The wise woman builds her house. But with her own hands the foolish one tears
hers down. ~Proverbs 14:1
Better to live on the corner of the roof than to share the house with a quarrelsome wife. ~Proverbs 20:9 & 25:24 (Another one repeated in two places!)
Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife. ~Proverbs 20:19
A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day. Restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand. ~Proverbs 27:15-16
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal, daughter of Saul, came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would.” David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” And Michal, daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death. ~2 Samuel 6:20-23
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, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ~1 Peter 3:1-2
These verses are a sampling of the reasons why feminists believe that the Bible was written by men, for men to rule and oppress women! They are hard for us to accept as the Word of God. And we have good reasons. These verses have been abused by sinning men to “keep their women in line!”
But these words cannot be ignored or deleted because they are still the Word of God. So, what can a sensitive, compassionate pastor who believes in the ordination of women say about them?
First, the Proverbs, written during a time when women had no legal “voice,” written by a king who had 700 wives and 300 concubines, admit that even though it was a patriarchal world in which women theoretically had no power, women still had much power!
We know from Bible history that it was Solomon’s wives who led him astray and into idolatry. I wonder how much of that was accomplished by nagging rather than seducing. How many of his wives pined away to have the kind of worship centers they were used to back home? They didn’t have to convince Solomon that their own forms of religion were better than his. All they had to do was say things like, “Why can’t I ever worship my god? You’re so rich! Why don’t you build a temple here like the one I miss back home? I can’t be happy until I have a place where I can worship!” It’s interesting how much the “constant dripping” reminds me of the Chinese water torture! Repeated enough times, Solomon learned there was only one way to make it stop.
Let it be established, in spite of a depraved society’s unjust rules to keep women silent, women still have power! This power can be use both negatively, as Solomon complains about, or positively as Solomon was the first to point out: “The wise woman builds her house.”
Michal is just an example of an unwise woman who, with her own hands, words really, “tore her house down.” After this disrespectful interchange with David it is noted, “she had no children.” That could be either David’s decision to leave her alone, or God’s decision to leave her barren. We’re not told any more about it.
Let’s talk about the positive use of women’s power. David also married Abigail, whose impressive wisdom and assertion on behalf of her foolish husband, Nabal, appealed to David so much that he took her to be his wife after Nabal died.
Then, there is what is said in 1 Peter, “Wives, in the same way, be submissive to your husbands.” That is not just a societal rule, be submissive and put up with it. No! The kind of submission that Peter is calling for is, in the same way that Jesus did. Our very powerful Lord kept his power to fight back at bay. He submitted to living in this world and suffering loss as his way of exerting his power to love unconditionally. This is calling women to use the power of love for the sake of saving an unbelieving husband!
Let me be quick to add, that in today’s society, women have many options and protections that enable them to escape harmful abuse. There are options that were simply not available to women back when Peter wrote. So, it is one thing to quietly love an unbelieving husband as a better strategy than nagging him to go to church. But the Bible is not saying that a woman has the power to actually save a man by sacrificing herself. Only Jesus could do that. And the Bible is not saying that a woman has no right to protect herself and escape from harm when the husband is dangerous or unfaithful to the vows of marriage.
Paul also acknowledge the powerful and positive contributions of women to the Church. He named women among his coworkers and even called some of them apostles along with him. Yet He is the one most often quoted to “keep women in line” these days! His instructions about keeping quiet and not allowing women to speak “in church” must be taken in the context of a society in which women were experiencing liberation from oppression, but were being advised to be cautious how they expressed it, especially among unbelievers who were mingling with the worshippers as seekers, but were not yet enlightened to what Christianity does for women.
Let me also exonerate the Bible from any false notions that it is a patriarchal book and oppressive to women. Yes, it has been misread and misinterpreted by sinful humans for centuries. But the modern feminist movement, as twisted as it has become, does have its roots in the Biblical teaching that women have power! Feminists have been right to stand up against misbehaving men. But they have been wrong to think that they must also stand against the Bible as the source of all the trouble! The movement became twisted because feminists also misread the Bible and threw out much wisdom with it.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to read the Bible as you intended, and give thanks for its truthfulness about our sin, and about our need for mercy and forgiveness, and about the power of love. May we be faithful to acknowledge correctly the power and honor that is rightfully attributed to all Your children. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Love at Home
Better to live on the corner of the roof than to share the house with a quarrelsome wife. ~Proverbs 20:9 & 25:24 (Another one repeated in two places!)
Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife. ~Proverbs 20:19
A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day. Restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand. ~Proverbs 27:15-16
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal, daughter of Saul, came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would.” David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” And Michal, daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death. ~2 Samuel 6:20-23
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, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ~1 Peter 3:1-2
These verses are a sampling of the reasons why feminists believe that the Bible was written by men, for men to rule and oppress women! They are hard for us to accept as the Word of God. And we have good reasons. These verses have been abused by sinning men to “keep their women in line!”
But these words cannot be ignored or deleted because they are still the Word of God. So, what can a sensitive, compassionate pastor who believes in the ordination of women say about them?
First, the Proverbs, written during a time when women had no legal “voice,” written by a king who had 700 wives and 300 concubines, admit that even though it was a patriarchal world in which women theoretically had no power, women still had much power!
We know from Bible history that it was Solomon’s wives who led him astray and into idolatry. I wonder how much of that was accomplished by nagging rather than seducing. How many of his wives pined away to have the kind of worship centers they were used to back home? They didn’t have to convince Solomon that their own forms of religion were better than his. All they had to do was say things like, “Why can’t I ever worship my god? You’re so rich! Why don’t you build a temple here like the one I miss back home? I can’t be happy until I have a place where I can worship!” It’s interesting how much the “constant dripping” reminds me of the Chinese water torture! Repeated enough times, Solomon learned there was only one way to make it stop.
Let it be established, in spite of a depraved society’s unjust rules to keep women silent, women still have power! This power can be use both negatively, as Solomon complains about, or positively as Solomon was the first to point out: “The wise woman builds her house.”
Michal is just an example of an unwise woman who, with her own hands, words really, “tore her house down.” After this disrespectful interchange with David it is noted, “she had no children.” That could be either David’s decision to leave her alone, or God’s decision to leave her barren. We’re not told any more about it.
Let’s talk about the positive use of women’s power. David also married Abigail, whose impressive wisdom and assertion on behalf of her foolish husband, Nabal, appealed to David so much that he took her to be his wife after Nabal died.
Then, there is what is said in 1 Peter, “Wives, in the same way, be submissive to your husbands.” That is not just a societal rule, be submissive and put up with it. No! The kind of submission that Peter is calling for is, in the same way that Jesus did. Our very powerful Lord kept his power to fight back at bay. He submitted to living in this world and suffering loss as his way of exerting his power to love unconditionally. This is calling women to use the power of love for the sake of saving an unbelieving husband!
Let me be quick to add, that in today’s society, women have many options and protections that enable them to escape harmful abuse. There are options that were simply not available to women back when Peter wrote. So, it is one thing to quietly love an unbelieving husband as a better strategy than nagging him to go to church. But the Bible is not saying that a woman has the power to actually save a man by sacrificing herself. Only Jesus could do that. And the Bible is not saying that a woman has no right to protect herself and escape from harm when the husband is dangerous or unfaithful to the vows of marriage.
Paul also acknowledge the powerful and positive contributions of women to the Church. He named women among his coworkers and even called some of them apostles along with him. Yet He is the one most often quoted to “keep women in line” these days! His instructions about keeping quiet and not allowing women to speak “in church” must be taken in the context of a society in which women were experiencing liberation from oppression, but were being advised to be cautious how they expressed it, especially among unbelievers who were mingling with the worshippers as seekers, but were not yet enlightened to what Christianity does for women.
Let me also exonerate the Bible from any false notions that it is a patriarchal book and oppressive to women. Yes, it has been misread and misinterpreted by sinful humans for centuries. But the modern feminist movement, as twisted as it has become, does have its roots in the Biblical teaching that women have power! Feminists have been right to stand up against misbehaving men. But they have been wrong to think that they must also stand against the Bible as the source of all the trouble! The movement became twisted because feminists also misread the Bible and threw out much wisdom with it.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to read the Bible as you intended, and give thanks for its truthfulness about our sin, and about our need for mercy and forgiveness, and about the power of love. May we be faithful to acknowledge correctly the power and honor that is rightfully attributed to all Your children. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Love at Home
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