Who's on Third? - Authority (part 3)

In the garden when Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the snake first, and then dealt with Eve. “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.” The word that is translated “rule” here is the same word that is used when a king has dominion or rule over his kingdom. Sorry ladies, but it is a curse, after allJ  God goes on to curse Adam with the responsibility of working and sweating to bring forth food to care for his wife and family. The fact remains that God put the man as an authority over the woman. What an unpopular concept! But these two didn’t get a trial by a jury of their peers, this judgment was sent down by God.

In the Old Testament God generally dealt with men. He dealt with fathers of families, He dealt with Patriarchs, Kings, Judges, Priests and so on. The poster child for women’s equality is always Deborah in the book of Judges because she was a Prophetess. If you read through the book of Judges, most of what Deborah did was done from home. Also, just because something happens and is chronicled in the Bible doesn’t make it an example of the way things should be. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, (for goodness sake) and we certainly don’t hold him up as the role model for our husbands! We also read of times in Israel that God searched for a man to do His will, and found none. In Ezekiel 22:30 it says, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” In Isaiah 3:12 Isaiah is proclaiming the wickedness of His people and that men were saying, “…make me not a ruler of the people.”vs.7, and then further condemns them in vs. 12 when he says, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Children oppressing them and women ruling over them was NOT considered as a good thing.

The Bible is filled with scripture on women and their role in the family, the home, and the church. I Corinthians says in chapter 11 verse 9, “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” Ephesians 5:22-24 states, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” Again in I Peter 3:1-6 “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands ….Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well….”

I Timothy 2:11,12 after talking about how women should dress, Paul says, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, not to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” Then in I Corinthians 14:34,35, Paul says, “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 anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.” What a shame that in most churches today, not only are women speaking and “usurping authority over men” in teaching, but they are also preaching. Wasn’t one of the qualifications of a bishop to be the husband of one wife?

I’m NOT saying that the problem with our world today is women. Actually, whether men accept their role of authority or not, it is still theirs none the less. If a man is not ruling his home well, it is not the woman’s fault, no matter how bossy and overbearing she may be. Responsibility lies with the man, and he will be held accountable by God.