Role Playing-Part 2
Let’s dive into some hard, controversial Bible texts that concern the Biblical roles of men and women. Texts that have caused great discussion, and great division.
As I was compiling this article I was going to ease into these verses, but then decided that if I’m going to be tarred-and feathered, we might as well make it earlier rather than later! Here’s the most controversial,
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 (1 Timothy 2:11-12).
If you feel like throwing anything at me, now is the time! Remember though, these are the Words of God, not my words.
God, through the apostle Paul, restricts women from serving in roles of teaching and/or having spiritual authority over men. This precludes women from serving as pastors over men, which definitely includes preaching to them, teaching them publicly, and exercising spiritual authority over them.
There are many objections to this view of women in pastoral ministry. A common one is that Paul restricts women from teaching because in the first century, women were typically uneducated. However, this text nowhere mentions educational status. If education were a qualification for ministry, then the majority of Jesus’ disciples would not have been qualified (most were uneducated fishermen).
A second common objection is that Paul only restricted the women of Ephesus from teaching men (1 Timothy was written to Timothy, the pastor of the church in Ephesus). Ephesus was known for its temple to Artemis, and women were the authorities in that branch of paganism—therefore, the theory goes, Paul was only reacting against the female-led customs of the Ephesian idolaters, and the church needed to be different. However, the book of 1 Timothy nowhere mentions Artemis, nor does Paul mention the standard practice of Artemis worshipers as a reason for the restrictions in these verses.
So, what is the reason Paul gives for a women not to teach or have authority over man? Well, he answers his own statement,
1 Timothy 2:12-13
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. (13) For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
In the church, God assigns different roles to men and women. This is a result of the way mankind was created and the way in which sin entered the world. As verse 13 says, women are not to teach men because Adam was formed first.
Wait, weren’t Adam and Eve created equal. Well, spiritually, yes, but they had different roles even before the Fall. Let’s look at,
Genesis 2:15-24
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (18) And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (19) And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. (20) 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. (21) 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; (22) And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. (23) 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. (24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Do you see the order of events here? First, we all know Adam was created first. But what a lot of people miss is this: All of the instruction given about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was given directly to Adam BEFORE Eve was created. It was ADAM’S responsibility to tell, or train Eve in the ways the Lord had directed him. This is BEFORE the Fall. Also, Eve is called a help-meet, which some translations read “a helper suitable for him.” Adam was to lead, and Eve was to be his helper, his companion, helping support him in his endeavors.
The reason that Paul gives for a woman not to have authority over a man takes us right back to Creation order. “For Adam was first formed, then Eve.”
There are other verses that are similar, all of which take us directly back to Creation order. There are several, but I will just list a few and briefly break them down:
Ephesians 5:22-33
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. (23) For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. (24) Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (25) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (26) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (27) That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (28) So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. (29) For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: (30) For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (31) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. (32) This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (33) Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Quick key takeaways from this verse:
Husbands—Love Your Wives!! If you love your wife as Christ loves us, your wife won’t have any problem following your lead!
Creation order again—same phrase we just read in Genesis—leave mother and father, join his wife and the two become one.
As the church is subordinate to Christ as this verse says, wives are to be subordinate to their husbands.
1 Corinthians 11:3
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
Here is the Heavenly, Divine order once again. These verses don’t say, “because this is a patriarchal society in which we live, ladies, you have to submit.” No, each of these verses give their reasoning based on the Divine order in which God has instituted. God, then Christ, then man, then woman, there is no getting around how the Scripture reads.
Qualifications
Let’s look at the qualifications of an Overseer, Pastor, Elder, Deacon from the Bible,
1 Timothy 3:1-2
This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. (2) A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1 Timothy 3:8-13
Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; (9) Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. (10) And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. (11) Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. (12) Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. (13) For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
The first verse applies to what we call a pastor or elder, the second verse applies to deacons. Both obviously state that they are to be men, again, no getting around it.
I want to end this portion of the article with Eve’s curse. You can find it in,
Genesis 3:16
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.
Is this verse a curse or a blessing? This is what God said would happen to Eve as a result of the curse, right? I want to pay particular attention to the part of the verse that says “and thy desire shall be to thy husband.” That sounds like a good thing, right? But obviously it is not as it is part of the curse.
The most basic and straightforward understanding of this verse is that woman and man would now have ongoing conflict. In contrast to the ideal conditions in the Garden of Eden and the harmony between Adam and Eve, their relationship, from that point on, would include a power struggle. The NLT makes it more evident: “You will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”
God is saying that Eve would desire to rule over her husband, but her husband would instead rule over her. Replacing the mutually interdependent relationship the Lord had created was a desire for one spouse to lead the other. Sin had wrought discord. The battle of the sexes had begun. Both man and woman would now seek the upper hand in marriage. The man who was to lovingly care for and nurture his wife would now seek to rule her, and the wife would desire to wrest control from her husband.
It is important to note that this judgment only states what will take place. God says that man and woman will live in conflict and their relationship will become problematic. The statement “he shall rule over you” is not a biblical command for men to dominate women. But what the verse does state is that women will desire to have the man’s position. We see that today as the women’s liberation [feminist] movement has fully bloomed. And the church is not immune to the effects.
The Biblical reality is that there is a Heavenly Order that was instituted from the inception of the world, and who are we to argue with God!
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Eric has been married to his beautiful wife Brenda for 36 years. They have 6 children whom they home-schooled and 2 grandchildren. He has been a mechanic for 30 + years and owns an auto repair shop in Prosser, WA. Eric has been an ordained elder in the Adventist church for the past 26 years. Eric grew up an atheist in a non-Christian home. He praises God daily that he found Jesus and that Jesus offered him salvation.