Women in the Early Church
At Jesus’ crucifixion not many of His followers were there with Him. Only one man, John, is mentioned. But, of the women, many were there. They weren’t at the cross because it was easy. Just imagine how hard it was for Mary to see her son being treated so harshly unto his death. Women, in the best circumstances, were lowly servants with no rights. In the other circumstances, which it seems was the majority, they were only some man’s property. Jesus demonstrated a completely opposite view of women. Jesus taught women. He allowed them to follow Him. He talked to them and recognized them in public. He validated their spiritual understandings. Jesus Himself, commissioned them to be witnesses of His resurrection. Let’s read John 20:16-18 “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.” A way to worship someone at that time was to fall to the ground and embrace their feet. Here Mary calls Him “Great Master” and with joy was likely to worship Him that way. Jesus tells her not to worship Him (or touch Him) until He ascends to His Father. Notice also that He calls her by name. The Bible tells us that He will call His sheep by name! Jesus uses the phrases “my Father and your Father” and “my God and your God.” This shows us that she has received the “adoption of sons” as described in Galatians! He chose these most faithful women to be the first witnesses of His resurrection and the first to be commissioned to go and tell of a risen Savior! Another thing to notice is that the women were sent to tell of the resurrection to the brethren. That’s right, Jesus sent women to give the message to men!
Women were also part of the first group to receive the Holy Spirit. They were present in the upper chamber praying and awaiting Pentecost. Acts 1:14 “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” At this time of the very beginnings of the church we see that women were included with the men. Acts 5:14 “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.” This fact is especially impressive because at that time, participation in the worship of God and the work for God had been for men only. Women were not allowed to participate in any religious activity alongside the men. It was new for women to gather with men in a religious assembly. Women were also persecuted along with the men. Acts 8:3 “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.” This confirms to me that the women were in fact preaching and teaching God’s word! Does anyone really believe they would have been taken to prison for being in the kitchen cooking?!?
The Holy Spirit comes after Jesus ascends to Heaven. The prophet, Joel, speaks of this time in Joel 2:28-29 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” This includes not only the women of the general population, but even the female servants or slaves! On the actual Day of Pentecost in Acts there is no distinction made between the genders. The women, as well as the men, received the Holy Spirit and His gifts! There is only one conclusion to come to here and that is that all who are part of the body of Christ have been given a gift and they are free to use it. Acts 2:3-4 “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost…”
The following is a list of some of the women mentioned in the Bible that had specific duties or gifts in the early church:
1. Dorcas (Tabitha in Hebrew) (Acts 9:36) She is called a disciple and also described as full of good works and compassion for the poor.
2. Mary mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12) She was a widow whose large home was used as a meeting place for the infant church.
3. Lydia (Acts 16:14,15) Lydia was the first European convert. When she believed, she went and brought her family to be baptized with her. She opened her house to missionaries. Her home became the center of Christian fellowship in Philippi and perhaps was the first church there.
4. Priscilla (Acts 18:2, Acts18:18, Acts18:26, Rom.16:3, 1Cor. 16:19, 2Tim. 4:19) Priscilla was a full partner in the ministry with her husband. Hosting a house-church, supporting Paul’s ministry, teaching and instructing, were all privileges she enjoyed as a believer in Jesus. Priscilla was one of Paul’s “fellow workers in Christ Jesus”.
5. Phoebe (Rom.16:1,2) Deacon and helper of Paul.
6. Apphia (Phm.1:2) Paul calls her beloved and a “fellowsoldier”. She also had a house-church as they were.
7. Junia (Rom. 16:7) Apostle. She was converted to Christ before Paul and a fellow prisoner with him.
8. Tryphena (Rom. 16:12) A laborer in the Lord.
9. Tryphosa (Rom. 16:12) Also a laborer in the Lord.
10. Persis (Rom. 16:12) She labored “much” in the Lord.
11-14. Phillips daughters (Acts 21:9) All four were prophets.
15. Joanna (Luke 8:3, Luke 24:10) Disciple of Christ
16. Mary the mother of James & Joseph (Matt. 27:55, Matt. 28:5,7) Disciple of Jesus
17. Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:38-42, John 11-12) Friend and disciple of Jesus.
18. Mary Magdalene (Matt. 27, 28 Mark 15,16 Luke 8:2, 24:10 John 20) Disciple of Jesus.
19. Salome (Mark 15:40) Disciple of Jesus
20. Susanna (Luke 8:3) Disciple of Jesus
21. Chloe (1st Cor. 1:11) Leader of a house church
22. Stephana (1st Cor. 16:15-16) A laborer in the Lord.
We see in 1st Cor. 12:28 that, in the church, apostles are first and prophets are second. Women were not limited in Jesus’ infant church. Limitations came as a result of problems.
As we have already learned, women before Jesus’ arrival were not allowed to participate in religious ceremonies. However, women were very involved with Jesus’ ministry. Last class we saw where Jesus, Himself taught women. Jesus also sent women out to spread the word. After Jesus’ resurrection the men and women were left to work together. We see many, many recordings in the scriptures of women working side by side with the men in the early church. The scriptures show women preaching, prophesying, and teaching.
(They even taught men in the beginning.)
It is factual that women held offices in the first churches. As time went on, the church grew in number and spread to more areas. With the new freedoms that Jesus allowed to women, they became very active in religious activities. With men and women involved together and on the same level in religious activities for the first time, there was some confusion which resulted in problems. Another thing to consider was that Jesus taught his followers to accept all people, no matter their country, race, affluence, or gender. In some areas this practice created what we would call a multi-cultural group for sure! It was because of the cultural laws or the difference of cultural laws that these problems arose! Now let’s see how some of these problems were dealt with.
• Let’s begin with the head covering. Women who were obedient to their fathers or their husbands must have their head covered. This was a sign that they had authority over them and that they belonged to someone. The women who did not do this were most likely the prostitutes. So the virtuous women went along with this one easily! This was a cultural law made to remind the women that their husbands were to rule over them. Remember this was part of the punishment for Eve’s sin.
• One of the problems in the church of Corinth was that some of the women were not wearing their veils. Paul told them that if that was their custom then it should be done so as not to cause strife. If we read 1st Corinthians chapter eleven we can see that Paul clearly uses such strong language concerning the veiling of women because of the effect on a woman's reputation in Corinth. The conduct of not wearing a veil proclaimed her a lewd woman. Social custom varied in the world then as well as now, but there was no alternative in Corinth. If you notice, this was not meant for all churches. Churches in other areas may have different customs. So, when we read instructions to the different churches, we need to remember that’s exactly what they were. Church-specific. They were dealing with the specific issues or problems of the church mentioned! If others had similar issues, then they could learn from the instructions also. Why do you think Paul went along with these manmade customs? He tells us why in 1st Corinthians 10:23 “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” Here we see that Paul was concerned about the unity of the church. The churches in different areas were having problems keeping things in order. Paul explains, more than once, that the activities of the church should be expedient. This means “to promote something” and “to be conducive to bring together.” He says we should edify the church and one another. To edify is to “enlighten” or “to build up”. Therefore we should avoid confusion. The law that existed about women covering their heads was in fact a law. We know that Jesus did not give out laws specific to one gender or the other. Gender specific laws were manmade. Jesus’ instructions were for every one. These laws that were put in place by man were very real to the society. Because of this it was confusing to some when they were ignored. Remember, we saw Jesus’ disciples wondering about Jesus’ actions with the woman at the well when He totally ignored cultural laws! In spite of all this, Paul felt it would be less confusing to just go by what the customs of the area and not have the church disrupted. 2nd Corinthians 6:3 “Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed”
• With all this in mind, we must realize that Paul’s instruction was situation-specific. Paul speaks in 1st Corinthians chapter 14 to a church in Corinth that was having a problem with order and confusion. He is giving them instruction to clear these things up. If you will read the entire chapter, you will see that there were many speaking in tongues, numbers of prophets were prophesying at the same time and the women were speaking out evidently asking questions wanting to know what was happening. It sounds like chaos!
1st Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” In the beginning of the chapter he speaks of behaviors that should or should not be done in order to edify the church. This was addressed to men and women. He gives instruction concerning speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues and gives an order pertaining those who prophesy. Then he tells the women to be silent and to ask their questions at home of their husbands. This tells me that, in this church and maybe others, that the women were being disruptive asking questions. We know that this instruction was specific to this church because Jesus had, on many occasions, sent the women to speak! Remember, women were not allowed to be taught the scriptures. Rabbis felt that it would be better to burn them than to have a woman read them! We know that the women, because of the changes Jesus instituted, were for the first time being taught. Therefore, they were still not really educated yet. The husbands should teach their wives at home so they could be equal participants in the church. The women that were a part of Jesus’ ministry were full participants and some were taught by Jesus, Himself! Paul also says these women of this church should not teach. We know that Paul had women as part of his ministry whom he called fellow workers. Therefore, his instruction here must be situation-specific. We must not fail to use common sense and logic when we study events of so long ago!
Near the end of the chapter in verse 34 Paul reminds them that for the women to be silent is what the law says. This is again a cultural law and is no longer in affect. In fact, by following Jesus’ example the cultural laws concerning women would have been ignored and forgotten! But nevertheless it would take a long, long, long time for mankind to be Christ-like, so they kept observing these cultural laws. In the last verse, 1st Cor. 14:40, Paul sums it up when he says “Let all things be done decently and in order.” He had taught this church not to do anything that might injure the body, produce scandal, or lead others to sin.
We have seen in Acts 1:14 that the 120 of Jesus’ earliest followers included women. Women were present and a part of Pentecost (Acts 2:4).
Acts 5:14 tells us specifically that women were included in the believers added to the church. Acts 8:3 records that women were persecuted because of participating in the church. We also see throughout Acts that women were among the converts in Samaria, Macedonia, Thessalonia, and Berea.
In Christ, women were no longer second-class citizens. Though they still lived in a patriarchal society. Because of this, some cultural laws were still observed.
Today we do not have the laws against us and are free to learn of God’s word, and to participate in all church activities. If a church restricts a person from any participation based on sex alone, then they are not following Jesus. We are free to develop the gifts given to us by God. I do believe that if the churches would strive to be more like Jesus they would not teach or enforce any manmade law as if it were God’s law! Do not let such closed minds hold you back.
Another point that is important and cannot be ignored is that we must still behave in a modest and orderly fashion. The Bible tells us all how to do this in 1st Peter 5:5 “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
We should learn from our elders, be humble, and be submissive one to another. Submitting to authority may sometimes require us to follow cultural laws. I don’t believe that here in the US we have any laws that are gender specific. However, we do have some societal expectations or stigmas on us as women.
Remember to be modest. Modesty goes along with humbleness. Being humble does not mean that we are to be a doormat! Being humble means that you do not take credit for the gifts God gave you or for the things God is doing through you. Give that glory to your God, your creator! James 4:6 “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 1st Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”
You will, without a doubt, hear all kinds of negative things pertaining to women in the church. Each denomination has its own rules and interpretations. Please remember, though, that Jesus did not. Jesus spoke, healed, taught and commanded men and women as if they were without the physical body. When God handed down the Ten Commandments He did not give anything different to the women than to the men.
Now, I’m not trying to be negative, I’m just noticing some behaviors. Men like to show that they have power or authority. They have uniforms to show power. They have hats that show power. They even like to show who has the most power and authority of the men wearing the same uniform. To do this they added stripes and stars. The more stripes, the more power! A true Christian man will be satisfied to be a child of God. He will be happy to be joint-heirs to God’s kingdom with his brothers and with his sisters. We all need to learn to function as one unified body of Christ. Each one seeing no difference in the other. As you know, when we get to Heaven there will not be any male or female. The Bible also tells us to speak boldly. When we speak, we must speak with confidence. So, please accept your gift. If God calls you to speak or teach in church, do it. Do God’s work. Ephesians 6:19 “and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel”
What Did Jesus Do?
By Nancy Walton Castilleja
We have been following a timeline of the different conditions of women beginning with their purpose at creation, through the decision woman made to disobey God, her punishments, and some of the effects this sin had on the development of society. After Adam and Eve had sinned, God cast them out of the Garden of Eden. What happens next? Adam and Eve began to multiply. Genesis 4:1 “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.” I imagine that Eve was very distraught about her sin and being cast out. I do believe that Adam was very upset with her. As we know, he blamed her for his own disobedience. Genesis 3:12 “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Remember, too that she had increased pain with childbirth as part of her punishment. I gave birth to my third child without receiving anything for pain and I was upset about not receiving pain medication! Before we continue, let’s notice that Eve did not respond that way. With all the guilt, grief and pain, she still felt God was with her. In verse four we read that she said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” The spiritual strength of women has continued to remain very strong in spite of hardships. When things look hopeless, divorce is imminent, or even in the face of abuse you will see the woman continue to pray, sing to the Lord, and ensure that her children attend church. Eve was well aware of what it was like to walk with God; therefore, it must have been extra hard for her to continue in her faith in her degraded condition. She knew exactly how much she lost because of sin! We can only imagine!
We all know the story of Cain and Abel. Cain was a murderer and the Bible tells of the evils of his descendants. The first thing I found concerning women was an action done by Cain’s descendant Lamech. Genesis 4:19 “And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.” First I notice the word “took”. Lamech “took” wives. To take something is to acquire possession of something. The women did not give themselves to him, he took! This points to the already lowered position of the woman. He was the first to take two wives. So we see that the lawful institution of marriage, which is, that two should be one flesh, was first corrupted in the lineage of Cain by Lamech. When there is a bad custom begun by ungodly men, sometimes men of better characters are drawn in to follow them. Jacob, David, and many others, who were otherwise good men, were afterwards ensnared in this sin which Lamech begun. Later, Lamech also commits murder.
The next story that reflects the condition of women is of Sarai. This is when her husband (Abram) passed her off as his sister for his own protection. Because she was nice looking, he knew the Pharoah would take her for his wife. This meant her husband, Abram, would probably be killed to get him out of the way. What this reveals is that it is already customary for the woman to have no say in the matter. Genesis 12:15 “The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.” We see that a woman being “taken” is continuing as it was back in Lamech’s time.
Later we see that Sarai refers to her husband as “my lord”. The Hebrew word for lord is 'adown. This meant “to rule”. So we see that the husband is in fact, ruler over the wife as God spoke it to be for the punishment for Eve’s sin.
I’m going to read a story, still in Genesis, that shows the great extent of the lack of value given to women and girls. Genesis 19:5-8 “And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”
I cannot imagine a father doing this! The only outlook I can figure is that his daughters were no different than his animals. You can understand a father giving up his dog to be abused to save a person. He may not want to, but, after all, it is only a dog! After all, they were only females!
Next, let’s read an interesting story. It reveals that God was still speaking to women. Even though manmade societies devalued women, God did not. God continued his relationship with them and they also knew and recognized God! Genesis 16:7-13 “And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” Let’s not forget this story. Hagar was a handmaid or slave. Hagar was also a woman. God not only spoke to her and made a promise to her, but he also appeared to her. God cared, came and directed her because He heard her afflictions. The definition of the Hebrew word used for affliction means, “depression or misery.” Always remember that God hears even your feelings. Tears speak as well as prayers. God hears the silent cries of women.
There are many stories telling of the condition of women. Their only status was tied to the man’s status, such as a father or a husband. Women were used as pawns to gain favor with another family of power. In other words, if a man wanted to gain favor politically with a king he would marry someone within that king’s family.
Women were used to take revenge. In the case of revenge, if a man did something against another man, there were accounts where the man who was wronged would have all the men in his family go rape the sister of the man who offended him. Her suffering was not an issue! These actions were against the brother because it defiled him, not her. In other words, the family’s property was ruined!
The situation of women was powerful evidence of the consequences of Eve’s sin. Remember it was because of sin, not God’s will, that women were seen and treated lowly. Sin brings disgrace to not only people, but also to the societies we live in. From the time of Eve’s fall until the birth of Jesus was at least a few thousand years. During this time hundreds of laws were made that affected women. Let’s trace the possible development of a law back then. First you just have a practice (behavior) among people. When a practice is done over and over (habitually) it is defined as a custom. Then a custom that is passed down from generation to generation becomes a tradition. When these traditions become acceptable among a group of people, they become their culture. This group of people with a common culture is a society. If you follow this path, you can see how the husband’s rule became part of society. It took time, but you can see that certain practices did develop into laws. Let’s also look at the definition of law. A law is a rule established by authority, society or customs. The Rabbis had the authority and made the customs laws.
Notice that the punishment that woman received from God was to be that the husband was to rule the wife. God did not say to Eve that man would rule woman. No, this was supposed to be within the marriage. However, it spilled out into society as being strictly a matter of gender. To make it stick, laws were put into place. The Rabbis were the ones who enacted the laws, so you can see how this matter also became incorporated into the temple and later the church.
There were so many laws pertaining to women that I can’t list them all! Here are a few:
- Men were not to speak to women in public;
- Girls were not allowed any schooling;
- Women and girls were not allowed to be taught any scriptures;
- Women were not allowed to teach (what could they teach anyway!);
- Women were not allowed into the synagogues (they could only sit with the children in the gallery upstairs);
- Women could not own any property except in rare cases where the father died with no living male relatives;
- When such a woman(with property) married, the property became her husband’s property;
- Women could make no demands on a man, but instead had to respond to his demands;
- During menstruation, the woman was considered unclean. Anything a woman touched during menstruation became unclean;
- A woman was to be kept isolated during menstruation; and the list goes on!
Rabbis said that it was dangerous to even look at a woman. This must be the origination of those head-to-toe coverings that some cultures demand the women wear! Some Rabbis said that it would be better to burn the scriptures than to allow a woman to read them!
You can close your eyes and pretend you are a woman living in the first century. You are only born to serve a man and to produce an heir for him. A son. Remember, these are laws and if you disobey, you could be stoned to death! Keep this perspective as we read and see how Jesus’ treatment of women called for a complete transformation of men’s attitudes towards women!!
The Woman With the Issue of Blood
Luke 8:41-48 NKJ “And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'" But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good comfort; your faith has made you whole. Go in peace."
Do you think Jesus knew who had touched Him? Of course He did! In other accounts we can read where Jesus tells people things about themselves with no way of knowing except that He knows all! Therefore, I would say that He knew the woman had touched Him. It is evident, because of the way Jesus addressed the event out loud drawing attention to it, that Jesus wanted others to learn something and wanted to bless the woman!
In the first verse we see that a man came begging a request of Jesus. This was not just any man. He was an important high ranking man. He was a ruler of the synagogue.
First we see that Jesus allowed the request of this ruler to be delayed to address this woman. So, we see that the silent desires of a woman were just as important to Jesus as the request of a man, a ruler!
Second, notice that Jesus made no mention that an unclean woman had touched Him. There were laws telling how to cleanse one’s self after being touched by an unclean woman. Jesus wasn’t concerned and did not obey those manmade laws.
Third, we see that Jesus spoke to her in public. It was as if He saw only her spirit and not her physical body. Remember as He spoke to this woman in public, a ruler of the synagogue and a crowd of people were witnessing His treatment of her.
Let’s also notice what Jesus said to her. Immediately, He calls her “daughter”. This would signify that she is a child of God. He said “be of good comfort.” The Greek word used for comfort is a word that actually means “to have courage.” Women were not usually urged to be courageous. Jesus also commended her faith. Lastly, He says “go in peace.” Jesus’ obvious care, love and attitude towards the woman went against the manmade customs and laws. Can you see the change in the treatment of women that Jesus was demonstrating? Jesus will not break God’s laws. Therefore, the disregarded laws could not be God’s laws and were evidently manmade.
Mary and Martha
Luke 10:38-42 “Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
This is a wonderful account showing how Jesus radically changed the existence and acceptance of women. Do you see which manmade law Jesus is ignoring? Women were not to be taught and also, women were not allowed to participate in any religious activities alongside the men. Now, as followers of Jesus (Christians) men and women are accepted equally. Though, society has and still is taking a long time to “do what Jesus did”!! Mary, along with many other women, was taking a very courageous step by claiming a right that had been for men only! When Mary did not perform the traditional woman’s role in the kitchen, Martha complained. Martha asked Jesus, don’t you care that Mary is not helping me serve? Martha assumed Jesus would agree when she then added, tell her to help me. What a surprise when Jesus responded, one thing is needed and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. What had Mary chosen? She chose to sit at Jesus’ feet. When it was said that you sat at someone’s feet, it meant you were listening and being taught by them. So, Mary was receiving the “bread of life” not the bread for the body. Who else was at Jesus’ feet? He was traveling with his disciples. Not just the twelve. Earlier in this chapter it says there were seventy more disciples. So, Mary was in that group of disciples. Jesus’ disciples were the people who were taught by Him and sent out to spread His doctrine. Yes, Mary was also a disciple! And Jesus says she chose well and it shall not be taken from her! When He said that, He opened a door to women that had previously been closed. Women, as well as men, were and still are invited to learn the word of God and go spread the gospel!
The Adulteress
John 8:3-11 “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
Please remember that these stories have many lessons in them. What we are studying in them is the way Jesus treated and related to women. With this in mind, we can see evidence of the unequal treatment of women by society. For instance, if she was caught in the very act of adultery, wouldn’t that mean that a man was present? Wasn’t he committing a crime also? Why wasn’t he brought for stoning also? This particular group of men was trying to trip Jesus up on a legal matter. They brought her as an object to fit their plan. She had less value than her sinful partner. The men also had more physical strength over her. Jesus demonstrated that He did not consider her an object of no value, but rather a human being. Jesus treated her as a person who could be responsible for making her own choices and thereby turning her life around! Jesus ignored two manmade laws in this event. One is that he did not stone her and two, Jesus did not make a deal or a plan with her father or brother as was the custom. He gave her the right to make her own decision.
A very important message that Jesus sends to women is when He appeared first to women after his resurrection. He could have appeared anytime, anyplace, to anyone. He chose the women. They had followed Him faithfully. Then he put into place an extremely revolutionary practice. We know women were not allow into the Temple and in more modern times, allowed to preach. But, Jesus told the women to go tell His brethren that He had risen and where to meet Him! Those women were the first to be commissioned to give the news of the gospel! Today we call that preaching the gospel. Read Matthew 28:10a “ Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren…” Some believe that women can only teach other women or children. Who did Jesus, Himself, tell the women to tell? He directed them to give His word to the men!
Now can you answer that question, “What did Jesus do?” If people who profess to be Christians truly want to be Christ-like, they would follow the examples of Jesus’ consideration towards women! God sees our hearts, not our physical bodies. Men that cannot deal with women as equals are hung up with the flesh. They are seeing and judging the physical and not the spirit.
These are just a few women who interacted with Jesus. In these few women alone we learn at least eleven points from Jesus’ actions:
- Women are equally as important as men.
- Women are not unclean.
- Women are the children of God.
- Women are to be commended for their faith.
- Women are to be communicated with as men.
- Women are to be taught God’s word.
- Women are to go and preach God’s word.
- Women are not locked into traditional roles.
- Women are not objects.
- Women are responsible for their decisions.
- Women are forgiven.
Eden....Our First Home
Last month we learned that woman was created with and for spiritual strength. It is with this strength that we are to help our husbands. Remember that there is strength in two. God described the woman as “ezer kenegdo” or in English, “help meet” to the man. Remember the definitions of the original Hebrew words used. The word translated as “help” meant to assist as to surround him in a way resulting in protection. This does not mean that the woman had the physical strength to protect the man. First of all, there wasn’t anything physical that the man or the woman needed to be protected from! The “help” that the woman was to provide was in the spiritual realm. God provided a spiritual increase for humans when two or more are together. Let’s read Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” God’s presence is surrounding. He is omnipresent! This means being present everywhere at once. Don’t let anyone convince you that woman was created to be a servant to the man or for his entertainment! God had a definite and more important plan than that!
Let’s say a little more about the word “meet”. Some translate this as mate. Have you heard anyone say “helpmate”? This does not indicate the true meaning. We know that the Hebrew word used meant, someone like himself. God gave us the details of the method of creating male and female so it would be known that they were of the same body. This demonstrates the sameness in value and status. The woman had to come from the same “stuff” to be suitable and “meet”. After this creation came the marriage. Genesis 2:22 “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” God then blessed them as one and commanded them as one. He sent both of them to rule and subdue the earth side by side.
Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Notice that God put two dimensions into the marriage.
Let’s now look into what the husband’s responsibilities are. Turn to Genesis 2:8, 9, and 15 “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
First of all let’s notice that God prepared a special place for man to live. This was called Eden. Eden was man’s home. God put the man in the garden (or home) to dress it and to keep it. The Hebrew words used are, `abad translated as dress and shamar translated as keep. `Abad simply means to work. So we see that God intended for the man to work the garden. This would be doing the things that were needed to cause the garden to thrive. Even in Eden there was work. God does not like laziness.
2nd Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” For this physical work God created the male with all the right chemistry, including hormones, to produce a high muscular content in his body. The body is able to adapt and provide just what is needed. By this I mean, the more activity that is performed, the more muscle is produced. So intelligently constructed!
The woman, on the other hand, was equipped with different physical capabilities. Because of her different physical purposes and structure she needs a different chemical and hormonal set up. Remember what we learned last month about our differences? Man and woman were created equal but not identical. God did not originally intend for marriage to be a union of two unequal partners!
At this point I want to say something to those of you who are not married. You may be thinking that this is not important for you to know. That is not true. I believe that if everyone knew what their responsibilities are in a marriage and what their spouse’s responsibilities are before marriage, the marriage would have a better chance of lasting a lifetime! Think about it. If both knew what to expect and performed what they should, wouldn’t their home have more harmony?! In today’s society there is confusion about the roles of each spouse. At one end of the spectrum we have those who don’t understand the restoration that Jesus brought to both partners which results in a lop-sided union. And at the other end, there are those who acknowledge no individual differences at all! Either of these situations leads to confusion or unhappiness. That is not what God set in place.
The second responsibility of the man was to “keep” the garden or home. The Hebrew word that is translated as keep is “shamar”. The definition of this word is properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.:--be circumspect, take heed. Most of these definitions are words we commonly hear except to be circumspect. To be circumspect is to be aware of potential consequences. When the husband is taking on his created roll of protecting the home, being circumspect is adding a depth to the meaning of protection. The husband protects the home not only in a physical way, but in an attentive way. You have to be attentive to your surroundings to notice any potential problems. What I see in this is that the man is to be actively involved in the home. He should protect the home in many different ways.
The captain of a boat came to my mind as an example.
A boat captain has to:
1. be mindful of safety for his crew members. He should make sure all are in a safe environment. Now, while doing this he needs to,
2. keep up the morale on the ship. He should communicate regularly with his crew members. This would keep him informed of any problems that if left unresolved, would interfere with smooth sailing! Do you know what I mean? In addition to this he would need to,
3. be alert and watchful outside the boat looking for those potential problems. He may be watching uncontrollable situations such as the weather and then taking the necessary actions to keep all safe. Also, he may be watching out for things such as an attack by pirates! Then he would,
4. be responsible for the physical protection of all that are on the boat. As we know, God created the man with the capability of developing physical strength. Long ago the home probably needed physical protection more than it does today. However, it seems that today the home needs more protection in the form of paying thoughtful attention to potential problems. We can see today the results of an inattentive father in the home. Divorce rates are higher than ever. The number of children living without a father is climbing. There needs to be a man in the home taking the role that God created for him. Now, I know some of you may disagree with this. You might say, “I can take care of my children by myself.” Well, of course you can, but let me tell you, I have been a single mother myself and it isn’t easy. Maybe not for long, but it was long enough to know that! You would be very blessed and talented to raise successful and decent children alone. As women, we all know how much is involved in running a home, raising children, investing in a relationship with your husband, and still having the time and energy to take care of ourselves. In addition to all of this, most of us have a career! Talk about multi-tasking! Being a woman is the ultimate in multi-tasking! But, you know, God created the woman with the ability to do many things at a time. Just naming these areas of responsibilities in a generality sounds like a lot. If we were to get specific, the list would be staggering, if not impossible! God set up the first home, Eden, with two humans working as partners. We have to admit, if we have a true partner it would greatly reduce the mental and physical stress on us. We see this result in God’s original plan which consists of a man and a woman as equal partners with different responsibilities. (the antonym of partner is superior!)
Remember, when God created the man He said the man was to dress and keep the home he was placed in. When God created the woman He said she was to be a help meet for the man. The man and woman were created with different functions! Yet, when the creation was complete, the man and woman were blessed and given commands together. Even though they each had there own unique functions, when put together by God they were to proceed as one. Which means they would live in agreement and have the same goal.
God also blessed us in a way that would require the husband and wife to have a personal relationship. We see this in the first half of Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,…” This indicates the need for a personal relationship between the two. There is to be love and romance! Physical love is just as real as emotional love. Keeping both aspects in a healthy state will help carry you through the tough times.
Next, we see that God’s commands of authority to both husband and wife put them together as partners. Read the second half of Genesis 1:28 “… and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” This is where God instituted partnership within the marriage. Together, they would have a relationship and a partnership. This is the marriage. God put them together being equal in status, value and authority.
Do you remember earlier that I mentioned the word harmony? If the husband and the wife know what is expected of them, things will run a lot smoother! Now, I am not talking about who is going to do the dishes or take out the trash. I am talking about knowing your purpose. With love, prayer, communication and more love, prayer and communication you can work out that relationship!
Let’s sum this up simply. Our purpose and responsibilities make up the home. These are our differences. Our relationship and partnership are the marriage. This is where our equality exists.
Remember, after the restoration of Jesus, we are equal in the home but not identical. There is no boss and slave, no owner and property. In a truly Christian home you should see God original plan of a marriage in place. That is: the husband as the first person (biblical meaning of, head) responsible for the physical provisions (protection and food) and spiritual state of the home and the wife helping him with increasing spiritual strength and awareness, as well as nurturing and bearing children. They do this within a relationship and a partnership.
(Keep in mind that we were all created for the glory of God and to worship Him.)
I have given you a list of definitions. While looking at these, tell me your understanding of the application of each word towards the wife and then the husband. I will call them out.
1. Purpose: that which someone is intended to achieve.
2. Responsibility: the proper extent of one’s activities. A form of trustworthiness.
3. Relationship: an emotional connection between people. A state involving mutual dealings between people.
4. Partnership: a contract between people who agree to pool talent and money and share profits and losses.
5. Equality: the quality of being the same in quantity or measure or value or status; equally balanced; sameness.
6. Identical: exactly alike; incapable of being perceived as different.
Next month I will explain the restoration that Jesus provided to us as women. We will also read proof of this in the King James Bible! I’m looking forward to this one. Bring your Bibles!
By: Nancy Walton Castilleja
The Creation of Woman
The Creation of Woman
By Nancy Walton Castilleja
Before we get into how, when and why woman was created, let’s look at what did not happen. Because of what we may have learned previously about woman’s creation, we need to reorganize some information to put it in the right order. I think everyone is familiar enough with the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to remember that they ate from the forbidden tree, right? This was the first disobedience to God and therefore, the introduction of sin into the world of mankind. If you are wondering why we are starting at this point, it is because the condition of woman with sin present is the most familiar. As I said before, we need to sort things out. We need to know this in order to identify God’s original purpose for woman before sin.
Let’s pick up reading at the conversation between God, the woman and the serpent after the disobedience. Genesis 3:13-16 “And the LORD God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 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: 15 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. 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.”
The Hebrew word used for enmity is, 'eybah. The definition of this in the Hebrew is: hostility. It comes from a Hebrew root word that means to hate (as one of an opposite tribe or party); hence to be hostile:--be an enemy. Remember God said to the serpent or Satan, “…I will put enmity between thee and the woman…”. I’m sure we all know that Satan is our enemy, but did you know that God put into place an extra hostility, or war, between Satan and the woman? What do you think about that? Keep this in mind for now. We will discuss this further at another time.
The woman was given two types of punishments for her sin. She is
condemned to:
1. a state of sorrow, and
2. a state of subjection.
Proper punishments for a sin in which she had gratified her pleasure( ≠ sorrow) and her pride (≠ subjection). Her punishments put her in the opposite conditions of the ones that allowed her sin. She is put into a state of subjection. Notice that subjection, the husband’s rule, came after sin and as a punishment for sin. This is the one change due to sin that so many seem to ignore! I have heard countless preachers say that the husband should rule over his wife and she should gracefully accept it. Their reasoning behind this, so they say, is that God set the original marriage up that way. This could not be further from the truth! Read verse 16 again. God says here, here after sin that the husband is to rule over the wife. This is when it was first instituted, not in the original union of husband and wife! God would not put something in place as a punishment if it already existed at creation. Now you see that when God set the husband to rule, He put it into place as a punishment to the wife. God did not originally intend for marriage to be a union of two unequal partners! We are to become one. Now, with that being said, let’s go back to the creation to verify the equality of man and woman. Take note here that equality does not mean identical. Equality: the quality of being the same in quantity, measure, value, or status; equally balanced; sameness. Identical: exactly alike; incapable of being perceived as different; a duplicate; indistinguishable. Man and woman were created equal but not identical.
Let’s read Genesis 1:26-31 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 ¶ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 ¶ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Look over this text and tell me what blessings and authority was given to the man………..How about to the woman?........... That’s right! They were blessed together and commanded to rule together!
Did you read where God gave either one authority over the other? No, you did not. This was the unity of God’s creation. Together, they were one.
Another thing that some like to suppose is that “creation order” somehow denotes authority. We were not created first. We were not even created second. The heavens and the earth were created first, then the plant life. Next came fish and fowl. Fifth were the creatures of the earth. Sixth was the human species. Now some like to look at the order of creation and say that because one was created before the other it somehow gives them a special status. Have you ever heard this? Do you know what they are referring to? It’s about the man and the woman. But why do they not notice that the animals were created before mankind? Does this make the animals above mankind? No, it does not. Ecc. 3:19-20 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.”
Mankind did not have dominion over every creature because of creation order. Mankind had dominion over the creatures because God spoke and gave it to them. If it were already in place, God would not have had to order it! Gen. 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” So, also, the male did not have authority over the female at creation. Creation order did not determine authority. The authority over the female was given to the husband as a punishment for sin. If it were already in place, God would not have given it as punishment. Therefore, it did not exist in the original marriage established by God. The original marriage did not include one person as the ruler over the other!
So let’s get this clear. God did not create women to be under men’s rule! God put in place the husband ruling the wife as punishment after sin, not at creation. Woman was not created to give man someone to lead around nor was she created for his pleasure! Let’s continue our search for purpose.
The next question you all have is, “What about her being his helper?” We can read about this in Genesis chapter two where more detail is given. Notice, though, that we are first told about God creating mankind in His image and likeness. Then, it is told that mankind was made male and female. At that point, we hear the blessings and commands given to them as one. Later, after this we are given more detail. This detail doesn’t address our equality, but our differences! The male and female were created with different physical appearances, obviously. But, they were also created with different functions so they would accomplish God’s plan together. Think of this as a baseball team. If every one was a pitcher, who would catch the ball out in the field? Who would run the bases?
The team performs successfully when each person contributes a talent of their own.
Now, let’s read and see if we can spot their different functions. Genesis 2:7-9 and 15-18 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 ¶ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 15 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.”
In these verses we see what the functions or purposes of the male and female were, individually, before their union. The union of the male and female is called “marriage”. Marriage is the oneness of a man and a woman. This biblical definition is what some people are trying to change today. We won’t get into that! That’s another study! We see in verse fifteen what the man’s individual responsibility was to be. 15, “God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” In order to understand exactly what this means, we would need to look at the meaning of the words in the original language. Since tonight we are studying the woman and not so much the man, we are not going to define verse fifteen. I just wanted to point out to you that the man did have his functions separately from the woman in addition to their commands as one.
Now, we will examine why God created the woman. We read in verse eighteen that God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” Why do you think God would say this? Everything that God had created so far was good. The man had everything he needed in the garden. I’m sure it was beautiful and delicious. It is never said that the man was lonely. How could he have been lonely when he had God to talk with? Wouldn’t that have been wonderfully enough? I don’t think that God created the woman just so the man would have someone to talk to. The man was not lonely! To find out we will back up only one verse and read verse 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.” Notice it was at that point God first said something was “not good”. So far, everything was not only good, but very good. That is, up until the man is told not to do something! Immediately after this, God says that the man should not be alone and also would be provided a helper. How do you suppose the woman was going to help the man? Was she going to do his laundry? No, they had no clothes! Maybe she was going to cook and do the dishes. No, there were no kitchens yet! I know! She was going to clean his house! No, no, and no! Well then, how was she going to be his helper?
Okay, as I mentioned before, let’s define the original Hebrew words used for “help meet”. rze wdgnk, “ezer kenegdo” Kenegdo signifies one like, or as himself, standing before him. And this implies that the woman was to be a perfect resemblance of the man, possessing neither inferiority nor superiority, but being in all things like and equal to himself. This is easily understood being that she was created from the same body. She was in fact bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Ezer comes from the Hebrew root word azar meaning, to surround, that is to say to protect or aid. So we can see that God said he would make the man another human on the same level that would surround him with a protecting help. This other person was the woman. Do you recall that God said man needed a helper immediately after he gave a command not to do something? This was going to require obedience? God knew Satan was there along with a third of the angels that were fallen angels. He knew the man was now going to need help with fighting off Satan; someone who would always be at hand. This was the purpose of the woman. Yes, this is why we were created. To be man’s helper in his spiritual walk. Remember, in this original perfect creation of marriage between man and woman, no one was given rule or authority over the other! They were to stand side by side ruling the earth together. God had a plan! God said it was not good for man to be alone. He also says that two are stronger than one! We can now say with confidence that the woman was created for spiritual strength!
Let’s read some verses that reveal some benefits of having two, instead of one. Matthew 18:19-20 “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Also read Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
The woman was given a spiritual responsibility. Before their commands as one, the man was to “dress and keep” the garden (or home). The woman was to help the man in the obedience to God and in resisting Satan’s inevitable temptations. As we all know, she failed in her responsibility. Her punishment was to live with sorrow and to have her husband rule over her. She would also have increased pain with childbirth and in spite of this elevated pain, she would continue to desire her husband!
Don’t let Satan hide your purpose with the confusion he institutes! Satan knows there is enmity between himself and women. He knows that just as he used woman to try to destroy God’s new creations, God will use a woman to destroy him! Satan wants to keep some kind a separation between husbands and wives, any kind even if it is the unbalance of equality in the home. Keeping a wedge between husbands and wives is so important to Satan that he even uses some churches to accomplish this. I hope you will all take the good news of tonight’s study with you. That good news is that you were created with spiritual strength! We do have a responsibility to be a help to our husbands as God intended. God created you with a plan. His plan is ongoing and you are a big part of it!
I don’t want to leave you in a bad spot, but time won’t allow us to continue. Next month we will learn of the responsibilities of the husband and wife inside the home. Following that, we will study the restoration that Jesus brought to mankind while we focus in on what this means to us as women!