Be Silent

I am troubled that there is still a belief that a woman’s only place is at home. Should she venture out to work or to minister, she is somehow being ungodly. The very image of it in my mind is like a dark cloud of oppression that, as a prophet, I cannot ignore.

Should we be subservient and believe ourselves to be lesser beings, because a thriving narrative has been driven home throughout centuries of interaction between man and woman? Are we still trapped in our transgression as Eve’s daughters while Adam’s sons are set free? Or did Christ die for all?

Paul said that if a non-believing spouse was willing to stay with the Christian spouse, then the Christian spouse should not leave them. “For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:14). If women received less sanctification than a man, how could that be?

Is a woman only half saved? Must a woman be saved, “…through childbearing” (1 Timothy2:15)? Or, was all mankind saved when a woman gave birth to the savior, without the input of man (Galatians 4:4)?

Did God first consult with Joseph before going to Mary? No, because it is written that Joseph was going to divorce her quietly before he was given a dream telling him that she was not lying (Matthew 1:19-20). Sin came into the world because a woman was deceived, but so salvation was born into the world because a woman obeyed and found mercy in the eyes of the Lord. If she has found mercy before him and has been redeemed, then who is man to say that she is still bound by her transgressions?

Can the character of God and all that he is only be revealed through men? If that were so then what reason would there be to for woman to even exist? If she is not to serve the lord, then why give her breath in the first place?

Eve was created from man, for man, as a gift from God. But man, in his fallen nature, no longer treats woman as his gift. He maintains, as he did in the garden, “‘the woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.’” (Genesis 3:12).

How long will man insist that she be held accountable while he is redeemed? Again I ask, is man the only one who can receive revelation from God? If this were true, then Mary, the mother of Jesus, and those women who followed him need not have. Their knowledge of God should have come only from their husbands. But, not only did Christ permit them to follow him, he taught them, even telling Martha that her sister Mary chose the “better thing” in sitting at his feet and learning from him (  Luke 10:42). If Mary could not receive what he said, then why not tell her to help her sister?

So if woman can receive from the Lord and can be blessed with all the spiritual gifts, then why should she not be permitted to speak? Men who do not hear from women miss out on hearing from God. If women could not hear from God, then Deborah could not have been a prophet.

As for myself, I will speak through the Holy Spirit to those who are willing to listen. I humble myself before men, and if a man does not wish to hear me, to him, I will not speak. Be it on his head and not mine. And also the reward will be mine because I humbled myself before those who were not themselves humble. I will do all that I can to stand blameless before my Lord.

“But this is also true. If a man is redeemed and called a child of God sharing in the inheritance is it not also true that woman has also been redeemed and shares in the inheritance?” (Romans 8:17).

Now, this would have been a difficult thing to understand in the time of this letter being written. No woman at the time could receive an inheritance. She was destitute without a father, brother, or son to provide for her. But Jesus says, “But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:35-36).

In those days a woman was given in marriage to a man who her father had arranged for her. But if that no longer happens in the age to come, and no woman will go destitute as a child of God, then she must take place in the receiving of the inheritance. Also, she is not less than man because she is redeemed and is, as she was created to be, perfect.

Also, no longer should we look on woman as Eve’s daughters. We are Sarah’s daughters just as those who believe they are Abraham’s sons. We are daughters of the princess, therefore we are princesses. We are offspring of the free woman (Galatians 4:31).

The curse on woman has slowly been released. For as man has been released from his curse by Christ’s death, so are we. By Christ’s death the curse has been undone. If it were not undone, then we could not share in the Holy Spirit and the life that is in us now (Romans 6:11). For we know that we were born into sin and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But we have been reborn by water and Spirit (John 3:5). Therefore we live.

So if we live and the curse of death has been broken, then the curses placed on man and woman, have been also lifted. Over time our curses have been undone, but not only to the benefit of the believer but to the unbeliever as well. As women have been made free to inherit, and work, and learn, and teach, the world has shifted and changed. Many women have had the opportunity to add their contributions to the world. And do not think that God is fooled if a man takes claim for what a woman has done. If she is a believer and did all for the glory of God, then that man has taken glory for himself that was meant for God. Don’t put yourself in line for God’s wrath like that. He will honor who he will honor and in time he will bring restitution (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

So if we are free in the world why, then not in the church, where freedom started? I am not saying that women are greater than men. But I am asking, why men fear what God has instilled in a woman? Don’t be afraid. With humility, a woman should come and offer up what she has received. And with love, men should receive it.

The love of Christ was given as the example of how a husband should love his wife. Christ lived and died for the church. He binds up wounds (Psalms 147:3). If your wife is wounded, tend to her with Christ-like diligence to see that she is restored. He is tender in his mercy. He is a teacher and a counselor. In his love he leads. So a husband should do these things.

A husband should lead as a freed man, made knew, and he should treat those in his house that way. Then they will live with the knowledge of how God the Father sees them.

I love my husband and respect him. I am loved because he has always dealt with me in the knowledge that one day he will stand before God and give an account of how he treated me. He knows that God will one day ask, “How do you return the one I gave you? Is she in better condition than when she was given to you?”

When my husband is asked this I will stand and be able to shout for joy, “Yes! My husband fulfilled what was asked of him and treated me as Christ treats the church.” It is my prayer that, as I am put on display before God, it will be plain to see what a wonderful husband he was.

Here’s a story. There once was a treasure that was so renowned that everyone wanted it. A snake heard of it and went after it. When he came upon the treasure he saw that it was guarded by a male and female lion. He knew that he could not get close without being torn to pieces. So he waited until it was night, and the two lions fell asleep. Under the cover of darkness he slithered up to the female lion and hissed. The lion lifted its head but saw nothing, and so it went back to sleep. The snake then went to the male lion and hissed. He lifted his head but saw nothing. Again the snake went to the female lion and woke her. This time she growled thinking that it was the other lion waking her. After she was asleep he went back to the male lion and did the same. Likewise, the male lion awoke and let out a growl. After some time of this the two lions began to fight. When sun finally came up there was nothing left but two lions, dead, with their jaws clenched tight on each other’s neck. The treasure was nowhere to be found.

Do not bind up what God has set free. Do not declare unclean what God has called clean. Release us brothers so that we might stand beside you.