Introduction:
Matthew Henry was commenting on Genesis 2:21-23- The woman was not made out of the man’s head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him and near his heart to be beloved.
WBTU:
I remember it well. It was my first year as a preaching minister. I wanted to preach on 1 Timothy 2:1-8. It was a sermon on prayer. I got nervous and lost my place in the Scriptures and so I read the whole chapter. No big deal or at least I thought. When I looked up from reading the whole chapter it seemed like the crowd was in shock, especially the women. I thought maybe something had happened (a few weeks before there was a fire in the back) but my focus was on the sermon and so I preached it. When it was done it seemed like a sigh of relief came up from the crowd. What in the world is going on here? It was a sermon on prayer, nothing controversial in this. Were they against praying for our government leaders? It puzzled me.
That week I was in the house of a lady that had recently started attending the church. This sermon mentioned was the second one that she had heard from me. As we were discussing the church, she began to comment on my preaching. She said that most of my preaching was good. “Well, what isn’t good?” She said that part in 1 Timothy 2 that you read last Sunday. I spoke on prayer. How can that be controversial? “Oh no, what you spoke on was fine. However, the Scriptures that you read were offensive to me, the part about women in the church.” I apologized because then I realized what had happened. I read too far and the last part of that chapter had little to do with prayer, my main topic.
Later on that night I realized that I had apologized for reading some Scripture. How foolish! No one should apologize for reading Scripture. Those Scriptures were offensive to her. Come to find out many in this church had problems with these Scriptures and in the past it had caused problems. What we need to do sense these Scriptures are so troublesome, we just need to take some scissors and cut this section out. Just cut it out!
No, this is the Bible and (2 Tim 3:16 NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Earlier in my ministries I would not have talked about these Scriptures for anything. Now that I am older and wiser (or crazy and foolish) I feel like some things need to be said here.
Two extremes that need to be avoided:
1. We discount these Scriptures as cultural. We view them much like the holy kiss. 4 times in the New Testament we are told to greet one another with a holy kiss. Greet each other with a handshake. Cultural.
Can see some cultural things in (1 Cor 14:34 NIV) women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.(1 Cor 14:35 NIV) If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.
I have heard, and it has some validity, that the verses in 1 Corinthians can be considered cultural and just apply to the Corinthians. The Corinthians church had a lot of problem with their sisters. They would shave their heads and dress up like temple prostitutes just to see how far they could push the envelope. They would dominate the meetings times and would not be quiet to let other people speak. They were too loose outwardly, morally, and spiritually and Paul was writing to correct these problems.
Even if we accept that the verses in Corinthians are all cultural, we cannot do the same with these verses in Timothy. Why?
1) Paul was writing this to Timothy, not to a church.
2) Timothy was in Ephesus and the problems with the women were not as severe as in Corinth.
3) Paul backs up his points with Biblical reasons. VS. 13- Adam was formed first and then Eve. Genesis 2. Vs. 14- Adam was not deceived, but woman. Genesis 3.
4) If we say that this is all cultural, then we must say that the account in Genesis 2 and 3 is not really true. It is myth, it is legend. Cannot do this
Some women have rejected these things.
Some radical, unchristian women are saying that the only thing that men are good for is sexual recreation. Marriage is a sham and they try to rebel against the created order.
Other women have decided that they like marriage as long as they can wear the pants, be in control. But this was one of the first sins in Genesis. Eve ate the fruit and then she gave some to Adam and he ate it. I can just imagine the conversation they had. Eve, “Eat this.” Adam, “Whatever you say dear.” And he ate it.
2. These verses are interpreted with little grace. Vs. 12 needs to be applied today. True but this verse is applied to the neglect of other verses.
Take for instance Sunday school. Without women teaching the children in Sunday school, most Sunday schools would have to shut down. Women are great Sunday school teachers. We are not talking about men but boys. Yes, but when do boys become men?
In the home the man is to lead the family spiritually. The woman can do nothing about leading her children to the Lord. However, this cannot be the case because Timothy was taught by his mother and grandmother at home. His father was not a Christian. Paul commends them all for this.
Let narrow this down to the assembly.
Woman cannot give a praise testimony.
Woman cannot give an announcement
Woman cannot sing a solo or duet
Woman cannot play the piano or organ (Making a lot of noise and not being silent)
Congregational singing. If women are to be silent they need to be silent during the congregation singing. To make sure that the women do not sing and to make sure that they are not tempted to talk to their husbands or anyone else, we are going to divide the church in half. One half we will have the men and the other half we will have the women.
After all, our ministry as leaders is to make sure that everyone is in line. We are to deny women as many opportunities of service as possible. We are to make them frustrated in their service to the Lord. We are to stunt their growth socially and spiritually. This is what we are to do. We are to make sure that women are under our thumb.
We have had some things that have been brought before these elders concerning this. We will discuss these things and make sure that everything is (1 Cor 14:40 NIV) done in a fitting and orderly way.
Our main concern should be to give people opportunities for growth and service. We do know one thing for certain. It is not fitting for a woman to be an elder or deacon or evangelist. Right after these Scriptures qualifications for leaders are mentioned in Chapter 3. It does not fit for a woman to be the husband of one wife. The wives of leaders have a big role to play in the ministry. Look at Chapter 3:11.
Thesis: Let’s briefly discuss her appearance, attitude and abilities.
For instances:
Her appearance. Vs. 9-10
Is it wrong for a woman to wear makeup, gold, pearls or costly clothing?
Why are you doing it? Worldly womanhood. She has her hair put up in tiers, and from her ears hang chandeliers; her lips are painted red as blood- All badges of her “womanhood.” She drapes herself in clothing tight, a sexy object to the sight; All bright, aglitter and aglow. She makes herself a manly show.
Focus should not be on outward appearance, but inward beauty.
How can we have inward beauty? Godliness and good works.
(1 Pet 3:3 NIV) Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.(1 Pet 3:4 NIV) Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.
Her attitude Vs. 11-12
This discussion we had earlier really is about attitude. Not so much the letter here but lets get to the spirit of these instructions.
A woman will get farther with a gentle and quiet spirit than with anything.
(1 Pet 3:1 NIV) Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,(1 Pet 3:2 NIV) when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.Women can win men over just by their godly examples. It has been happening for generations. Behind every good man there is a good woman.
Why not in leadership positions? Talk about Crystal’s perspective. Men are designed to lead. Women cannot handle it. After observing me in leadership, why would a woman want such a responsibility?
On a practical level this does not work. All in a meeting and wife is kicking the husband’s shins to hush him up. Take a vote and wife makes sure that husband votes her way. Goes against how we were made. Goes back to the Fall and what happened there.
Her ability Vs. 13- 15
Women have the capability to have a miracle happen within them. They bring new life into the world.
Vs. 15- NASB says that “women will be preserved through the bearing of children.” This can be translated as “women shall be kept safe by childbearing”. What are women to be kept safe from? Women are to be kept safe from being deceived, ultimately by Satan himself. This goes back to vs. 13 and 14. Eve was not kept safe from the Fall; she was deceived. Why? Because she left her proper place under her husband’s care. What happened as a result? She became easy prey for Satan.
What does this mean? She will not yield in her mind to false notions of what it means for her to be a woman and in particular a woman of God. It means that she will respect boundaries with her gifts and talents. It means that she will find fulfillment in her domestic calling, in her relationship with her husband, in her role as mother and maker of the home, and in proper ministry involvements in God’s household, the church.
The women who overstep these boundaries will not be kept safe from being deceived by Satan. By pushing the limits set by the Creator, those women will actually suffer a degree of loss of their God given femininity. They will forfeit in some degree fulfillment in marriage, family and the home. They will disrupt male and female harmony in the church, creating division rather than promoting harmony as women and men serve God and others alongside each other in their God given roles.
Women who do not have children need to focus on how God made them. Overall they are a helper and there is much to do in God’s household like Sunday school and a host of other things. Many have children but never give birth.
