September - October 2000 The Sabbath Sentinel

Editoral . . .

A Woman's Role in the Church?

by Royce Mitchell, Jr.

Over the years, I have been consistently troubled by the seeming disparity in the way that women are "dealt with" as compared to how men are treated in "the Church." This discrepancy seems to have come from a myopic interpretation of certain scriptures within the confining context of societal predispositions. I have admittedly been complacent on the issue-due to a lack of being directly affected-yet, when challenged on this, it became clear that the time was overdue to find out exactly what God has to say.

In order to gain a clearer view of God's perspective as it relates to women in His Church, one must first look deeply into what God has placed within the authority of women. That is best done by first checking the Old Testament scriptures which relate to women. We should find the answers to the following questions as we search: "What can a woman do and not do?", "What have women done under the approval of God?", "Is a man the head of a woman, or is the husband head of the wife?", "Why is the distinction of man and husband important?", "When does a man become the head of a woman?", "What does it mean to be the head?", and "Does a woman ever have authority?". Let's begin at our beginning.

Adam Rejoices!

In Genesis 2, we find that God had made all of the animals and paraded them before Adam-apparently for Adam to name them. From the context, we see that God was teaching Adam something far more fundamental than his having authority to name things. In verse 21, we find that after God had made it known to Adam that he was alone, He proceeded to present Adam with a wonderful gift ... a wife! Genesis 2: 20-23 states, "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (King James Version throughout, unless noted).

The King James does not lend itself to understanding clearly what had happened here. The words translated "help meet" are better translated, "helping counterpart." A good way to understand this is by the analogy of bookends. Ornamental bookends have a function: they hold books in an upright position. They are companions that help each other hold the books up properly, as a pair working together toward a common goal. That is what God gave to Adam on that day: a counterpart-a balancing complement, a completing analogue-a true partner!

We find that, while Adam was anesthetized in slumber, God took from him a single rib and with it formed that counterpart. Like the animals, Adam named her-but, when Adam remarked that Eve was "bone of [his] bones and flesh of [his] flesh" it was not a solemn statement: it was a cry of joy at the marvelous gift God had just given him. Do we find that same joy with our wives today?

An interesting question comes to mind when one considers the scenario that had come to pass. Why did God take a rib from Adam instead of taking dust of the ground and forming the woman? We know that God does nothing without purpose-but, what could the purpose have been in creating Eve in this manner? Could it possibly be to demonstrate the need that the man and the woman have for each other-to Adam, and to us?

We get a glimpse of the answer in 1 Corinthians 11:11-12: "Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God." We were created to need one another, and to help one another!

Woman gets a Curse

In Genesis 3:14-17 we read, "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;".

What was happening in these verses? In verse 14 we find the serpent gets a curse; in verse 17, Adam gets a curse. What did Eve get in verse 16? She got a curse! ... And what was that curse? The last part of verse 16 states, "and he (her husband) shall rule over her." ... Is it the same with us-that when husbands rule their wives, they are a curse to their wives?

Women of the Old Testament

Among the famous examples of women in the Old Testament is the wife of Abram, Sarai. An often overlooked, yet incredibly important precedent was set for us in Genesis 18. There we find that the angels of the Lord had come to visit Abraham; we know that one of them was the LORD of the Old Testament from verse one-but, notice what happened during this "meeting." "And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh."

What was it that Christ said? Didn't He promise to be where two or more were gathered in His name? Here, in Genesis 18, we have an example of two standing in the presence of God! God spoke-not only to the man-but to the woman also! Furthermore, the woman spoke too; she spoke directly to God! Indeed, God found a way to inject some humor into the situation by asking her why she had laughed at what He had said! More important, Sarah spoke to God in the man's presence: there appeared to be no problem with her having done that. Indeed, it seems that God spoke directly to her Himself.

Women of Authority-God's Will

There are a great many Godly women listed for our benefit in the Old Testament; one such was Deborah. In the days before Israel demanded a king, Deborah was a judge in Israel (Judges 4:4). Israel came to her for judgment (verse 5); she had authority to make decisions! Was God displeased with this usurpation of the authority of men-or, did he bless the things that Deborah did?

In verse 6, we read that Deborah called for Barak, and then commanded him to go to Tabor-and she did it in the name of the LORD! How could this be? Surely God does not allow a woman to have authority over a man, does He? In verse 8 we find that Barak would not even go to Mount Tabor unless Deborah went with him. Was this cowardice-or did he recognize that God was with Deborah and blessed what she did?

Finally, in verse 14, we find that Deborah herself gave the marching orders that sent Barak and the army of ten thousand out to fight Sisera. Consider this carefully: Deborah commanded-and Barak, with his army, followed. Was this an anomaly or does God intend women to lead?

Rebeka, Woman of Influence

In Genesis 24, we find that Abraham's servant had travelled to Abraham's kinsmen to find a wife for Isaac. He found the woman he sought in Rebeka, the daughter of Bethuel. There are several interesting things to note in these verses. In Verse 54 we find Abraham's servant in a hurry to return to his master. However, Rebeka's kin wanted her to stay another ten days. When the servant pressed them, they did not order Rebeka to go. They determined to ask Rebeka what she wanted to do! Genesis 24:57 states: "And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth." They asked her if she wanted to go!

Also notice something else about Rebeka-Genesis 24:61,"And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way." Rebeka had servants of her own. She was a woman whose ideas and desires had to be considered; she was not a woman who sat in a chair with her mouth shut, and a cover on her head!

Miriam-Leader of Women

In Exodus 15, we find something very interesting happening with the women. The Egyptian army had just been drowned in the Red Sea. Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron, grabbed a timbrel and led-that's right, LED-the women of Israel in singing and dancing! They "went out after her." She commanded "Sing ye to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously!" (That is found in verse 21.)

Yet another interesting point is made as an aside in verse 20. Miriam was a prophetess! The word translated "prophetess" means just that: a prophetess or generally inspired woman. Does God inspire women? ... It appears that He does indeed.

Huldah-King's Counsellor

Hilkiah, and others appointed by the King, sought out Huldah who was known as a prophetess. We read about this in 2 Chronicles 34:20-22, and in 2 Kings 22:14. "And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, 'Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.' And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect. And she answered them, 'Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me....'" Huldah gave the men instructions as to what message to carry to the king from God! Still, notice in 2 Kings 22:14 that Hilkiah was a priest! Indeed, here we have a woman actually instructing

The Mind of God Revealed

Does God reveal to us how He views women? It is clear from many Old Testament scriptures that He makes His mind perfectly understandable. Notice the following scriptures:

Proverbs 1:8, "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother...." A mother's word is law!

Proverbs 20:20, "Whoso curseth his father OR his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness."; and

Proverbs 30:17, "The eye that mocketh at his father,and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."

God certainly has not neglected the women who are mothers in scripture-neither has He neglected those women who are also called according to His purpose: He never has, and He never will. The Eternal does not change.

The "Problem" Scriptures

There are certain scriptures which appear to contradict the indication that God has put women in positions of authority-but, in order to understand them, we need to remember several principles. The first principle to bring to mind is the one stated above-that God doesn't change. Whatever attitude He had toward women in the Old Testament, He still has in the New. So, if we find that a scripture from the New Testament contradicts what we clearly read in the Old, it must be we who have a wrong interpretation.

Secondly, in both the Old and the New Testaments, there were principles and ideas expressed by the writers that were ideas of their own, and not necessarily of God. When this is so, it is clearly stated. Thirdly, there were admonitions, which were given at various times for specific instances and situations, that were not meant to be applied anachronistically to the church as a whole. Again, these were ideas and principles expressed by men-and, as we will see, acknowledged to be their own ideas.

With these in mind, let us examine the "problem scriptures."

Ephesians 4: 11-12

Our first problem is this scripture: Ephesians 4:11-12 states, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ ...." Some have stated that these are positions which can never be held by women; however, does the light of scripture, compared to that statement, cause it to ring true? ... Let us see.

The word translated "apostle" here has a specific meaning in the Greek. It means, "a delegate, or one sent." If we do away with the mystical appellation of "Apostle," and accept what the meaning of the word is, we must then admit that a woman can indeed be "one sent." We find support for this understanding in Mark 16. There, we find that three women were sent to announce the good news of Christ's resurrection! They were to tell His disciples, and in particular Peter, that Christ had travelled ahead of them to Galilee. Were these women sent to announce Christ's good news? Yes! Women can indeed be "apostles."

The next word we examine is "prophets." The actual meaning from the Greek is "one who speaks under inspiration"; one of those kinds of speech could be foretelling future events. We know that there were women in the New Testament era who were known as prophetesses. In Acts 21:8-9 we read that four of the daughters of Philip the evangelist prophesied. Can women be prophetesses? It would appear from scripture that they can.

How about "evangelist?" Can a woman be an evangelist? In our last issue, we stated that Aldith Reid carried the title "evangelist." Was that unscriptural? To see, we need to know what the word means.

The interpretation of the Greek for "evangelist" means "one who announces good news." Can women announce good news? We have already seen that three women were sent (apostolos) with the good news of Christ's resurrection and to let the male apostles know that Christ had gone ahead to Galilee!

In Aldith Reid's case, she went into the Caribbean and taught about God's Way to those who did not know it. Did she evangelize? Of course she did! Does God hate that? Not unless He has changed since the first century church.

Next on our list is "pastor"; the word literally means a "shepherd." Can women shepherd? We find scriptures that urge the older women to teach the younger. Is this a pastoral role? Are the older women shepherding? Yes! God clearly wants them to do so! Pastor is combined with teacher in this verse. The Greek word means "an instuctor." There are plenty of scriptures that show women can instruct. All of these are called gifts in verse eight. Nowhere are those gifts reserved to males. There is no gift listed here that can not be possessed by women in the church.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." This scripture posed an interesting study. When the context was seen, it was clear that Paul was not commanding this for all churches for time immemorial. The context is confusion in the church. Indeed, later in verse 40 Paul exhorts us to "Let all things be done decently and in order." An interesting insight comes with looking directly at the verse in question. The word "but," which is used to connect the two thoughts of verse 34, seems to be out of place. Here, it appears that women are commanded to keep silent BUT be under obedience; yet, such sentence construction just does not make sense-at least, that is, until one gets into the Greek! The positioning of the Greek text appears to indicate that Paul is NOT telling them to keep the women from using any gifts (including the capacity for speaking) in church, but without disruption or commotion to be obedient-to their husbands; "the law," referred to here, being Genesis 3:16. That being the case, the word "but" makes perfect sense.

In the next verse, women are told that if they want to learn something, to ask their husbands at home-apparently it being a shame for women to speak in church. However, when one appeals to the Greek, what is being said is, that it is a lack of decorum for them to be speaking out. Again, remember that the context is the necessity for solemnity in services. Even today it is generally considered ill-mannered to speak out and interrupt when another is speaking (as during a lecture).

This scripture is not commanding women who have something valuable to add to the service to zip up their gift and to eschew participation. Indeed, as we have seen, women are a valuable and desired addition to any congregation's services. The context is "order" in the church-not women's Spiritual silence.

1 Timothy 2:11-12

1 Tim 2:11-12 "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." On the surface, this clearly looks like women are not to teach. However, when we closely examine this scripture, we find that it does not say exactly what it seems to say.

Women should learn in silence. This is true-but, this is likewise good advice for men! Who can attentively learn while talking and being disruptive? A student is in subjection to his or her instructor because, to learn, the student must sit quietly and listen; this is true, even of interactive lessons.

The next verse is easily dealt with as the word translated woman means "a woman but especially a wife." This, once again, is referring to Genesis 3:16 and is relative to a husband/wife relationship. Notice also, that the Greek for "usurp authority" means "to have dominion over," as an autocrat or absolute master. Does Paul ever suffer such of men? No; therefore it is easy to surmise that this part of Paul's statement seems to be "marriage counselling."

Is there any case where Paul gives his opinion, which was not a command from God? Read 1 Corinthians 7:6, where Paul says, "But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment." The context here is not just that men have power over their wife-but, also that wives have power over their husbands. The specific context is sexual in nature but the principle is clear! Paul did give his own ideas at times about personal things; yet, if what we read ever seems to conflict with what God clearly shows, we need to examine the words and context much closer to see what Paul meant.

Ephesians 5:22

By now we should recognize that women are not Spiritually prohibited from much in the church. Ephesians 5:22 is often taken out of context in an effort to make the wife into something that God did not intend. While wives are often reminded to submit to their husbands, seldom is the previous verse pointed out-that we should submit ourselves to one another!

The issue of a woman's submission to her husband has been misunderstood by many in the church. Of note is that a man is NEVER the head of a woman, generally. The fact is that women have direct access to God through Jesus Christ: they don't need a man for that purpose!

Indeed, this author is the head of one woman, and one only. I became her head through her voluntary submission to me! She agreed on our wedding day, "Whither thou goest, I will follow!" I can not command submission-she had to give it freely! And NO other woman need feel the need to submit to any man for any reason except for agreement to do so out of love. Isn't that the very same attitude that Christ wants to see out of us-submission to Him out of love for Him? Of course it is!

Conclusion

It is sad that the churches have been deprived of the leadership, skills, and other gifts that God has blessed us with in the form of women. Indeed, He blessed us with ladies! These ladies are valuable assets to each congregation.

Each congregation should reach out to these ladies to find out what wonderful talents God has endowed them with. If women can teach, they ought to teach. If they can lead, they ought to lead.

As men, when our wives show a talent for leading in specific situations, we ought to be encouraged by that. Moreover, we ought to be encouraging them to be the leaders that God designed them to be. It should never be said of a man of God that he stood in the way of his wife using her talents because it offended his ego. Like the husband of the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31, we should take great pleasure in being known by our wife's good deeds.

Women are not second class Christians. For too long they have been treated that way. That is a sin that we of the Body of Christ should repent of-the sooner the better.