you are going to have trouble. You are both broken inside.
You are not going to fit together like I designed you to. I made Adam to be a leader,
and you to be a follower, and as originally designed, it worked.
But now that you are both broken, that quality of leadership I put in Adam, is going to
result in him acting like a tyrant. That quality of follower that I put in you is going to turn
you into a doormat.
You are still going to love Adam, you are still going to want and need him. Your desire
shall be toward him, but he shall rule over you.
He will oppress, he will stifle, he will neglect you. He will invent Hell's tortures--like sexual
mutilation, foot binding, and the fires of Suttee. And expect you to submit without a murmur.
He will claim that I gave him the authority to do it.
And when he finally is redeemed from the power of sin, by the Redeemer that shall come
through your seed, and he finally learns to love you, his thinking will still be bent out of
shape. He will still expect you to be his servant, instead of the helpmeet to him that
I made you to be.
And Adam stood by, and he only heard the words, "he shall rule over you".
And in his newly discovered anger,resentment, unforgiveness, and the mean spirit that was now growing in him, he decided that, definately, that is what I'm going to do.
And there you see the birthplace of the agelong battle of the sexes.
But when God said, he shall rule over you, he did not speak it as a command.
He spoke it as a diagnosis of what Adam's broken soul was going to cause him to do.
Sexual mutilations, foot-binding, Suttee, arranged marriages, political and financial
oppression, unreasonable social restraints, and domestic violence, have all been
Adam's treatment of Eve throughout the history of the human race.
Has Adam really been obeying the command of God? Or has he been obeying
the lower instincts of the lost and broken sinner that his disobedience turned him into?
When the devil came to Jesus, He quoted Scripture at Him. He said, "it is written".
Think of the Chutzpah--to quote a book to the author of the book, and tell that author what
His own book is supposed to mean. And Jesus answered, "it is written again".
So let's go through the Bible, and find out what is "written again" concerning women.
How does God treat women? And how does He want men to treat them?
In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his servant back to his hometown to find a bride for Isaac.
And he makes it clearly understood that this woman is to come to marry Isaac by her own
free will. This was an unheard of thing in that society. A woman married the one her
father chose for her, and she had no say in the matter. But Abraham understood God's
mind on the matter, and told his servant, the woman must choose freely, yes or no.
We know that as far back as Numbers 27, the Scriptures establish the right of
women to have equal rights concerning family inheritance.
Malachi, second chapter, the Lord complains to the men of Israel, about their mistreatment
of their wives. You have covered the altar with your tears, the prophet declares. You cry,
and pray, the Lord does not answer you. He doesn’t listen to you any more. He does not
receive your offering. Why? Because, verse 15 . He has been a witness between you
and your wife—You have dealt treacherously with her---for one covers violence with
his garment-----verse 16----one covers violence with his garment---this means he throws
his coat over his wife’s arms, so no one can see the bruises he gave her.
But God sees it, and tells the Prophet Malachi to tell them, “I’m not talking to you anymore.
I’m not listening to your prayers.This warning from the Lord, you treat your wife right,
is repeated in 1 Peter 3:7. The Lord says, you mistreat your wife, I will not talk to you,
I will not hear your prayers when you try to talk to Me.
Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with famous prophetesses.
Prophetess—a woman whom God anoints with His Spirit, and who as a
result of that divine empowerment, speaks forth the words God gives to her to speak.
Exodus 15:20,21 Miriam, the prophetess, sister of Aaron and Moses, took her timbrel--
tamborine—and led all the women in a dance of praise, and said, sing ye to the Lord,
for He has triumphed gloriously.
Judges 4:4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time
.She dwelt under the Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mt. Ephraim
and the children of Israel came up to her for judgement.
2 Kings, 22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Asahiah,
went unto Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah---now she dwelt
in Jerusalem at the college. And they communed with her, and she said unto them,
thus saith the Lord--. this woman, this female, spoke to the men under the anointing of Almighty God and said, "thus saith the Lord". And Almighty God blessed her obedience, and none of those men got pouty or resentful.
Huldah lived at a college, and all these men came to her and asked her what was the
Lord’s counsel on certain things. And she spoke forth by the power of the Spirit of God,
and said “thus saith the Lord”. And Hilkiah, the priest, recognized her anointing
and her authority.
Luke 2:36 And there was one Anna, the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel,
she was a widow 84 years old, and she met Mary and Joseph in the temple
At the same time they met Simeon. She spoke to the passersby, and told them,
this child is the redeemer you are looking for.
Acts 18:28 Priscilla, the wife of Aquila. They were a teaching team.
Acts 21:9 We entered into the house of Phillip the evangelist, and the same man
had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.
And of course, Romans 16:1 Apostle Paul is writing this. He is led by the Spirit of God
to send individual greetings to the brethren in Rome.
And the first one on the list is a lady pastor. In New Testament times, the terms
“angel of the church” or “servant of the church”, meant the pastor of the church.
And here, Apostle Paul, that so-called anti-female grouch, says, “I commend unto you
Phebe our sister, which is the servant of the church—which is the pastor of the church—in Cenchrea. Receive her in the Lord---
Assist her in whatever business she has need of you.
Apostle Paul! Commends a female pastor! Tells the flock to
help that female pastor in all ways that she needs help!
This verse alone has the power to give 100 Southern Baptist preachers
simultaneous heart failure.
But this is the Received, Massoretic text. Old King James.
That makes it “thus saith the Lord”.
So, dear beloved, precious, and truly honored brethren.
Accept the authority of the Word of God---what the Bible says---and get over it.
We skip back to Proverbs 31.
King Solomon is musing on the differences between a good woman and a bad woman.
Verse 10. Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies. The heart
of her husband does safely trust in her.
Then the whole chapter describes a very hard-working, take charge woman, who provides
food and clothing for her entire household, is always there to help people, who runs her own business, who has enough money at her disposal to buy real estate. This is no stay at
home timid mouse who thinks it is her job in life to be her husband’s ventriloquist dummy.
And how does her family respond to all this? Verse 28 Her children rise up and call her
blessed. Her husband also, and he praises her.
Acts 16:14,15 A certain woman named Lydia—a seller of purple—a business woman,
in the city of Thyatyra, became the first convert in the city, and was instrumental,
in planting the Christian church there.
Let’s take a closer look at Deborah.
She was a married woman, and her husband recognized her calling. He did not
sulk and complain for all the hours she sat under the tree in her yard to talk to
the people who came to see her. That tree became famous in Israel, as the place
to go to hear Deborah.
She was not only a prophetess, she was a Judge. In the form of government in Israel back then,
she was a political leader. This was the same type of office of political leadership that was
held by Samson,
Judges chapter four. There came a day that Deborah heard the voice of the Lord concerning
General of the Army, Barak. There was a war going on. She sent him word that the Lord
Wanted him to meet the enemy on a particular battlefield. She said, the Lord says,
I will deliver him into your hand.
General Barak’s response was, I’ll go out to this battle, but only if you go with me.
He wanted this woman alongside him in battle, not only as the voice of the Lord,
but as a military advisor. So now Deborah is a leader in religion, a leader in politics, and a leader in military. And Lapidoth is still proud of her.
Verse 9. She said I will surely go with thee. But the journey that you take shall not be for your honor. For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. At the very beginning, Deborah told General Barak, this fight is not for your great honor as a General. God is going to let you win the fight. But he’s going to use a woman to do it.
Verse 14. Then came the day of battle, and Deborah said to Barak, up, for this is
the day that the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand.
There followed a very strange battle. Beginning verse 15. The battle went badly for
General Sisera. And he really behaved like a coward. He leaped down out of his chariot
and ran away from the battle on foot. He deserted his men, right in the middle of the battle.
And they lost. Barak whipped them.
So General Sisera is now looking for a place to hide. He comes across the tent
of a man named Heber. Heber isn’t home, but his wife Jael is. She sees him coming,
and offers him shelter and a place to rest. She feeds him. She gets a blanket and
tucks him in.
He mutters to her, don’t let anybody know I’m here, and then he falls asleep.
And then, she tiptoes up beside him, with a hammer and nail, drives the nail righ
t into his brain. She won the battle, just as Deborah prophesied, and became very famous.
1 Samuel 25. David was on the battlefield with his soldiers, and they stopped by the
field of a man named Nabal, and asked him for food supplies. Nabal was a very
cruel hearted man, and he refused. This made David very angry. He was prepared to
attack Nabal’s men and take the food he needed for his men.
Abigail, Nabal’s wife, heard about this, and loaded some donkeys up with enough food
to last the soldiers for quite a while. She asked for forgiveness from David for
Nabal’s heartless cruelty in not caring if the soldiers starved.
David received the supplies and forgave Nabal, and Abigail went home to face Nabal.
She had to wait till the next morning, because he was rather drunk.
So when he woke up in the morning, she told him that she had defied his wishes
and his command not to feed David’s soldiers, and had brought them
the supplies they needed.
Nabal got so angry that Abigail had done this good deed, that he had a stroke
, and he died. Abigail knew that obeying the Lord was a whole lot more important
than giving in to the cruelties of a man who did not know the Lord.
Now we come to the story of Esther.
King Ahasuerus of Persia gave a party. His wife, Vashti, gave a party for the
women in her part of the palace. In those days, the parties went on for several days.
On the seventh day of the party,King Ashasuerus was feeling a bit merry with wine,
chapter 2, verse 10.
He sent for Vashti. He wanted her to come from the women’s quarters and show off
how pretty she was.
But Queen Vashti was busy. She said no. Maybe later. I’ve got guests to care for right now.
King Ahasuerus was embarrassed. His own wife had defied him. Right in front of all of his men friends. She said no! The embarrassment turned to burning anger, and his men friends
weren’t to happy either. They saw this “no” from Vashti as a serious threat to their
own homes. If we let one wife get away with this, then all our wives will be encouraged
to defy us, too! We can’t let the king allow this!
The king’s friends ordered him, for the good of men everywhere, to divorce Vashti immediately. Teach every woman in the land a lesson they’ll never forget. Never, never, say “no”
to your husband.
Ahasuerus caved in, and went along with it.
A few weeks later, After all the guests had gone home, and the king had sobered up,
He starts missing her.
So his buddies and court advisors suggested, hey, there’s lots of fish in the sea.
You’ve got a whole country full of sweet young things who would fall all over
themselves to become queen.
Throughout the land, a search was made. The woman chosen to replace Vashti,
was Esther, a Jewish orphan, raised by her uncle, Mordecai. Esther was brought
to the palace, and educated in the ways of oils and perfumes and other beauty aids,
and married to the king.
Her Uncle Mordecai told Esther, don’t tell anybody, not even the king, that you are Jewish.
There evidently was anti-Semitic feelings back there. Especially Haman.
Haman was one of the king’s advisors. Every time he came to work in the morning,
he would pass Mordecai, in the court yard outside of the palace.
He didn’t know Mordecai was the queen’s uncle. All he knew was this Jew on the
street never gave him a proper greeting of honor.
To make matters worse, Mordecai overheard a plot to assassinate the king.
He reported it, and the plot was foiled.
One night, the king sat up late, and
was reading in the recent State records. He read of the foiled plot,
and learned that the man who had foiled it had never been properly thanked.
So he ordered Mordecai to be given a parade through the streets of the city,
and he put Haman in charge of it. He still didn’t know that Mordecai was his wife’s uncle.
Having to give public honor to the man he hated, made Haman sick with anger,
and he decided to not only kill Mordecai, but devised a plan where every Jew in
the entire country would be murdered.
It involved a plan where, in every small section and province, every Persian
would be required to join in a pogrom, and on a given day, rise up and kill
his Jewish neighbors.
Mordecai reports what is happening to Esther. He asks Esther to do something about it.
Well, what if she tries to do something about it, and she winds up dead? Mordecai tells
her that if she doesn’t do something to stop it, she will be dead anyway.
Now here we get a picture of just how oppressive to women this ancient
Persian culture really was. She was the queen. And she was not allowed
to go in to see her own husband, the king, unless he had sent for her.
But she decides she must. She instructed all of the women in the palace, and her servants, to fast and pray for three days. Ask for the Lord’s protection, as she defies the law of the land, and the rules of wifely obedience.
Poor Ahasuerus. He thought he had his woman problem fixed. He got rid of the woman who refused to come to him when he ordered her to.
And he replaced her with a woman who was going to come to him whether he asked for her or not.
On the fourth day, Esther dressed in her finest, and took a deep breath, and walked in
to the king's official throne room. He saw her, and held out his scepter to her, which was the signal, it's OK. I'll not have you arrested for coming into theis room unasked. I'll hear what you have to say .
She invited him to a private dinner, and specifically asked that Haman come too.
On the night of the dinner, she asked, would you both please come tomorrow night to another dinner.
By this time, the king starts to think, she wants to tell me something. So he asks her straight out, Esther, dear. there is something on your mind. Please tell me what is bothering you.
Esther declares boldly, my life, and the life of all my people, is sold. We are all of us, set to be
killed by royal order.
Royal order? I don't know anything about this! Who is behind this?
Esther points across the table, and says, this man, Haman.
The next couple of minutes are rather explosive, and the king retreats into
the palace garden to cool his temper. During those minutes, Haman has become
rather desperate, and has thrown himself at Esther's feet, asking for mercy. And
he has literally thrown himself across her lap. Well, even in countries that do not
have Persia's strict rules of behavior, a man never throws himself into the queens's lap.
And the king sees it through the arched doorway into the garden. He storms back
into the banquet room bellowing, will he also force the queen before me, in the house?"
The king's guards grab Haman and drag him out of the banquet hall to the dungeon,
and within the next few days, Haman and all of his sons have been hanged.
They are hanged on the very gallows that he had ordered built to hang Mordecai.
And documents were drawn up, anad sent to all the provinces, there was to be no massacre of the Jews, and if anybody did try to kill them, they had the right to defend themselves.
Mordecai had said to Esther, "you might have come to the kingdom for such a time
as this." And this was true. God wanted Esther to be in the palace at this very time,
to get this very thing done. To save the Jewish people from annihilation. To this very day, this deliverance is celebrated by the Jewish people in the holiday called Purim.
But in order to move Esther into this crucially important position, a serious injustice
had to be allowed to happen to a very lovely lady. Vashti had to be moved out of the way.
We don't know if Vashti ever came to understand just how important her role was in this.
But the Lord actually used her own independent backbone to good advantage.
Even though she had to suffer the injustice of being cast off by the king, Vashti's "no"
was ordered by the Lord. She might not have understood it at the time. But the Lord had
to move her out of position, so that He could move Esther into position.
In the midst of unreasonable social rules and repression, the Lord used Vashti's
courage to say no. And in doing so, Vashti played an indispensable part in the saving of the Jewish nation.
One more Old Testament reference.. Isaiah 4:1
And in that day, seven women will take hold of one man, and say, we will eat our
own bread and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name, to take away
our reproach. In the Bible, the number seven always speaks of completeness. So
"seven women shall come to the completeness of their strength" they shall take hold
of the man, and say "we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes". This is a
declaration of financial independence.
"Only let us be called by your name". In the Bible, the name, always means the authority.
When we sign our prayers in the name of Jesus, it means it is by the authority of Jesus that
we submit the prayer. So to tell the man, let us be called by your name, means, give us equal authority with you". Equal rights.
"To take away our reproach". What reproach? The reproach of being a second
class person, having to submit to unreasonable restrictions at every turn in life.
Isaiah has here prophesied the women's equal rights movement.
First Corinthians 7:34 and 39 In discussing certain problems of marriage, Paul says,
the unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, And if a woman's husband be dead
, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord. These verses clearly
declare that the Lord sees individual special worth in the woman.
One of the complaints I heard in recent years during the equal rights struggle, was
that women seemed to have no identity outside of their husbands. But the Lord says
that she is just as valuable a person on her own, without a husband. You would be
surprised, also, at the declaration that widows were free before the Lord to
choose re-marriage.
We have always taken that as a given. But in many societies in the worlds history,
that hasn't been true. Remember? the fires of suttee?
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church,
and gave Himself for it. This is a command by God for husbands to love their wives as
Christ loved the church. That means be willing to die for them.
So now we know what God thinks of women, and how He wants them to be treated.
But we still have those two scriptures that men use to keep women out of church ministry.
Those verses obviously do not mean what we have been told they mean.
But they are in the Bible, and do mean something. So let's take a close look and find
out what they really do mean.
1 Corinthians 14: 26 Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not
permitted unto them to speak
Now, did Apostle Paul really mean , every last one of you women, sit down and shut up?
I don't think so!
This was not a command to every single woman, at all times, under all circumstances, forever.
Because just two chapters before, in the same letter, to the same Corinthians,
the same apostle Paul spends a whole half a chapter telling women how to properly dress
themselves when they are up in front of the congregation praying and prophesying,
First Corinthians 11:5 Every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered
dishonors her head. This passage goes on to discuss the proper recognition of authority, especially as concerning ministering the Word of God.
Apostle Paul recognizes that the ladies are going to be praying and prophesying the
Word of God.
He also recognizes that some people are going to claim women do not have the
Authority to minister the Word of God.
And so, verse 10, he tells the woman to wear a head covering, which is the symbol of her authority to minister the Word of God, which is recognized by the angels of heaven.
Then he spends several verses explaining why a head covering is the woman's symbol
of authority from God. And then, in verse 16, he says, don't argue about it, it is not a
requirement. If the angels from Heaven that come to minister at the service recognize the woman's authority to preach and minister the Word of God,
what is the matter with you that you cannot?
Well, if Paul didn't mean sit down and shut up, what did he mean?
The entire 14th chapter is an instruction manual in how to behave in church services,
It particularly addresses the use of the gift of the Spirit called the gift of Unknown Tounges.
This is a controversial gift, and to people who have never experienced it, it scares them.
It is used both in private and public prayer, and Paul is telling the Corinthians that
they are using to much private prayer in the services, when they should be concentrating
on joining together in common worship.
He goes to great lengths to explain how you can keep the flow of the movement of the
Holy Spirit in the services without sacrificing order. In verse 33, he said God is not
the author of confusion. And then he addresses the confusion some women have
been causing.
His instruction to them to be silent is not a command to never teach the Word of God.
It is an instruction to behave yourself quietly during the meeting. This verse has been used as a rebuke and a put-down to women called to the ministry. And all it really means is, ladies, don't
gossip during the prayer meeting.
Verse 36, he says something odd. He says What? Are you the only one the
Word of God came from? There was obviously some kind of power struggle in the meetings, and some women were trying to take over by talking extra long and taking the time meant for other things.
You have been told all along that it means sit down and shut up.
And it means don't gossip during the prayer meeting.
So now lets find out what 1 Timothy 2:12 means. I suffer not a woman to teach , or to usurp authority over the man. The key word in this sentence is usurp. To take with force authority that does not belong to you. We know by the whole rest of the Bible that the woman has been given authority from God, and she is supposed to use it.
It is impossible to usurp authority that has been lawfully given to you.
But God also gave authority to the man. Even though for thousands of years man has been
misusing that authority. But now, by the work of the Holy Spirit, God is trying to restore
the order of things He meant for in the beginning.
God was angry at the way man misused his authority to oppress the woman.
But He is just as angry at the way some women misuse their authority to oppress the man.
What are the ways that a woman can usurp authority, and oppress the man, in a way that angers
the Lord?
This generation gives us many examples, and they are all connected to the
structure of the home and family.
In the beginning, God made them male and female, and decreed that man should leave his parents and marry a wife and start his own family, and this would be the basic nucleus of society structure.
And there is only one final authority both men and women are to obey, and that is the authority of God, as taught in the Bible and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Testament, Joshua declared, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"
The Lord has put the responsibility and authority in the man's hand, to lead his family in
the service of the Lord.
And when a woman rebels against the authority of God, she winds up oppressing the man. Example. God's Word says "thou shalt not kill". This commandment applies both to men and to women. But the usurping woman says, "that law doesn't apply to me. " So she defies the law
of God and kills her unborn baby.
But she has also defied the lawful authority her husband, because she has also killed
his unborn baby.
And he has no way to remedy it.
Th man feels a call to work for the Lord, even in a foreign country, the Christian wife will
not whine and complain. The history of Christian missionary work is overflowing with the
dedication of faithful wives who joined their husbands in the long, tedious, dangerous
work, of foreign missions, of one mind with their husbands to do the Lord's work/
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by God, and is profitable to us for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The words of the Bible will correct us where we are wrong and instruct us in what is righteous.
There is no unrighteousness in Almighty God. The Holy Spirit will never interpret a scripture in a way that brings forth unrighteousness. And when one group of people prevents another group of people from enjoying the full benefits of the life of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, that is the ultimate unrighteousness.
If one person forbids a woman to obey her call from
God by intimidation, bullying, or discouragement, that person will be responsible before
God on judgement day, for all the souls that he prevented from getting saved because the
lady gave up her calling because you prevented her.
When Mary broke the alabaster box of ointment, and poured the oil on Jesus, to anoint Him,
Judas complained. Jesus answered , "Leave her alone. She has worked a good work on Me.
Down through the ages of the Christian church, countless multitudes of women have
poured out their own lives as a sweet ointment on Jesus, preaching the Word of Salvation
and New Birth to multitudes of people. Of these women, Jesus repeats the words,
Leave her alone, She has worked a good work on Me.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal. 3:27,28.
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and took over 400 children into state custody.
The charges being investigated concerned the practice of polygamy, Polygamy
was a main practice of the Mormon religion from its very founding. But when Utah
desired to become a State, the United States government insisted if you want to belong
to the United States you must give up the practice of polygamy. The desire for Statehood
caused the church to officially give up the practice, and Utah entered the union.
But over the decades, polygamy has survived unofficially, and been practiced here and
there in small out of the way places.
The controversy over this Mormon situation has again opened up the discussion of
how religions in general treat women.
And although the Mormon religion is not and never has been a true
Christian denomination, the discussion of the subject always throws an unpleasant light
on the treatment of women through the ages by the true Christian church.
For hundreds of years Hindu widows in India practiced a savage thing called Suttee.
The American missionaries and the British Crown forced an end to it.
But while it lasted, Suttee was the requirement, that when a man died,
his widow was required to throw herself into his funeral pyre and burn herself to death.
For a thousand years, little girls in China were required to tie their feet
up with strips of cloth, so tightly that their feet could not grow properly,
and would become grossly disfigured. Even today in Muslim countries,
women and pubescent girls are forced to undergo the savage mutilation
of the genitals called female circumcision.
Among western civilizations, the oppression of women has been more civilized
but it has still existed. And a very large portion of it has come out of the Christian
churches. In these countries and cultures, it has not taken the form of mutilation,
foot binding, or burning alive. It has taken the form of political and social oppression.
And always with the claim, this is what the Lord commands.
In the Christian church, which is supposed to be the place of comfort and refuge,
healing and redemption of souls, women have had to put up with the constant preaching
of "submit, submit, , obey, obey,, until the very speaking of the words becomes as painful
and demoralizing as a punch in the face.
And when the women rebel and refuse, the men sulk and pout and carry on, and complain,
the Bible says so. Are you going to fight God's Word?
The Reformation, which lasted 500 years, saw the birth of many Christian
denominations and movements. Among these groups there grew two basically different
views of how a Christian should order his life in proper obedience to the Lord.
One of these views put great importance on outward rules and ceremonies and strict
obedience to the local church government, whatever form it may be in that particular
denomination.
The other view of things was formed by certain Anabaptists, Brethren, Moravians, and finally,
the Wesleyan revivals. The people in this movement put great emphasis on personal
experience of knowing sins forgiven by the power and name of Jesus, and following
His Biblical teachings by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I n the Calvinist movements, great importance was put on scholarship and
college degrees, as a sign of God's choosing for the world of the ministry.
Women were not allowed in any places of influence in society, and the idea of a
woman in the ministry of the Gospel was just scandalous.
In Elizabethan England,Shakespeare's plays were performed with young men
performing the female parts on stage. The idea of a woman actually getting up on a
stage and saying lines, while men were actually looking at her,, was just to scandalous
to be tolerated. In that kind of a society, it was not surprising that the idea of a female
preacher was certainly hard to take.
And of course, Adam, as represented by every man, was still under the the
impression that God's words, "he shall rule over you", were a command,
and not the diagnosis of a heart that was damaged by sin.
In the Anabaptist, Moravian, Brethren tradition, and underlined by the experience of the
Wesleyan revivals, Christians recognized the anointing of the Holy Spirit on women
just as well as men.
In these movements, the power of the Holy Spirit anointing a certain person,
and the fruit of his or her life, were the credentials that told the congregation
that this person was chosen and ordained of the Lord.
That is why in groups like the Amish, Old Order Mennonite, and Brethren,
the ladies wear their white caps all the time. The head covering is the symbol
of their authority to minister. And as one Mennonite gentleman explained to me,
the women have much power and anointing with the Lord, and are expected to be praying
all the time.
So, women have ministered the Gospel ever since the New Testament days,
but in certain levels of society, their contribution has been largely unknown and ignored.
Even though things have changed considerably in the recent years, there is still the attitude
out there that it is God who has commanded that women be kept in second class position,
somehow, not worthy of the high calling of God just because they are female.
This attitude actually charges Almighty God with having an unjust and unmerciful
attitude toward women,, and it is slander against God to call Him unjust.
I do not like to hear my Savior being slandered.
We will take a look at God's Word. We will find out what God really says about the place and
function of women.
The trouble first started in Eden, when the Lord had His emergency conference with Adam,
Eve, and the serpent. I know you don't believe that Adam and Eve existed, but I'm
going to tell you what they did anyway. Because what they did is effecting what you are
doing down to this very day.
Genesis 3. The Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done?
And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me. And the Lord said to the serpent,
because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, upon your belly
shall you go, and dust thou shalt eat. Your punishment in this matter, you are going
to crawl on your belly and eat dirt.
And to Adam, Mr. Excitement, He said, you are going to have to work for a living.
In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread.
And to Eve, He said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and conception. In sorrow you shall bring forth children--
The very important thing that you were made to do, giving birth, is going to
become burdensome and painful.
These pronouncements were the direct punishment for the disobedience. But then, He adds something.
He says to Eve, your desire shall be towards your husband, and He shall rule over you.
A careful reading of this sentence, and a careful looking at the relationship between
men and women throughout history, shows us exactly what the Lord meant.
There was punishment for disobedience. The sweat of the face, the pain of childbirth.
But there was also collateral damage to deal with. Imagine the Lord lecturing Adam and Eve.
You two were created to be in the image of God. But your disobedience has broken that image.
You are no longer in the perfect image of God. In verse 15, He promises the Deliverer.
I will use your seed to bring forth the Messiah, and He will crush the serpent's head,
destroy sin, and restore that broken image of God.
But until that is accomplished, you are going to have trouble. You are both broken inside.
You are not going to fit together like I designed you to. I made Adam to be a leader,
and you to be a follower, and as originally designed, it worked.
But now that you are both broken, that quality of leadership I put in Adam, is going to
result in him acting like a tyrant. That quality of follower that I put in you is going to turn
you into a doormat.
You are still going to love Adam, you are still going to want and need him. Your desire
shall be toward him, but he shall rule over you.
He will oppress, he will stifle, he will neglect you. He will invent Hell's tortures--like sexual
mutilation, foot binding, and the fires of Suttee. And expect you to submit without a murmur.
He will claim that I gave him the authority to do it.
And when he finally is redeemed from the power of sin, by the Redeemer that shall come
through your seed, and he finally learns to love you, his thinking will still be bent out of
shape. He will still expect you to be his servant, instead of the helpmeet to him that
I made you to be.
And Adam stood by, and he only heard the words, "he shall rule over you".
And in his newly discovered anger,resentment, unforgiveness, and the mean spirit that was now growing in him, he decided that, definately, that is what I'm going to do.
And there you see the birthplace of the agelong battle of the sexes.
But when God said, he shall rule over you, he did not speak it as a command.
He spoke it as a diagnosis of what Adam's broken soul was going to cause him to do.
Sexual mutilations, foot-binding, Suttee, arranged marriages, political and financial
oppression, unreasonable social restraints, and domestic violence, have all been
Adam's treatment of Eve throughout the history of the human race.
Has Adam really been obeying the command of God? Or has he been obeying
the lower instincts of the lost and broken sinner that his disobedience turned him into?
When the devil came to Jesus, He quoted Scripture at Him. He said, "it is written".
Think of the Chutzpah--to quote a book to the author of the book, and tell that author what
His own book is supposed to mean. And Jesus answered, "it is written again".
So let's go through the Bible, and find out what is "written again" concerning women.
How does God treat women? And how does He want men to treat them?
In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his servant back to his hometown to find a bride for Isaac.
And he makes it clearly understood that this woman is to come to marry Isaac by her own
free will. This was an unheard of thing in that society. A woman married the one her
father chose for her, and she had no say in the matter. But Abraham understood God's
mind on the matter, and told his servant, the woman must choose freely, yes or no.
We know that as far back as Numbers 27, the Scriptures establish the right of
women to have equal rights concerning family inheritance.
Malachi, second chapter, the Lord complains to the men of Israel, about their mistreatment
of their wives. You have covered the altar with your tears, the prophet declares. You cry,
and pray, the Lord does not answer you. He doesn’t listen to you any more. He does not
receive your offering. Why? Because, verse 15 . He has been a witness between you
and your wife—You have dealt treacherously with her---for one covers violence with
his garment-----verse 16----one covers violence with his garment---this means he throws
his coat over his wife’s arms, so no one can see the bruises he gave her.
But God sees it, and tells the Prophet Malachi to tell them, “I’m not talking to you anymore.
I’m not listening to your prayers.This warning from the Lord, you treat your wife right,
is repeated in 1 Peter 3:7. The Lord says, you mistreat your wife, I will not talk to you,
I will not hear your prayers when you try to talk to Me.
Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with famous prophetesses.
Prophetess—a woman whom God anoints with His Spirit, and who as a
result of that divine empowerment, speaks forth the words God gives to her to speak.
Exodus 15:20,21 Miriam, the prophetess, sister of Aaron and Moses, took her timbrel--
tamborine—and led all the women in a dance of praise, and said, sing ye to the Lord,
for He has triumphed gloriously.
Judges 4:4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time
.She dwelt under the Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mt. Ephraim
and the children of Israel came up to her for judgement.
2 Kings, 22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Asahiah,
went unto Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah---now she dwelt
in Jerusalem at the college. And they communed with her, and she said unto them,
thus saith the Lord--. this woman, this female, spoke to the men under the anointing of Almighty God and said, "thus saith the Lord". And Almighty God blessed her obedience, and none of those men got pouty or resentful.
Huldah lived at a college, and all these men came to her and asked her what was the
Lord’s counsel on certain things. And she spoke forth by the power of the Spirit of God,
and said “thus saith the Lord”. And Hilkiah, the priest, recognized her anointing
and her authority.
Luke 2:36 And there was one Anna, the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel,
she was a widow 84 years old, and she met Mary and Joseph in the temple
At the same time they met Simeon. She spoke to the passersby, and told them,
this child is the redeemer you are looking for.
Acts 18:28 Priscilla, the wife of Aquila. They were a teaching team.
Acts 21:9 We entered into the house of Phillip the evangelist, and the same man
had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.
And of course, Romans 16:1 Apostle Paul is writing this. He is led by the Spirit of God
to send individual greetings to the brethren in Rome.
And the first one on the list is a lady pastor. In New Testament times, the terms
“angel of the church” or “servant of the church”, meant the pastor of the church.
And here, Apostle Paul, that so-called anti-female grouch, says, “I commend unto you
Phebe our sister, which is the servant of the church—which is the pastor of the church—in Cenchrea. Receive her in the Lord---
Assist her in whatever business she has need of you.
Apostle Paul! Commends a female pastor! Tells the flock to
help that female pastor in all ways that she needs help!
This verse alone has the power to give 100 Southern Baptist preachers
simultaneous heart failure.
But this is the Received, Massoretic text. Old King James.
That makes it “thus saith the Lord”.
So, dear beloved, precious, and truly honored brethren.
Accept the authority of the Word of God---what the Bible says---and get over it.
We skip back to Proverbs 31.
King Solomon is musing on the differences between a good woman and a bad woman.
Verse 10. Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies. The heart
of her husband does safely trust in her.
Then the whole chapter describes a very hard-working, take charge woman, who provides
food and clothing for her entire household, is always there to help people, who runs her own business, who has enough money at her disposal to buy real estate. This is no stay at
home timid mouse who thinks it is her job in life to be her husband’s ventriloquist dummy.
And how does her family respond to all this? Verse 28 Her children rise up and call her
blessed. Her husband also, and he praises her.
Acts 16:14,15 A certain woman named Lydia—a seller of purple—a business woman,
in the city of Thyatyra, became the first convert in the city, and was instrumental,
in planting the Christian church there.
Let’s take a closer look at Deborah.
She was a married woman, and her husband recognized her calling. He did not
sulk and complain for all the hours she sat under the tree in her yard to talk to
the people who came to see her. That tree became famous in Israel, as the place
to go to hear Deborah.
She was not only a prophetess, she was a Judge. In the form of government in Israel back then,
she was a political leader. This was the same type of office of political leadership that was
held by Samson,
Judges chapter four. There came a day that Deborah heard the voice of the Lord concerning
General of the Army, Barak. There was a war going on. She sent him word that the Lord
Wanted him to meet the enemy on a particular battlefield. She said, the Lord says,
I will deliver him into your hand.
General Barak’s response was, I’ll go out to this battle, but only if you go with me.
He wanted this woman alongside him in battle, not only as the voice of the Lord,
but as a military advisor. So now Deborah is a leader in religion, a leader in politics, and a leader in military. And Lapidoth is still proud of her.
Verse 9. She said I will surely go with thee. But the journey that you take shall not be for your honor. For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. At the very beginning, Deborah told General Barak, this fight is not for your great honor as a General. God is going to let you win the fight. But he’s going to use a woman to do it.
Verse 14. Then came the day of battle, and Deborah said to Barak, up, for this is
the day that the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand.
There followed a very strange battle. Beginning verse 15. The battle went badly for
General Sisera. And he really behaved like a coward. He leaped down out of his chariot
and ran away from the battle on foot. He deserted his men, right in the middle of the battle.
And they lost. Barak whipped them.
So General Sisera is now looking for a place to hide. He comes across the tent
of a man named Heber. Heber isn’t home, but his wife Jael is. She sees him coming,
and offers him shelter and a place to rest. She feeds him. She gets a blanket and
tucks him in.
He mutters to her, don’t let anybody know I’m here, and then he falls asleep.
And then, she tiptoes up beside him, with a hammer and nail, drives the nail righ
t into his brain. She won the battle, just as Deborah prophesied, and became very famous.
1 Samuel 25. David was on the battlefield with his soldiers, and they stopped by the
field of a man named Nabal, and asked him for food supplies. Nabal was a very
cruel hearted man, and he refused. This made David very angry. He was prepared to
attack Nabal’s men and take the food he needed for his men.
Abigail, Nabal’s wife, heard about this, and loaded some donkeys up with enough food
to last the soldiers for quite a while. She asked for forgiveness from David for
Nabal’s heartless cruelty in not caring if the soldiers starved.
David received the supplies and forgave Nabal, and Abigail went home to face Nabal.
She had to wait till the next morning, because he was rather drunk.
So when he woke up in the morning, she told him that she had defied his wishes
and his command not to feed David’s soldiers, and had brought them
the supplies they needed.
Nabal got so angry that Abigail had done this good deed, that he had a stroke
, and he died. Abigail knew that obeying the Lord was a whole lot more important
than giving in to the cruelties of a man who did not know the Lord.
Now we come to the story of Esther.
King Ahasuerus of Persia gave a party. His wife, Vashti, gave a party for the
women in her part of the palace. In those days, the parties went on for several days.
On the seventh day of the party,King Ashasuerus was feeling a bit merry with wine,
chapter 2, verse 10.
He sent for Vashti. He wanted her to come from the women’s quarters and show off
how pretty she was.
But Queen Vashti was busy. She said no. Maybe later. I’ve got guests to care for right now.
King Ahasuerus was embarrassed. His own wife had defied him. Right in front of all of his men friends. She said no! The embarrassment turned to burning anger, and his men friends
weren’t to happy either. They saw this “no” from Vashti as a serious threat to their
own homes. If we let one wife get away with this, then all our wives will be encouraged
to defy us, too! We can’t let the king allow this!
The king’s friends ordered him, for the good of men everywhere, to divorce Vashti immediately. Teach every woman in the land a lesson they’ll never forget. Never, never, say “no”
to your husband.
Ahasuerus caved in, and went along with it.
A few weeks later, After all the guests had gone home, and the king had sobered up,
He starts missing her.
So his buddies and court advisors suggested, hey, there’s lots of fish in the sea.
You’ve got a whole country full of sweet young things who would fall all over
themselves to become queen.
Throughout the land, a search was made. The woman chosen to replace Vashti,
was Esther, a Jewish orphan, raised by her uncle, Mordecai. Esther was brought
to the palace, and educated in the ways of oils and perfumes and other beauty aids,
and married to the king.
Her Uncle Mordecai told Esther, don’t tell anybody, not even the king, that you are Jewish.
There evidently was anti-Semitic feelings back there. Especially Haman.
Haman was one of the king’s advisors. Every time he came to work in the morning,
he would pass Mordecai, in the court yard outside of the palace.
He didn’t know Mordecai was the queen’s uncle. All he knew was this Jew on the
street never gave him a proper greeting of honor.
To make matters worse, Mordecai overheard a plot to assassinate the king.
He reported it, and the plot was foiled.
One night, the king sat up late, and
was reading in the recent State records. He read of the foiled plot,
and learned that the man who had foiled it had never been properly thanked.
So he ordered Mordecai to be given a parade through the streets of the city,
and he put Haman in charge of it. He still didn’t know that Mordecai was his wife’s uncle.
Having to give public honor to the man he hated, made Haman sick with anger,
and he decided to not only kill Mordecai, but devised a plan where every Jew in
the entire country would be murdered.
It involved a plan where, in every small section and province, every Persian
would be required to join in a pogrom, and on a given day, rise up and kill
his Jewish neighbors.
Mordecai reports what is happening to Esther. He asks Esther to do something about it.
Well, what if she tries to do something about it, and she winds up dead? Mordecai tells
her that if she doesn’t do something to stop it, she will be dead anyway.
Now here we get a picture of just how oppressive to women this ancient
Persian culture really was. She was the queen. And she was not allowed
to go in to see her own husband, the king, unless he had sent for her.
But she decides she must. She instructed all of the women in the palace, and her servants, to fast and pray for three days. Ask for the Lord’s protection, as she defies the law of the land, and the rules of wifely obedience.
Poor Ahasuerus. He thought he had his woman problem fixed. He got rid of the woman who refused to come to him when he ordered her to.
And he replaced her with a woman who was going to come to him whether he asked for her or not.
On the fourth day, Esther dressed in her finest, and took a deep breath, and walked in
to the king's official throne room. He saw her, and held out his scepter to her, which was the signal, it's OK. I'll not have you arrested for coming into theis room unasked. I'll hear what you have to say .
She invited him to a private dinner, and specifically asked that Haman come too.
On the night of the dinner, she asked, would you both please come tomorrow night to another dinner.
By this time, the king starts to think, she wants to tell me something. So he asks her straight out, Esther, dear. there is something on your mind. Please tell me what is bothering you.
Esther declares boldly, my life, and the life of all my people, is sold. We are all of us, set to be
killed by royal order.
Royal order? I don't know anything about this! Who is behind this?
Esther points across the table, and says, this man, Haman.
The next couple of minutes are rather explosive, and the king retreats into
the palace garden to cool his temper. During those minutes, Haman has become
rather desperate, and has thrown himself at Esther's feet, asking for mercy. And
he has literally thrown himself across her lap. Well, even in countries that do not
have Persia's strict rules of behavior, a man never throws himself into the queens's lap.
And the king sees it through the arched doorway into the garden. He storms back
into the banquet room bellowing, will he also force the queen before me, in the house?"
The king's guards grab Haman and drag him out of the banquet hall to the dungeon,
and within the next few days, Haman and all of his sons have been hanged.
They are hanged on the very gallows that he had ordered built to hang Mordecai.
And documents were drawn up, anad sent to all the provinces, there was to be no massacre of the Jews, and if anybody did try to kill them, they had the right to defend themselves.
Mordecai had said to Esther, "you might have come to the kingdom for such a time
as this." And this was true. God wanted Esther to be in the palace at this very time,
to get this very thing done. To save the Jewish people from annihilation. To this very day, this deliverance is celebrated by the Jewish people in the holiday called Purim.
But in order to move Esther into this crucially important position, a serious injustice
had to be allowed to happen to a very lovely lady. Vashti had to be moved out of the way.
We don't know if Vashti ever came to understand just how important her role was in this.
But the Lord actually used her own independent backbone to good advantage.
Even though she had to suffer the injustice of being cast off by the king, Vashti's "no"
was ordered by the Lord. She might not have understood it at the time. But the Lord had
to move her out of position, so that He could move Esther into position.
In the midst of unreasonable social rules and repression, the Lord used Vashti's
courage to say no. And in doing so, Vashti played an indispensable part in the saving of the Jewish nation.
One more Old Testament reference.. Isaiah 4:1
And in that day, seven women will take hold of one man, and say, we will eat our
own bread and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name, to take away
our reproach. In the Bible, the number seven always speaks of completeness. So
"seven women shall come to the completeness of their strength" they shall take hold
of the man, and say "we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes". This is a
declaration of financial independence.
"Only let us be called by your name". In the Bible, the name, always means the authority.
When we sign our prayers in the name of Jesus, it means it is by the authority of Jesus that
we submit the prayer. So to tell the man, let us be called by your name, means, give us equal authority with you". Equal rights.
"To take away our reproach". What reproach? The reproach of being a second
class person, having to submit to unreasonable restrictions at every turn in life.
Isaiah has here prophesied the women's equal rights movement.
First Corinthians 7:34 and 39 In discussing certain problems of marriage, Paul says,
the unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, And if a woman's husband be dead
, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord. These verses clearly
declare that the Lord sees individual special worth in the woman.
One of the complaints I heard in recent years during the equal rights struggle, was
that women seemed to have no identity outside of their husbands. But the Lord says
that she is just as valuable a person on her own, without a husband. You would be
surprised, also, at the declaration that widows were free before the Lord to
choose re-marriage.
We have always taken that as a given. But in many societies in the worlds history,
that hasn't been true. Remember? the fires of suttee?
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church,
and gave Himself for it. This is a command by God for husbands to love their wives as
Christ loved the church. That means be willing to die for them.
So now we know what God thinks of women, and how He wants them to be treated.
But we still have those two scriptures that men use to keep women out of church ministry.
Those verses obviously do not mean what we have been told they mean.
But they are in the Bible, and do mean something. So let's take a close look and find
out what they really do mean.
1 Corinthians 14: 26 Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not
permitted unto them to speak
Now, did Apostle Paul really mean , every last one of you women, sit down and shut up?
I don't think so!
This was not a command to every single woman, at all times, under all circumstances, forever.
Because just two chapters before, in the same letter, to the same Corinthians,
the same apostle Paul spends a whole half a chapter telling women how to properly dress
themselves when they are up in front of the congregation praying and prophesying,
First Corinthians 11:5 Every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered
dishonors her head. This passage goes on to discuss the proper recognition of authority, especially as concerning ministering the Word of God.
Apostle Paul recognizes that the ladies are going to be praying and prophesying the
Word of God.
He also recognizes that some people are going to claim women do not have the
Authority to minister the Word of God.
And so, verse 10, he tells the woman to wear a head covering, which is the symbol of her authority to minister the Word of God, which is recognized by the angels of heaven.
Then he spends several verses explaining why a head covering is the woman's symbol
of authority from God. And then, in verse 16, he says, don't argue about it, it is not a
requirement. If the angels from Heaven that come to minister at the service recognize the woman's authority to preach and minister the Word of God,
what is the matter with you that you cannot?
Well, if Paul didn't mean sit down and shut up, what did he mean?
The entire 14th chapter is an instruction manual in how to behave in church services,
It particularly addresses the use of the gift of the Spirit called the gift of Unknown Tounges.
This is a controversial gift, and to people who have never experienced it, it scares them.
It is used both in private and public prayer, and Paul is telling the Corinthians that
they are using to much private prayer in the services, when they should be concentrating
on joining together in common worship.
He goes to great lengths to explain how you can keep the flow of the movement of the
Holy Spirit in the services without sacrificing order. In verse 33, he said God is not
the author of confusion. And then he addresses the confusion some women have
been causing.
His instruction to them to be silent is not a command to never teach the Word of God.
It is an instruction to behave yourself quietly during the meeting. This verse has been used as a rebuke and a put-down to women called to the ministry. And all it really means is, ladies, don't
gossip during the prayer meeting.
Verse 36, he says something odd. He says What? Are you the only one the
Word of God came from? There was obviously some kind of power struggle in the meetings, and some women were trying to take over by talking extra long and taking the time meant for other things.
You have been told all along that it means sit down and shut up.
And it means don't gossip during the prayer meeting.
So now lets find out what 1 Timothy 2:12 means. I suffer not a woman to teach , or to usurp authority over the man. The key word in this sentence is usurp. To take with force authority that does not belong to you. We know by the whole rest of the Bible that the woman has been given authority from God, and she is supposed to use it.
It is impossible to usurp authority that has been lawfully given to you.
But God also gave authority to the man. Even though for thousands of years man has been
misusing that authority. But now, by the work of the Holy Spirit, God is trying to restore
the order of things He meant for in the beginning.
God was angry at the way man misused his authority to oppress the woman.
But He is just as angry at the way some women misuse their authority to oppress the man.
What are the ways that a woman can usurp authority, and oppress the man, in a way that angers
the Lord?
This generation gives us many examples, and they are all connected to the
structure of the home and family.
In the beginning, God made them male and female, and decreed that man should leave his parents and marry a wife and start his own family, and this would be the basic nucleus of society structure.
And there is only one final authority both men and women are to obey, and that is the authority of God, as taught in the Bible and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Testament, Joshua declared, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"
The Lord has put the responsibility and authority in the man's hand, to lead his family in
the service of the Lord.
And when a woman rebels against the authority of God, she winds up oppressing the man. Example. God's Word says "thou shalt not kill". This commandment applies both to men and to women. But the usurping woman says, "that law doesn't apply to me. " So she defies the law
of God and kills her unborn baby.
But she has also defied the lawful authority her husband, because she has also killed
his unborn baby.
And he has no way to remedy it.
Th man feels a call to work for the Lord, even in a foreign country, the Christian wife will
not whine and complain. The history of Christian missionary work is overflowing with the
dedication of faithful wives who joined their husbands in the long, tedious, dangerous
work, of foreign missions, of one mind with their husbands to do the Lord's work/
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by God, and is profitable to us for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The words of the Bible will correct us where we are wrong and instruct us in what is righteous.
There is no unrighteousness in Almighty God. The Holy Spirit will never interpret a scripture in a way that brings forth unrighteousness. And when one group of people prevents another group of people from enjoying the full benefits of the life of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, that is the ultimate unrighteousness.
If one person forbids a woman to obey her call from
God by intimidation, bullying, or discouragement, that person will be responsible before
God on judgement day, for all the souls that he prevented from getting saved because the
lady gave up her calling because you prevented her.
When Mary broke the alabaster box of ointment, and poured the oil on Jesus, to anoint Him,
Judas complained. Jesus answered , "Leave her alone. She has worked a good work on Me.
Down through the ages of the Christian church, countless multitudes of women have
poured out their own lives as a sweet ointment on Jesus, preaching the Word of Salvation
and New Birth to multitudes of people. Of these women, Jesus repeats the words,
Leave her alone, She has worked a good work on Me.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal. 3:27,28.
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