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Home Group – The Role Of Women In The Bible

by | Mon, Aug 25 2014

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The Role Of Women In The Bible

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Throughout history in most cultures of the world, women always seemed to be on the lowest social status, that they lived very much at the beck and call or whims of the men in their families and societies. They didn’t typically function in the roles of politics, commerce and trade, law, teaching, governance, medicine, science or innovation. When we read our Bibles, we can typically assume that the women living in the Biblical era were equally limited in their options. Relative to men, women always got the rough end of the stick on everything.

Is that assumption really true?

Believe it or not, women in the Bible actually did have one advantage over men, and it explains some of the unusual heroines we read about in the Old Covenant; heroines like Ruth the Moabitess and Rahab the harlot. Neither of these women were Israelites, yet these two foreign women were singled out for specific praise.

In the New Covenant, this “advantage” partially explains why we find so many foreign women becoming believers in the early church.

The people groups of the Ancient Near East were tribal peoples; each tribe had its own particular gods that they worshipped and the gods a person served and worshipped were pre-determined by their family ancestors. Each man was obligated to serve the gods of his ancestors, but if a woman married out of her tribe, she was then expected and obligated to worship the gods of her husband’s family.

In the case of Ruth, this social expectation resulted in her being one of the few people in the Old Covenant who actually had the freedom to “change” gods. Ruth was a Moabite by birth, but she married the son of Naomi, an Israelite and even though they lived in the land of Moab, they worshipped the God of the Hebrews, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When Ruth’s husband died, everybody’s expectation was that she would return to her people (and ultimately to her family’s pagan gods), but she deliberately chose to remain with Naomi her mother-in-law and her people; she bravely put her faith in their God and such a decision meant Ruth’s love, belief and faith in Yahweh, was a genuine faith.

Ruth 1:16, ‘Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.”’

In most ancient cultures, a woman found her societal standing and respectability in her husband and in the children she bore. In almost every way, women were dependent on their husbands for their very existence because for the most part, women didn’t function in business – yes there were always exceptions but for the most part, women looked after the home and raised children. If a woman found herself without a husband and no family to care for her and no children that were old enough for her to live with, she would usually find herself destitute.

Most women in ancient cultures needed husbands if they were to survive.

We could read Ruth’s story today and assume that her actions were due to her personal affection for her mother-in-law and that is correct. But Jewish commentaries have also understood her decision was also theological. In Jewish thought, Ruth is considered to be a “practically perfect proselyte” or convert.

The very fact that Ruth, as a woman, was expected to worship the god’s of her husband was what provided her with the freedom in her native society to worship the God of Israel because she was at that time married to an Israelite. However, when she became a widow, she was without income or means of an income, she was childless and therefore presented with a dismal future.

She could return to her parents home and hope to find another husband at some point in the future, this would mean that she would have to revert to worshipping the pagan god’s of her family and when she remarried, begin worshipping the god’s her husband worshipped. Alternately, she could remain with her mother-in-law; herself a widow and remain in absolute beggary – dirt poor, with no means of providing for themselves.

If Naomi had been a terrible mother-in-law, it would probably have been easy for Ruth to return to her family, but Naomi had lived through great tragedy and still remained faithful to her God and Ruth had become a genuine believer in God. By not returning to her family and seeking remarriage, she was making a decision to permanently leave the pagan god’s of her tribal ancestors. Why did she do that? What was it about the God of Israel that made her want to commit her future into His welfare when all she could see ahead of her was poverty and misery? Well, the god of Moab was Chemosh and sacrificing children was part of the required ritual practices. Perhaps Ruth abhorred the thought as much as the God of Israel did.

Then there’s the account of Rahab. Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute who also placed her faith in Israel’s God and she risked her own life by hiding Joshua and his fellow spies. In her case, she confesses that it’s because she realizes that Israel worships the true God of all creation:

Joshua 2:10-11 – Rahab said, “For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man and longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

It’s possible that Rahab had more freedom to make this decision simply because she was a prostitute and considered unmarriageable in the eyes of her and other tribes. In the Ancient Near East, no man would consider marrying a woman who was a prostitute. Prostitution may have been a last resort for her if she’d been divorced or widowed, but however she came to be a prostitute, Rahab was at the very bottom of her society and it’s doubtful anyone cared what happened to her.

It’s quite amazing really, that women in these pagan cultures who were at the bottom of the social structure – the ones most helpless, vulnerable and desperate were the ones who deliberately chose the God of Israel!

Over time, women did gain more freedom to work but independence and autonomy was not common; if women did work it was at the consent of their husbands or fathers and with considerable restrictions. Again, there were exceptions but mostly employment for women was still quite limited.

In the New Testament we see something similar in that there were many God-fearing Gentile women and they made up a considerable number of Paul’s first converts. The Roman’s ruled much of the known world and they had a philosophy of allowing their subjects to worship any god they chose as long as Caesar was also considered divine. So while family and tribal traditions remained, all Roman subjects were encouraged to tolerate and even accommodate the religions of others. Women had more freedom to learn about other religious worship along with their husbands because survival under the Romans was more important to most people that fidelity to tribal deities; the only people who refused to accept the belief that all manner of gods and goddesses were legitimate and worthy of acceptance was the Jews and the Christians who actually believed in the same God.

Despite the spread of so many different gods and religious belief systems, women in the ancient culture were still at the bottom of the social structure and still expected to serve men without question and in many ways, without redress.

So what was it about the God of Israel that was so attractive to women either before Yeshua came or after?

Under God’s law, the penalty for many crimes resulted in very serious consequences, but those consequences were accounted to whoever was guilty of the crime be they male or female. If a woman was found guilty of adultery, she and the man would be held accountable. You can’t commit adultery by yourself!

If someone was murdered, the murderer would be held accountable regardless of whether they were male or female.

Men and women were created in the image and likeness of God and they were created equal. (Gen 1:27, 5:1-2)

Women play prominent roles in many Biblical accounts, we’ve looked at Ruth and Rahab, but Deborah was a very important and wise leader of her people. (Judges 4)

Wives are seen as venerated partners and cherished companions of their husbands, not merely slaves or property for him to treat as he chooses. (Gen 2:20-24, Prov 19:14; Ecc 9:9) When God gave His commandments to His people on Mt Sinai, He commanded that children were to honour both their mother and their father…not just their father! (Exo 20:12)

God designed and ordained women the unique and invaluable role of bearing and nurturing children…is there a greater responsibility in all the world? But women have also been created physically weaker and more vulnerable than men and in need of support and protection, not because they’re weak and pathetic, but because they’re created for a crucial role and in fulfilling that role they themselves need love and care. Peter commanded men to give their wives understanding, to honour them and realise that they’re physically weaker than they are but are equal to them in the eyes of God who saves them both. In fact, Peter finishes his warning to husbands by saying that if they don’t protect and honour their wives God won’t even hear their prayers! (1 Pet 3:7)

Paul taught the husbands in the Ephesian church that they were to sacrificially love their wives and then he expounded that meaning by comparing the love of each husband to be the same as the love of Christ for the Church and gave His very life for her. Husbands are to love their wives to the same extent. Wives are commanded to submit to their husbands but are never commanded to give their lives for them! (Eph 5:25-31)

Women became quite prominent in the New Covenant era and they are mentioned in the Gospels, Acts, Romans and 2 Timothy. Women like Tabitha (Dorcas), Lydia, Priscilla, Mary, Martha, Rhoda, Samaritan woman, Philip the evangelists daughter, Pheobe, Lois and Eunice. All these women are mentioned in respectful and honouring ways.

It was because of the Bible that Jews historically opposed prostitution and of course, Christianity also opposed prostitution and that meant women who converted out of paganism to faith in Yeshua were no longer in danger of being made temple prostitutes in pagan religions. Because Christianity teaches that women are on equal standing with God and are joint heirs with the Messiah, women became instantly elevated in society and within the family and church structure.

Yes, there is a hierarchy within the church and the family; God has ordained that men are to be the leaders within both the physical and human family as well as the body of Christ and the local church; but every organisation on the planet operates with a hierarchy…school, government, business, banking facilities, sports clubs, social clubs, missions and ministries…hierarchy is normal and healthy and within the spiritual structure that Christians operate in, God has ordained that men hold to senior leadership positions. It’s not something to be angry about, it’s God’s prerogative to structure His people, His church, His way. Women are not inferior or less because of this structure, it’s just the way God has ordained it.

If you look around the world today, you can see women abused and subjected as much if not more than even in ancient cultures. Women are demeaned through pornography, prostitution, sex slave trafficking, servitude in some countries of the Middle East. Western society demeans motherhood, likening it to slavery to both men and children which is a lie, and women have been deceived into believing that being a wife and mother is the lowest of all goals but as a wife and mother myself, I consider the role of wife and mother the highest of all callings.

Another thing that only those who believe in the God of the Bible enjoyed and were blessed by was Shabbat…the Sabbath. Having a day off each week for rest and recuperation wasn’t just enjoyed by men, it was for women as well; in many cultures around the world today women never get a break, they’re simply there to serve the needs and wants of others, but our God recognises the need for all His children to get rest and time to spend with each other and Him.

In both Old and New Covenant culture, women were loved, needed, respected, honoured and treasured and are equally blessed by God for salvation and ministry even though the roles and offices differ.  In this, the Biblical Judeo Christian faith is different from every other religion and belief system in the world.

Shalom

 

 

Based on the writings of Lois Tverberg