Helper or Co-Head

Take a look around and compare our culture with what the word of God says we are to be and you'll see stark contrasts.  We are seeing men trying to be women and women trying to be men. We're seeing attempts to be rebrand and redefine marriage . They're trying to say that men can get pregnant and have periods. They're trying to redefine what love is rather than how God and His word define it.

 We're to look at the word of God and conform to it, not our society around us. Our society has infiltrated the church and church structures and is trying to use the mask of sounding holy while pushing these cultural redefinitions. Why is it so important to talk about headship, and authority? Because God structured it. Because we are called to be men and women of GOD, and we are called to reflect HIS glory, which includes gender roles and the family structure. 

A lot of doctrines and ideas have been tossed around in my hearing and I usually just file them away in my mind under the heading of "something about this topic doesn't sound right: look into it later" . For example, when I looked into the "Sons of God are Angels" doctrine, I found the exact opposite to be true (this isn't yet ANOTHER  post on that, its ok). Another one, which I'll be going over in this post is the "Ezer Kenegdo" and the subject of Headship/Authority. Though there is MUCH to be said about men and how men need to die to themselves to lead like Yeshua, this post is mostly going to address the aspect of women. 

God: Keep the Sabbath 

Women: Ok

God: Don't eat unclean 

Women: OK

God: Submit to your husband in everything 

Women: Woah, hold on there Bud... what if...

Sound familiar? What about this: 

Women: Men should lead

Women : To be in submission to a man's authority is slavery 

This dichotomy is a lose-lose for men that grinds away at the functionality God designed in their role as men. When looking at the origins of headship and the functionality of men and women we have to look at the first enactment thereof.  One presentation of the Ezer Kenegdo/Neged is that Man and Woman are co-equal in the matters of Biblical authority.  Man was created and God saw this and said it is not good for man to be alone, so He made Eve. 

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”- Gen 2:18

The words used are Ezer, and Neged- but with the Hebrew grammar that turns into Kenegdo somehow, but it looks like this 

 

What it means is a helper opposite of him. 

The way some people advocate the interpretation is that phrase "opposite to him" to mean equal in strength to oppose him. They use this because the term "Ezer" is used in other places to denote military assistance. One of the issues with this is that to read into it that the woman is to be the "Xena" to his "Hercules", is to injecting a narrative into the understanding when this word merely means "Helper" "sitting across from him". Advocates of this position have stated that because the word Ezer "help" is used in several places in reference to God "Helping" Israel in distress. Due to Israel asking for  this "help",  then in the garden when woman is made to "Help" man, she would be a Warrior instead of "Help" in response to his being one person in a kingdom of pairs. This places in woman in the position of God as the helper to Israel.  If a child needs help putting their shoes on and a sibling helps(Ezer) them does this make the sibling fit for war and an equal authority in his parents house? It does not.  Someone alone needs help, just as someone needs help. Eve wasn't there to wage war, She was put there to help. What war was in there in the pre-fall garden? 

To make the speculation that to be opposite of the man means to be equal in authority, but dismiss that the "curse" God gives over the woman is 1. Pain in conception. 2. pain in childbirth. 3. the desire for her husband (directly leading to) and that instead He will RULE over her. The text states that the man will have dominion over the woman 

That is synonymous with having authority over her.  This is headship. As we'll go over, this headship is still prescriptive in the New Testament. Whenever the subject of headship is brought up, many- and I'd go so far to say most-women in our society and culture picture a man Dominating and controlling, An apocalyptic warlord type that rules by force and makes women his slaves. THIS IS NOT THE BILICAL EXAMPLE OF THE WAY A MAN IS TO BE. I'll probably say that a few times in this post because every conversation I have on this subject, it is like no matter how many times I stress that point, The words are dismantled in someone's mind and reassembled in a way that sounds like "Men should control women". 

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.- Ephesians 5:22-24

The husband is the head of the wife  the way Christ is the head of the church. Does the church regard it self an equal authority to Christ? Not unless you're Catholic. As the church is subject to Christ ( the church is acknowledging the Messiah's headship and authority) so also wives ought to be [ Submitted] to their husbands in everything. Most women who buck this are following the leadership of men that did not love them as Christ loves the church, men who refused to submit to Christ and to love their wives the way that Christ loves the church. Where these men lead an example of rebellion against the command of God to love their wives in HIS example, so too do many women follow suit in not submitting to their husbands. 

==== This is not about giving power to men or authoritarian control to men this is not about enabling abuse by men- as those are NOT the example of Christ to His church====

A husband has loving compassion for his bride, As Christ does the church
A husband seeks input from his bride, As Christ does the church
A husband gives sacrificially for his bride, As Christ does the church
A husband gives good gifts and provides the righteous desires of his wife, as Christ does the church
A husband guards against evil that seeks to destroy his family, As Christ does the church
A husband leads his wife in the Word, As Christ does the church. 

He's not a micromanager. As the example of Adam in the Garden with Eve, Eve ate the apple, but Romans says that sin entered through one man, Adam. When Adam sinned, God who I believe knew that Eve ate the apple first, called out to Adam to account for his actions.  This is why Paul cites this n 1 Timothy

    but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. 11 A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. 12 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. -1 Timothy 2:10-13

Paul isn't just tossing out an opinion. He's not being sexist. He's citing the authority role that is given to the man, of headship. Men are to take input from their wives and attend to their needs, but when it goes wrong, that responsibility is on the shoulders of the man to have been doing what should have been done

 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.- 1 Peter 3:1-2

Of note is that these verses written to the wives of pagan husbands emphasize submission the most. Peter says that obedience is the way in which to win the unrighteous husband, not resistance. THIS IS NOT ADVOCATING FOR SUBJECTING TO ABUSE .  This demonstrates that the Biblical patriarchy of male headship and authority in leading the wife is established, and that even the new converts should exemplify this in order to show God to their husbands. This is stated in Titus 2

 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. - Titus 2:4-5

The word of God is dishonored when authority/headship/rule is wrestled from the man and the man is subdued under the woman as exactly what the "curse" in Genesis states. If Submission meant only giving way when you agree, that isn't submission that is agreement. Thats bargaining. 
TO BE CLEAR, SUBMITTING TO A HUSBAND IS NOT SLAVERY

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself- Ephesians 5:28

This is not the attitude of someone who deprives another for amusement, he gives to his wife in the way that he would give to himself. The husband makes judgments, like the example of Christ and the church. In making a judgment, he considers what is best for his wife and the family. He takes her counsel and input. He inquires God about matter. He then makes a judgment on a matter. The judgment is not passing authority to his wife and submitting to her headship, it is a judgment in her favor championing the wisdom and good counsel that she has provided. If the wife offers good counsel and wisdom and the husbands judgment is to not listen to it, THEN THE REPROACH IS ON THE HUSBAND. 
The Greek word for submit is hypotassō and it means:

..In this example,  hypotassō is
To arrange under- the husbands authority
To put in subjection- to the husbands authority 
To obey- ones husbands ruling
To submit to ones control- the one being the husband 
To yield to ones admonition or advice- the one being the husband
To obey/ subject- to your husband. 


Advocates of egalitarian authority innately in practice make null and void all other commands in scripture of submission by that we are all to submit to each other. The verse cited for these grounds is still in Ephesians 5 :21

and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ Ephesians 5:21

It is easy to understand how one derives that we're to submit to one another and that the only headship/ authority is Christ. Yet, if we take this at face value with no surrounding context, then the next two verses have no meaning when they say 

Wives, subject yourselves 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. Ephesians 5-22-23 

Rather in the fuller context we see the practice of COMMUNAL submission as verse 15 points out

So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise Ephesians 5:15 

In goes from communal households collectively submitting to each other as a community, to the specific commands to husbands and wives about headship and submission in the marriage.  If we were to interpret verse 21 as the blanket headship, this then gives the entire neighborhood authority to govern the marriage between God, Man and Woman. I do NOT think that the community does or should have the INTIMATE form of Authority in the marriage between husband and wife. 
One of the common arguments against the word headship saying what the Greek defines it as saying is to convey that headship means something else entirely. As I most recently heard expressed

"Head doesn't mean authority it actually means the source, like the head of a river. it’s the source of its beginning."

The problem with this is that the Greek DOES mean authority. The same Greek that is used in Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3 to say that wives should submit to the authority of their husbands is also used in the Septuagint for the following verses

You have him rule over the works of Your hands;

You have put everything under his feet,- Psalms 8:6 

Rule over- Hypotassō  

My faithfulness and my fortress, My stronghold and my savior, My shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. - Psalm 144:2

Again  Hypotassō   shows that rule is not source, it is authority/ ruling/ headship over. For a second lets indulge the analogy of the river, if  Hypotassō  was to mean source, it would be in the reference of the authority flowing from the  source of the husband to the wife. Even if we were to not take Hypotassō  to mean authority, headship and ruler the way that it does we still have another Greek word that means as such, Kephalē

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion.- 1 Kings 8:1 

Solomon isn't assembling all the sources of the tribes, Thats just Jacob. He's assembling the authority, the leadership the Kephalē

You have delivered me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me. - Psalms 18:43

David is not the source of the nations. He's placed in Kephalē- authority and leadership of the nations. 

So the Lord cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day. 15 The head is the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail. 16 For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion. - Isaiah 9:14-16

The head Kephalē  = the elder/ honorable man leader- contrasted with the tail/fool, one who teaches falsehood. 

    The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the Lord gives them up to me, will I become your head? - Judges 11:8-9

It wouldn't make sense to be asking "Can I become your origin/ source" of all the inhabitants of Gilead or the Elders. It only makes sense in the context of becoming the Authority/ Ruler/ Headship 

   Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.- Judges 11:11

They made him the Authority- Head- Chief-Kephalē

“You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people; You have kept me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me. 2 Sam 22:44

A people that he has not known now sever him as Head/ Authority/ Kephalē. 
The word for head as authority in the Greek Kephalē  is used in 1 Cor 11:3

 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.- 1 Corinthians 11:3

We can see from the 2.A. that the Greek word for head, is Husbands authority in relation to his Wife, in the same manner of 2.B. that Christ is the Lord the husband  and of the Church. If we are to take the two words Ezer Naged/Kenegdo to mean warrior of the same authority of her husband, then these examples lose meaning and these words lose meaning.  Sarah uses the same definition of 2. A when she refers to Abraham as lord/master. This is cited in 1 Peter 3 

   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. 1 Peter 3:5-6 

In a recent discussion it was suggested that doing this very thing would be like essentially abandoning autonomy and just becoming like a doll or a plaything to a man. However, what we see in the example of Abraham and Sarah is quite the opposite in the Hagar situation. Sarah wanted Hagar gone. Did Sarah remove Hagar- who was her maidservant? No. Sarah brought the matter up to her husband in submission. Abraham wasn't wanting to to do that as the text says that he was really bothered by this. What did He do? He SUBMITTED TO GOD THE WAY SARAH WAS SUBMITTING TO HIM, and God was the one that made the judgement- Do what your wife is asking of you. Sarah got her way. Sarah was not without voice. She was not a slave. Abraham loved his wife the way that Christ loves the church! Yeshua in the garden didn't want to go to the cross, but He prayed as an example of perfect submission to the Father "your will be done not mine" and then GAVE UP HIS LIFE FOR US!!! 

Again 1 Corinthians 11 we see this headship, the Kaphale / the Authority stated outright

3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head [kephalē] of every man, and the man is the head [kephalē] of a woman, and God is the head [kephalē] of Christ. - 1 Cor. 11:3

Christ is the Authority over every man, man over a[his] woman. This is in direct contradiction of the interpretation that the woman's authority is = to her husband egalitarian mindset of Ezer Naged/Kenegdo. It points back to the context that woman is the help man. Just as Esau despised his birthright and traded it for stew, women in our culture have traded this gift of being cared for and provided for and loved, and cherished, and valued and the ability to love and sow into a husband... and they have traded it for genuine slavery to the corporate machine, and bosses that they're forced to submit to in a way that they fear from a husband. 

So many women IN THE CHURCH think that submitting to their husband is a form of slavery, but they do not think this same thing about submitting to Christ, and Christ says to submit to your husbands! That is obedience to Christ. ITS NOT ABOUT DOMINANCE AND CONTROL TO THE MAN, it's about TRUSTING GOD and having FAITH IN GOD  that the man you CHOSE to marry is going to also be obedient to GOD 


There are examples of headship/authority all over the scriptures and commands of God

        Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But 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. - Numbers 30:3-5

By the Headship/Authority of the father, the woman breaking a vow is not under penalty This same authority set up is for husbands to wives 

     However, if she should marry while under her vows or the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself, 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. - Numbers 30:6-8

How many women commit to something they wish they hadn't and wish they could get out of it. Try Biblical Headship/Authority.  The nullification of vows passages themselves show that the egalitarian co-Head authority isn't Divinely structured. This is not the Ezer Kenegdo/neged Xena warrior mindset. She is someone across from him reminding him always to be more like the Messiah, to die to self, to love, to submit to God in his actions the way or greater than the way she is submitting to him. To serve him, and along with him,  not war against him like the "curse" states. 

Even if we were for some reason to outright ignore BOTH Greek words talking about the husbands headship we still have it from God. There is also a section of Numbers 5 that says that the wife is under the authority of her husband. The word husband is added to the text, a practice that I don't normally endorse,  but the context is clear that it is an appropriate translation. 

The priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, being under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; 20 if you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you”

This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself- Numbers 5:19-20;29

Even if we were for some reason to outright ignore BOTH Greek words talking about the husbands headship we still have it from God as shown above and from Genesis itself. 

To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall deliver children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”-Gen 3:16

God expressly states that the husband does in fact rule as in authority. That same word is used when God warns Cain 

“If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master H4910 it.” - Gen 4:7

Do you see the parallel of "The Desire will be over your husband" and "Sin is lurking with desire for you" and the parallel between " And he will rule over you" with "you must master it" . It is the same word of overcoming in regards to authority. 

When we state to our Christian brothers and sisters that obedience to God's Law is love, they so often reply that "The Law is bondage". We who walk in God's Law know that obedience is freedom, and the lie of it being bandage becomes almost laughable. It's a delight to bask in the joy of our God. 

The world tells us that same lie about marital submission, calling it bondage and slavery

...and men, If you are dominating your wife in authoritarian power trip, REPENT because you are doing evil. 

Sons of God (Simplified)

1 John 3:10

No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.

“You are sons of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave a bald spot above your forehead for the dead. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.- Deut 14:1-2

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.- Matthew 5:9

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God.- Romans 8:14

For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.- Romans 8:19

 “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’

And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”26 “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel may be like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved; - Romans 9:25-27

For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus.- Galatians 3:26

Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” - Galatians 4:6

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. - Luke 6:35


13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, 15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” - 1 Chron 17:13-16

Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.-  Luke 20:34-36

(This verse states that the Angels do not die and therefore are not the sons of the resurrection the way the sons of this age who parry and are given in to marriage are, in contrast to the Angels that do not marry )

According to ALL Of these passages, The sons of God are those who are of obedient faith in Christ, Yeshua.  In every instance of these passages the sons of God ( and daughters) are human people, and not any type of angelic beings. 

5For to which of the angels did He ever say,

“You are My Son,

Today I have fathered You”?

And again,

“I will be a Father to Him

And He will be a Son to Me”?- Hebrews 1:5

If the answer to this question is that He called ANY angels son, then the answer is that Angel. Except He never calls any angels son. The context of this is that Yeshua is the Messiah, but the point still stands that if any angel is called son, then the meaning becomes nonsense. 


10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 18:10
 
If the Angels are continually before God then why would they have to take a special appearance to be before Him if we were to read Job as being about the Angels instead of obedient faithful believers appearing before God? 

Job 1
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
Job 2
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.


Who are these sons of God? As all the scriptures above pointed out, They are the faithful people of God. Why are they appearing before God? Because they are commanded by God to do so at the appointed times 

14 “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. And no one is to appear before Me empty-handed. 16 Also you shall keep the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God. Ex 23:14-17

23 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations from you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.  Ex 34:23




So through out scripture the faithful are sons of God, The faithful are to appear before God at the appointed times unlike the Angels which are always before Him. The faithful are the ones that marry in this current age, unlike the Angels who do not die. 


Keep that all in mind when you read Genesis 6 and it says that the sons of God took wives, and then it resulted in violence. 

Deut 32The Rock! His work is perfect,

For all His ways are just;

A God of faithfulness and without injustice,

Righteous and just is He.

5“They have acted corruptly against Him,

They are not His children, because of their defect;

But are a perverse and crooked generation.

Fallen Angels cannot be called sons of God because they are defective. 

False Prophet(ess)

 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.