As I write these weekly blog postings, I DO NOT do so from a position of “I know that I am right,” but, as a learner, I
am sharing what I believe God has shown this octogenarian “little child” in my heart. That is particularly true this week as we look at the “the role of women in society,” a very controversial topic in the church today.
Women are created to rule over the earth, in a unique, irreplaceable role (Genesis 1:27). They complete the ruling duo, male and female, by supplying the necessary abilities to the family unit that men do not naturally possess, beginning with bearing children. They also provide sensitivity, understanding, and insights that men generally do not have but desperately need, as they lead in THEIR ruling role.
So, as you would expect from a sovereign God, when He created man and woman, He thought of, and then ordained, everything including, shockingly, the Fall. We, as His created beings, can only say “Yes, Daddy!” to everything He causes to happen and all that He brings into our lives, without needing to ever understand it! Trusting Him alone is our modus operandi.
We have seen that man’s role in this ruling venture is to lead—with strong, firm, decisive decision-making. His wife is his helper. How does she do that? How does she supply what he lacks? Peter tells us:
“Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God”(1 Peter 1:3, 4).
This means that women, in all they do (including ruling) are peaceful, calm, and compassionate, rather than aggressive, confrontive and challenging, as leaders must often be. This flies in the face of our current, post-Christian culture, that tells us that women can, and should, be exactly the opposite of what the Bible tells us is “precious in the sight of God.” Then that culture encourages women to usurp as many traditional and biblical MALE jobs as possible! .
Nothing is more obvious and illustrative of this today than the political and governmental arena, where the culture is demanding that women run our government. Gender, along with race, has become more important than qualifications in politics, witness our present vice president.
Currently, as Trump is considering his vice-presidential running mate, more women seem to be under consideration than men. One prominent woman senatorial candidate, with whom I agree on most issues, was quoted recently as saying, in a joust with a Democrat, “You would have to f…ing kill me first!” She is the product of years of competing with men in the public sphere.
I believe all true believers know, deep inside in their hearts, that this aggressive, confrontive give and take of politics is not the venue in which women were meant to function. What, then, is the setting in which women were meant to thrive, where their gentle and quiet spirits, very precious in the sight of God, are on full display?
To answer that question, one needs only to find what is considered the most odious, repulsive, demeaning occupation for women imaginable in today’s society. That is, of course, a HOMEMAKER! This was called Home Economics, and was the college academic major of a huge percentage of the female students at my school, the University of Oklahoma, 65 years ago..
God’s opinion is, of course, the exact opposite of today’s culture: “Then God blessed them (Adam and Eve), and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it’” (Genesis 1:28).
When God says this to Adam and Eve, He is revealing His task for them, performed together, upon which all else they will ultimately do depends: having babies!. Adam, as the leader, loves, provides for, and protects his wife and children; his wife gives their children the constant love and attention all infants desperately need.
The child’s first 3-4 years are much more crucial than commonly understood. During those years, that little one needs to have a totally involved mother, constantly with him (her) touching him, nursing him, and disciplining him, all with an overwhelming love and attention. If this is practiced, the child grows up thinking he is the most important person in the world, because he IS to his parents, and they are his world! This lays a solid foundation for the shock when he, inevitably, learns they are not and he is not!
My grandson Aaron’s wife Ellen is a full-time homemaker, and one of them, mostly Ellen, is with their two children, ages 2.5 and almost 1 years old, every waking minute. A few days ago Aaron and I were rejoicing together about how wonderful it is to watch them maturing. He had just spanked John, the older child, for one of his attempts at rebellion against his dad’s instructions. Aaron asked him as he cried “John, why did Daddy just spank you?” His answer, blurted out through his sobs, “Because you love me!”
Hallelujah! This, brothers and sisters, is the result when women rule over the earth; with her husband by giving her life for her children. She does so, when she is firm, with a “gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”
When she does so, she is greatly multiplying the chances of those little ones one day joining her in their task of ruling over the earth.
