Judges

After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD's commands. Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways (Judge 2:6-19 NIV).

The role of a judge was not just to fight against the enemies of Israel; their role was to keep Israel faithful to God by teaching the people the law of God. It did not mean that the people always listened to the judges, but nevertheless God delivered them from their enemies and the land had peace as long as the judge lived.

After Joshua died, and all the elders who had seen the mighty works of God, the people ceased from obeying God. Without examples among them, they quickly reverted to idolatry. The judges God raised obeyed God, wherefore they were able to teach the people for they themselves followed the law.

Instead of going to temples of idols to seek answers, Israel was instructed to go to a judge who knew the law of God and was able to help the people obey God's law.

Moses was the first judge.

The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?"  Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws" (Exodus 18:13-16 NIV).

 A judge declared God's will to the people.

Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands'" (Judges 4:4-7 NIV).

If God appointed a woman as a judge over the entire nation of Israel, why do we believe a woman is not allowed to declare God's will to the people of the New Covenant? If a woman could share in the same spirit of wisdom that guided Moses and Joshua, and follow in their footsteps (Deut 34:9), why cannot a woman who has the Holy Spirit indwelling in her follow in the footsteps of the apostles?

Ephesians 4: Speak Truth in Love

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph 4:14-16, NIV)

A parallel passage is found in the book of Jeremiah.

Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? (Jer 23:28-29 NIV).

The prophets in Israel abused their position, prophesied falsely, which led the whole land being filled with ungodliness. Instead of calling people to repentance, they flattered the people with their words, promised peace whereas God had warned the people about the impending destruction of Jerusalem.

Therefore," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. Yes," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, 'The LORD declares.' Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," declares the LORD. "They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least," declares the LORD (Jer 23:30-32 NIV).

The prophets didn't benefit the people because they led the people away from truth, from worshiping God. Just as it was then, so it is now: God has given us some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers (Eph 4:11-12 NIV), that we may become mature, filled with all knowledge that is found in Christ.

But if they had stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed my words to my people
and would have turned them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds (Jer 23:22 NIV).

When teachers speak their own words instead of God's words; when they claim God has given them a message while they speak lies, people will remain infants, easily deceived and unable to discern the truth. But when teachers listen to God, and speak his words, people grow in knowledge, they become strong, mature, able to discern the truth. Such people are ready to serve others, and bring more people to the knowledge and grace of God.

Deceivers will come and deceptions will abound. Some will choose to live as the rest of the world does, but those who speak the truth in love will grow into the head, Christ, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden (Col 2:2-4). As we grow into Christ, we will be filled with all knowledge until we reach the fullness of knowledge. When we have been filled with all knowledge, we will have gained all we need to live godly lives.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV).

Yet, knowledge alone isn't enough. We need the power of God to rightly use our knowledge, for knowledge alone puffs up, just as power without knowledge corrupts.

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light (Col 1:10-13 NIV).

When we have both, we become more than conquerors, as neither false prophets or false teachers will be able to persuade us to depart from God and the life of righteousness. 

Authority and Selfish Ambition

We are told that men have a need to lead, be in charge; that it is natural. But that which is natural is not always spiritual.

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Eph 2:3-4, NIV)

The cravings of the sinful nature feel natural, for we agree with them. The sinful nature, or the "flesh", is after all, part of us. The challenge is to recognize the desires of the flesh instead of following them headlong.


Those who are infants in Christ follow their sinful nature for their senses have not yet been trained to recognize good and evil (Heb 5:11-14). Those who are mature in Christ, recognize good from evil and refuse to let sin reign in their bodies and bring them into slavery to the desires of their sinful natures (Rom 6:12-13, 7:14; 1 Cor 2:15-3:4).

Infants in Christ resemble those who are in the world, for they have not yet learned to live as Christians.

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? (1 Cor 3:1-4 NIV)

Selfish ambition is one of the works of the sinful nature (Gal 5:20); where selfish ambition is found, so is also every evil work (Jas 3:16). Selfish ambition convinces us that we have the right to impose our own opinions and preferences on others. And that is what the man's authority is all about, for if women have the freedom to follow God's will, but not their own wills, the whole authority issue is about the man's right to impose his will on a woman; God has nothing to do with it.

Infants in Christ delight in such display of power, but the mature in Christ forsake self-seeking, for they live the life of love, and love does not seek its own (Eph 5:1-2; 1 Cor 13:5).

Emotions and Decisions

Preachers claim often that women are more emotional. One wonders why the same preachers preach emotional and sentimental sermons when the audience consists of rational men who can't be swayed by emotions - or can they?

Emotions are good and necessary, but they can also cause us to forsake reason as they tug on our heartstrings and cause us to make decisions based on feelings rather than facts. Emotions cause us to feel sorry for others and ourselves when we should hold ourselves and others accountable. They can also cause us to give in too soon, or become unreasonable stubborn.

Preachers who preach sentimental sermons do so because they can't give their audience facts that they could base their decisions on. The reason for their inability is their belief that faith is all we need, that good works are optional. That which is optional will never produce firm convictions; that which is necessary does.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:9-10 NIV).

This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone (Titus 3:8 NIV).

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives (Titus 3:14 NIV).

Good works are profitable for everyone. Sentimental sermons, that cause us to act out of excitement, or guilt, will never produce people who are careful to devote themselves to doing that which is good.

God expects all to do good, but if women are more emotional, how can they devote themselves to doing that which is good? If they can't make rational decisions, how can they be consistently good, and not succumb to the temptation of doing evil out of fear or pity? And how can men be able to make decisions that are tempered with compassion and mercy, if all they have is cold reason?

Neither can be only emotional or rational, which is only natural for both are created in the image of God, and God is rational, yet full of mercy, and goodness.

Thomas Aquinas' Twofold Subjection Explained, Part 8

Authority is a needful societal construction that allows society to function well. The reason authority is needed is because people don't love; they hate, kill, covet, and do all kinds of evil against their neighbors. Without evil, authority would not be needed - which brings us to the question: why does a husband need authority over his wife.

In the olden days, when marriage was a social contract and love was something people read about in books, the husband's authority created stability at the expense of the wife's feelings. It worked - at least for some. But now that we all want to have the kind of marriage Abraham and Sarah had, the love story that never ends, authority just doesn't seem to fit in.

If authority was given to certain people because of evil (cf. Romans 13), is a wife so prone to evil that a husband absolutely needs authority to restrain her? Or is the husband so unable to live with his wife if he doesn't have the last word in everything because he has a tendency to do evil? Since authority wasn't given for evil, but against evil, the latter cannot be true.

So, are all women evil? The second century theologian Tertullian thought so.

You are the devil’s gateway: you are the unsealer of that (forbidden) tree: you are the first deserter of the divine law: you are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God’s image, man. On account of your desert—that is, death—even the Son of God had to die.

 You are the devil's gateway.

And do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too.

Because of this kind of thinking, theologians decided that the husband had to have authority over their wives, and reinterpreted Genesis 3:16 to say that God had punished the woman with subjection to the man. But note: it was only after the fall that this subjection was said to have begun, not before. And it didn't even begin after the fall; it began a few hundred years after the formation of the church!

Where love resides, authority is no longer needed, for those who love, willingly serve others. Humility is the cure for the serpent's poison, not pride. Love doesn't elevate itself, it humbles itself. It doesn't seek it's own, it seeks to please others. Love is God's final answer to evil.

Sources:

Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women, Book I, Ch. I.