The woman may like to marry a criminal: Above Rubies P/6

                                                      read Part One HERE

In this post I will begin to share from a story told by speaker and writer Nancy Campbell in her magazine "Above Rubies."

The story is about a couple named Connie and Jim with Connie giving the details of their lives together as printed in "Above Rubies." I will follow her statements with my comments.

Connie: "Jim and I met in 1966. He was 25 and I was 18. He had already been in prison for 7 years and going in again for 2 years. We married in that period and had a son. I became a believer at that time."

My Comment
Connie's choice of a husband was not wise since he was already a criminal by the time she met him who had been in prison since he was 18 years old. Moreover, she then had a son with him even though he was in prison so he could not be there for her and their son. It was, of course, very good that she became a believer. However, as we will see in future posts, it does not seem other more mature believers helped her understand how to live out her life before her husband and child. Perhaps that was because they themselves did not have the understanding needed to do so.

 

Read Part Seven HERE

The woman cannot be part of the royal priesthood: Above Rubies P/5

                                               
                                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on speaker and writer Nancy Campbell. We will continue to look at her following statement:

Nancy Campbell: "God created the man to be the provider, protector and priest of the home."

My Comment (Continuing):

We read of women who followed Jesus and provided for Him according to

Matthew 27:55-56
Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to take care of His needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

And Mark 15:40-41
Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed Him and cared for His needs.

It is interesting that Jesus, as their Creator (John 1:1-3), allowed these women to be His disciples who followed Him wherever He went and did not send them back home. Moreover, as their Creator, He allowed them to provide for Him and those with Him. It seems therefore, that Jesus, as their Creator, approved of them providing for Him and those with Him even though Nancy Campbell may not approve of what these women did since these women did not fulfill their so-called God-given task of nurturing, nourishing and nest-building their homes but, instead, fulfilled the so-called God-given task of the man by being providers for Jesus and those with Him.

As for the man being a priest of the home.
In the Old Testament only Aaron's male descendants could be priests (Leviticus 8). They served in the Tabernacle/Temple but did not serve as priests in their homes.

In the New Testament all believers, male and female, serve as priests according to

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood.

The sacrifices male and female believers bring are not literal sacrifices but are spiritual sacrifices according to

Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers (inclusive term for all believers), in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices to God....

 

Read Part Six HERE

The woman should not follow in the footsteps of Lydia: Above Rubies P/4

                                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on speaker and writer Nancy Campbell. She has made the following statement:

Nancy Campbell: "God created the man to be the provider, protector and priest of the home."

My Comment:
As for the man being the provider, in Genesis 1:26-28 God created the man and the woman to rule over Creation together.

In Proverbs 31 we read of a business woman as follows:
Proverbs 31:16
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sees that her trading is profitable....

In Acts 16:14 we read of a businesswoman named Lydia
One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira.

In Acts 18:1-3 we read of a woman named Priscilla who was a tentmaker together with her husband.
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

We read of women who followed Jesus and provided for Him according to

Luke 8:1-3
After this, Jesus travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from who seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

P.S. I will continue this subject in my next post.

 

Read Part Five HERE

The woman is not allowed to sit at Jesus' feet: above Rubies P/3

   

                                                     Read Part One HERE

In this post I continue to focus on speaker and writer Nancy Campbell. She has made the following statement:

Nancy Campbell: "God created the woman to be the nurturer, nourisher and nest builder of the home."

My Comment:
According to Genesis 1:26-28 God created the woman to rule alongside the man over Creation when she was told to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.However, no mention is made of the woman having specifically been created to be the nest builder of the home.

As for Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, she expected her sister Mary to help her in the kitchen as we can read in

Luke 10:38-42
As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to  be made. She came to Him and asked, "Lord don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to  help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her."

If Nancy Campbell is correct then we would expect Jesus to agree with Martha and tell Mary to go to the kitchen at once since He as her Creator has created her for domestic duties only. But, interestingly, He did not. Instead, He allowed Mary to continue sitting at His feet, meaning to be taught by Him as His disciple. In fact, He encouraged her to continue learning from Him and explained to Martha that He was very pleased with Mary's choice and in a way invited her to do the same.

Moreover, Jesus had other women disciples who had left their homes to travel with Jesus as we can read in

Luke 8:1-3
After this, Jesus travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

And Matthew 27:55-56
Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for His needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

And Mark 15:40-41
Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed Him and cared for His needs. Many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem were also there.

Jesus never told any of these women off for not being nest builders of their homes but allowed them to travel with Him so they could be instructed by Him as Mary was when she sat at His feet. 

Read Part Four HERE

The woman's gospel message cannot change people: Above Rubies P/2

                                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I continue to focus on speaker and writer Nancy Campbell. She has made the following statements:

Nancy Campbell: "Mothers determine the destiny of the nation."

Nancy Campbell: "We're in a battle for the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. And our children are all part of that battle."

Nancy Campbell: "There are specific groups of people with high birth-rates who will soon outnumber Christians. We are limiting our children. and then we are allowing other cultures to come into our nation who are having a lot more children than us. Gradually down the line, the culture is going to change, without anyone doing anything except having children, or not having children."

My Comment
God determines the destiny of the nation. He has a plan for all nations and He is working out His plan for the nations, which we can read about in His Word (Daniel 2:21; Acts 17:24-26).

As for the battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, it is a spiritual battle and has been won by Christ at the Cross when he defeated the enemy. Believers, young and old, now fight from a place of victory (Colossians 2:15).

As for certain groups with high birth rates, who might bring in other cultures in the nation, all believers, young and old, male and female, need to recognise that the Lord has allowed these people into the nation to share the gospel of life and love and eternal hope with them (Matthew 28:18-20). As a consequence, the cultures that they have brought with them will then change because these large family will then be full of live, love and eternal hope as well, which will have its outworking in their cultures by changing these cultures.

 

Read Part Three HERE

The task of the woman is to have babies: Above Rubies P/1

In this post I will begin to focus on speaker and writer Nancy Campbell. She has made the following statement:

Nancy Campbell; " Many women have forgotten their biological, God-given function. He created her with a womb."

My Comment
Jesus had an interesting conversation with a woman about the woman who carried Him in her womb as you can read in Matthew 11:27-28

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. He replied: " Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Nancy Campbell: "A womb is in fact the most distinguishing characteristics of a woman. In the American Webster 1928 dictionary, it says a woman is a combination of two words: "womb" and "man." She is a "womb-man."

My Comment
The above does not work in other languages as for instance
In French the word for "woman is" "femme" while the word for "womb" is "uterus" and the word for "man" is "homme."
In German the word for woman is "frau" and the word for "womb" is "gebarmutter" and the word for "man" is "mann."
In Dutch the word for "woman" is "vrouw" and the word for "womb" is "baarmoeder" and the word for "man" is "man" or "mens."
In none of these languages are the words for "womb" and "man" part of the word for "woman."
Neither is that the case in the Hebrew language where the word for "female," or "woman" is "isha" while the word for "womb" is "rechem" and the word for "male," or "man" is "ish."

 

Read Part Two HERE

The woman remains weak in eternity: The Journal P/5

                                          Read Part One HERE

In this post I continue to focus on some statements from the article "Relationships in the new creation" written by Pastor Mark David Walton of Glenwood Baptist Church, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. This article was published in the Spring 2006 issue of the Journal of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and afterwards placed on their website.


Mark David Walton: "Secondly, consider that subsequent to the Fall (and not as a consequence of it), the principle of male headship and submission in male-female relations is clearly affirmed in the New Testament. Furthermore, nowhere in Scripture is this principle replaced or rescinded. Surely within the context of biblical teaching on the church there would be an unambigeous repeal of the principle of male headship if, in fact, its end reflected the divine ideal. Such is simply not found. There is every reason to believe, then, that male headship will continue as the divine order for male-female relationships."


 Mark David Walton: "Finally, consider that in the new creation, those who were husbands in the former dispensation will, at last, be unencumbered by the flesh. They will be able, as never before, to genuinely love, "as Christ also loved the Church" (Ephesians 5:25) They will as never before, have the capacity to relate to those they love  "in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honour as a fellow heir of the grace of life" (1 Peter 3:7)

Mark David Walton: "Consider, moreover, that in the new creation those who were wives in the former dispensation, will have the mind of Christ " who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and.... humbled Himself." (Phil. 2:6-8). They will see in the example of Christ, as never before, the beauty and glory that inheres in gracious, selfless submission. With both man and woman thus perfected and transformed, are we to suppose that the new creation will abandon the order established in God's original creation? I think not. Rather, such relations will bring to each true joy, and to God, more glory than before."

My Comment

The principle of male headship is never replaced or rescinded in the New Testament because that principle cannot be found in the Creation Story in Genesis 1-2. Male headship began to take place at the time of the Fall because of the then sinful nature of Adam but was reversed at the time of Christ !!. 

 

However,  the term "head" is found in the New Testament as follows

In 1 Corinthians 11:3
".... The head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." 

And in Ephesians 5:22
"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body of which He is the Saviour."

In both passages the Greek term for "head" is "kephale" which means "source," "source of life," but it does not mean "authority."

In the new creation, there will not be a marriage, not even in another form. I do not think Pastor Mark David Walton has thought his ideas through properly.

For instance,

What will happen to single women who do not have husbands to be in authority over them in the new creation?
What will happen in the situation that the wife died as a believer but the husband did not die as a believer and will, therefore, not be with her in the new creation to be in authority over her?

What will happen if a woman was widowed, remarried and both her husbands were believers? Will they both be in authority over her? Perhaps her first husband at the beginning of the new creation and the second husband at the later stage of the new creation? (Remember in the new creation there will not be time as we know it).

What will happen if a woman is divorced, remarried and both her husbands ended up becoming believers? Will they both be in authority over her at some time in the new creation or even together?

You will understand from the above situations that this teaching is a creation of man and cannot be supported by Scripture.

However, in the new creation we will all love each other fully as we are fully loved by the Lord Jesus.

As for a wife having the mind of Christ in the new creation, she does not have to wait until the new creation but she can have the mind of Christ in this dispensation already provided she studies and meditates on the Word of God according to 1 Corinthians 2:16b

As for a woman being "a weaker vessel," she was "a weaker vessel" because of her vulnerable position at that time related to the Greek/Roman culture she was part of. In the new creation that will no longer be the case.

In the new creation the woman will not be in gracious submission (meaning obedience) to the authority of her husband since the so-called divinely ordered creation order is a man-made tradition and will not be in place in the new creation.

Will there be a couple in the new creation? Yes, Christ as the Bridegroom and the Church, consisting of male and female believers, as His Bride as we can read in Revelation 19:7-9

Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me, "Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb."

P.S. in my next post I intend to begin to share on Nancy Campbell.

The Creation Order is an Eternal Order: The Journal P/4

                                           Read Part One HERE

 I came across an article in which a pastor taught on the ETERNAL submission of women. The article is named "Relationships and Roles in the New Creation" and was written by Pastor Mark David Walton of Glenwood Baptist Church, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. It was published in the Spring 2006 issue of the Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and afterwards placed on their website.

It is a very lengthy article so I will quote some of the statements made in that article as follows

Mark David Walton: "The question sometimes surfaces, "Will we know one another in the new creation?" The response of many theologians is "Yes." .

Mark David Walton: "What then of marriage? It is most unlikely that marriage will continue in the new creation it its present form. Yet, when it is remembered that the intimate relations between the first man and the woman were part of God's original-creation plan, we realise that it is  not so much that such relations will altogether cease, as that they will be replaced, transformed into something befitting the new creation."

Mark David Walton: "Given then, that relationship between those married on earth will in some sense remain in the new creation, will husbandly headship and wifely submission still obtain in the new creation? To answer that question, we must go back to how God ordered creation. It is true that both the man and the woman were created in the image of God. However, in the ordering of His creation, God formed the man first and gave him responsibility and authority as the head of the human race. This headship, far from being a result of the Fall, is a central feature of the divinely created order. Because the new creation is, fundamentally, a return to the divine order that prevailed before the Fall, it follows that male headship will remain in the new creation."

My Comment

As for believers knowing each other in eternity, I believe that to be the case as the Scriptures may indicate in

1 Corinthians 13:12
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

And 1 John 3:2
".... But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

As for marriage, it seems Pastor Mark David Wilton implies that in the new creation marriage in some form will continue. However, that is in opposition to what Jesus says

in Matthew 22:30
"At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven."

Furthermore, as far as the first man is concerned,we know from Genesis 1:26-28 that God gave the man responsibility and authority over Creation as follows

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all  the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them, God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Moreover, from the above passage we know that God gave that same responsibility and authority to the woman.

Therefore, this teaching that the headship (meaning authority) of the man over the woman is a central feature of the divinely created order, is a man made teaching since God never gave the first man authority over the woman at the time of Creation. Consequently, male headship will not remain in the new creation. We do know that at the time of the Fall the man began to rule over the woman because of his then sinful nature (Genesis 3:16d). We know that, sadly, this still happens even though Christ has come to reverse that situation, including in the Church. However, it will most certainly not continue in the new creation.

P.S. We will continue to look at some statements of Pastor Mark David Walton in relation to the ETERNAL submission of women in my next post.

 

Read Part Five HERE