Hebraic Musing – Are Modern Roles of
Men and Women becoming Non-Biblical?
Women have
traditionally fulfilled and gained joy in supportive roles in serving the
church, they also get their sense of accomplishment from being wives and
mothers. Has the feminist movement
influenced many women to abandon these divinely ordained roles? Is that trend becoming evident in the Church? Unfortunately, has this trend also been
creating confusion in families and homes as well?
What happened at
Creation? “So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Gen
1:27 NIV So the Bible begins with the
equality of the sexes. As persons, as spiritual beings standing before God, men
and women are absolutely equal. But then
Chapter 2 reveals differences in their God-given functions and
responsibilities. God did not create the
man and the woman at the same time, but rather He created Eve later for the
specific purpose of being Adam’s helper. BTW, God also refers to Himself as a Helper. “We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help
and our shield.” Ps. 33:20 Eve was equal to Adam, but she was
given the role and duty of submitting to him as helper. The responsibility of wives to submit to their
husbands, then, was part of God’s plan from creation.
Adam and Eve’s
disobedience to God’s command resulted in a consequence. “To the woman he said, … Your desire will
be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Gen. 3:16 As a
result, marriages throughout history face an ongoing struggle, with women
seeking control and men seeking dominance.
Women in the Old
Testament
were active in the religious life of Israel, but generally they were not
leaders. No woman had an ongoing
prophetic ministry, or was a priest, or a queen ruling Israel. And no woman wrote an OT or NT book. Greek, Roman, Jewish cultures and many countries
today view women almost as possessions, while Jesus showed love and respect for
women. He also taught Mary and, when
admonished by Martha, He had to point out the priority of learning spiritual
truth even over “womanly” responsibilities like serving guests in one’s home (see
Luke 10:38-41).
In the Epistles, the two
principles of equality and submission for women exist side by side. “There
is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one
in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 This
points to their equality. The way of
salvation is the same for both and they have equal standing in the body of
Christ.
Christian
marriage involves mutual love and submission between two believers. “Submit to one another out of reverence
for Christ.” And then, “Wives,
submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” Eph. 5:21-22 And there are three more NT verses expressly
giving wives the responsibility to submit to their husbands; -- Col. 3:18;
Titus 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:1. This voluntary
submission of one equal to another is an expression of love for God and a
desire to follow His design as revealed in His Word. It is never pictured as demeaning or in any
way diminishing the wife’s equality or importance. In fact, the husband is called to love his
wife sacrificially. “Husbands, love
your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Eph.
5:25.
The husbands and
fathers are given the primary responsibility for the leadership of their
children. “He must manage his
own family well and see that his children obey him with proper
respect.” 1 Tim. 3:4 Meanwhile, wives and mothers are urged to be
“workers at home”; “to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to
be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the
word of God.” Titus 2:5. Their home and their children are to be their
priority. Is this in contrast to today’s
emphasis on careers and full-time jobs for women outside the home? Did women in the workplace became normalized
after WWII?
The Apostle Paul
respected women and worked side by side with them. “help
these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel,”
Phil. 4:3, but he appointed no female elders or pastors. In his letters, he urged that men were to
be the leaders in the church and that women were not to teach or
exercise authority over men. They are to
be silent in church, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have
authority over a man;” 1 Tim. 2:12. Therefore,
although women are spiritual equals with men and the ministry of women is
essential to the body of Christ, women were, or are, excluded from leadership
over men in the church.
SUMMARY: Women are mentioned as fulfilling many vital roles
in the Church but not one of them is leadership. The apostles were all men who did the chief
missionary activity, wrote the New Testament, and lead the churches. The Church was entrusted to Men. I’ve heard it said - “Only in obedience to
Him and His design will both men and women truly be able, in the fullest sense,
to give glory to God!” But what should
the men be doing? Or not doing?
Points to
ponder
Have you seen a
Biblical example of a Husband/Wife working relationship?
And what kind of family is the result?
Are roles of
women in other countries/cultures different than in America? Are they more Biblical?
Biggest
question - Are American men fulfilling their role as Spiritual Heads of the
Households?
“Now I want you to realize that the
head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of
Christ is God.” 1 Corinth..11:3 NIV
Yosef a.k.a. Joe Brusherd
October
20, 2026
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our
faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)” Weekly “Hebraic
Musings”
Additional Books on this topic: Love
and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John
Gray
