11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. ~ 1 Timothy 2:11-12
In 1 Timothy 2:9-15, the Apostle Paul gives us, with very few words, God's definition of the role of women in the church. In these brief verses,
we are given God's ideas regarding a woman’s place in the church. This is not talking about the home or secular society here, it is about the role of a woman in the church when it comes together for worship.
In v.11 we read, "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission."
The Greek word for "learn" in v.11 is manthan, the verb from which we get our English word disciple. This means "be in on the process of grasping,
understanding, and applying divine truth. And don’t let the influence of the Jewish culture
or the Greek culture which diminished and denigrated the role of women, hinder you from learning the truth of God."
Now, the words "quietness" and "submission" in v.11 give some people difficulties. God is directing the women to be discipled in stillness, quietness while respecting the God given role of the men to teach. This does not mean that women can not teach, nor does it mean a woman has no leadership skills. It just means in the context of the meeting of the Church, God would have the men to lead.
In v.12 we read, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet."
God doesn’t mean that the women can not sing or pray or praise God. He doesn’t mean that women could not ask a question. What he means is that the women are not to be the teachers
and not take on a task that God has not designed for them. To men God has given the leadership role. When a man operates within God's definitions for him, many things happen in result. And these reasons were not only for the benefit of a church meeting.
God's reason for women to learn in silence was for their benefit. This is not sociological or psychological. It does not mean that a woman can never, under any circumstances,
speak in a group of Christians. What this means is the women should not undermine God's issuance of roles in the Church. There are times when the preacher or teacher deflects the
communication responsibility to others in the meeting, but he does not give up his responsibility to lead. Women can enter a discussion of a Bible passage, but she should never usurp man's responsibility to lead.
Have you ever noticed that God chose not to create man and woman at the same time? He chose to take the woman out of the man. This has more implications than just the order in a Church meeting. God has designed all of human life
in terms of this key relationship. God emphasizes relation. He created husbands and wives, fathers, mothers and children.
Everybody has their God-given role. Yet, in our culture and our society,
the word is not relationship,
the word is individuality. Everyone wants their rights, but this is not God's design. The American family is being destroyed because of our selfishness and our unwillingness to trust the word of God to provide for us His best. Yes, there will be and are many times when we will not understand why God tells us to do something, but that is no excuse to ignore God on a given subject. This is the answer, my friends! There are and will be many things in the word of God that we do not understand, yet we must trust Him.
In
Judges 7 Gideon took 300 Israelites to battle 135,000 enemy soldiers.
The odds were 450-to-1. God had the soldiers take torches, trumpets, and
clay pots, a command I’m sure Gideon thought was ludicrous. Of course, this was not the first thing God did in this story that didn't make sense to Gideon, yet he obeyed.
Then, God told Gideon to put the clay pots over the torches so the
light couldn’t be seen at night and to go surround the enemy’s camp. God
said, “When I tell you to, blow the trumpets, break the pots, and let
torchlight suddenly shine out in the darkness. It will look like a huge
army is surrounding the camp. It will cause mass confusion, and the
enemy soldiers will end up fighting each other.”
Gideon obeyed, even though it didn’t make any sense to him! The Israelites
blew their trumpets, broke their pots, and revealed the light from their
torches. The enemy soldiers woke up in shock and started fighting each
other instead of the Israelites. Gideon did what God told him to do, and
the Israelites won the battle.
Sometimes God tells us to do something that appears foolish, like
going into battle facing overwhelming odds. Faith is obeying God even
when we don’t understand what He is telling us to do. We can not live by faith without risk. But God knows why He is asking us to do it. We can trust Him.
