Nowhere, anywhere in all of the Old Testament is there any kind of ongoing prophetic ministry by a woman. And so without women kings, Without women praise. Without women writing scriptures, without women prophets, we learn very much about, I think, God's design and role for men and women. No woman anywhere in all of the Old Testament has any kind of ongoing preaching and teaching ministry in the nation. Welcome to Search the Scriptures.
The Bible Teaching Ministry of Dr. Carl Brogie. Senior Pastor of Community Bible Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. We are continuing our study of 1 Timothy chapter 2. And specifically, what the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy regarding gender roles in the church.
Let's pick up as Dr. Broge addresses the issue Of the five prophetesses listed in the Bible, and addresses their ministries versus the movement towards modern-day women pastors. Five ladies mentioned as prophetesses. One because she gave birth to a child that had a prophetic meaning, another because she was a false prophet, and three are called prophetesses because on one occasion, They spoke on behalf of God. Miriam, two women.
Hilda and Deborah, in each case, to a single man. But nowhere, anywhere in all of the Old Testament is there any kind of ongoing prophetic ministry by a woman. And so without women kings, Without women praised, Without women writing scriptures, without women prophets, we learn very much about, I think, God's design and role for men and women. No woman anywhere in all of the Old Testament has any kind of ongoing preaching and teaching ministry in the nation. Now I don't discount That there are many, many, many, many ways in which God supernaturally, sovereignly, and wondrously used women.
in the Old Testament. And that's mentioned all the way through. But what we are talking here is about roles. And when you come to the New Testament, the same equality of blessing and privileges is found in very parallel examples. I've already mentioned Galatians 3, but why don't you turn there?
Because it is a very, very important text of Scripture. that people are going to use to say that women can become pastors and teach and exercise authority over men. And again, the critical verse in the chapter is Galatians 3 and verse 28. Paul affirms there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free man.
There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Now, this passage has created a great deal of controversy as to how to interpret the rest of the New Testament. It's being used in our day to legitimize everything from women pastors to the ordination and the acceptance of homosexuality in the church. And those who advocate women pastors, elders, and deacons, this is the key number one text that they appeal to in all of the New Testament. And they read the rest of the New Testament through the lens of Galatians 3, 28.
Now, if you read Galatians 3, 28 carefully in its context, You will notice that it says absolutely nothing about our roles. It is a summary statement of what has been going on in the chapter concerning our oneness in Christ.
So you need to ask: in what sense are we equal in Christ?
Well, you could go back. As far as verse 13, even further, and it becomes apparent from verses 13 on that he is speaking clearly about salvation. He argues that Christ by his blood has redeemed us all. He has provided salvation as a gift for men and women alike to be received by men and women alike by faith. The equality and the oneness that Galatians affirms concerns salvation.
He affirms that we are equally partakers of God and the Holy Spirit, that we've all been baptized by the Spirit of God, identified into the body of Christ, and that the blessings and promises of God that we can claim are therefore the same because we're all equally heirs in Jesus Christ. But Galatians 3:28 is not teaching that when you become a Christian, that all of our differences are eradicated. I mean when a Jew Becomes a Christian, does he cease to be a Jew? Of course not. He is no less a Jew than I am Italian and Irish when I became a Christian.
It does not change your ethnicity when you become a believer in Jesus Christ. Or when a man becomes a Christian, does he cease to become a man? It is a distortion of this passage of the Word of God to teach that when we become Christians, that Galatians 3:28 is saying that our roles are equal when it's not even addressing that issue.
Now as in the Old Testament There is spiritual equality plainly taught in the New Testament. For instance, all of the moral commands All of the promises of God. All of the spiritual gifts, I did not say spiritual offices, but spiritual gifts, and all of the blessings that God spells out are equally enjoyed by men and women alike.
However, While there is equality in our spiritual blessings in terms of our duties, They're different. For example, There are no women preachers anywhere in the New Testament. None. There is not Any women apostles? None.
There is not a woman anywhere in all of the New Testament serving as a pastor, teacher, as an elder. There are no women evangelists. None. There is not even recorded in the texts of the New Testament a sermon delivered by a woman or given by a woman, not one. And there is not any woman who wrote any portion of the New Testament.
In fact, all 66 books of the Bible were written by men. And so the roles of women in the New Testament are consistent with what we learn in the Old Testament. But people will say, oh, wait a minute, preacher. Yeah. What about Philip's daughters in Acts 22, 19?
They're called prophetesses.
Well, we're told there, now this man, Philip, speaking of the evangelists. He had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.
Now, the King James rightly picks it up. It's a little bit wooden in English, but it's a little more precise and literal to the Greek when it renders this verse. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, who did prophesy. It's actually not a noun, it's a verb. It's a participle in the Greek New Testament.
He's speaking here of action, but in either case, it changes nothing. These women did prophesy.
Now we don't know how or why. We don't know if they spoke in unison like a quartet or if they spoke individually. Maybe they had some kind of a unique experience, like Deborah or Hilda speaking on a single occasion. But whatever it was, in light of the rest of the New Testament, this is not a wholesale endorsement on women preachers and teachers. Listen, think about Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus.
When she visits Elizabeth, And Elizabeth Has John the Baptist in her womb, and he jumps, recognizing that Mary is carrying the Messiah. Mary comes in the role of a prophet. She, as a prophetess, speaks revelation. She speaks forth a word from God. She, in that moment, took on the role of a prophetess.
And I'm sure there are many other occasions. when women spoke the word of God. We studied last week. In 1 Corinthians 11:5, that when a woman was in the church and she prayed and prophesied, She did it with her head covered. Women at times were used by God as direct conduits of revelation.
Just as Deborah was. Just as Hulder was. Just as Mary was. They became a direct conduit of revelation, where God said in essence, thus saith the Lord. And he did that especially in the early church because the canon of Scripture was not completed.
You couldn't go.
Well, I wonder what God says in 1 Timothy chapter 3 because it hadn't been written. Or I wonder what God thinks in Revelation 10 because it hadn't yet been pinned. And so, as the canon of scripture was being formed, God used men and women alike as direct conduits of revelation. The only parallel I might think today of is if a woman stood up in church and she read a verse of Scripture. She's a conduit, not of new revelation, but of revelation God has given nonetheless, and she speaks a word from the scripture.
But that is far different from then taking the scripture and teaching it over men in violation of what God has said.
Now, God does not contradict Himself in the Word of God. And when you look at the emphasis all the way through the Old Testament, when you look at the emphasis all the way through the New Testament, when you have a very crystal clear, plain statement from God's lips: a woman should not teach or exercise authority over a man, then when you understand the role of a prophetess, it must be qualified with other scriptures. Yes, Peter quoted the prophet Joel in Acts 2:17 when he said, Your daughters shall prophesy. The word prophesy means to speak forth. And in every instance, they were a direct revelation of God.
They gave a direct revelation of God. But they could equally prophesy, as we will see next time, in teaching other women. When a woman takes the word of God and she teaches other women from it, she may be in essence preaching or prophesying in terms of a forthtelling ministry. But that is far different From these who are twisting the scripture to make it say something that it is not. They are not identified as pastors, elders, evangelists anywhere in Scripture.
You can't find a single verse. You see what they're doing?
Now, the Bible does not teach. that women are second class citizens. The first person that Christ ever revealed his Messiahship to to lead them to salvation was a woman found in John chapter 4. And a wicked woman at that, for she had been married five times and she was currently living in an adulterous relationship with another man. But Christ came to her and witnessed to her the first record anywhere in the word of God.
God dealt with women. In Mark 5, Jesus healed women. In Luke 10, he taught women. And it appears from the New Testament that most of Christ's ministry was underwritten and supported by women. The first person Christ ever appeared to after his resurrection was a woman, Mary Magdalene.
Men and women alike are equal heirs of the grace of life. The fruit of the Spirit is for men and women alike. And when Paul catalogs that list of people in Romans 16 that served him so well, the list is filled with women because of the special and important role they play in the plan and economy of God. And so, when Paul commands, let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness, the verse says that a woman is to receive instruction, she's to learn. I mean, how else can she bring people to Christ if she doesn't know the Word of God?
How else can she teach other women? We're going to see that there are some things that only a woman can do in the church. There are some things that I am forbidden to do in the church. It's not a matter of equality. It's a matter of role.
But how can a woman teach other women and little men and women if she doesn't know the scripture? And so, because men and women are equal, they are equally qualified in the learning process. But a woman cannot learn. Unless she's willing to submit in her heart. To a man.
So a woman Who is submissive is not inferior. A woman who is submissive learns, and finally, a woman who is submissive learns quietly. Look again in verse 11. Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness, but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
Now, Paul very plainly spells out two things: the women are to be silent, and the women are to be subject.
Now the word for quiet or silent is a word he succion, it means just sad, quiet. No word for submissiveness, hupataso, used throughout the New Testament to fall in line, to fall under line. He's calling women to come into their proper place and not to rebel.
So, women are to learn in silence, and they are to get in line with the will that God has for their life.
So it's obvious that women are to learn in silence. That's what it says.
So, what do evangelical Christians or these so-called evangelicals do who advocate that women can teach and exercise authority over men, either as pastors or cruises or whatever context they're arguing it for? How do they deal with this verse of Scripture? I'll tell you how they do it. They say it's culturally mandated to the first century. It has no application for today.
Now we're going to deal with that next week. And in doubt. And I think you will see that it cannot possibly mean that.
Now there are some hardliners, I have to admit. Who says that a woman should never, ever, ever speak in church? Not coming in, not going out, she should never share testimony, she shouldn't sing, she shouldn't read a scripture, she shouldn't pray, total silence in the church. That's a poor handling of the Word of God. You can't come to that conclusion.
I wish we had time for it, but you might want to jot it down. 1 Corinthians 14:34. In a very similar fashion, Paul says, Let the women. Keep silent in the churches. Let the women keep silent in the churches.
1 Corinthians 14, 34.
Well, what do you mean, Paul?
Well, let's give Paul The benefit of the doubt that he was not muddle-headed. That he was consistent with what he already wrote. Not to mention, we believe he's writing under the Spirit of God. It has to be a qualified silence because he just said in 1 Corinthians 11:5 how a woman could preach or prophesy and pray in the church. He explained how the prophecy would take place and how the prayer would take place.
So it was some kind of qualified silence.
So how do we understand this? The answer is simple. The answer is found in the context. Terminology is defined in the Bible by its context. All you have to do is look at the context to see what he means by quietly.
Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.
Well, what do you mean, Paul?
Well, he explains himself in verse 12. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. I do not allow a woman to teach. That's the silence issue. Nor to exercise authority.
That's the subjection issue.
So, the quietness is qualified by verse 12. Contextually, what he means by the quietness of the woman is that he does not allow her. To usurp the role of the man as a pastor-teacher or to teach and exercise authority over a man. He doesn't mean she can't sing a song. She's commanded to do that in Ephesians 5.
In fact, we all are. If you come in here mumbling on Sunday morning and not singing from your heart, well, you're quenching the Spirit of God. You need to come and sing. You say, You don't know my voice. It says make a joyful noise.
It doesn't say it has to be good. Look. Sing a song. Women are called to sing. Women are called to pray just not to usurp a man's leadership role in prayer.
They can be called to read scripture and give praise at the appropriate time. It simply means that she is not to be the teacher and so to rebel against the submission that God has designed for her.
So silence in this context is in relationship to teaching. She's not to be the teacher when the body of Christ is gathered together. But in other circumstances, she is allowed to do certain things. There are times, for instance, When a pastor or preacher will deflect the communication responsibility from himself and he'll open it up to the congregation and he'll ask for questions and for dialogue from dialogue. You say, well, why does God give all the good stuff to the men to do?
And the women seem to have a secondary role. Why can't they play? A more significant role. Where is the balance? You come back next week.
We're missing it. We are missing it. We are missing it. And as I'll show you next time, most of these dear women. who are kicking against What Paul has ordained is because they have not in their own life lived out what God has called a woman to do.
Now I thank God. for the women of Community Bible Church. And I can tell you right now that this church would not be what it is. It would not be so wondrously blessed as God has blessed it if it were not for the women in this church. I've never seen a church anywhere, any time in my life, where I've seen so many women willing to teach other women and little men and women.
We have been so blessed by the women of this church over the years who have faithfully taught other women. And listen, man, we have better wives because of it. These women who have taken God's counsel from the second chapter of Titus. They have trained so many of our wives, and we get back better wives. And they have trained and nurtured the hearts of so many of our children, and we bless God for them.
Listen, if we do it God's way, we will have God's blessings. Yesterday in my time alone with the Lord, I've been studying First Chronicles and I came to that section. where the Ark of God was going to be moved. It was to be moved because David had come into leadership. And for the first time ever, he was going to overthrow Jerusalem, and he had done it.
And now he wanted to make Jerusalem the holy city. To make it the holy city, he wanted the holy ark of God there.
Now it had been in one place for about 101 years. And 101 years earlier, they put it on a cart. The Philistines did and they let it go. Let me explain what happened. The Philistines saw the Ark of the Covenant as a great blessing that Israel had, and they assumed that if they had it, they'd be blessed.
They saw it as kind of an omen. I mean not an omen, there's a good luck charm. And so um They got the ark. And when they got it, they had all kinds of physical problems, tumors everywhere spread out amongst the people.
So they sent it to the next Philistine city. Happened there, the next city, happened there, five cities. Wherever the ark went. I said, we got to get rid of this box. And so they take the ark and they set it up on a cart.
And they put kind of a test. And they reason to themselves: well, we're going to get two nursing mother cows. And we're going to hook them to the cart. and will lock up their calves. And when those calves are whining, Their instinct would be to go back to their calves.
But if they don't, then we know that the God of Israel has his hand in this. They hook them up. And those mothers ignore the cry of the calves and they head right into Israel with the ark. And they get the Ark of God, and a hundred years later, David does. What a pagan nation did.
He now wants to move the ark. to Jerusalem, the capital. And so he puts the ark up on top of a cart. And Uzzah is driving the cart, and as they're driving along, the ark begins to tip over. And instinctively, he reaches back to steady it, to keep it from falling.
And as soon as he touches it, he drops dead. What he did, of course, was sacrilegious because God warned they were to never touch it. And what they were doing too is in violation of scripture to move it in that fashion because God had plainly said that when the ark was to be moved, it was to be moved by the Levitical priests, and they were to take poles and they were to put it through the four rings at the four corners of the ark. and they were to carry it in that fashion. And God made it very clear how He was to, how man was to do it His way and not man's way.
Now, look, you can come here today and you can worship God with great joy, and you ought to. But we also need to worship God in fear and in holiness. And God has His way. And God has His order, and we are not to ignore it and to follow the example of the world. God has specific ways in which His people are to worship Him, and a good intention never justifies a bad action.
The one true God is a jealous God, and He is to be worshipped in gladness, but He is to be worshipped in fear. Listen. We're talking about scores of churches, thousands of them all across America. We're talking about seminaries and great institutions that once had the fire of God upon them because they did it God's way. Today they are apostate.
Because they veered from the truth of Scripture. They thought they were smarter than God. And they did it man's way. And God took his hand off of them. Ichabog, the glory of the Lord is departed.
I don't care what the culture is doing. I don't care what is fast becoming the prevalent voice in evangelicalism. By God's grace, as long as I'm the pastor of this church, I will do everything in my power to lead you according to the dictates of Scripture. And if you're here today and you've never met God, you cannot flippantly come into His presence however you want. You must come through his son.
And through the blood of his cross. Because God is to be worshipped according to what He has outlined in His Word.
Now our Father, we thank you for your word. Which is holy. And true. And a live Helpless as a church, never to ignore it but to heed it. Help us to do what is right, no matter what the world may call us.
Our Father, we thank you that you have created us uniquely as men and women. And help us, we pray in these days to understand the holy and high role that you've given to us. Help your church to prosper doing it your way and not man's way. Father, I pray today for someone who's here. Who does not have the assurance that if the trumpet of God were to sound and Christ were to descend?
or if they were to slump over dead in that chair, that they would go to heaven. Help them, Holy Spirit of God, to understand that you have made a way. Through the cross, through the Son, the Lord Jesus, who in His own body bore all of our sin and every ounce of wrath that we deserved. And then you raised him from the dead, declaring to all men everywhere that he is Lord, such that you can promise whoever will call upon his name will be saved. Have you done that?
Have you ever come in faith and believed what God said according to the dictates of His Word? It's not your baptism, your membership, or anything else, but only Christ that can save. And if you will call upon his name and believe what God said. Christ Jesus receives sinful men. He will receive you today.
Would you say, Lord Jesus, I am a sinner? I can never become my own Savior. But I thank you that you died for me. That you took my punishment. And so today is the risen Lord.
I trust you to save me. Would you say that to him, Lord Jesus, save me? And because, Lord Jesus, you have saved me. I will do whatever your word says. Because you first loved me.
Now Father, take the message. and seal it to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. To listen again to today's message on gender roles in the church from 1 Timothy 2. Please call 877-787-7478 and request program 1 Timothy 005.
Tomorrow. Dr. Broge begins the third in this three-part series on gender roles in the church. Join us then as we continue to search the scriptures.
