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Sermon: “A
Glory to God”
[a sermon about women]
by Chris Cumming
Intro: All through
my life, I have been a victim of the ways of this world…we all are.
I have been witness
to the evils, to the lies and the false doctrines of this world. I have had to
be subjected to the double standards, the prejudices and stereotypes of this
world ruled by Satan.
Some of these
stereotypes have even invaded the very Church of God or the minds of some of the
members of the church over the years.
Today I want to
discuss the subject of women and how they have been stereotyped as something
less than a man. I want to show how the world has even used the Bible to
support these stereotypes and regulate women to the status of second class
citizens.
My purpose today
will be to break this prejudice against women and show you that…
…THE BIBLE SUPPORTS
WOMEN
My message to the
world is…If you want to make women second class citizens, that is your choice,
but you cannot use the Word of God to prove or support your contentions.
One of the sad
things about these false contentions is that some woman accept or believe them.
Let us see how many of these false ideas we can eradicate in the time we have
together today.
Now, when I began
putting together the material for this sermon from the Word of God, I ended up
with a stack of paper over an inch high, scores of pages…way more material than
I could even begin to share with you today, so this sermon is an introduction to
your further Bible Study. I will aid you in these studies with Biblical fact
sheets in the next couple of weeks.
Let us begin by
discussing Bible indications that show the value and status of women in Bible
history and clearly in the mind of God who wrote the Bible.
Turn in your Bibles
to 1 Sam 8 and beginning in verse 11
This passage picks
up the nation of Israel asking for a king.
1 Sam 8:11-13
11 And he
said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will
take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his
horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
12 And he will
appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set
them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of
war, and instruments of his chariots.
13 And he will
take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
Point: Samuel tries
to talk Israel out of asking for a king. One of his arguments is that they will
lose their daughters to royal service. Daughters were valued enough to be used
in such an argument.
Now to 2 Sam 1 and
verse 26
David lamenting over
the dead Jonathan
2 Sam 1:26
26 I am
distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
Point: In this
moving account of David’s lament over Jonathan he shows how wonderful the love
of women was held to be. In finding something ‘wonderful’ to base the
comparison with the loyalty of Jonathan for David, he can find nothing higher
than ‘the love of a woman’.
Next, let us look at
1 Kings 2:19
Here we read that
Solomon is established as King after the death of David and another of David’s
sons, A-do-ni-jah, felt that he should have the throne. He thinks he can do
this by marrying David’s widow, A-bi-shad. He asks Bathsheba to go to King
Solomon to ask for permission to marry A-bi-shad.
IKing 2:19
19
Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And
the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his
throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his
right hand.
Point: This
incredible passage shows the Value placed by the wisest king of Israel on his
mother.
Giving her a throne
is not just affection—it is empowerment!
He bows to her,
rises to meet her and places her at his right hand! The same honor that Christ
has with God, the Father.
Turn back now to 2
Sam 20
This section of
scripture describes a time when there was rebellion against King David. First,
his son, Absolom attempts to take the throne but is defeated and killed. Just
after that, thinking that David’s forces were weakened, a man by the name Sheba
focused rebellion against David. The men of Israel were with Sheba but the men
of Judah were with David…
Notice verse 13…
2 Sam 20:13-22
13 When he was
removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after
Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 And he went
through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-ma'achah, and all the
Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him (Sheba).
15 And they
came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-ma'achah, and they cast up a bank against
the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab
battered the wall, to throw it down.
16 Then cried a
wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near
hither, that I may speak with thee.
17 And when he
was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he.
Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do
hear.
18 Then she
spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely
ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.
19 I am one of
them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city
and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?
20 And Joab
answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or
destroy.
21 The matter
is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath
lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I
will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall
be thrown to thee over the wall.
22 Then the
woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba
the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they
retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem
unto the king.
Points:
1.
This woman is called
wise.
2.
She gets a hearing
in the middle of battle.
3.
She negotiates with
the commander of the Army.
4.
He listens.
5.
She appeals to his
tradition and to theological values (verse 19---about the city –an inheritance
of God)
6.
She calls the city
a “mother” of Israel.
7.
She makes a
commitment without asking the elders
8.
She succeeds and
saves the city.
9.
She averts the
dividing of Israel at this point.
Now, let’s look at
another very sharp lady; turn to 1 Samual 19:11
Saul is seeking to
kill David. Reading in the Living Bible here…
1 Sam 19:11-17
11 Saul sent
troops to watch David's house and kill him when he came out in the morning. "If
you don't get away tonight," Michal warned him, "you'll be dead by morning."
12 So she
helped him get down to the ground through a window.
13 Then she
took an idol and put it in his bed, and covered it with blankets, with its head
on a pillow of goat's hair.
14 When the
soldiers came to arrest David and take him to Saul, she told them he was sick
and couldn't get out of bed.
15 Saul said to
bring him in his bed, then, so that he could kill him.
16 But when
they came to carry him out, they discovered that it was only an idol!
17 "Why have
you deceived me and let my enemy escape?" Saul demanded of Michal. "I had to,"
Michal replied. "He threatened to kill me if I didn't help him."
Point: This story
shows the cunning of Michal.
1.
She advises David on
a course of action.
2.
She assists him in
the escape.
3.
She implements a
rather clever deception that fools the King’s men.
4.
She even comes up
with an explanation that saves her own life.
Clearly we can see
that women are valuable in the sight of God and have played key parts in the
history and plan of God.
Now I want to look
at some specific stereotypes or laments of women regarding the Bible and show
how they are in error.
ONE: “God is
ALWAYS portrayed as a male—women have no way of identifying with Him.”
Not true. There are
instances where God and Jesus use female images of themselves.
1.
God is said to have
a womb and give birth in Job 31
2.
God portrays Himself
as a mother in Isaiah 66
Turn to Isaiah 66
and verse 12
This is about the
New Heavens and New Earth. In Isaiah 65:17 it says…
For, behold, I
create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor
come into mind.
Then in Isa 66:12
(where I asked you to turn)
12 For thus
saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory
of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne
upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
13 As one whom
his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in
Jerusalem.
3.
God portrays Himself
as a young wife in Malachi 2:13-16
4.
Jesus portrays the
Father, in His redemptive search and rescue mission as a woman in search of a
lost coin in Luke 15:8
5.
Jesus portrays
himself as a “mother hen” in Matt 23:37. Turn there.
Matt 23:37
37 O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
TWO: “The Bible
teaches that women had NO access to God—except through the male”
Incredible as it
sounds very respectable individuals and churches have maintained this claim and
attitude but they are very wrong.
Here are 4 Before
the Levitical priesthood…
1)
God and Hagar have a
dialog in the desert. Gen 21
2)
God listens to
Leah’s and Rachel’s prayers. Gen 29-30
3)
Rachel inquired of
the Lord, and He answered her. Gen 25
4)
God spoke directly
to females. Gen 16:7 and in Gen 21 go there please..
Gen 21:14-19
--Where Abraham sends Hagar off into the wilderness with Ishmael.
14 And Abraham
rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it
unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and
she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the
water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16 And she
went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot:
for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against
him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
17 And God
heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven,
and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the
voice of the lad where he is.
18 Arise, lift
up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
19 And God
opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the
bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
Now under the
Levitical priesthood…
1.
God heard Hannah’s
special prayer. 1 Sam 1
2.
Deborah was a
prophetess and spoke for God, getting messages from Him. Judges 4
3.
God had direct
interaction with a widow. (The one Elijah goes to in 1 Kings 17)
4.
Hul-dah, as a
prophetess, also received direct communications from God. Turn over to 2 Kings
22:14
II Ki 22:14-16
14 So Hil-ki-ah
the priest, and A-hi-kam, and Ach-bor, and Shap-han, and A-sa-hi-ah, went unto
Hul-dah the prophetess, the wife of Shall-um the son of Tik-vah, the son of
Har-has, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;)
and they communed with her.
15 And she said
unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
16 Thus saith
the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants
thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
(…and it goes on
from there)
Obviously she is
communicating with God and is speaking to men.
THREE: “Why do men
get all the glory in the Bible? Why are women only minor characters?!”
Actually this
statement is untrue on 2 levels. In the Bible, ONLY God gets the glory and
regarding women in just minor roles notice…
Consider just a few
of the major events involving "minor" female characters: (I give these without
verses)
1. Zipporah saves
Moses' life.
2. Micah saves
David's life.
3. Sarah saves
Abraham's life twice (by half-lying about her identity)
4. Rebekah deceives
Isaac so that GOD'S PLAN gets done in spite of Isaac.
5. Unnamed women are
patrons of Elijah and Elisha.
6. Rahab is a major
player in the conquest of the gateway-city to Palestine.
7. Jael saves Israel
from major oppression.
8. A Wise-woman
prevents civil war in Israel.
.An unnamed
Samaritan woman is the first evangelist in Samaria
9. Lydia is the
first convert in Asia Minor, and heads up a house-church there. Let me add an
10th here that is closer to home.
Not to take one
single thing from Ray Fain but God used Anita just like Lydia to start up the
fellowship group here in Seattle.
The point is
this: God used 'minor' characters to make MAJOR influences on the historical
flow.
FOUR: Women were
non-persons back then in the OT---they had NO legal rights in the system at
all.”
These arguments
encounter difficulty when confronted with the vast amount of information and
legal terminology applied to women—married, unmarried and widowed in the OT.
1. The Levirite law
for a brother to marry his brother's widow is called a 'duty to her' (Gen 38.8)
2. Ze-lop-he-had's
daughters brought a legal case before Moses and the elders (Num 27)
3.They show up as
required joint-agents with husbands in a number of settings (Gen 26.11;
26.34-35; I Sam 14.1ff)
4.They could buy
their freedom (like males) (Ex 21.2-4)
5.They could be
witnesses at the gate, even to capital crimes (Deut 21.18; 22.15f; 25.5)
6.Widows could
initiate property transference transactions at the gate (Deut 25.5; Ruth 4.7-8)
7.They had access to
the king for grievances! (2 Sam 14 ; 2 Kgs 8.5; 1 Kgs 3.16)
8. Widows were said
to have legal "cases" (Is 1.16-18,23) and are spoken in terms of "justice"
(=>rights, Is 10.1)
FIVE: Doesn’t the
Bible teach that God cursed women by making them subject/subordinate to men?
This is just plain
not true. Notice the key verse.
Gen 3:16
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.
Do you see a curse
here or anywhere in these scriptures specifically against the woman OR man for
that matter. It is only the serpent and the ground that get the curse. Notice…
Gen 3:14
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:
Gen 3:17
17 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;
See, its the ground
and the serpent getting the curse. Not the woman. And besides, in this
committing of the first sin, who is the one that gets the real responsibility,
the woman that knew not and was deceived or the one that knew better and sinned
anyway? Notice the words of Jesus
Luke 12:47-48
47 And that
servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he that
knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and
to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Now, just what does
the Bible say about how sin entered the world…
Rom 5:12
12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
So what is Genesis
3:16 talking about then?
Gen 3:16
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.
It’s a prediction of
things to come. The first part is an action by God—causing pain in child birth
but
the latter half is
the prediction that man and woman will struggle with each other for power.
The word for “your
desire” and “rule” and the exact set of prepositions and word order occur in Gen
4:7
Gen 4:7
7 If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at
the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Or put more
simply…But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it
desires to have you, but you must master it.”
So if these
forms/structures of the words are identical then Gen 3:16 gives this prediction.
You women will
desire to rule over your husband and at the same time he will struggle
diligently to rule over you.
Surely, we have seen
this power struggle between men and women throughout the ages. The point here
is this:
These verses cannot
be used to subjugate or justify dominance over women. We learned this in the
sermon I gave about the great mystery of Eph. 5.
Eph. 5:21-24
21
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
22 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.
Eph. 5:31-32
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.
That is the key to
this whole subject of women: One flesh. Each party, male and female ends this
great struggle to dominate the other and overcomes the prediction of Gen 3:16.
With the Spirit of God we each, male and female become like Christ.
This is what Paul is
talking about when he states that women keep silent in church in 1 Cor. And 1
Timothy. Both those passages are talking about the arguing and contentions that
were prevalent in church at the time.
1 Cor. 14:35
35 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 is speaking to
the husband and wife being of one mind…one flesh on the scriptures and not
arguing in church. Verse 40 says…
1 Cor 14:40
40 Let all
things be done decently and in order.
Paul was not against
women. Though women were not to preach in public they were often seen
conducting personal evangelism even to ministers.
Acts 18:24-26
24 And a
certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in
the scriptures, came to Ephesus.
25 This man was
instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and
taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
26 And he began
to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they
took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
Note: I want to
interject a thought here about our doctrine and church policy about not having
women preachers in the Church of God. It has never been about the ability of a
woman to give a speech or preach the Word of God in power and truth. It has to
do with a living metaphor God established and that we read about in Chapter 5 of
Ephesians. In the book of Ephesians, Paul is attempting to speak to a
mystery---a concept---a truth about the relationship between Jesus Christ and
the church and by extension between Him and His Father. All through the text in
Chapter 5 we see the man in the marriage as being the metaphor for Christ and
the woman the church. This is why, in part, that God established the whole
concept of marriage. He did it to teach us this relationship between Christ and
the church. We are a living metaphor of that relationship. Therefore, God does
not want that metaphor broken. The church does not preach to Christ, but rather
Christ to the church. Hence, we do not have women preachers. It is important
to note that this fact (this living metaphor—this relationship) is in NO WAY a
put down to women. God created both men and women and all His ways are perfect.
Now I have to end
the sermon here and I have not even had time to speak of the impact of women in
the ministry of Jesus Christ. Never did He ever put a woman in a negative
illustration.
Even Pilate’s wife
witnessed to her husband telling him during the trial…”Have nothing to do with
that just man” Matthew 27:19
Woman were the first
witnesses to the resurrection and in Luke 24 it is women speaking …evangelizing
to the men.
Yes, it is a fact
that God’s great Word gives great support to women so let us live the Mystery of
Eph 5 and all be ONE FLESH TOGETHER!!
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