But Matthew Was Awful....

Why exactly did Jesus come into the world?  Clearly He said in Matthew 9:13 that it was for sinners—those who know they have a terminal disease, those who are desperate, those who are hurting, those who are hungry, those who are broken, those whose lives are shattered.  He came for sinners who know they are sinners.

Augustine said,

“Lord save me from that wicked man, myself.” (quoted from MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Vol. 1 & 2)

Peter said it when he saw the glory of Jesus in Luke 5:8,

            Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

And then Paul declared in 1 Timothy 1:15,

            Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

How often I have heard, how often I have said that my sin is simply too horrible.  Why would Jesus call me, someone so very loathsome, to do His work?    Yet Jesus said that He came “not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13)  His call is on the most wretched of humanity, and what I love about the testimonies and accounts of the Bible is that these truths are absolutely demonstrated there. 

Think about the disciples He first called in Peter and Andrew, the fishermen.  If you’ve ever watched the popular television show on Discovery, “Deadliest Catch,” then you have a good idea of what kind of men these were.  Fishing is notoriously one of the roughest and toughest professions known, and fishing on the Sea of Galilee required some seriously hard men.  Picture the men on “Deadliest Catch” and you’ll get a pretty good picture of these men.  Jesus walked right past all of the educated, well-mannered, well-dressed men of Capernaum and went straight up to the dirtiest, smelliest, and probably least educated men around and simply said, “Follow me.” (Matthew 4:18-19)

Jesus came to call sinners.

Most of us are unaware of the astounding move Jesus made when he said these few, simple words to Matthew, the tax collector.  In Matthew’s own humble account, the brevity in his description is almost misleading.  He wrote simply in Matthew 9:9,

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.”  And he rose and followed him.

However, we know more of the specifics in Mark’s and Luke’s accounts.  First, be sure you have the picture painted in your mind.  Jesus had been teaching in most likely Peter’s house in Capernaum by the seashore.  The meeting is over where Jesus had just healed the paralytic who has now gone home to his four friends.  Then Jesus walked along the shore on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee with His disciples following Him along with a multitude of people.

This is when Jesus happens on Matthew.

Most know that Matthew was a tax collector and so we know he wasn’t well-liked by the rest of his countrymen.  However, what most people don’t know is that Matthew was categorically the vilest and most hated person in all of Capernaum.  By all valuation of the time period and given Matthew’s vocation, he was the most wretched sinner in town.

And this is where Jesus stops.

You see, Matthew was a publican.  These were people who served Rome.  When Rome came in and took over Palestine, they wanted to exact taxes.  Individuals who were living in the land of Palestine could buy franchises from the Roman government, which then gave them the right to operate the taxation system in a certain district or a certain town.  When Matthew bought himself into that system, he revealed himself as a traitor to the cause of Israel.  Nothing in the mind of a Jew was as heinous as being anti-nationalistic or anti-Jewish.  However, Matthew had a franchise for taxation from Rome, so the Roman government required that he collect a certain amount of taxes.  Anything he could collect over what they required he could keep.  Tax collectors notoriously took bribes from the rich, extorted from the middle class and the poor, and they were hated.

Jewish hatred for the tax collectors was not only because it was considered anti-nationalistic, but it was also considered anti-religious.  The Jews believed they shouldn’t pay anything except to God, so paying taxes to the government was wrong.  Consequently, tax collectors weren’t allowed to attend synagogue.  As a matter of fact, tax collectors were listed with unclean beasts of the Old Testament.  They were in the same category as pigs.

In order to recognize further the extraordinary move Jesus made in this instance, we need to also know that there were two types of tax collectors.  One type was the general tax collector.  Their job was to take the regular taxes on property, income, and poll.  This tax collector took these taxes and then generally added a surcharge onto it so that he could make his fortune.  The second type of tax collector took taxes on everything else.  They taxed everything that was bought and everything that was eaten; basically they taxed everything that was bought and sold.  They taxed every road, every bridge, every harbor, every town….everything.  Historians write that these guys could even invent taxes.  They taxed the wheels on carts, for example.  The more wheels a cart had, the more taxes one had to pay to own that cart.  A two-wheeled cart was less expensive to own than a four-wheeled one; a three-legged burro was cheaper to have than a four-legged one.  You get the picture.  They taxed every letter received and sent, every package on the road or coming in from the sea.

The first kind of tax collector was despised.  The second kind was more despised.  The second kinds were the ones who sat at the intersection of roads which is exactly where Matthew was sitting when Jesus saw him.  The second kind was known as a mokhes.  Matthew was a mokhes, the most hated of the two types of tax collectors.

Now, bear with me.  This gets even more interesting.

Of the mokhes, there were two sub categories.  The first kind would hire someone to sit at the tables so that they could stay behind the scenes.  They wanted to keep their hands clean and keep a good reputation.  These were called the great mokhes.

Then there were the small mokhes; they did everything themselves, not wishing to share their bounty with anyone else.  They sat at their own tables, caring little about their reputations so long as they could make as much money as possible. 

Guess which one Matthew was?  That’s right.  Matthew was a small mokhes, the most hated of the tax collectors and the most hated of the most hated.  Matthew was the most wretched man in all of Capernaum, and Jesus walked right up to his booth and simply said, “Follow me.”

And what did Matthew do?  He got right up and followed Jesus.  Biblical historian, Alfred Ettershime, said it wonderfully:

“He said not a word for his soul was in the speechless surprise of unexpected grace.” (quote taken from “Receiving the Sinner, Refusing the Righteous:  Part One,” Grace to You)

Luke tells us in Luke 5:27-28,

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth.  And he said to him, “Follow me.”  And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

Matthew left everything.  He would have known that to leave his table and follow Jesus meant that he was leaving everything.  He couldn’t go back.  Peter and Andrew and the other fishermen who followed Jesus would still be able to fish, but Matthew would never have his vocation or his riches again.  He left everything.

After this, Luke went on to say that Matthew was so overwhelmed that he decided to throw a banquet—a banquet attended by the most awful people in the history of banquets.  After all, the only people Matthew would know would be awful people!  And Jesus is the honored guest.

This act is detestable to the Pharisees and scribes.  The men in attendance were the lowest of the low, the vilest of the vile, anti-nationalistic traitors of society, and Jesus was reclining at the table with them!  It was in response to the Pharisees' grumbling that Jesus declares His mission, a mission that should make all of us weep for joy and scream in delight.  Jesus said, 

            I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32)

We don’t have to be perfect.  We don’t even have to be desirable!  Jesus chose to love us before we were!  He came for us, His children, while we were in our weak and godless states.

He came to Matthew and Peter and Andrew and me and you because He desired to do so.  It has always been His will and His choice and not anything about us.  How marvelous.

Painted Window Trilogy

Book One:  Painted Window

Overview

Finding that one, true love has been the pursuit of all mankind since the Garden of Eden.  Both Adam and Eve were searching for more; they were sure there was more.  The allure from Satan was that God wasn’t enough.  The temptation was that there was something out there that would make them happier and more complete than their Father.  It was and still is a lie.

However, I believe we were created purposefully by God to long for more than this world has to offer.  As His children, this is not our home, and consequently, it cannot bring us the satisfaction and joy we desire, and neither can anyone in this world.  Additionally, we were created to give and receive love.  Everything in our natures wants to be loved, to be adored, to be treasured.  Many may claim that they don’t need these things, but they are deceiving themselves.  All people, men and women alike, long to be loved perfectly.

God created us this way purposefully and then gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Lover of our souls.  Christ is our Bridegroom and we, His bride.  Over and over in Scripture God uses this analogy to describe the love relationship between our Savior and His people.  This analogy is appropriate because in our human senses, the marriage relationship between a man and a woman is the closest thing we can imagine to the intimate nature of Christ’s love for us.  And even that is inadequate.

So God chose you, each of you, from before the foundations of time, to be the bride of Christ, to be adored and loved and sacrificed for and treasured for all eternity.  God says our relationships are personal ones, intimate ones, and the moment we say “I do” to the promises and relationship with Christ, that love is ours.  It was destined to be ours before that even, but we can live in that knowledge when we accept Him finally as our Savior.

Why, then, do we continually look to this world to give us the love and joy we already have?  Why do we believe the lie that happiness is here, in this time and in this place?  Why do we look to other people to love us perfectly, accept us completely, treasure us forever? 

The sadness that encompassed my life for so long and encompasses so many others’ lives now was being the recipient of perfect love from the King of the universe, of being adored and treasured and intimately loved by the Lord of lords and the King of kings and yet living in the here and now in misery and pain.  The inexplicable reality for so many believers is that they already have what they seek, but they still seek it in places that will never be able to deliver.

It’s like being in the middle of the Sahara Desert, dying of thirst.  There is a cup of cool, clean water right there within arm’s reach, but instead of reaching for that cup of life-saving water, we suck on the sand around us, thinking that if we just keep trying different parts of the sand, our thirst will be quenched.

When my life of sin finally came crashing down around me so many years ago, I had a succession one night of two dreams.  Please know that I am not promoting dream interpretation or visions or anything like that, but I do believe that God will speak to us in whatever way He decides.  At this moment, God spoke to me in two dreams.  This was the moment that I finally saw the truth about how I was loved and how I had been looking to this world instead of to Him.

In my first dream I was standing in a doorway and every person who I perceived as having loved me during my life passed before me.  One after another they walked past, but no one stopped.  I wanted them to stop.  I longed for one of them to stop and show me the love I wanted so badly, but each of them simply walked by the open doorway.  By the end of the dream I was left sadder than I was at the beginning, broken and alone, feeling absolutely unloved.  I woke up then and cried like I had never cried before.

You see, I had already come to the end of what I like to call my “sin rope,” and I had given my life back to God.  I was seeking Him and what I perceived was His will in my life, but I was still not happy.  I had given up other men and drinking and every other thing that had been my loves of choice, but my heart was still broken.  I couldn’t stop feeling desperately and completely alone.  So when I woke up from this dream where it was painfully obvious that not one person from whom I had sought love was really giving it to me, I was in despair.

“Why would You show me that?” I screamed at the ceiling.  “Why would you show me that I was never really loved?”  I wanted answers from God.  I wanted to know why He would bring me even further into despair when I thought I had given up to Him.  Eventually I cried myself back to sleep.

Then I had a second dream, although it wasn’t really a dream, per se’.  This one was more like a vision, a sense of things, if you will.  This time I simply knew I was in a warm light, comforted and serene in a way I had never known before.  I felt secure and treasured and completely loved.  This dream/vision lasted about 20 minutes and I awoke again, but this time my cries to the ceiling were a little different.

“That’s what I want!” I cried.  “Please just tell me what to do so that I can feel that!”  I was sobbing in desperation again.  I knew immediately that this love was what I had been looking for all of my life and I wanted it more than anything.

In the midst of my tears I heard these words ringing in my head:  “Deb, this is the way that I love you, that I have always loved you.  See my love.”

Finally it was like this light dawned on me that what I had been looking so hard for in all of my life had been right there all along.  I simply had to see it. 

Now, understand that this seeing doesn’t happen overnight.  As a matter of fact, it’s a life-long process of peeling back the layers of deception and lies so that you get little glimpses of how great a love we have received.  Eventually, as I studied more and more, I began to realize the way God has described this love in His Word is intimate—it’s the intimate love as between a man and a woman in marriage.  Then as I looked more and more at that, it dawned on me that there is one book in the Bible that deals specifically with this kind of love:  The Song of Solomon.

This book in the Bible is a beautiful love story between Solomon and one of his wives, the Shulamite woman, but surely if God chose to put it in His Word, it must also point to Christ.  And it does.  Though a story of a man a woman, a bride and groom, the Song of Solomon points to the greater and more significant relationship between Christ and us, His bride. 

We often stop, however, at the human story because it seems too intimate to be about our relationship to our Savior.  But intimacy isn’t limited to purely physical or even emotional connections.  The dictionary definition of “intimacy” is:

“Characterized or involving close, personal knowledge of another; sharing a relationship of an emotionally personal nature.” (dictionary.com)

Who is more intimately aware of us than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?  And in that intimacy, He has pledged His love for us in every way possible.  To put it in human terms, Jesus is intimately and completely in love with you, His bride. 

The picture God gives us of this relationship is in the absolute love and emotional connection of Solomon and the Shulamite woman.  It’s the closest thing we might understand, and still we really can’t fathom it.  This is the love you already have, if you are a believer, and the sadness is that very few even see glimpses of it, much less know that it is there.

After realizing this, even in such a limited sense, I wanted to convey it to other women, so that’s when I taught a series entitled,“Christ, the Eternal Bridegroom” on the Song of Solomon.  That seemed to help, but I knew I still needed more.  I needed to find some illustration that would resonate truth to the hurting women I met every day.

Finally I told a story that compared each of us to a peasant woman who was loved completely by the king of the land, but because she couldn’t get past her own stained soul and his position as king, she couldn’t accept this love.  Her inability to accept it didn’t change it—he loved her completely, but from afar.  The sadness was that she lived all of her life as a pauper, deeply saddened and always incomplete when all that she longed for and needed was right there.

Enter Elizabeth and the allegory, Painted Window.

I wrote this book as a symbolic representation of the struggle we all have with accepting the intimate and complete love of the King of kings.  We can see that He loves us as His people and as His church, but to know and understand that He loves each of us, individually, intimately and fully is difficult.  I know that we won’t see it fully until the marriage supper when our Bridegroom comes for us, but until then I believe that is why the Song of Solomon is in the Bible—to give us a glimpse of this love.

Painted Window is an allegory, so it’s written a lot like any fictional novel.  However, the storyline and the characters represent more than their fictional manifestations.  Elizabeth is meant to encapsulate all of us at one time or another.  Though our situations may be very different from hers and also our sins, the struggle is the same:  knowing and accepting the love of the King.  Reginald, of course, is representative of Jesus, though the representation is limited in that he is human.  The other characters and situations are meant to represent other times and places in our journeys, prayerfully speaking to us along the way.

It is divided into 8 sections with approximately 20-30 pages per section.  Each section then ends with a Bible study that is divided into 3 sections:  “Into the Allegory,” “Into the Word,” and “Into the Song.”  There is a specific message about our journeys in each section and the questions are designed to lead you to discovering these messages. 

We, just like Elizabeth, just like the woman caught in adultery from John 8, just like David from Psalm 51, and just like the Shulamite woman who said in Song of Solomon 1:6,

            Do not gaze at me because I am dark.

Just like them we must come to the realization that although our sins are real and they deserve every horrible thing the Law says, Jesus Christ, our Savior and the Lover of our souls, said, “No.  I choose her.  I will die for her.”

Jesus says, as Solomon said in the Song of Solomon 1:15 to the Shulamite woman who doesn’t even want him to look at her because she is dark,

            Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful.

These words are why I wrote Painted Window.

                                               

Painted Window is available for purchase through amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, crossbooks.com, or by visiting Love Everlasting Ministries and contacting Dr. Waterbury directly.  Additionally, Dr. Waterbury has taught through this series and the videos are available on the Love Everlasting Ministries Facebook page or on Vimeo.

The S-Word: Women in the Ministry of Jesus

The S-Word:  Dispelling the Myths of Biblical Womanhood

Both Valued and Valuable:  Women in the Ministry of Jesus

Perhaps no greater testimony to the importance of women in the work of God is the place Jesus, Himself, placed on their importance. 

James Hurley wrote:

“The foundation stone of Jesus’ attitude toward women was His vision of them as persons to whom and for whom He had come.  He did not perceive them primarily in terms of their sex, age or marital status; He seems to have considered them in terms of their relation to God.”

Even though many today are quick to point out the supposed “misogynistic” traits of the Bible, even a cursory reading of the Old and New Testaments refutes that idea.  Then when one spends only a small amount of time studying Jesus’ ministry, the role of women and the way He made no distinctions based on gender becomes extremely evident.

We must first understand that the place of women in the first century Roman world and in Judaism had been as second-class citizens.  However, Jesus’ regard for women was much different from that of His contemporaries.  Jesus recognized women as fellow human beings.

The fact that He personally addressed women, as with the woman with the bleeding disease or the one bent over for 18 years, or the fact that He allowed them to listen to His teachings, as with Mary, set Him aside as a bit of a revolutionary in regards to the way men generally treated and viewed women in His day.  He showed His regard for them as co-heirs of eternity in many ways, one of which was the way He used them in His ministry. 

He did so in basically two categories:  1) those who served Him in some way, and 2) those who witnessed His resurrection.

The Women Who Served Jesus

In this category were two one-time participants as well as a group of women who served more frequently. 

The two one-time participants in serving our Lord were the two women who anointed Him with oil.  One was the notoriously sinful woman and the other was Mary.  Both served Jesus in this way out of love and respect, but Mary’s was the more significant in that she anointed Him with a view to His approaching death.  Mary had true spiritual insight, no doubt gained from Jesus’ teaching.  Even the disciples who were there didn’t understand what she understood. (Matthew 26:6-13)  Jesus placed high regard and honor on this woman in the sight and witness even of His own disciples.

The women who served Jesus more frequently generally did so financially and traveled with Him and His disciples to care for them while they taught and spread the Gospel.  Luke 8:1-3 reads:

Soon afterward he (Jesus) went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities:  Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

Matthew 27:56 speaks of this group of women who traveled with Him all the way to Jerusalem, providing for them along the way.  What is being said in the Word, then, is that the women traveling with Jesus were not only sitting under His teaching, which in and of itself was unheard of in that day, but they were the ones who were financially and in all other ways taking care of Jesus and His disciples.  Obviously, they were instrumental in Jesus’ ministry and He unabashedly included them in it.

The Women Who Witnessed Jesus’ Resurrection

A final indication of the dignity accorded women in the ministry of Jesus is seen in the importance given women in the resurrection accounts.  In Christ’s day, women were not considered reliable witnesses.  As a matter of fact, historian Josephus warned,

“But let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex.”

In other words, women can’t be taken seriously.  And yet, God chose women to be His initial witnesses to the disciples on the resurrection of Jesus.  All four Gospel writers bestow a great honor on the women who lovingly and with servants’ hearts came early to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body.  We read then where they faithfully bore witness of Jesus’ resurrection to His disciples and, no doubt, to countless others in the months and years that followed. (Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 23:55-24:10; John 20:1-18)

The most important point we can glean from this is that God did use women along with men at this strategic juncture in human history.

James Borland wrote:

“These women not only were the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, but also stand perpetually as examples for all believers.  These women led the way in proclaiming the Gospel—that Christ died for our sins, was buried, but rose again for our justification the third day.  The duty and high privilege of witnessing for Christ is still open to every believer, without distinction as to gender.”

Conclusion

Even though women were not called nor appointed as apostles, in accordance with God’s created order, that fact in no way diminished their importance or role in Jesus’ ministry, nor in the advancement of the Gospel both before and after His death.  The roles are meant to be different, but it is obvious that God, through His Word, never mandated that one was more important than the other.  Without ever contradicting His own order, God has made it abundantly clear that both men and women are equally important in His Kingdom, both within the roles He has given.

John Piper said,

“From the very beginning of the Christian church, women have been absolutely crucial partners in ministry with men—partners in marriage and partners as single women….The fact that God calls men to lead the church as the teaching and governing elders is, in the long run, a strengthening, liberating, joyful thing for Christ-exalting women….May the Lord continue to help us swim against the stream of bland and unbiblical egalitarianism as we exult in our equality before God and our complementary differences in calling and roles and the nature of manhood and womanhood.”

The S-Word: New Testament Examples

The S-Word:  Dispelling the Myths of Biblical Womanhood

Both Valued and Valuable:  New Testament Examples

One of the most amazing things I’ve heard in my travels with teaching and writing has been those surrounding the role of women in the church.  So many operate under the misconception that women’s roles are relegated to lesser than their male counterparts.  And even more than that, many hold to the view that the Bible supports such a notion. 

Not true!

Whereas differing roles for men and women is a biblically supported viewpoint, the importance of these roles, as well as the influence these roles have, is clear.  God never delineated importance or influence to gender biases and since He is ever consistent in His character, it’s safe to say that He never will.  His Word supports that both men and women are used by Him in the advancement of His kingdom and to the glory of His name.  In this article I would like to look briefly at some examples from the New Testament.

There are many women mentioned in the New Testament, but like the previous article’s glance at the Old Testament, I’ll limit this article to one passage where 2 specific women demonstrate the important places women held in the New Testament church.  Romans 16:1-4 reads:

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.  Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 

Paul is giving his closing greetings in this chapter and of the 26 names he mentions, 9 of them are women.  That is astonishing in a male-dominated culture and in the male-dominated background of Jewish Christianity.  This truly shows us the expansive role of women in ministering in early Christianity.

Phoebe, Romans 16:1-2

Phoebe is the one person in these first 16 verses who is not already living there in Rome.  She is coming to Rome and Paul is asking the church to receive her in the way the saints ought to by meeting all her needs.

Why is Paul commending her to the Roman Christians? 

What seems to be implied is that since she must be coming to them in Rome at the same time as the letter Paul is writing, she must be the one carrying the letter. Again, this is somewhat astounding given the male-dominated society in which Paul lives.

Paul describes her in three ways, all of which point to her importance in his ministry and the advancement of the early church.

1.      She’s a “sister.”

First, in verse 1 Paul calls Phoebe “our sister.”  He is telling them that she is part of their family, the family of God.  Theologically, Paul is reminding the recipients of this letter that both she and they share the same Father in heaven and are moving toward the same inheritance of eternal life.  Consequently, he tells them to take care of her.

2.      She’s a “servant.”

Secondly, Paul commends Phoebe as a servant, which is the same Greek word as used for “deacon.”  She may well have been an official deacon in that church.  There is no reason why women cannot be deacons.  The elders are men and are charged with the governance of the church, but deacons do not share that same responsibility.  All deacons are charged with serving the church and its members by feeding the hungry, taking in the refugees, clothing the needy, caring for the sick, or visiting the imprisoned.  This fits with the way Paul describes Phoebe in verse 2.

3.      She’s a “patron.”

That word “patron” means that she cared for others.  Paul says she has cared for many others as well as himself.  In this, she was partnering with him in a complementary fashion and one that he considers extremely important—important enough to mention first and foremost in his closing remarks.

Phoebe was also most likely single, as no husband is mentioned as she travels back.  Having no spouse gave Phoebe enormous freedom to travel back and forth from Cenchreae to Rome.  So my single women friends, take Phoebe as your challenge today!

Priscilla, Romans 16:3-4

Priscilla is mentioned 3 times in 3 different books of the Bible.  In Acts 18:26, Luke writes,

He (Apollos) began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Priscilla and Aquila were a married couple and it seems from Luke’s description that Priscilla taught Apollos the correct Gospel along with her husband.  Then in 1 Corinthians 16:19, Paul writes of the church that met in their house,

The churches of Asia send you greetings.  Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.

The fact that Luke mentions Priscilla first in his writings may even indicate that she was the primary teacher in that relationship.  Paul gives both she and her husband special attention in his closing remarks in Romans 16.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, as with the account with Luke, Priscilla’s name is mentioned first.  That normally would not have happened according to the conventions of Greco-Roman writing.  We really don’t know why both Paul and Luke address the couple in this way.  There are loads of speculations.  Some think that Priscilla came from a higher social class than Aquila, but most agree it was probably because Priscilla was the primary teacher in the relationship.

Additionally, we can see the respect with which Paul speaks of her.  He calls her Prisca, not Priscilla, as she is called by Luke and others.  Priscilla was the diminutive of Prisca.  Calling her Priscilla instead of Prisca is like calling me Debbie instead of Deborah, or calling someone Liz instead of Elizabeth.  The formal rendering of her name was Prisca, which is exactly what Paul calls her.  Obviously by calling her this, maybe also as well as placing her name first, Paul is showing his respect and love for Priscilla.  She is important to his work and to the church, and he conveys that in his address. 

But even so, notice that Priscilla is only mentioned in conjunction with her work with her husband.  Though her position may have been more influential, she is certainly doing it in a complementarian fashion.  

Phoebe and Priscilla are only two of the myriad of examples in the New Testament of women who do important and noteworthy work in the Kingdom of God.  Even in regards to the societal parameters that were prevalent in that day, Jesus’ disciples were quick to both use and acknowledge the pivotal role women played in the church.  It’s appropriate to surmise that God’s intention for men and women within His work is equal in importance and need today. 

The S-Word: Old Testament Examples

The S-Word:  Dispelling the Myths of Biblical Womanhood

Both Valued and Valuable
Part One:  Old Testament Examples

It is unfortunate how women of the Bible are viewed in many contemporary circles as lesser than men or less useful in God’s kingdom than men.  God created both men and women in His image.  Inasmuch as this is true, He has equal missions and equal importance for both.  This is demonstrated throughout both the Old and the New Testaments, and despite the attempts of many who might claim otherwise, the Bible very clearly supports the mighty use of women in God’s work.

Abigail

There are so many women that could be referenced in regards to God’s usage in the Old Testament.  I think first of Abigail in 1 Samuel 25.  Abigail was not a prophetess or leader of any kind.  However, her humble and gentle advice to David persuaded him not to kill Nabal.  She was instrumental in this one instance of leading the King of Israel by her words and example.

As Thomas Schreiner wrote:

“For women, Abigail is a model of gentle and humble persuasion.  There was no stridency or imperiousness about her manner.  She was winsome, yet bold.”

Whereas Abigail and others like her are great examples, and there are many of them, I want to look primarily at Deborah.  However, please don't misunderstand me.  I am not looking at her because she was so influential.  I do think she is a wonderful example of how God has, does, and will use women in all ways and of the fact that the Bible is full of these kinds of stories.  However, the principle reason I want to focus on Deborah as an Old Testament example is because she was so influential.  She is the primary example some have used to prove that God does not have specific roles for women, that women can instead function in roles that were otherwise reserved only for men.

In response to that argument I’d like to show that Deborah was not only a messenger of God, but that the evidence from prophecy actually indicates her fulfilling a supportive and complementary role, even as she served as a prophetess and judge of Israel.

Deborah, Judges 4-5

The history of Deborah is contained within Judges 4-5, and we can read what the atmosphere was in Israel by looking at Judges 4:1,

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died.

During the time of judges, this was a seemingly endless cycle.  The Lord would send an enemy to come in on judgment of His peoples’ evil, they’d cry out to Him, and He would send a deliverer to rescue them, generally in the form of a judge. 

What is unique about this particular account of one of Israel’s judges is the great detail given us as to how God raised Deborah up as judge over Israel as a direct response to the cry of the people. (Judges 4:4-10)  Deborah was a prophetess who was widely known in Israel for her prophetic ability.  Clearly, God raised up Deborah and gave her this prophetic gift because of the failure of the Levitical priests to instruct the people in the ways of the Lord.

At the time Deborah was “judging Israel,” the priesthood (the Levites) had become so corrupt that the people of Israel were seeking Deborah out because she was known as a prophetess.  Given the unfaithfulness of the Levites, it fell to Deborah to announce God’s plan to deliver His people.  It is clear that God was shaming the unbelieving Levitic priesthood by proclaiming His word of deliverance through someone else.

According to Judges 4, the prophecy was given to Deborah who then summoned Barak to go and lead the Israelites into battle against Sisera.  Barak balks and says he won’t go unless Deborah goes with him.  She says she will but that he must know now that since he has chosen this path of unfaithfulness in God to lead him into victory, Sisera would be delivered to them through a woman instead of through the efforts of Barak and his men.

In the verses that follow, that is exactly what happened.  The Israelites were defeating Sisera and his men in battle, so Sisera got off of his horse and ran away.  He ran to the tent of a woman named Jael, the wife of Heber who was a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law.  Jael tricked him into thinking she’d protect him, then as soon as he lay down to go to sleep, she drove a tent peg through his head.  Jael then ran to Barak to show him his dead enemy.

There are a couple of things we need to point out about Deborah’s role here to show that it was indeed complementary to men, keeping in line with God’s ordained role for women in leading His people.

Deborah, the “wife of Lippidoth”

Unlike any other judge in Israel’s history, when Deborah is introduced in Biblical terms as a judge and prophetess she is identified also as a wife.  We don’t really know anything about her husband, Lippidoth.  It doesn’t follow that the author of Judges was pointing this out because of the importance of her husband’s family.  It seems more likely that he is instead pointing out her identity as a wife as well as a prophetess.  Other prophets are not introduced as “husbands,” so this does seem to be significant.

Deborah as prophetess, not priest

The role of prophet, or prophetess in this case, was different than that of a priest.  A prophet in the Old Testament did not hold the same office as a priest.  A priest was a leader, an authoritative teacher of sorts, whereas the prophet spoke forth God’s revelation to His people.  It is instructive to note that in the Old Testament, some women were prophets but never priests.

Deborah was not assuming this authoritative leadership role.  She was, however, a prophet and inasmuch in an important position to God’s people.  God made no distinction to those who might hear His voice.  Men and women alike were given this role, though it wasn’t a role of leadership, per se.

Deborah, a different kind of judge

Deborah was a special case because she seems to be the only judge in Judges who has no military function.  The other judges also led Israel into victory in battle, but Deborah received a word from the Lord that Barak was to do this.  Judges 4:6 says,

She (Deborah) sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun?’”

Deborah does not assert leadership for herself but gives priority to a man.  Even in the rebuke she gives to Barak in verse 8 she doesn’t try to take the victory from him.  Her demeanor was such that she continued to give the leadership to a man, even when he might not be leading like he should.  She continued to give God’s word, still displaying that disposition to submission referred to in the previous LEM post, “Gender Specific.”

Deborah, a private judge

Deborah exercised her gift of prophecy differently than the men who possessed this same gift.  Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other male prophets exercised a public ministry where they proclaimed the word of the Lord.  But note that Deborah did not prophesy in public.  Instead, her prophetic role seems to be limited to private and individual instruction.

Judges 4:5 says,

She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.

Note that Deborah did not go out and publicly proclaim the word of the Lord.  Instead, individuals came to her in private for a word from the Lord.  The difference between Deborah’s prophetic ministry and that of male Old Testament prophets is clear:  She did not exercise her ministry in a public forum as they did.  Even when she spoke to Barak she called him and spoke to him in private. (Judges 4:6, 14)

I feel it is extremely important, given all of this, that we draw the following conclusions about the history of Deborah as a judge in Israel in the Old Testament:

1. God makes no distinctions on who hears him, whether man or woman.
2. Both men and women are recipients of the spiritual gifts.
3. Women did and should hold important positions within God’s community.
4. However, even these are to be held with a complementarian viewpoint, a disposition and practice of male leadership.

Deborah’s function within God’s community, like all women who perform there, is significant and certainly no less significant than her male counterparts.  The only difference is the role she plays, not the significance.  God has jobs for each of us, regardless of our genders, and none of these jobs is better or of more use than another.  This fact transcends any limitation, be they physical, social, or intellectual.  We are His workmanship created in Christ’s image to do good works.

The S-Word: Both Valued and Valuable

The S-Word:  Dispelling the Myths of Biblical Womanhood

Both Valued and Valuable
Introduction

“Success” is defined in the dictionary as:

“…the attainment of wealth, position, honor or the like.” (dictionary.com)

Unfortunately, much of what the church has come to also define as successful falls within these same parameters.  Very often we see “successful” ministries as those that more people know about, are more in the public eye, have more immediately visible fruit, etc., etc.

When you view this in terms of the male/female relationship and the subsequent roles for each within either the home or the church, you can see where the debate stemmed from.  The successful one must be the leader.   If you’re not leading, you can’t be successful, at least not entirely, and that becomes a problem for some for a number of reasons.

First of all, this qualification assumes that only leaders are truly successful.  That both qualifies and quantifies what is worthwhile to God within the work of His Kingdom.  That assumes that some work is better to God than others, and therefore, the favored work is the one we should strive toward.

However, even more incorrect is the root of this issue, namely that success is defined in terms of us instead of God.  If we are really and truly God-centered in our lives, in all of our endeavors, then it wouldn’t matter whether we’re recognized, nor would it matter that our ministries are “big.”  If God is the center, then the only thing we're thinking about is advancing His Kingdom and His glory.  If what we are doing is accomplishing those things, then that would be true success.  How we are viewed by anyone other than God and what He deems worthy becomes unnecessary and pointless.  Our only vision is toward God.

Given that, it is my contention that the entire feminist movement, most especially those within the church who have tried to find ways around the Biblical mandates for women, is in reality a seeking of self.  It is centered in recognition for self and success for self.  Otherwise, whether I was “leading” or “following” would be inconsequential.

John Calvin wrote:

“The course which Christian men (and women) must follow is this:  first, they must not long for, or hope for, or think of any kind of prosperity apart from the blessing of God; on it they must cast themselves, and there safely and confidently recline.”

I’ve spent a lot of time in the last articles establishing God’s order in creation and His consequent order for the roles of men and women—within the home, the church, and the community.  What I want to challenge using the next four articles is the assumption that the roles of women, because they are in submission to male headship, are somehow lesser than or not as important or not as successful as those of men.

The Bible, contrary to public opinion, does not place qualitative nor quantitative importance on men’s roles versus women’s roles.  On the contrary, the Bible very clearly teaches the vast importance of women, both in the history of God’s people and in the ministry of God’s people.  It is extremely important that we continue this study on Biblical womanhood with a clearer perspective regarding our roles and what they actually mean in terms of service and ministry.

The valuable ministries of women in the Scriptures is a crucial topic for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that we should be encouraged by the women in the Scriptures who have contributed to the spread of God’s kingdom message.  God does not use men alone to accomplish His purposes.  Both sexes are created in God’s image, and both men and women have been used mightily by God.

No woman who has a desire to please God should feel that there is no place for her in the ministry of the church.

Unfortunately, many feminist advocates point to God’s Word as proof that Christianity has no place for successful women.  Their view is that the male dominated structure of Biblical history and institutions has squelched the reality that women might have been otherwise successful.  This is not true and only proves really one thing—they haven’t read the same Bible as it is really written!  God has a place and a job and a role of extreme significance for all of His creatures, men and women alike, and there were many, many influential and successful women in the Bible. Yet even in their success, they functioned within the parameters of God’s role for women.

Each of the next three articles will look at three different scriptural proofs of the supreme importance women have played in God’s kingdom work.  I’ll be looking at the works of Deborah in the Old Testament, Phoebe and Priscilla from the New Testament, and the many women involved in the ministry of Jesus.  I pray that each of these subsequent articles strengthen and encourage you.  You are important to God and His work.  Nothing, not even your gender, can infringe upon that importance.