The Biblical View of Women in the Church(4)

It is indeed said in Scripture, and very clearly, that God wanted women to be in submission, and that there are certain things in the church which God does not permit them to do. But this does not mean that God does not highly value their persons and their service. A study of Scripture concerning this matter will show that God has important and various services for women to do.

We have already mentioned what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 about women — that they must be silent in the churches. And, when writing to Timothy, he states it more emphatically, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim. 2:12). Does this mean that a woman can never speak about God and what the Lord has done for her soul? Of course not. Paul is in all these instances referring to public worship. It is not that women may not speak at all about God, His Word, and His ways — but not in public worship.

As proof of this, we must read 1 Corinthians 11:5, where the apostle says, “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head.” Paul is not here condemning a woman praying or prophesying, but condemns a woman doing so with her head uncovered. If a woman is allowed to pray and to prophesy — as Hannah did in the temple and as Esther did with her servants — what does the apostle mean by this? He certainly does not mean that she can pray and prophesy in public worship, for then he would be contradicting himself.

We must consider that in this chapter the apostle speaks primarily about the modesty of women, and not about public worship. Women must show their modesty, not only in the place where the church is gathered, but also in other assemblies. When prophesying is mentioned here, it does not mean to preach or to teach, but the extraordinary gift of revealing the future and receiving a message directly from God. It is quite an unusual and extraordinary gift. Paul speaks about it as a gift which will disappear, when he says, “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail” (1 Cor. 13:8). Prophecy in the sense of supernatural gifts would fail, because when the entire sixty-six books of the Bible were completed, there would no longer be a need for direct revelation.

Today we no longer need such extraordinary gifts, as we now have the complete Word of God. The age of prophecy has ended and God teaches us through His Word. Those who now speak about revelations outside of the Word of God and claim to receive new teachings from God outside and above Scripture are only deceiving themselves. But in the apostolic times there were God-fearing men and women who had a charismatic, supernatural gift from God and brought direct revelations of God’s will. Paul says that those prophecies will fail and that faith, hope, and charity would remain. But there were gifts of prophecy in the first Christian church. When a woman had such a revelation from God, she was allowed to speak about it in an assembly of Christians, but never with her head uncovered. But this does not open the pulpit door to women. And, although the pulpit is closed to them, women may speak about God and His work to others. Anna prayed and gave thanks in the presence of others. The woman with the issue of blood was even asked by Christ to tell the people what the Lord had done to her. He sought from her a public testimony in requesting her to declare why she had touched His garment. In John 4 we read about the woman from Sychar who, after she had come to believe in Christ as the Messiah, went into the city and said to all whom she could, “Come and see a man who told me all things that ever I did.” As a result of her testimony, the whole town came out to meet Jesus. And then there was Mary Magdalene, of whom we have already mentioned that she was the first human messenger of the fact that Jesus was risen from the dead.

From all these incidents which I have drawn from the Bible, we may learn that, although women must be silent in public worship and in their whole behavior show submission to their husbands as their heads, they are allowed to speak with others, even in small assemblies, about what the Lord has done to their souls, as long as they are not engaged in public teaching and exercising authority over men. We stress that this is true as long as it is not in public worship, for then it is strictly forbidden in Scripture.

The first field in which a woman is allowed to speak about God and His deeds is in her family. She may (and must) speak to her children. Many places in Scripture refer to this important task. In 1 Timothy 2:15 we read that women shall be saved in “child bearing” and in 1 Timothy 5:10 we are told that women shall “bring up” their children. According to these verses and many others, children are to be the special domain of women; they are to be their special concern. Of course, the fathers are also involved in the bringing up of their children, but the

Bible shows us that here the women have a special place above the men.

And what does “bringing up” involve? It does not simply mean bringing them up physically, but means also and especially to bring them up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” It involves the spirit as well as the body of the child. See, women, this is your special domain! The book of Proverbs frequently speaks about the teachings of a mother. Proverbs 1:8 states, “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.” Proverbs 6:20 says, “My son, keep thy father’s commandments, and forsake not the law of thy mother.” Children are taught by God to obey their mothers as well as their fathers. Certainly, here is a vast and important field for the woman to teach and speak about God, His Word, His Ways, and His deeds.

The influence of a mother is indeed great. The old saying is so true, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” Think of Hannah’s influence upon Samuel, the contribution of the mother of James and John unto her children, the instruction of Lois and Eunice given unto Timothy. Time and again Scripture, when speaking about great men of faith, mentions the mothers of those men, as in the case of Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Solomon, Hezekiah, John, James, and Timothy. What a heavy duty, but also a blessed duty, women have in bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord!

Another thing which women can and may do is to teach one another. In Titus 2 we read about this when the apostle writes, “that the aged women likewise,” should be teachers of good things, “that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children.” Bunyan says, “The older women have to teach the younger ones by a godly conversation, by visiting and praying with the sick and afflicted, by encouraging the inquirers and directing their ways to the kingdom of God.”

There are so many things which women can do — things which they can perform better than men. Dorcas did not preach. She was not an elder or even a deacon, but she washed the feet of the saints and made coats for the widows who needed them. There are things women may not do, but enough which they may do, according to their nature and ability.

When the Lord appeared to Abraham at Mamre and asked where Sarah was, he replied, “She is in the tent.” That is the special domain of women. Therefore, mothers, I beseech you, do not neglect your special domain. Your place is in the family and the children are your preeminent task. Of Timothy it is written, “And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation.” Timothy had a God-fearing mother. No, that is not a perfect mother. Eunice, who was a Jew, was married with a Greek man, a heathen. But she catechized her child in the true religion and from a child told him about the God of Israel.

We often complain about the youth that they have no respect for God and His ordinances, but would it not be better to examine yourselves as to whether you are doing what a mother should do? May the Lord grant us teaching and praying women in the midst of our families.

Rev. C. Harinck is pastor of the Gereformeerde Gemeente at Oostkapelle, The Netherlands.

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