Lewis
Member
Man have we debated about this on this board over the years a million times. It seems to me that God does choose woman to preach, because many of them can preach driven by the Holy Ghost. Why ? Because they were ordained by Jesus to do so. Many customs have changed' the role of the women has changed' Paul also said a women should cover their heads when in worship' Why ? Because that was the custom of those days. Women have been leaders in the Bible and can't nobody tell me any different' check out the Old Testament. First of all you had Queens' and people like Deborah who had authority to tell men what to do. Men who believe that God only gives them authority are called ( Hierarchical Complementarians ) and if you want to read a good article on this and the women who had authority in the Bible old and new. I am posting it below. I had to put this in 2 post new Testament in second one.
Lewis
Bible Women with Spiritual Authority
Complementarians believe that as the spiritual authorities, it is the men who need to seek God’s will and guidance on behalf of the church community. They believe that it is only male ministers who have the spiritual authority to hear from God in order to minister from “the Word†in a public church meeting. Complementarians believe that in the family, it is the husband who has direct authority from God, and it is the husband who has the final word on any decisions. They see the husband as the mediator of God’s will to the wife, who does not have direct spiritual authority herself.
In contrast to what Complementarians believe, the Bible contains several accounts where God bypassed husbands and male guardians and spoke to women directly with messages of vital significance. Where God did not speak personally, he sent angels. This article will look at a few of these women whom God entrusted with spiritual authority – Bible women who acted without the permission or protection of men.
OLD TESTAMENT WOMEN
Samson’s Mother (Judges chapter 13)
In Judges chapter 13 there is a narrative where the Angel of the LORD[3] reveals God’s plan for Israel’s deliverance to an unnamed woman. This unnamed woman was married to man named Manoah, and yet the Angel entrusted God’s plans and instructions to the woman. The Angel told the woman that she would bear a special son, and her son would deliver Israel from the Philistines. The Angel gave the woman instructions about her diet and told her never to cut her son’s hair.
The woman told her husband about her encounter. Manoah, the husband, wanted to hear the instructions for himself so he asked God to send the man of God again, to teach them how to bring up the child (13:8). God answered his prayer, but again the Angel appeared, initially, to the woman. The woman ran to get her husband. When Manoah met the Angel, the Angel repeated what he had said previously to the woman:
Furthermore, the woman recognised from the beginning that the messenger “looked like an angel of God, very awesome†(13:6); but Manoah did not realise that the messenger was an angel until he offered a burnt sacrifice and the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flames and disappeared (13:17). Terrified, he said to his wife, “We are doomed to die, we have seen the Lord.†The woman prudently replied, “If the Lord had meant to kill us he would not have accepted the burnt offering.†Throughout this narrative the woman shows herself to be delightfully discerning and sensible.
Deborah (Judges chapters 4-5)
No list of women with spiritual authority would be complete without Deborah who was the leader of Israel at some point in their history. Judges chapters 4 and 5 records Deborah’s leadership and does not mention that there was anything peculiar about her being both a leader and a woman. In fact, her gender does not seem to have been an issue at all! Deborah was married, but the Bible mentions nothing at all about her husband, apart from his name: Lappidoth (4:4).
In Judges chapter 5 we read that prior to Deborah’s leadership: “village life in Israel had ceasedâ€(5:7), “the roads were abandoned†(5:6) and Israel had chosen false gods (5:8). The clear implication is that Israeli society became more civilized, safer and more god-fearing because of Deborah’s leadership.
Deborah was an excellent and versatile leader. She was a prophetess (4:4,14), a judge (4:5) and a military leader (4:6-10). Deborah’s prophetic insight was accurate and she showed decisive leadership in military matters.
Complementarians have unfairly speculated that Deborah became a leader because there were no men capable of the task. However the scriptures are clear that Israel was not without male leaders at that time. Judges chapter 5 mentions leaders (5:2-3), nobles (5:13), princes (5:2, 9, 15) and warriors. Moreover it is evident that Deborah encouraged other leaders in Israel, and that these leaders had great confidence in her leadership. [More about Deborah and the "no available men" argument here.]
In comparison with the other judges mentioned in the book of Judges, who were all men and mostly flawed, there is not one negative word said about Deborah; yet Complementarians still assert that leadership and spiritual authority is for men only. Rather than seeing Deborah as a scriptural precedent for women in leadership ministry, they dismiss Deborah as an anomaly. This stance of the Complementarians is myopic and unjust, because Deborah was clearly an outstanding and respected female leader blessed by God.
Other Old Testament Women
The Wise Woman of Abel Beth Maacah:This woman was clearly a person of influence, possibly even the leader of the fortified town of Abel Beth Maacah in Israel. As a civil leader in Israel, this women, like Deborah, would also have had a degree of spiritual authority. Through her wise use of authority and peaceful persuasion she rescued her town from being destroyed by Joab,[4] the commander of King David’s army. (See 2 Samuel 20:14ff esp v22).
(Joab and David had no problem with heeding the good advice of women. Joab knew that David listened to women,[5] so when he was unsuccessful in persuading David about a certain cause of action he asked the Wise Woman of Tekoa to help him (2 Sam 14ff). The Wise Woman of Tekoa is a different person to the Wise Woman of Abel Beth Maacah. “Wise Woman†may in fact be a leadership title and not just a descriptor. Wise women may have functioned as living repositories of wisdom and lore passed on orally.)
King Lemuel’s Mother: Proverbs 31:1-9 contain the words of an oracle (prophecy) of King Lemuel’s mother. This woman taught her son – a grown man and a king – this oracle. Her inspired words have been recorded in Scripture for other kings to learn from. [More on King Lemuel's mother here.]
Huldah: When Josiah, King of Judah, wanted to learn more about how to worship God, he sent a delegation to a woman – to the prophetess Huldah (2 Chron 34:19-33).
Linda L. Belleville (2004:113) writes:
A Shunamite women came up with the inspired idea of building a small room to accommodate the prophet Elisha. Her perception, initiative and generosity brought great blessing to her, to her husband and to her son. When reading her story in 2 Kings 4:8-37 we can see that this woman had spiritual insight and fortitude. The Shunamite woman, and not her husband (4:23a), displayed and used spiritual authority for the benefit of her family.
Hannah is clearly the main protagonist in the narrative of 1 Samuel chapter 1 where she prays for a child, vows to give that child back to God to be employed in Tabernacle service, and then fulfills her vow. Hannah’s husband, Elkanah, is portrayed as loving and supportive. Elkanah trusted in his wife’s decisions and actions, and complied with them. Apart from 1 Samuel 1:19b, it appears that Elkanah did not mediate or intervene in this situation at all. Furthermore, Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 is part of Holy Scripture, and has the spiritual authority of Scripture.
Lewis
Bible Women with Spiritual Authority
This article is also available in Spanish here.
Spiritual authority is a difficult concept to define comprehensively;[1] however it is closely linked with hearing from God and being commissioned by God for ministry and service. Hierarchical Complementarians are Christians who believe that it is only men, and not women, who have been given spiritual authority by God in the church and in the family.[2]Complementarians believe that as the spiritual authorities, it is the men who need to seek God’s will and guidance on behalf of the church community. They believe that it is only male ministers who have the spiritual authority to hear from God in order to minister from “the Word†in a public church meeting. Complementarians believe that in the family, it is the husband who has direct authority from God, and it is the husband who has the final word on any decisions. They see the husband as the mediator of God’s will to the wife, who does not have direct spiritual authority herself.
In contrast to what Complementarians believe, the Bible contains several accounts where God bypassed husbands and male guardians and spoke to women directly with messages of vital significance. Where God did not speak personally, he sent angels. This article will look at a few of these women whom God entrusted with spiritual authority – Bible women who acted without the permission or protection of men.
OLD TESTAMENT WOMEN
Samson’s Mother (Judges chapter 13)
In Judges chapter 13 there is a narrative where the Angel of the LORD[3] reveals God’s plan for Israel’s deliverance to an unnamed woman. This unnamed woman was married to man named Manoah, and yet the Angel entrusted God’s plans and instructions to the woman. The Angel told the woman that she would bear a special son, and her son would deliver Israel from the Philistines. The Angel gave the woman instructions about her diet and told her never to cut her son’s hair.
The woman told her husband about her encounter. Manoah, the husband, wanted to hear the instructions for himself so he asked God to send the man of God again, to teach them how to bring up the child (13:8). God answered his prayer, but again the Angel appeared, initially, to the woman. The woman ran to get her husband. When Manoah met the Angel, the Angel repeated what he had said previously to the woman:
“Your wife must do all that I have told her. She must not eat . . . .She must do everything I have told her.†(13:13-14, my emphases.)
Clearly God fully trusted the woman to obey and follow these instructions without her husband’s permission or help!
Furthermore, the woman recognised from the beginning that the messenger “looked like an angel of God, very awesome†(13:6); but Manoah did not realise that the messenger was an angel until he offered a burnt sacrifice and the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flames and disappeared (13:17). Terrified, he said to his wife, “We are doomed to die, we have seen the Lord.†The woman prudently replied, “If the Lord had meant to kill us he would not have accepted the burnt offering.†Throughout this narrative the woman shows herself to be delightfully discerning and sensible.
Deborah (Judges chapters 4-5)
No list of women with spiritual authority would be complete without Deborah who was the leader of Israel at some point in their history. Judges chapters 4 and 5 records Deborah’s leadership and does not mention that there was anything peculiar about her being both a leader and a woman. In fact, her gender does not seem to have been an issue at all! Deborah was married, but the Bible mentions nothing at all about her husband, apart from his name: Lappidoth (4:4).
In Judges chapter 5 we read that prior to Deborah’s leadership: “village life in Israel had ceasedâ€(5:7), “the roads were abandoned†(5:6) and Israel had chosen false gods (5:8). The clear implication is that Israeli society became more civilized, safer and more god-fearing because of Deborah’s leadership.
Deborah was an excellent and versatile leader. She was a prophetess (4:4,14), a judge (4:5) and a military leader (4:6-10). Deborah’s prophetic insight was accurate and she showed decisive leadership in military matters.
Complementarians have unfairly speculated that Deborah became a leader because there were no men capable of the task. However the scriptures are clear that Israel was not without male leaders at that time. Judges chapter 5 mentions leaders (5:2-3), nobles (5:13), princes (5:2, 9, 15) and warriors. Moreover it is evident that Deborah encouraged other leaders in Israel, and that these leaders had great confidence in her leadership. [More about Deborah and the "no available men" argument here.]
In comparison with the other judges mentioned in the book of Judges, who were all men and mostly flawed, there is not one negative word said about Deborah; yet Complementarians still assert that leadership and spiritual authority is for men only. Rather than seeing Deborah as a scriptural precedent for women in leadership ministry, they dismiss Deborah as an anomaly. This stance of the Complementarians is myopic and unjust, because Deborah was clearly an outstanding and respected female leader blessed by God.
Other Old Testament Women
The Wise Woman of Abel Beth Maacah:This woman was clearly a person of influence, possibly even the leader of the fortified town of Abel Beth Maacah in Israel. As a civil leader in Israel, this women, like Deborah, would also have had a degree of spiritual authority. Through her wise use of authority and peaceful persuasion she rescued her town from being destroyed by Joab,[4] the commander of King David’s army. (See 2 Samuel 20:14ff esp v22).
(Joab and David had no problem with heeding the good advice of women. Joab knew that David listened to women,[5] so when he was unsuccessful in persuading David about a certain cause of action he asked the Wise Woman of Tekoa to help him (2 Sam 14ff). The Wise Woman of Tekoa is a different person to the Wise Woman of Abel Beth Maacah. “Wise Woman†may in fact be a leadership title and not just a descriptor. Wise women may have functioned as living repositories of wisdom and lore passed on orally.)
King Lemuel’s Mother: Proverbs 31:1-9 contain the words of an oracle (prophecy) of King Lemuel’s mother. This woman taught her son – a grown man and a king – this oracle. Her inspired words have been recorded in Scripture for other kings to learn from. [More on King Lemuel's mother here.]
Huldah: When Josiah, King of Judah, wanted to learn more about how to worship God, he sent a delegation to a woman – to the prophetess Huldah (2 Chron 34:19-33).
Linda L. Belleville (2004:113) writes:
The size and prestige of the embassy that sought her counsel indicates something about not only the seriousness of the situation but also Huldah’s professional stature: the High Priest (Hilkiah), the father of the future governor (Ahikam), the secretary of state (Shaphan) and the king’s officer (Asaiah). Huldah’s counsel was immediately heeded, and sweeping religious reforms resulted (2 Kings 22:8-20; 23:1-25).
The Wailing Women: During the dark days of Judah’s apostacy, when deception was rife (Jer 9:4-6), the only people who listened to God and the prophet Jeremiah were some women. God gave the skilled wailing women a message and he authorised them to proclaim this message in his name. (See Jeremiah 9:17-22.) [More on Wailing Women here.]
A Shunamite women came up with the inspired idea of building a small room to accommodate the prophet Elisha. Her perception, initiative and generosity brought great blessing to her, to her husband and to her son. When reading her story in 2 Kings 4:8-37 we can see that this woman had spiritual insight and fortitude. The Shunamite woman, and not her husband (4:23a), displayed and used spiritual authority for the benefit of her family.
Hannah is clearly the main protagonist in the narrative of 1 Samuel chapter 1 where she prays for a child, vows to give that child back to God to be employed in Tabernacle service, and then fulfills her vow. Hannah’s husband, Elkanah, is portrayed as loving and supportive. Elkanah trusted in his wife’s decisions and actions, and complied with them. Apart from 1 Samuel 1:19b, it appears that Elkanah did not mediate or intervene in this situation at all. Furthermore, Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 is part of Holy Scripture, and has the spiritual authority of Scripture.
