In the final part of this series, we will look at the fact that God does not change, women in the Bible, and we will come to a conclusion based on the Word of God.
God does not change
God does not change – and His Word doesn’t change. That’s the way of the world. We had a Q&A some time ago entitled, “Does God Change”, where we reviewed a few examples where God DID change His mind and from these examples we saw that God did change but none of these changes involved alterations to His unalterable spiritual Law.
Let us review 4 verses of Scripture that show that God doesn’t change irrespective of time:
In Hebrews 13:8, we read: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
In Malachi 3:6, we read the following: “For I am the LORD, I do not change;”
In 2 Timothy 3:16, we read: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
And John 17:17 states: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
Sanctify means to set apart – and true Christians are set apart by the Truth – and God’s Word is Truth. As we take the approach of the Bereans by searching the Scriptures, we will ensure that we find out what God’s Will is and subjugate our own human reasoning accordingly. And that is the approach that God expects of His children.
We read in the Pulpit Commentary: “For I am the Lord, I change not; or, Jehovah, I change not. This is to show that God performs his promises, and effectually disposes of the allegation in Malachi 2:17, that he put no difference between the evil and the good. The great principles of right and wrong never alter; they are as everlasting as he who gave them (our emphasis). God here speaks of himself by his covenant name, which expresses his eternal independent being, “the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’ (James 1:17).”
Women in the Bible
What about some of the women in the Bible?
We do find that God did use some righteous women in the office of prophetess.
First of all, let us look at Exodus 15:20-21:
“Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them: ‘Sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!’”
This gives the account of Miriam the prophetess leading the women out to dance and praise God in song. But she is nowhere spoken of as having preached or having had any religious authority of any kind over men. In fact, when Miriam and Aaron were critical of Moses (Numbers 12), Miriam became leprous and was shut out of the camp for seven days before being healed. A prophetess she may have been but she wasn’t allowed to usurp Moses’s authority. Neither was his brother Aaron, a prophet, allowed to do this.
In Judges 4 and 5, we have an unusual situation in Israel. This was a time when “there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes”. Deborah, a prophetess judged Israel in those days. It appeared that no man had the courage and leadership at that time and Deborah, being a prophetess and knowing God’s Will, reminded Barak, “Has not the LORD commanded?” And she proceeded to remind him – not command him – of what God had instructed should be done.
We see in Judges 4:8-9 that Barak was a weakling: “And Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!’” So she said, ‘I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.’ Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.”
Deborah herself, who was a righteous and God-fearing woman, had no desire to usurp man’s responsibility for leadership. She later sang of this national tragedy as recorded in Judges 5:7:
“Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Arose a mother in Israel.” It was a time when the prevailing attitude in Israel was that everyone did that which was right in their own eyes. In fact, pretty much like today.
As Deborah viewed herself as a “mother in Israel,” this particular statement can be profitable in helping us understand feminine leadership. A godly woman who is both a wife and a mother submits to her husband, and yet, she can clearly be seen as an authority figure for her children. She can lead, direct and teach them on a daily basis about God, and in Proverbs 1:8 we read: “My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother…”
If she is married, hers is a supportive role that complements that of her husband’s – but doesn’t usurp it. You can read more in our Q&A: “Why did God use Deborah in the leadership role as prophetess and judge to Israel, and why is this recorded in God’s Word?”
In 2 Chronicles 34:22-28, we learn of Huldah the prophetess. The king of Judah sent to Huldah to find out what God’s Will was. But upon learning this, HE made the decision as to what should be done.
In the New Testament, in Luke 2:36-38, we read about Anna, a prophetess who was 84 years old – but there is no record of her ever having exercised religious authority over any men.
There are the four virgin daughters of Philip who are mentioned in Acts 21:8-12 but there is also no mention of them ever having any authority over men. They were not ordained prophetesses, but they prophesied. The word prophesy can mean to “foretell for God” whether in the sense of a revelation of future happenings – or it can mean inspired preaching, and we see that the latter function was never exercised by women prophetesses who never held authority over the men or the congregation, but only spoke privately to convey a message from God. In fact, after the New Testament Church was founded, we do not read of any woman ordained to the “office” of prophetess.
We state the following in our free booklet, “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families”:
“It is true that there were prophetesses in the Old Testament (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4), and it is also true that some women prophesied in New Testament times (Acts 21:9). There will come a time, when young women will prophesy again (Joel 2:28). These passages cannot be used, however, to justify women preaching in church, as Paul made it clear that this should not be permitted…
“Rienecker’s Lexikon zur Bibel points out, under ‘Women,’ ‘The relationship between man and woman, ordained by God, can also be seen in the role of service and function within the church. Women do prophecy (1 Corinthians 11:5; Acts 21:9), but only men are specifically referred to as prophets (v. 10). Paul does not allow the women to teach, that is, to fill the office of teacher in the church (1 Timothy 2:12). It is different when Apollos is introduced more fully, in a personal conversation with Aquila and Priscilla, to the teachings of God (Acts 18:26).’”
Women in the Old Testament were often shown as being wise counsellors to their husbands, and as mothers, were instrumental in training their children, many of whom grew up to be leaders. Godly women served as leaders in a way that did not usurp their husband’s position but rather enhanced and supported the leadership role of men.
Women in the New Testament were among Christ’s earliest disciples and were treated respectfully – as they always should be. They received the Holy Spirit along with men and were dedicated in their service to God. But they did not exercise leadership nor were they to teach men in a ministerial role.
Today women preachers have taken unto themselves authority that is not rightfully theirs. The Church of God has taught for decades that only men should be in the ministry and this is not anti-women but pro-Scripture. We are to live by every Word of God – and that is the plain teaching of Scripture.
CONCLUSION
We have covered, in this series, government in the Family of God, the human family and the Church of God. We have also looked at instructions to the ministry, the culture of the time argument and women in the Bible.
This means that we have covered a number of different aspects that lead us, inexorably, to the conclusion that men and women have different roles and one of them is that the woman should not have authority over the man. Now that can be uncomfortable for some women, many of whom will try and circumnavigate the clear Word of God on this matter, or ignore it altogether.
In Isaiah 3:12 we read: “As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths. “
That seems like a pretty good description of today with children, in many cases, oppressing their elders – and women taking the lead. Women’s lib and aggressive feminism have both fully played their part – but it was prophesied and so we shouldn’t be surprised!
Romans 12:2 is very informative: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
The way that the world looks at things must not be our way – but the Will of God must be. There are many roles that women can be involved with in the Church, and we do have deaconesses, helping out with all that has to be done in a Church setting. The only roles women cannot fill in the Church are ones that involve religious teaching or exercising authority over men.
We have reviewed much in this series and return to the original assertion by an author who said that “The Scripture gives no indication if they were, men, women, or a combination of both.” That is a flawed argument. Even if we dismiss the listing of the seventy names who were sent out by Jesus “to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (compare Luke 9:2), we cannot dismiss the governmental structure in the Family of God, the Church of God and the human family which shows that leadership is necessary and who is to take responsibility for those tasks.
Man was given that role and so it seems clear that the seventy that Jesus sent out were all men, and that no woman was ordained as a minister, let alone to the spiritual rank of Apostle. All the Scriptures quoted in this series inevitably must lead us to that conclusion.
Lead Writers: Brian Gale and Norbert Link