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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | naming and subordination | Gen 3:20 | Beja | 213435 | ||
((CONTINUATION OF FIRST POST)) Why then? If we are not superior or we do not have greater honor, why then are we leaders? I believe that God meant for marriage to serve as a picture of bigger realities. It is undeniable that scripture does see it as a picture for bigger realities. These include a picture of God that we all can very much relate to, a picture of a Father; and also it includes the marriage of Christ and his church (ephesians 5). We all agree that marriage serves as these illustrations but what I would suggest to you is this: God did not look around and say, "hey, marriage is like this, I'll compare it to that." Rather, God in his infinite wisdom as he set out his purpose in creation, chose to create an institution of marriage that would reflect greater truths which he planned to unfold in his perfect time. To that end he crafted marriage and the first marriage between Adam and Eve, to reflect these things. The male, took the picture of the instigator of all these covenants. His role as father is meant to serve as illuminating light on God our Father. Authority is part of that. He is meant to represent Christ and his love to the church. Authority is part of that. So while the husband has no claims to superiority, do to the role God has given him he has all claims to authority over his wife. This naturally carries over into the church because beyond the family, the church is the other location in which God wants to illustrate and paint pictures concerning Himself. Also I believe whole heartedly the Church is meant to be modeled after a family. See 1 timothy 5:1-2 (these verses do not prove that idea but lend support to it.) So, these are the two areas where we see scripture give clear instruction on male authority. I do not believe that men are meant to have any God given authority over women outside the family and the church. For example I have no God given authority whatsoever to come up to some lady I don't know and tell her to obey me. Now given that all these are things God had placed upon creation as his intention, where does the curse come in? In this I give my humble opinion. The curse was that your desire would be for your husband and he shall rule over you. It is an interesting point that the word for "desire" in this passage is not at all a common word, but it is the same word used in the account of Cain and Abel when God says that "sin desires you." So one is not to think this is a "healthy submission to proper authority" type of desire. I would suggest to you this is a combative desire perhaps even longing to take his authority for her own. I would also suggest to you that the husband ruling over her is not the God intended type of ruling that was originally the idea. You see the husbands God given authority is meant to be of a most peculiar type, that of Christ to the Church (ephesians 5). Also Matthew 20:24-28 is absolutely key in revealing that proper Godly leadership is one in service to and for the interest of those who are led. These passages are how a man is suppose to be leading his wife. This new desire of man to now "rule" is more of a dominating interest I would suggest. So what we see is that now sin has marred this relationship of a beautiful picture of Christ and his church. Now there is rebellion and self interested leadership. Need we look far in our times to overly support this? I wince as I think of how unclear I've been, I ask for God's grace in the readers understanding, and I ask for the readers grace in their responses. In love, Beja |
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2 | naming and subordination | Gen 3:20 | azurelaw | 213443 | ||
Dear Pastor Beja, I thank you so much for the fine answer. I do hope that my question triggers gracious discussion for edification instead of pointless or unproductive debate which is never my intent. I thank God for giving you the wisdom and grace in helping me to clarify my doubts on the subject which I had come across with an article brought to me for translation sometime ago. You have been a blessing to the forum and I look forward to reading more of your fine posts in future. Shalom Azure |
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