There are no Jews, No Greeks, etc... part 33

God also uses women as an example of how He will deliver His people. In Ezekiel 13:17-23, women are shown as humble beings coming to God. In Numbers 31:15-16, while some have the plague the women who come to God are spared. And as bad leaders as they were shown in Isaiah, women could also be good leaders too. For instance, Deborah in Judges 4:4,5 showed that she was truly a woman of God and wanted to follow Him and obey Him. In this scripture and those that follow, Deborah defers her leadership in battle to that of her nephew, Barak, because she knew that in battle and in conquering modes, men are to lead. This is also the scripture in I Corinthians 11:7-10 that men are the head of women. Even though in Christ there is no male, no female, no Jew, no Greek. (Galatians 3:28). Why can both of these be true? Christ has come to make all one in Him, and we all work together, and none are least important than the other. But because the earth is still ruled by principles and laws of nature, there must be a hierarchy while we are on this earth. And that hierarchy puts men as leaders. That doesn’t say they are better than women. What it does say is the order of things. Another example is in Nehemiah 6:14. Women were quite helpful in rebuilding the temple. Also in Luke 2:36-38, the prophetess Anna was considered honorable and great. Also Candace, who was used by God to send the eunuch on a road trip and who met Philip and was taught what he needed to do to accept Christ. Finally, Micah 6:4 implies that women were as important as men in forming the nation of Israel. And therefore their importance cannot be understated. Women were after all the vocal part of the celebrations, for example, in Exodus 15:20,21. Miriam had a timbrel in her hand as the women danced and sang Moses’ victory. And in David’s victory over the Philistines in I Samuel 18:6, women came out and danced. Even those that were not Israelites rejoiced. (2 Samuel 1:20) Women were also a great comfort to Jesus. (Matthew 27:55-66, Mark 15:40-47) And it was to women that Jesus first appeared upon His rising from the dead. Women were also of great faith. Women were also shown to have great faith. For instance, Lydia in Acts 16:14,15, and women in Acts 17:4-34 were extremely devoted and had great faith in Christ. In Ruth 1:2, 2:3-4, and 3:1, women were shown to be devoted to their husband and his people, much as Christ’s church is to be devoted to Him and His family and to count God as Father.

There are no Jews, no Greeks, etc.. Part 33

There are many allusions to Israel by using women. The likeness to the horrendous treatment of women to sorrows that overtake Israel is shown again in Lamentations 5:11. This is a good example of what the Old Testament does for us and how we are to note the example and either follow that example or be warned of what will happen if we do follow that example. The likeness really demonstrates just how pitiful things had gotten in Israel and Judah. The scriptures also say that Israel needs protection, much as women in Ruth 3:11. This shows God’s desire to protect His people and to preserve the line to Jesus. (Matthew 1,Luke 1) Then again the image of women was not always as those that are pure and need protection. In Isaiah 32:9-11, women are shown to have been carefree and not obedient to God for so long that God is no longer so protective of them. In Jeremiah, Israel is being likened to a forgetful maid in forgetting God and thus their duties to the Father. In Ecclesiastes 7:26, Solomon describes seductive, entrapping women and finds them worse than death because they lead to death and make one forget about God. How does one escape such? By pleasing God. And this is by focusing on God away from seductresses. Women are also used to describe how bad influences corrupt, much as Israel was corrupted by outside, ungodly influences. All the way back to Genesis 3:6, women could be bad influences, and Israel is warned to stay firm and keep focused on what it knows is the truth. Another example is Jezebel in 1 Kings 21:25. Jezebel stirred up trouble much as those women that gossip against one another and people in general. Women are shown to be idol worshippers, and leading their children to be so. (Jeremiah 7:18). And in Nehemiah 13:26, men are warned against women that would cause them to sin, even a man such as Solomon. Women in Isaiah 3:12 are shown to be among the poor leaders and those leaders that take God’s people astray and in utter confusion, due to pride and selfishness. Indeed women are shown in Romans 1:26 to be given to unnatural desires and sinful natures, and God lets them, because this is what they wanted. Because God wants all to come to Him of free will, not because they are supposed to, not because that is what is expected of them, but that is what they wish to do. He wants His people to want to please Him. And women are compared to Israel in Ezekiel 16:32 to being adulterous because of how easily they fall in with those who do not do as God wants. Hosea 4:13,14, also use women to describe the unfaithfulness of Israel. Paul speaks of silly women in 2 Timothy 3:6. Further women are shown as being disobedient, as in Genesis 19:26 and Luke 17:32 and jealous as in Genesis 30:1. And the ultimate disobedience, Eve, in Genesis 3:1 and revisited in 1 Timothy 2:14.

There are no Jews, No greeeks, etc...part 33

Women are the ones who feel and convey those feelings more than men. For instance, women have a stronger sense of sorrow than men. As in Judges 11:37, women will mourn together for a given circumstance. The metaphor of a woman’s grief is so strong that the writer of Lamentations uses it to describe the mourning in Israel. (Lamentations 4:10) And who else but a daughter could dance with innocence and joy of seeing their protectors and their fathers and bolster their confidence. (Judges 11:34, Judges 21:21, Jeremiah 31:13). Honorable fathers and brothers were protectors of their sisters, as shown in Genesis 34:5. This is why Paul speaks about husbands in Ephesians 5 and how they are to act toward their wives and vice versa. So women do indeed play a significant role in God’s kingdom. Women are also shown as being able to eke out a living for themselves and labor for themselves in the absence of a man. (Isaiah 4:1). At the same time, women were considered to be a commodity. (Matthew 15:25) This is particular written about in Psalms where women have to get on without a husband. (Ps 78:63) And it is sad that when God, because of the stubbornness of the people or sometimes He allows others to overcome others, makes men, women and children captive and there really is nothing we can do to get ourselves out of bondage. (Lamentations 1:18, Ezekiel 30:17-18, Deuteronomy 32:35) For some reason, God chooses to care for women either through providing them with a husbands, with specific guidelines given in Ephesians 5:22-30, or when there are those women who are not married, there are men in the church who will help them through various difficulties. (I Corinthians 11:1-12).

There are no Jews, no Greeks, etc. part32

At the same time, we have to realize that women physically cannot keep the enemies out, as written in Nahum 3:13. Women were not considered among those that could protect the city of Ninevah. This reference was a warning to Ninevah that describe the wrath that resulted from proceeding against God. Women were considered the weakest of humans and this meant that the men fighting were poor fighting stock and that they could never defeat God. But women were shown as strong in other areas, nurturing, caring for family, distributing love, for example. David spoke of this, in that the love he felt for Jonathan in friendship went beyond that of a woman (2 Samuel 1:26), meaning the love felt was even stronger and higher than that of a woman. This was and is a woman’s asset, that they have a great deal of love, compassion, and their abilities to raise God and to ensure they are trained in God. (Isaiah 49:15) That doesn’t mean women cannot lead. There have been many capable leaders. It simply means that women are not the one’s who can ultimately physically protect against a warring enemy. Men on the other hand need women to help them. Does this mean women need to be with men? Or that men need to be with women? Not always going to happen! So often women are by themselves, especially widows, and it often falls upon them to build up and repair the house, tend the fields, in general keeping the home going. Men on the other hand are the protectors and keep the enemy out and also bring in the tools and the items with which women can build and maintain the household and cause it to grow.