Deacon
one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister
the servant of a king
a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use
a waiter, one who serves food and drink
Overseer
an overseer
a man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly, any curator, guardian or superintendent
the superintendent, elder, or overseer of a Christian church
1 Tim 3
It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. 7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8 Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, 9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 11 Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus
From 1Ti 3:1 we see the requirements for the Overseer, and then in verse 8 we see the qualifications of a deacon. Note that these are two separate positions? There are those who would say that being a deacon is the same as being in the office of overseer, but that place is to be exclusively for men.
Some try to make that a case about sex, but its about headship and coverings.
Coverings
If the Pastor is to show love for his wife as an example of how God loves the church, can that be the case with a woman over her husband or does that muddy the Biblical roles?
Ephesians 5
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
The example given is that Christ is the head over His bride, and the Husband is the picture of Christ over his bride. Men are supposed to lead.
When it is mentioned that men are supposed to lead, being as an overseer or as husbands in their own houses, this causes friction in the minds of many women. Many of them have distorted any example of a woman doing something right in the Bible to wrongly mean that it is a scriptural justification for Women being the head and the leader instead of the man. Women are godly when the function in the capacities that they were designated.
Gen 3
For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Here we have the first example of a woman leading a man. It didn't go well. Interesting enough that Eve sinned first... When God arrives, who does He call out to? Who is responsible?
Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
It was Adam's job to guide his wife. It was Adam's position as the covering over her just as Yeshua leads us. Adam was made in God's image this way too. Men are to be the gatekeepers against that which is death entering in. Numbers 30 is an entire chapter about vows made and being dismissed by men on behalf of women
2 If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
5But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her because her father had forbidden her.
7 and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand and her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8 But if on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then he shall annul her vow which she is under and the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself; and the Lord will forgive her
13 “Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm it or her husband may annul it. 14 But if her husband indeed says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her obligations which are on her; he has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them. 15 But if he indeed annuls them after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”
16 These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and as between a father and his daughter, while she is in her youth in her father’s house.
Is this to say that women don't have discernment? That women cannot extract wise and important spiritual truth from the Bible? I'm not saying that. In fact women can teach other women and children.
1 Tim 2
But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.
When feminists and the well intentioned but deceived twist and distort women in the Bible to be as pastors over men, they leave out examples like
Numbers 31
15And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women?
16“Behold, they caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to be unfaithful to the LORD in the matter of Peor, so that the plague took place among the congregation of the LORD!
Revelation 2
14‘But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.
15‘So you too, have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
Balaam was evil. He had the gift of prophecy though. Because he had this gift, we should not think that he was a leader over Israel or that he was fit to lead.
In every instance of the word Overseer in scripture, the word has referred to a man. Critics seek to justify their position using examples like Deborah.
Judges 4
Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 The sons of Israel cried to the Lord; for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.
The framework is that Israel is in the midst of punishment. This isn't the standard operating procedure.
Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, “Behold, the Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. 7 I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’
Who did God command? Was Deborah to lead the people? No, God did not command Deborah to lead the people, God called Barak.If Deborah was the Overseer as some make her out to be, why does God command her to tell Barak instead of just telling her? Barak, instead of trusting in the Words of the Lord, took Deborah.
Deborah makes a point of derision saying
She said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.”
Dishonor on Barak because a woman is where he should be. Deborah was a prophetess, but a prophetess is not an overseer. That prophecy about Baracks honor being sold into the hands of a woman, isn't Deborah its Jael. That does not make Deborah or Jael an overseer of the congregation.
Three judges are listed before her: Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar.
Judges 3
The Israelites cried out to the LORD. SO THE LORD RAISED UP Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, as a deliverer to save the Israelites.
Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, AND HE RAISED UP Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite, as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him with the tribute for King Eglon of Moab.”
Why does in not say that the Lord raised up Deborah? Was she a prophetess? Yes. Did she do right, Also yes. Was she an overseer/Pastor? No.
Ephesians 4
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ
One of the texts that gets abused by those twisting scriptures to justify the errant doctrine of women pastors, is Ephesians 4. They attempt to say that because there is no gendering in the giving of these gifts, that means that where it says that some can be pastors and teachers, that means that women can be pastors over men. Except Ephesians 4 doesn't say that the gifting of pastors or teachers means that a woman can be over a man. A woman can have the gift of being the pastor to other women and children. That does not make her a pastor over a congregation of men, of which, scripture states that she is to be silent.
Pastor
a herdsman, esp. a shepherd
in the parable, he to whose care and control others have committed themselves, and whose precepts they follow
metaph.
the presiding officer, manager, director, of any assembly: so of Christ the Head of the church
of the overseers of the Christian assemblies
of kings and princes
A Pastor is and Overseer. I read a blog titled " There are no women Pastors in the Bible... (because there are no Pastors in the Bible)" This is another example of errant teaching from a woman trying to be a teacher.
What about Pricilla? That is another example that is twisted into something it shouldn't be. This is what the text says
Acts 18
4 Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; 26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
A man named Apollos is already mighty in the Scriptures, Accurately teaching, and gets pulled aside by a MAN and his WIFE to do some fine tuning. NOWHERE in this does it show that this woman was a pastor over men.
Lets look at Huldah, another one.
2 kings 22
1 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her.
We have a King, and Priest, asking inquiring of God and they go to a mans wife who is a prophetess. She tells the King what God has said. That is not being an overseer over the congregation. That is not being a Pastor. That is God using someone to bring repentance to Israel.
Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.
At which point was there a woman pastor or overseer? There wasn't. This isn't an example of a woman governing doctrine over men, no matter how some misapply it. Can women prophesy? Yes. Can women be pastors? No. There are some to say that when Paul tells women to be silent in church that means that they aren't to make any sound at all. They take this hyperliterally and force there to be a contention with Ephesians 4 and the gifts. They say how can one prophesy if they're to be silent in church, as if this is a refutation of the scriptural mandate itself. I've heard some say that the scriptural directive that women keep silent in church is to be effectively rendered moot because it was a cultural thing regarding new converts... but Paul clarifies in the qualifications of Men who would be pastors that they are not new converts. Paul's statement that women aren't to be pastoral teachers isn't just for new converts or he'd have said new converts. Instead he makes another specific directive about the qualifications. There remains no clear feminist interpretation of what Paul was allegedly saying (if we are to not take the clear directive for what it is) in light of this point. By shoehorning this perspective in, we knock other matters out of alignment
Paul's statements on the men's roles are in agreement with Peters when he writes in 1 Peter 3
In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. 3 Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; 6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
This is not a statement of superiority but one of order. This is a command of rightly defined roles. It doesn't say, " If your husband isn't doing right, You lead and teach and become a pastor of your home and an overseer in your congregation". Isaiah talks about women being leaders as a punishment at a time when people were scrambling to make anyone a leader. Isaiah 3
When a man lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying,
“You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler,
And these ruins will be under your charge,”
7 He will protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be your healer,
For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their speech and their actions are against the Lord,
To rebel against His glorious presence.
9 The expression of their faces bears witness against them,
And they display their sin like Sodom;
They do not even conceal it.
Woe to them!
For they have brought evil on themselves.
10 Say to the righteous that it will go well with them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
For what he deserves will be done to him.
12 O My people! Their oppressors are children,
And women rule over them.
O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray
And confuse the direction of your paths.
These women that are teaching that women should be in the pastoral position that is Biblically reserved for a man, guide people astray and confuse the direction of the paths of God. Some try to dismiss this passage of Isaiah as only being about Ahaz, but the passage regards Judah as fallen and Jerusalem stumbling. It says THEY have brought evil on themselves. THEIR faces will bear witnesses against them and THEY will display their sin like Sodom.
There are plenty more examples that can be given of women in the Bible being taken out of context. Moses' wife circumcised his kids to save her husband's life, and this was a righteous act where Moses was not operating in the area of which he was to be operating. Did this make Moses wife a pastor/ Overseer ?No. did it make her a woman that did a righteous act when a man had not done what he was supposed to and his life was at stake? Yes.
What about Miriam? Wasn't the thing that she grumbled saying was that "we all hear from God" asserting that there was no difference between her , Aaron and Moses? Yet, only she was put outside the camp for a sin that encompassed her and Aaron. The point alludes to Miriam making an assertion to be in the same positioning as her Male brothers. The result is that she is set outside the camp for 7 days, where a Priest would have to come and check to see if she was healed of her leprosy in order to be readmitted to the camp. In Deuteronomy 1 we see Moses recall how he set Men over Israel, but women are not mentioned.
I didn't want to have to write this post. I've been on a personal note dealing with my own health and state. I had a friend that I considered as blood started drifting into this. I gave caution that this subject would be our undoing and I made an effort to strengthen the bonds of our relationship aside from this. I didn't take it as a personal grievance in which I had to go to her over and argue in private because my stance is Biblical, not personal. They took it as an insult that I didn't debate them over this but instead discussed the subject matter. I was right that this would end our bond.This stuff breaks my heart when I see people in error that are twisting scriptures and the argument is at its core "did God really say?"
"If you interpret this passage here, and you ignore that context there , then this passage could be interpreted this way and if we interpreted it that way then this passage could be taken this way and if we do that, then there isn't an issue with whatever doctrine we're reading into the text"
I don't know how to end this.
Women aren't pastors though, no more than men calling themselves women are women.
